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

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nytainos > ‘nobles’ and the naboría > ‘subjects’ 176 . However, this final term took a
completely different connotation after the establishment of the Spanish Encomienda
system in the Caribbean, thus becoming a homologue or an absolute synonym of the
European preconception of a slave. Nonetheless, this shift in the meaning of the
naboria term from subject to slave can be identified very early across the chronicles of
the colonization of the Antilles. As a matter of fact, one of the earliest linguistic
comparisons of these two terms, joint by a correlative conjunction, can be found in the
chronicles of Fernández de Oviedo. In his Natural and General History of the Indies,
Oviedo states that “to prove his friendship, a cacique gave Diego de Salazar four
naborias or slaves to serve him” 177 . Here, Oviedo equates the terms as
interchangeable, thus connotating an evolution of the term from its original meaning. In
earlier and contemporary accounts, the term was used as an equivalent of ‘subject’ or
‘servant’. Examples of these earlier and contemporary connotations can be found in
Hernando Colon’s History of the Admiral and in Fray Bartolome de Las Casas’
Apologetic History. In the case of Hernando Colon, the term is defined as “favorite or
servant” 178 comparable to the position of the vassals in the feudal system. On the other
hand, de Las Casas compares naborias to an even more benevolent position by using
the Spanish terms “sirvientes o criados”, which are a type of house help. Henceforward,
the term evolved to become the synonym of slave described by Oviedo and later by BDC
and the rest of the chroniclers.
176
(De las Casas, 1566)
177
(Fernandez de Oviedo, Historia general y natural de las Indias, Islas y Tierra-Firme del Mar , 1853, p. 472)
178
(Colón, 1571)