Friday, October 9, 2026

Speculating on Haniguayaba's Name

Whilst randomly re-reading parts of Granberry and Vescelius's Languages of the Pre-Columbian Antilles, we noticed that the authors proposed defining ha or hai as the word for high in Taino. This makes sense given the name of Haiti itself, with the meaning of high or mountainous land. But what about Hanyguayaba, that poorly known chiefdom or cacicazgo in the Southwest of Haiti? Probably centered on the area of the Les Cayes plain, where the Spanish built a town after the conquest of that part of the island, the region was part of the "anus" of Hispaniola. Alternatively, we could read accept the hai in Haiti as tall or high and iti as upland or hills. 

But with the word Haniguayaba, Granberry and Vescelius's hä- (han) seems to fit (meaning uppermost). This is followed by a i could mean near or eastern. So uppermost of the near guayaba (guava). But another definition might be han+i+guaya (meaning furthest back)+ba (big, great, or large). Thus, Hanyguayaba or Haniguayaba could have meant something like the "the upper, big and nearest part of the farthest" section? If one views the island through the indigenous perspective with the "anus" being the Tiburon peninsula of today's Haiti, that "behind" was quite far from other parts of the island. Perhaps the Les Cayes plain was the base for the largest area or concentration of settlements and was considered the "upper" section for its proximity to the "anus" of the island? Alternatively, reading it simply as the uppermost guava is possible? The Spanish sources from the 1500s certainly suggest the rich areas of mamey trees. Perhaps the area closer to Haniguayaba had lots of guava trees in the hills above the plain? 

The guayaba reading seems more likely than our own tortured attempt at using Granberry and Vescelius, however. However, there's uncertainty about the toponym as Las Casas also presented it as Haniguayagua. Moreover, Martyr d'Anghiera did not include it among his cantons or districts in the "anus" of the island. Instead, he listed a place called Guabaqua (perhaps Guabagua?). This might have been the Haniguayagua of Las Casas? Or Zavana (or, savanna, where the Spanish settlement was built after the colonial conquest) could have been an alternative name for Haniguayaba?

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