Language of the Voiceless: Traces of Taino Language, Food, and Culture in the Americas From 1492 to the Present

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Other Primary Sources mentions of the possible origin of the word bejuco:
a)—Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo La Historia Natural y General de las Indias:
Pared atañías muy bien con bexucos, que son unas venas ó correas redondas
que se crian revueltas á los árboles también colgando dcllos como la correhuela:
los (piales bexucos son muy buena atadura, porque son flexibiles é taxables, é
no se pudren, é sirven de clavason é ligason en lugar de cuerdas y ile clavos para
atar un madero con otro, é para atar las cañas assi mismo. El buhio ó casa de tal
manera es hecho. 147
In the above quote, Fernandez de Oviedo places the word bexuco in the premainland
historical context. He also spells the word closer to the Arawak phonetics and
describes how it was harvested and used in buhío > ‘house’ construction due to its
flexibility. Here, Oviedo states that “this type of liana was very good for tying timber
instead of using nails”. However, it is in the quote below were we see other applications
of the bejuco as part of Taino culture:
[…] ni pudieron mover de aquel lugar los indios, aunque la quisieron arrancar,
tirando della con cuerdas de bexucos mucha cantidad de indios; de lo qual
espantados ellos la dexaron estar donde agora está, como avisados de arriba ó del
cielo de su deydad. Y como cosa sancta ellos de mucha admiración 148 .
With this description of a great number of Taino using bexucos to tear down a
cross that the Spanish had planted on a mountain, Oviedo illustrate the diverse use of
this liana in Taino culture. Moreover, the quote also illustrates a possible culture of
cooperation among the Taino.
147
(Fernanadez de Oviedo, 1535 - 1557, p. 164)
148
(Fernanadez de Oviedo, 1535 - 1557)