Caciques and Cemí Idols: The Web Spun by Taino Rulers Between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico (Caribbean Archaeology and Ethnohistory)

328 Pages·2009·2.89 MB·English

by  José R. Oliver

Caciques and Cemí Idols
CARIBBEAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOHISTORY
L. Antonio Curet, Series Editor
Caciques and Cemí Idols
The Web Spun by Taíno Rulers
between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico
José R. Oliver
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS
Tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2009
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Typeface: AGaramond
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of American Na-
tional Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Oliver, José R.
Caciques and Cemi idols : the web spun by Taino rulers between Hispaniola and Puerto
Rico / Jose R. Oliver.
p. cm. — (Caribbean archaeology and ethnohistory)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8173-1636-5 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8173-5515-9 (pbk. : alk.
paper) — ISBN 978-0-8173-8117-2 (electronic) 1. Taino Indians—Religion. 2. Taino
Indians—Implements. 3. Taino Indians—Colonization. 4. Indians of the West Indies—First
contact with Europeans—Hispaniola. 5. Stone implements—Hispaniola—History. 6. Icons—
Hispaniola—History. 7. Christianity and culture—Hispaniola. 8. Christianity and other
religions—Hispaniola. 9. Religious syncretism—Hispaniola. 10. Spain—Colonies—America.
11. Hispaniola—Colonization. 12. Hispaniola—Antiquities. I. Title.
F1619.2.T3O55 2009
972.9′02—dc22
2008038785
Special Credits
Front Cover Illustration: A close-up of the face of a cemí idol recovered from a cave site in Car-
penters Mountain, Jamaica (Cat. AM 1977. Q1). For this portraiture the head was cropped to
highlight the personage’s facial features; the gold sheet eye and lachrymal inlays and the shell-
denture inlays were digitally added to render a likely interpretation of what the face might have
looked like had the inlays been preserved. Photograph and digital additions with Adobe Photo-
shop by José R. Oliver. ©The Trustees of the British Museum.
Back Cover Illustrations: A three-pointed stone cemí from Puerto Rico. ©Museo de Historia, Arte
y Antropología–Universidad de Puerto Rico. Author’s photo (inset back cover). Photograph of
the author at the Bateyes de Viví (U-1) site, Barrio Viví Arriba, Utuado, Puerto Rico (2005).
To my daughter, Juliana,
for the joy she brings to my life,
and
to my wife, Kim,
my guardian angel

Contents
List of Illustrations and Tables ix
Preface xiii
PART I. INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL PREMISES
1. Introduction 3
2. Believers of Cemíism: Who Were the Taínos
and Where Did They Come From? 6
3. Webs of Interaction: Human Beings, Other Beings,
and Many Things 43
4. Personhood and the Animistic Amerindian Perspective 48
5. Contrasting Animistic and Naturalistic Worldviews 53
PART II. THE FORM, PERSONHOOD, IDENTITY,
AND POTENCY OF CEMÍ IDOLS
6. The Cemí Reveals Its Personhood and Its Body Form 59
7. Cemí Idols and Taínoan Idolatry 64
8. Cemís and Personal Identities 67
PART III. THE SOCIAL RELATIONS AND CIRCULATION OF CEMÍ
IDOLS AND HUMAN BEINGS
9. The Power and Potency of the Cemís 73
10. The Display of Cemís: Personal vs. Communal Ownership,
Private vs. Public Function 77
11. Face-to-Face Interactions: Cemís, Idols,
and the Native Political Elite 83
12. Hanging On to and Losing the Power of the Cemí Idols 87
13. The Inheritance and Reciprocal Exchange of Cemí Icons 103
viii Contents
14. Cemís: Alienable or Inalienable; To Give or
To Keep 109
PART IV. STONE COLLARS, ELBOW STONES, THREE-POINTERS,
STONE HEADS, AND GUAÍZAS
15. Stone Collars, Elbow Stones, and Caciques 121
16. Ancestor Cemís and the Cemíifi cation of the Caciques 141
17. The Guaíza Face Masks: Gifts of the Living for the Living 148
18. The Circulation of Chiefs’ Names, Women, and Cemís:
Between the Greater and Lesser Antilles 157
PART V. THE BATTLES FOR THE CEMÍS IN HISPANIOLA,
BORIQUÉN, AND CUBA
19. Up in Arms: Taíno Freedom Fighters
in Higüey and Boriquén 191
20. The Virgin Mary Icons and Native Cemís:
Two Cases of Religious Syncretism in Cuba 221
21. Religious Syncretism and Transculturation:
The Crossroads toward New Identities 232
PART VI. CONCLUSIONS
22. Final Remarks 247
References Cited 257
Photo Credits and Copyrights 281
Index 287
List of Illustrations and Tables
List of Illustrations
1. Map of the Caribbean showing the circumscribed area of the distribution of
four classes of cemí icons 91
2. A selection of three-pointed stone cemís from
Hispaniola (a-i) and Puerto Rico (j-m) 91
3. Stone collar, elbow stones, and Macorís stone heads 92
4. Distribution of cultures and peoples according to Irving Rouse at the time of
Columbus (A.D. 1492–1520s) in the Greater Antilles 92
5. The standard cultural chronology of the Windward Passage, Mona Passage,
and Virgin Passage areas in the Greater Antilles 93
6. Ceramic bowls used for inhaling hallucinogens 94
7. Devices for inhaling hallucinogens (Periods III–IV) 94
8. Spread of calibrated radiocarbon dates (2 sigma) associated with Rouse’s
ceramic styles (Cuevas to Santa Elena) 95
9. The “decapitated” (?) personage found in the main plaza
of Jácana (PO-29), Ponce, Puerto Rico 95
10. An example of the dual natures of a “frog-human” personage modeled
in ceramic, hanging on and looking into a Santa Elena–style
open bowl from Vacía Talega site, Puerto Rico 96
11. Wooden cemí idols involved in cohoba ceremonies 96
12. Petroglyphs and pictographs are here interpreted
as a class of nonportable cemí icons 97
13. A diverse sample of small cemí artifacts used for body decoration or for
personal use from the Dominican Republic 98
14. Three-pointed stone cemí with detailed anthropomorphic
facial features that lend it identity and personhood, from
the Turabo Valley, Caguas, Puerto Rico 99