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

P a g e | 92
Pic.33, 34 Taino trigonolith zemi, Cuba 137 .
Pic.35 Trigonolith zemi,
Borinquen 138
Yet, to understand the importance of the yucca and its relation to this item in
Taino-Carib cosmology, it is necessary to go back to Ramón Pané’s description of the
Taino myth of creation in a document written as early as 1498 at the request by
Christopher Columbus. Pané’s text reads as follows:
[…] los cuales tienen forma de un nabo grueso, con las hojas extendidas por tierra
y largas como las de las alcaparras; las cuales hojas lo general, se parecen a las del
olmo; otros tienen tres puntas, y creen que hacen nacer la yuca. 139 .
In the quote, Pané describes that “some of the idols had three points and they
were believed to help yucca grow”. Later, as the manuscript develops, Pané describes
this zemi as Yúcahu Bagua Maórocoti considered the god of yucca and the central
figure of the Taino pantheon 140 . It is of extreme importance to note that later in the
writing there is an incident were some Taino people steal Catholic imagery and bury it in
a conuco > ‘plantation’ the same way they used to bury the yucca zemí 141 . However,
what is striking is that, in the same primary source, Pané explains that these Indians he
was studying were a Macoris group who were subjects of the Taino 142 . It is of vital
importance to understand that this Macrorix or Ciguayo group Pané is referring to is
linguistically closer to the Carib and Lucayan than to the Taino. Hitherto, they share the
same creation myth and the same central deity called Yúcahu Bagua Maórocoti
137
(Cassa, 1974)
138
(Oliver, 2009)
139
(Pane, 1498, p. 43)
140
Ibid. p.116
141
(Pane, 1498)
142
Ibid. p.5