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

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ceiba wordship and traditions from them. And, what was originally attributed to the
ceiba mythemes from these groups, became an array of different disseminated versions
intertwined with the different migratory groups that converged in the Caribbean to later
become Taino as a singular culture. Nonetheless, what is truly important is that in the
Taino cosmovision the word shares the prefix zCe with zemi > ‘god’, ‘deity’, ‘wooden
idol’ and its suffix Ba literally means ‘bigger’, ‘immense’, ‘great’. Therefore, it should not
be surprising that this word became part of the vernacular Spanish of New Spain and
consequently the universal name of the tree.
But then again, another truly important note in the narrative of the True
Conquest of New Spain with regards to its Taino connection, is the way Diaz del Castillo
kept using his knowledge of the ceiba tree to carve crosses as if he was somehow
exploiting his knowledge of these Taino trees mythemes against the people of the
mainland. Diaz states that:
de la batalla pasada por mí memorada, que hiciesen una cruz en un árbol
grande que allí estaba, que entre ellos llaman ceiba; e hiciéronla en aquel árbol
a efeto que durase mucho, que con la corteza que suele reverdecer está siempre
la cruz señalada 183 .
By mentioning his intention of carving the crosses in the ceiba because of the
tendency of the cortex of the tree to keep the symbol visible, Diaz del Castillo is
illustrating the Spanish knowledge of Taino tree worship and culture. This was a
common practice among the conquistadors: exploitation of cultural and religious norms
to betray the natives. For example, if they saw crosses engraved in their sacred trees
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(Diaz del Castillo, Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva Espana| Aparato de Variantes, 1632, p. 125)