01.01.2021 Views

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

by Leonardo Nin

by Leonardo Nin

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

P a g e | 72<br />

cacique, dijo por señas que se querían <strong>to</strong>rnar en sus canoas y irse a su pueblo; que<br />

para otro día volverían y traerían más canoas en que saltásemos en tierra<br />

The next <strong>Ta<strong>in</strong>o</strong> word <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> sequence is cacique or cacixke translated as chief,<br />

k<strong>in</strong>g, monarch, ruler, etc. However, this word was one <strong>of</strong> those words that (like canoa<br />

<strong>and</strong> maguey) rapidly became part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Spanish vernacular that colonized <strong>the</strong> Aztec,<br />

Inca <strong>and</strong> Maya k<strong>in</strong>gdoms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ma<strong>in</strong>l<strong>and</strong>. <strong>From</strong> Tierra del Fuego <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rnmost<br />

part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> cont<strong>in</strong>ent <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> shores <strong>of</strong> Puer<strong>to</strong> Valdez, <strong>in</strong> Alaska, time <strong>and</strong> time aga<strong>in</strong> we<br />

are presented with chronicles, letters <strong>and</strong> general bureaucratic documents with this<br />

word <strong>in</strong>corporated <strong>in</strong><strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> language <strong>of</strong> soldiers <strong>and</strong> government <strong>of</strong>ficials alike. It is as if<br />

cacique was <strong>the</strong> word <strong>of</strong> choice <strong>to</strong> designate—as stated by <strong>the</strong> Academia Española—any<br />

chief or Indian leader.<br />

However, regard<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> etymology <strong>of</strong> cacique we are presented with a unique<br />

w<strong>in</strong>dow <strong>in</strong><strong>to</strong> <strong>Ta<strong>in</strong>o</strong> phonology. The suffix ique or ike, is found hidden with<strong>in</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />

surviv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Ta<strong>in</strong>o</strong> word, behíque. This word, as previously def<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> pages above, is<br />

related <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Garifuna buyai <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Vaipurá payé used <strong>to</strong> designate a shaman, a sage<br />

or wise man or a healer, <strong>and</strong> at times, all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m comb<strong>in</strong>ed. It is strik<strong>in</strong>g that both <strong>the</strong><br />

cacique <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> behique, which accord<strong>in</strong>g <strong>to</strong> de Las Casas, represented <strong>the</strong> highest<br />

status positions with<strong>in</strong> <strong>Ta<strong>in</strong>o</strong> society related <strong>to</strong> decision mak<strong>in</strong>g, guidance <strong>and</strong><br />

leadership share <strong>the</strong> same end<strong>in</strong>g. While <strong>the</strong> cacique was <strong>the</strong> chiefdom’s sociopolitical<br />

leader, <strong>the</strong> behique was <strong>the</strong> spiritual one. However, it is <strong>in</strong> Lokono where we f<strong>in</strong>d a<br />

comparable term for this end<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> word isic > ‘head’, which could h<strong>in</strong>t <strong>to</strong> a possible<br />

association <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Ta<strong>in</strong>o</strong> suffix ike with ‘guidance’, ‘leadership’, or like <strong>in</strong> its Lokono

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!