BURIAL CEREMONIES

Aftera deatli they

made

tire,rubbing

two

stickstogether, theact being connected inanesoteric

way

with the ^perpetuation of thelifeof the deceased.

Among

the

common

people, accordingtoHerrera, the relatives solemnly cared for the skull of the dead. Relatives of a caciquefrequently strangled

him

if it appeared to

them

that he-was onthepoint of death.

Some

ofthedead the}^took out of the house,

«Dancesareevennowoccasionallyperformedontheoccasionofthedeathofaninfantsini.but theyhave almost whollyceased.

^See Bachiller y Morales,CubaPrimitiva.

c.\negrodanceinPorto Ricoiscalledbomba,thisnamebeinggivenalso tothedrumusedinthe dance

—

a hogshead overwhichisstretchedasliin.

d.Histoirede risleEspaguolaou deS.Domingue,i,39,Paris, 1730.

70 THE AKoRIGINES

OF

PORTO

RICO [eth.ann.26

others they^leftwithin, placing the corpseina

hammock

withwater

and

bread. Inbothcases thehouse

was

desertedand shunned bythe relatives.

They

believed that after death the deceased

went

to a valley (Coaibai) where their ancestors lived and

where

they would have

many

wives, plentyto eat,"andallkinds of pleasure.

Oviedohasgiven an accountof the

manner

of burial of the dead, especially of caciques,whichisinstructive inacomparative studyof the Antilleans and certain South

American

tribes.

When

a cacique died one of his wives

was

sometimes l)uried alive with the corpse, bowlsofwaterandfood,suchascassavabreadandfruits,beingplaced with her in the grave

At

the interment of the Haitian cacique Behechio

two

wives were voluntarily buried alivewith him.

Wife

burialwasnotalways practised, the customary

method

of interment beingtobindthebody with bandagesof

woven

clothandtoplaceitin a grave, with the jewels or treasuresmostprized

by

thecacique^inlife.

In order that the earthmightnottouchthecorpseit

was

customary to

make

acryptofsticks, inwhichthedead

was

seatedina decorated chair called a duho, after which the gravewas filled in with earth abovethe

wood

andbranches.

For from

fifteen totwenty daysafter burial the relatives and other persons,both male and female, sang dirgesoverthegrave,

and

caciques of theneighboringterritory

came

todohonortothedeceased.

The

familj'divided theproperty

among

the strangers

who

recited dirges and songs

commemoratiAe

of im- portant events in the life of the dead,tellingof thebattleshehad fought andof other

worthy

deeds, the mortuary songs being accom- panied by^the dances called (xreitus.

Among

the Haitians the dead were inhumed,

mounds

ofearthbeingraisedoverthe graves.

From

the similarity of the people of the

two

islands itwould be supposedthatthe

same

custom was ])ractised in Porto^Rico,andthis archeologyhasdemonstrated.

Mortuary

ofl'erings have been found in

mounds

aswell as in caves,and lateritwill be

shown

^{that these}

mounds

andcemeteries are situated near certain walled inclosures ^tiiat arecalled

by

thecountrypeoplej?;<yo.ydehola orhateijx("ballcourts").

Considerable lightisshedonthe nature of themortuarydances of the

West

Indians

by

acomparative studyofburialceremonies

among

their supposed kindred living along the Orinoco river in South America, our knowledgeof

whose

mortuaryritesis

more

detailedthan that which has been recorded

by

the earh' historians of the

West

Indies. Gumillaⁱⁿ1745gavea description of the elaborate mortuar}' dances held bythe Saliva near tumuli,on the Orinoco,at the death of their caciques.

The

Antilleansalsoappeartohave performed com- plicated mortuarv dances, or areitos, in the so-called ball courts or dance places and near the adjacent tumuli outside the inclosure.

aTliedeiulwvvvI)c4ieved to liveonjifruitabout thesizeofaquince,callednuanahana(sour-sop).

FEWKES]

RELIGION

¹i

These

mounds

aregravesof eaciques or otherdignitaries,afaetiiidi- eating that the burial customs of the Borinqueiiosapproaehed

more

closelythose of the Saliva than ofanyother of theOrinocotribes,of which Gumilla describes a

number

differing in

many

respects

from

oneanother.

The

Guarano,

commonly

callt>dtheWarraus,

who

liveon the

many

islandsof thedeltaof the Orinoco, according toGumilla place their deadin the waterandallow fishes ((/uacaritos)to stripthe corpse of thefleshandsoftparts; theskull and otherbonesarethenpreserved in a decorated basket, which ^is

hung

from the roof of the house.

Consideringthe relationshipbetween the prehistoric peoples of the

West

Indies and theOrinocotribes, thiscustom

among

the

Guarano

is highly significant.

The

mortuary' customsof the Indians of the Orinoco varygreatly,and probablythe same statementisapplicable tothecustomsof thedifferent

West

Indianislands. There^isnoevi- dencethatthePorto Ricanstreatedthedeadinthe

way

justdescribed, which is a custom characteristic of the Guarano.

But

throughout the

West

Indies, as

among

the tribes of the Orinoco,especial care seemstohavebeentaken to presei've theskeletons of the deceased.

There is evidence that the Caribof the Lesser Antilles sometimes placed theirdeadinearthen jars,as recorded

by im Thurn

inspeak- ing of a small island called Ballineux thatwas usedas a cemetery.

The

Jamaicans placed their deadin cavesorsometimes interredthe bones,depositedinurns. Inthecaves theboneswerenot buried hut simplylaid out on thecavefloor. That the JamaicaIndians did the

same

^is recorded bySir

Hans

Sloane." '"Ihaveseenin the woods,"' saysthiswriter,

"many

^of their bones in caves,which

some

people thinkwereofsuchashadvoluntarily inclosedor

immuned

themselves, inordertobe starvedtodeath."

He

^referstoa

man who

saw,inthe 3'ear1677,

"a

caveinwhich lay

human

bones,allin order,alsopots andurnswherein

were

bonesof

men

andchildren.'" Thesepotswere largeandovalandof a dirty reddish ^color.

"On

theupperpart of therimor ledge there stood out an ear,on which were

made some

lines."

The

negroes had

removed

most of these pots to boil their meat ^in.

"The

dead," writes Charlevoix, "weretreated bythe use of Are,but were not interred until thev were thought thoroughly emptiedanddried bythefire."

According to Gumilla ^the Orinoco Carib inter the bodies of the dead with bow,arrows,

wooden

clubs, shield, and other

arms

on one sideof thecorpseand oneof the wiveson the other. "When^thisact has taken place in their moi'tuaryceremoniestheson of the cacique inherits his father's positionand hiswives.

At

thebeginningof the year the}'

exhume

the dead, place theremains ina basket,and

hang

nSirHansSloane.AVoyagetothe IslandsofMadeira,Barbadoes,Xieves.St.Christopher's,and Jamaica.2vols.,London,]725.

72

THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO

RICO [eth.ann.25 tiieni in the house for perpetual reverenceand

memory.

Suchpre- served heads were probablyseen

by

the Spaniards in thehousesof the insularCaribandled tothe circulation of distortedstoriesof can- nit)alism.

The Guarano

also, according to Gumilla,preserved the bones of their ancestors in their houses, the flesh first having-been

remo\ed

bj-aquatic animals.

The

habit of preserving-skulls,bones,orother parts of the

body

as objects of worship seems to have been universal

among

the

West

Indians. Itismentioned inallolder accounts of the Haitians.

The method

of preparingand thesubsequentcare of the skull andother bonesof thedead

among

the Orinocotribes,as describedbyGiunilla,

show some

analogywith thecustomsof the ancient Antilleans.

The

•Arawakexercised the

same

careasisrecorded

by

Oviedoof Haitian burials, topreventcontact with theearth. Brett,"inanaccountofan

Arawak

dancecalled a maqudiri., gives

among many

others thefol-

lowingespecially instructiveepi^^ode:

The dance wasgiveninhonorofadeceased female,whohad been buriedintlie liouse.

A

broad planklayonhergrave,and onitwereplacedtwobundlescontain- ing therefuse ofthesilkgrass ofwhichthewhips were made,which hadbeencare- fully preserved. There were also two pieces of w'ood,rudely carved to resemble birds,and twootherswhich wereintendedtorepresentinfants. Atasignalfrom the masterofthehouse the dancingceased;and^allthemen,arrangingthemselves inprocession,went roundthe house with slowand measured steps,the plankand woodenimages beingcarriedbefore them. Afterthisthey arranged themselves near thegrave,andoneofthemchanted somethinginalowvoice,towhich the others answeredat intervalswithfourmoans byw-ay ofchorus. Thearticlescarried inthe processionwerethen takentoa hole previouslyduginthe earthandburiedthere.

Two^{or three}menappointed^forthepurpose thendrewforth theirlongknives,and, rushinginamongthedancers,snatched thewhips fromthem, cutoffthelashfrom each,andburiedthemwith the otherarticles.

Futureinvestigationof the burial

mounds

^{of the}Porto Ricanswill no doubt bringto light similar objects))uriedwith thedead inthese places,butthusfar,withthe exception of a stone mask, nothinghas yetbeen foundto parallel thiscustomoftheVenezuelanArawak.

Inigo,speakingof the burialcustomsof certain people of histime (theeighteenth century),remarksthat,while thedead were

commonly

interT-ed in the churches, those that had died of an epidemic were buriedatthe foot of a treeontheir farms,andthat theirbones were disinterredlaterandcarriedtothechurch,where honors werepaidto them.

Myths

The West

Indians, like all primitive peoples,had

many

fablesand traditions,

some

ofwhich were reducedtosong and^{recitedin dances.}

The

Indians of Hispaiiola believed that thesunand

moon came from

tiRev.W.K.Brett,TheIndian Tribes^ofGuiana,tlieirCustom.sandHabits,p. 15C,London,1868.

FEWKEs]

RELIGION

73 acav'e,which theycalledGiovovava orJovobaba and regardedwith great reverence as the place of

human

orioin. Itformerlycontained

two

smallidolsofstone,

human

tioureswiththeir hands bound,called Boinaiel(Sun)and Maroio (Moon),each aboutayard long. It was popularlj'believed that these idols appearedattimesto sweat.

The

nativesheld

them

ingreat respect and,accordingto Pane,

made them

large oB'erings and resorted to

them

to pray for rainforthe crops.

Thiscave

was

situated in the land ofacacique

named

MauciTiuvel.

Therewasatraditionthatthe deadwenttoa place called CIoail)ai, ina district of the island called Soraia,andthat theirspirits,<ip'u(,

I'emainedthere in daytime, but delighted to

come

forth during the niglitand appeartothe livingintheformsof

men

and

women.

Con- sequently,anIndianwould seldom ventureout alonein the dark and then onlywithfear." Itwassaidthat a nativeonce

met

oneof these spirits,in consequence of which he disappeared and found himself attachedtoatree.

The

^aboriginalPorto Kicantraditionof the creation of

women

was thattheywerecreated for

men from

foureagle-likebeings possessed of feetandhands.

A

bird similarto a woodpecker{pifucu)^believing thatthesebeingswere wood, peckedattheirprivatesandthus

formed women.

According to

Gomara

the Indians of Haiti preserved as a relica calabash,fromwhich,as thejrbelieved,

came

the seaandallitstishes.

A

^{fable of}

^how

^{the sun turned certain fishermen} into trees (joho) appearsinseverallegends of these Indians.

Fray Ramon

Pane,

who

was oneofthefewpriests

who

couldsp(>ak theTainan language of ancient Haiti,haspreserveda

number

ofthe traditionsofthe natives of thatisland.

Some

^ofthesewerepublished inthe Life ofColumbus,ascribedtohisson,the authenticity ofwhich Harrisse questions. Pane'srecord of the traditionsandreligions of the prehistoric-people ofHaiti,however,islooked

upon

asworthyofcre- dence.

While

theauthor regrets that he has not here the space to give a full or satisfactor}^resume of thiswork, he has introduced a

few

significantlegendsi-ecorded

by

this priest.

The

story of

how

the seawas

made

isespeciallyinteresting.

There was once a

man named Yaya

or Giaia, whose son, called Yavael or Giaiel (Earth),*soughtto kill his fatherandwas banished to a place whei-e he remainedfour months, after which his father killedhim,and put

him

into a calabash,which he

hung

to the roof of his cabin,

where

^it remained a long time.

Yaya

went one day toseehisson'sbones, and,havingtaken

down

the calabashand opened

it,found instead a uiultitudc of fishes, great and small, intowhich theboneshad beenchanged.

Yaya

andhiswifedecided to eatthese

fiThespiritualism socommonamongtheGiharosisasurvival of this old beliefrecordedby Pane.

''Theterminationelmeansson; Giaiel,sonofGiaia.

74

THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO

RICO [eth.ann.25 lishes,butoneday,

when Yaya

had gone to hisfarm, there

came

to his house the four sons of Itaba-Yanuba(Itiba Tahuvaca),

who

died at their birth.

The

first-born

was

called Caracol, "shell;'' the others had no names. These four sons of Itiba-Tahuvava, having examinedthe calabash, resolved to eat thefishes.

As

theysetabout

ittheywere suddenlysurprised

by

the return ofYaj^aand attempted tohang

up

thecalabash again, butitfelltotheearthand

was

broken.

All thewater poured out, covering the earth and forming thesea, carrying with it the fishes,which became its inhabitants. Benzoni also speaks of the calabash,out of which had

come

the sea with all the fishes,thatwas kept as arelic. Thistradition,whichhassome- timesbeen regardedasastory of the deluge,is oneof thosewidely spread accounts of thewater coveringalltheearthfound

among

most of the aboriginal tribes of America.

The

calabash or gourd was preservedbythe natives as a ceremonial objecttowhichgreat sacred- ness

was

attached.

TKADITIOXS OB' ORKilN

Accordingto

Ramon ^Pane

the Indians related that there

was

inone of theprovinces of Haiti, called Caanan,amountain, Canta,inwhich were

two

caves,

known

asCaci-Bagiaguaand Amaiauva.

The

natives ofthe island believed that their ancestors

emerged from

the first of these caves,butthatotherpeoplestill remained in the othercavern, which was guarded by]\larocael.

The

guardian

was

once surprised bythe closing of theentrance of thecave

by

the sunand turnedinto astone.

Another

legendtells

how

certain

men who

wentfishingwere turned into trees, called;V>Zi«,y,

by

the shining ofthesun

upon

them.

"The

first people." says Charlevoix",

who

apparently

drew

his information

from Ramon

Pane,*PeterMartyr,and others, "are said tohave

come from two

cavesinthe island of Haiti,andthesun, irri- tatedattheirexit

from

the earth,changedtheguardiansofthese cav- ernstostone,and

metamorphosed

thepeople

who

escaped from their prisons into trees and into all kinds of animals. This thoroughly aboriginal story, whichin

some

variants goes ontotellof thelossof the

women

and

how

theirchildren

were

turnedinto frogs,cryingfaa.

toa^("frog,frog"),'' occursinseveral early folktales. Anothertra- ditionsays that the sunand the

moon came

to lightthe world

from

agrottointhe

same

island,and that the people

made

pilgrimages to thisgrotto,

whose

wallswere ornamented with paintings,andwhose entrancewas guarded hy demons, for

whom

one hadtoperformcer- tainceremoniesbeforetheywouldallow

him

to pass.

The

beingscalled Caeai'acol{\Anvix\of caracol)appearin

many

stories asmonstergods,withscabbyorroughskins,but the spelling of their

"HistoirederisleEspagnole ou deS.Domingue,i,38,Paris. 1730.

'•Panesaysthechildrenwerechangedinto tunn, orlittlecreatures likedwarfs.

<•Tunmeansalso"breast,"andpossiblythechildrenwere clamoringformilkor for theirmothers.

FEWKEs]

RELIGION

75

name

variessogreatlyin different writings that attimesit isalmost impossibletorecognizeit.