Taino Words (Mainly Oviedo and Las Casas)

The following are words from the indigenous Taino language of the Greater Antilles. Largely derived from Las Casas and Oviedo, chroniclers who spent a significant time in the Caribbean during the 1500s, they both included several words from the Taino tongue in their works. Unsurprisingly, toponyms, flora and fauna, and sometimes names of caciques frequently appeared in their works. The words used below also include some from Puerto Rico's rivers and place names, as well as Abbad y Lasierra. But the vast majority are derived from Oviedo and Las Casas, particularly the latter's Historia Apologética.

Amaguey (valley and river)

Hami (river)

Zapita (river)

xoxenes (mosquitoes)

Bahabonico (river)

xaguey (cisterns?)

guayagas (roots grown and used to make a type of bread)

batata

bejucos (vines/cords)

Haina (rio)

Iguamuco (provincia)

Banique

Hatiey (another province)

Atibonico (Artibonite River)

Zahay (provincia), puerto de golfo de Xaragua

Guacayarima (anus of island)

Camin (rio)

Careibana (area on a plain)

Cayguani

ciba (stone)

streams in Cibao area: Xagua, Guaba, Guanahoma, Baho, Yaqui, Xanique, Agmina, Maho, Paramaho, Guavobin

guabina (type of fish)

dahos, zages, diahacas (types of fish consumed)

teti (fish caught in streams)

xaibas (crabs)

hicotea (turtle)

Buenicun (stream in Cibao area)

Coactinucum (another stream)

Cibu (another stream)

Maimon and Yuma: river names

Dahahon (river name)

Magua (Vega)

higuacas (large parrots)

xaxabis (medium-sized parrots)

quemi (one of the rodents of Hispaniola)

mohies (other type of rat)

curies (other type of rodent consumed)

iguana

aji 

manati

yuca, yucabia (plant)

aje

lerenes and yahubias (other types of roots)

guayaros: root in the monte

guariqueten

cibucam (type of manga)

hibiz (sifter)

libuza (cuero used to grate finer yuca)

hien: poisonous juice from yuca

annona (type of fruit)

pitahaya, guanabana

tuna (type of fruit)

hicacos (type of fruit)

ceiba tree

caoban tree: good wood used for tables

caimito: type of tree

guazimas: type of tree

hibuero tree

cupey tree

guao tree (in eastern Hispaniola; used to make poison for arrows according to Las Casas)

manibari (type of yerba)

van (type of yerba)

xeyticaco

buticaco

mahite

taguaguas (earrings)

matunheri

cabuya

hupia

hutia

carey

dita

cohoba

canoa

cazabi

areito

batey

hequeti (uno)

yamoca (dos)

canocum (tres)

yamoncobre (cuatro)

cemi

Lucayo

manicato

caribes

Cibago

Higuey

Saona

Jamaica

Borinquen

Quisqueya

maraca

xaoxao

Yaquimo

Hanyguayaba

jagua

Cacibajagua

bixa

macana

Ciguayo

nitaino

naboria

cocuyo

bahari

Guamiquina

daca

cayo

Zuania

Agueybana

Cayacoa

coa

cimarron

hamaca

conuco

tabaco

Haiti

Cuba

buren

eracra

guayacan

guayaba

Guaba

mamey

Coaybay

behique

bohio

caney

yuca

yucayeque

barbacoa

nahe

cacona

caona

nagua

guanin

maiz

mani

Xaragua

Magua

Maguana

mohuy (animal)

cigua (tree)

damahagua tree (used for cords)

daguita (string)

azuba tree

yayama (pineapple)

yayagua

papaya

boniama

cauallos

hobos tree

higuero tree

guama tree

macagua tree

guiabara tree

gaguey tree

sibucan (tree)

guao: root that's poisonous and used by Indian women of Hispaniola to whiten their skill

guazabara (skirmish, conflict, fight)

guatiao (brother, friend)

datihao (my master, or one named like me (Oviedo)

tabonuco (type of glue from a tree), also called tabunuco

guabiniquinax (type of hutia on Cuba)

ayre (another animal in Cuba) 

goeiza

sablao (finer type of cazabi/casabe)

anaiboa (flower of yucca plant)

ana (flower)

imocona (type of food)

Loquillo: indio alzado and cacique

Bayamon rio: area described as center for conuco agriculture in 1580s

Toa (rio in Puerto Rico)

Guayanes River (once heavily populated area in time of indios in PR)

Abacoa (river, Arecibo, in Puerto Rico)

Guataca (river in PR)

Camuy (river in PR)

Guaurabo (river in PR)

Guanajibo/Guaynabo (river in PR)

Guayanilla (rio in PR)

Taiaboa (rio in PR)

Jacagua (rio in PR)

Cuamo (rio in PR): River had fountain/source with area featuring healing bath used by INdians, since stone with figures made by Indians found on it)

Guayama (river in PR)

Abey (rio in PR)

Maunabo (rio in PR)

Humacao (rio in PR)

Dagua/Daguao (rio in PR)

Maga (tree used to make tables, seats, etc.)

capa (tree used to make boats, etc)

ucar (tree)

anon (tree)

quibey (yerba with poisonous features)

Inabon (rio in PR)

dautia/autia (jutia in PR)

Guamani (puerto in PR)

Bieque/Vieque (island)

Yabucoa

yaguas (used for houses)

buhios (bohios, spelling of Abbad y la Sierra)

cayuco (small canoe for rivers and short voyages, Abbad y La Sierra)

duho (stool, banco, silla)

athebeane nequen 

hicos: cords of a hamaca (Oviedo)

bagua (mar, ocean, sea)

guaraguaos (type of bird)

comejen/comixen

haquetas (smaller shark or fish)

The Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account

Due to our ongoing interest in the history of the indigenous population of the Spanish Caribbean, and their legacy today, we have been endeavoring to read more of the 16th century Spanish source material. While de las Casas may have been poorly translated by Briffault in this text, we think the "gist" of de las Casas can still be useful here for understanding how the Spanish conquest of the mainland fed captives into Hispaniola, Cuba, and Puerto Rico for decades. Sure, de las Casas is unreliable on numbers and the often confusing translation misrepresents or complicates some of his accounts, but there are numerous references to the slave trade of indigenous populations across the region. Indeed, according to our author, several Indian slaves could be traded for a horse, pigs, or other items and then be used as laborers for gold mines, agriculture, or domestics in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. 

Due to the text's emphasis on Spanish cruelty and the depopulation of the regions conquered by them, de las Casas refers to only 200 "Indian" survivors in Puerto Rico and Jamaica. Since his numbers are often imprecise or unreliable (claiming, for instance, that millions of Indians were sold in the slave trade by the time he was writing in the 1540s), and he repeats some of the same figures, we believe that it is likely that the "surviving" indigenous populations of Hispaniola and Cuba may have been much higher than 200. Particularly when one considers the large numbers of "Indians" brought to Hispaniola and Puerto Rico from the coast of Venezuela, Yucatan, Bahamas, and Florida, there must have been a large number of "Indians" who, at least for some time, maintained and "Indian" population in the Greater Antilles. Since genetic data suggests Puerto Ricans descend, in part, from pre-colonial Caribbean populations, and circum-Caribbean "Indian" populations were brought to the islands as captives, we think the genetic diversity of the Hispanic Caribbean's "Amerindian" component probably also reflects populations from northern South America, the Yucatan, Florida, and the Gulf of Paria. 

In short, de las Casas remains a powerful source on the demographic collapse of "Indies" caused by Spanish expansion and conquest. As for "Indian" survival in the Caribbean, he is weak on details, but testifies to the large-scale slave trade of indigenous populations across the hemisphere. While he turns "Indians" into reasonable beings with few flaws, constant victims of Spanish avariciousness and violence, he also describes how the separation of families, forced relocations, arduous labor regimes, and negative impact on food production must have contributed to the demographic collapse of the hemispheres. While those interested in indigenous survival in the Spanish Caribbean must take this into account, clearly not all "Indians" disappeared by the second half of the 16th century.