Beliefs and Practices

 First Peoples’ Religious Beliefs and Practices

The Taíno’s religious beliefs were centred on the hierarchy of nature spirits and ancestors. They had various kinds of devotion which consisted of religious worship, dancing during special festivals of thanksgiving and/or petition, and their shamans consulting the spirits for advice and healing. They believed there was an afterlife where the good would be rewarded. There, they would meet up with deceased relatives and friends. They called this heaven Coyaba. which means paradise. It was thought to be a place where ailments and natural disasters did not exist, and there was an abundance of festivities. During rituals, the Cacique sat in a place of honour. They had a ceremonial beating of drums. People induced vomiting with a swallowing stick to cleanse the body of impurities, both a physical and a symbolic spiritual purging. This ceremonial purging and other rites were done as a metaphorical change before the Zemi. Women served bread (which acted as a communion rite), first to the Zemi, then to the Cacique, and then to the others. Finally came the singing of a village epic in honour of the Cacique and his ancestors. As a poet recited he was accompanied by a maraca. The Taíno people were polytheistic and called their gods, ancestors, and spirits Zemi. Within these Zemis, the Taínos believed in two main gods, Atabey and Yucahu.

Firstly, let's talk about the Zemi as a whole. The term ‘Zemi’ was applied to the deities themselves and also to any relics representing them. The artifacts were made from things like wood, stone, shell, coral, cotton, gold, clay, and human bones from their ancestors. The preferred material to make Zemis was wood from specific trees (mahogany, blue mahoe, cedar, or guayacan). The silk-cotton tree was also important to Taíno culture, with the tree trunks themselves often recognized as Zemis. Possession of the Zemis by Taíno Caciques was a sign of their honoured relations with the supernatural world, but Zemis weren't restricted to leaders or shamans. Zemis were kept on tables in their owners’ homes because the Taíno believed that powerful spirits inhabited those objects. The Zemi take on strange forms like toads, turtles, snakes, alligators, and various contorted and grotesque human faces. The Taínos believed that the Zemis controlled various parts of the universe and had influences over the natural world. They also believed dead Caciques were granted the same power. Zemis represented not the power of the person who owned them, but the allies the person could confer and revere. In this way, Zemis provided a connection for every Taíno person to the spiritual world.  

Secondly, let’s discuss Atabey. Atabey (also known as Atabei or Atabeyra) is considered the ultimate deity of the Taíno, and the goddess of fertility. Atabey is worshipped as the goddess of fresh water and fertility and was seen as the creator, the mother of gods, and the most significant god for the Taíno people. It is believed that Atabey was so powerful, that she gave birth to herself as well as the world, which made her one of the most formidable creation gods. She was often pictured as having a woman's head and a frog's body. She's commonly depicted in frog form, sitting in the traditional cross-legged birthing position preferred by Taíno midwives. Atabey was believed to have both a nurturing, motherly aspect and a violent and wretched one. This terrible aspect of the mother goddess was known as Guabancex, the goddess of storms and volcanoes. Pregnant women often prayed to Atabey to ensure a safe delivery. According to Taíno legend, Atabey made her two sons, Yúcahu and Guacar (the god of evil and destruction), then set them to work helping her to fill the Earth with life. Yúcahu and his mother gave the Earth trees, birds, and animals, eventually creating a cross between a Jupía (part animal, part god), who became the first man: Locuo. 

We end our discussion on Taíno belief with Yúcahu. Yúcahu (also known as Yocahú or Yocahú-Bagua-Maorocoti) was the God of cassava and the son of Atabey. Yúcahu's name means 'the giver of cassava'. He was the god of saltwater, agriculture, and of the cassava root, the primary food crop of the Taíno people. He created the sun, moon, stars, animals, and humans. Taíno farmers would bury Zemis of Yúcahu in their pastures to bless their cassava crop. Yúcahu was also the god of the sea, but instead of habiting the ocean, the Taíno believed he lived in the sky on a throne on the peak of the largest mountain in the El Yunque National Forest, hidden among the stars he made.

Similarly to the Taíno, the Kalinago worshipped nature spirits and had great reverence towards their ancestors. They kept the bones of their ancestors in their houses because they believed that their spirits would guide and guard them. They also had no concept of an afterlife. Each individual was said to have three souls: one in the head, one in the shoulders, and one in the heart. Each individual possessed their own personal Zemi, which they believed showed visions to the individual of what he or she desired. The Kalinago also had many legends about their diet. They believed that consuming pigs would give one miniature beady eyes, for one, or that eating turtle meat made one stupid. 

The Maybouya is described as the personification of evil. In order to avoid its hostility, the Buyeis (shamans) of the tribe had to appease the spirit with piais (spells) and offerings of animals they hunted. They also led tribal ceremonies that involved tobacco smoking. Not much information can be found about this spirit.

The Kanaima was a malicious spirit valuable to the Kalinago when they sought revenge on someone who had murdered a family member. Kanaima, as spirits of vengeance, assault and kill their victims in retribution. In order to complete their purpose, Kanaima will possess the bodies of animals or people, causing them to act like ferocious beasts and filling them with violent, uncontrollable rage. The Kalinagos invited the Kanaima spirit into themselves by taking specific drugs during a ritual. The Kanaima has no qualms about harming or killing the friends, family, and loved ones of its target. They will track their victims to any location that they may have fled to or may be hiding. The Kanaima seeks the agonising suffering of its victim and will not kill its victim outright, instead, torturing them so that they die a painful death three days after its attack.