Amantina Garcia and Anacaona’s Stone

Amantina Garcia and Anacaona’s Stone
Today many Dominicans retain physical characteristics of their Taíno heritage--- so many in fact, that
they are overlooked, just accepted as “Dominicans” except for those who are specifically looking for
them - Dr Lynne Guitar
May 29, 2013
We arrived at San Juan de la Maguana during a heavy rain storm and head to Juan Herrera a
small town 5 kilometers north of San Juan and where the so called “Corral de Los Indios” is located. The
corral is an ancient ceremonial park where the Taino people played a
ball game called batey. Located in the center of the town, it is the
largest such park in the Caribbean, approximately 750 feet in
diameter. At the center there is a large rock known as Anacaona’s
Stone with a small face etched on it. Local legend says that Cacique
Anacaona would sit on this stone and recite her poetry or sing Areito
songs during festivities.
As part of the Caribbean Indigenous Legacies
Project with the Smithsonian National Museum of the
American Indian and the Smithsonian Latino Center, I
was sent to this area to explore and document the
indigeneity present in this and other parts of the Island
of Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic). Being a
native of this island I am grateful for the opportunity to
study this place. Along with me are photographer and
film maker Boynayel Mota, native activists MiltonVelasquez and and Ivel Cenac, Leonel de Jesus Melo
who heads an organization- Artesanos de Higuey and the lovely Caro Linka, a Mapuche Indian woman
from Chile living on the Island.
Native Identity and traditions are taken seriously in this region as many people are Indian
identified. It is also widely believed that Indian ancestral spirits inhabit the area, the rivers, caves and
trees. These beliefs are sustained by most of the inhabitants. However if you happen to encounter one of
the countless Healers and Shaman that live in this area, they will gladly go into detail and elaborate on
these customs. Maguana in general is a place where Taino, African and Spanish traditions blended in a
unique and characteristically San Juan de la Maguana way.
Anacaona’s stone is guarded by a woman named
Amantina Garcia. It is she I am here to interview. I heard of
her in passing years before from my good friend folk singer,
Irka Mateo, a Taino identified woman native to Maguana.
Amantina is recognized by her community as a healer and
spiritual leader. She does not readily speak to anyone that

just drops by to see her. Not because she refuses, but rather because she believes that Anacaona’s misterio
(spirit) must instruct her to do so, otherwise Amantina will not engage visitors. After traveling such a long
way, I now fear she may not want to see us. We arrive at her house just as the rain stops. My fears are
quickly extinguished as she peers out of her home and says “You! I have waited so long for you to come!
Anacaona was upset that you had not come to her. She is happy that you are finally here! Please come, sit
with me, we have lots to speak about.” I am grateful yet perplexed and in all sincerity I am a little put off
by her remark. During a previous trip to Mexico some years back, many Indigenous people would greet
me in this way, but I always felt they did this due to an ulterior motive. Amantina is 70 years old but
looks like she is in her 40s. She has the stereotypical Indian phenotype, long black hair, high cheek bones
etc. We sit in front of her home as she offers us coffee and begins to tell us of Anacaona’s grand plan.
“This place is where our Queen Anacaona lives. She guides us and is connected to all the spiritual
traditions of this area, the 21 Division (Dominican Vudu/ misterios), followers of Liborio Mateo and
practitioners of Agua Dulce, all come here to pay their respect to her. She is an Indian woman of the
waters and the greatest of the mysteries (spirits) of this place” she says. “She is happy that you have
finally arrived as there is much work to do. Our Queen needs a festival held in her name. It has to be
strictly in honor of the Indian and at least once a year.”
Maguana is known as the belly button
of the world by the locals. It is also considered
the spiritual center of the country. People
travel from all over the island to pray here.
There are daily pilgrimages to the area. In this
place “Agua Dulce” (an Indigenous spiritual
tradition) is strongest. A Stone cult and a
Water cult are central to this tradition. Stones
are said to possess the power to cause visions.
One of my contacts, Daniel Arias, an Agua
Dulce practitioner explains, “Some stones
such as quartz are said to produce as many as 5 visions(dreams) while other stones like jadeite (not true
jadeite but a greenish marble-like stone) only give you three
and so on.” He explains that certain ailments require one to
travel through a series of dreams in order to locate the cause of
the ailment. A person may require the aid of a stone that can
produce a specific number of dreams in order to find his/her
specific ailment within the dream and subsequently vanquish it.
In healing practices stones , tobacco and medicinal plants are
used in conjunction. Stones are considered medicinal in this
place. Amantina proudly shows us a stone she claims has
traveled the world and has been used in numerous healing
ceremonies.
Another custom in this area is the “sun rise ceremony”
described to me by Carmen Popa, a woman who follows the
teachings of Papa Liborio (a Dominican Messianic figure). “At

sunrise communal stones are fed and watered and gratitude is expressed for the new day unfolding while
simultaneously welcoming the sun.” These traditions are earnestly observed by followers and attention to
detail is of the utmost importance. Anacaona’s stone is cared for in this exact way by Amantina. I could
not help but notice the similarities between this custom and those reported by Spanish chroniclers. In fact
the preoccupation with stones bears striking similarities with Cemism. In the Taino story of Guayahona
and Guabonito recorded by Fray Ramon Pane there are many references to stones and their importance in
Taino society. (1) In his book “Indios” Historian and former President of the Dominican Republic Juan
Bosch writes “ These stones are preserved inside cotton. They (Taino) placed them in woven baskets and
watered and fed them as they did with the Cemi.” (2) Stones have been a part of the islands religiosity
long before European colonization.
We ask for permission to visit the stone and Amantina offered this observation: “All of you go to
the stone, but I will stay here. She has enough love for all of us, but I want her to embrace you without
distraction from me.” I begin putting on a feathered headdress that I gifted to my wife years ago. My
intention was to pay proper honor to this sacred space. As I put it on, Amantina’s eyes shone bright and
she says “yes it truly is you. You are the
Cacique I was waiting for. I will go to the
stone with you after all.” It seemed to me
that from Amantina’s perspective, I
symbolized an alley that could potentially
help her in preserving this sacred space.
Unknown to me at the time, there are plans
by local officials to build a hotel atop this
ancient ceremonial ground. Further,
Anacaona’s stone that Amantina, her
family and other villagers have cared for,
for generations, will be placed in a yet to be built museum where the local worshipers will never again
have access to it. On the way to the stone Amantina says “in this place if one sees a jaiba (crab) while
praying, it is a sure sign that you have been visited by our Queen Anacaona.”
Recorded local history tells us that as far back as 1913 a celebration honoring Anacaona was held
in this place. During festivities men dressed as Indians would find and elect a beauty queen who looked
Indian, crowned with a feathered headdress and made queen of the plaza. All the elders we interview
assure us that this custom is very old. One woman, 89 year old Doña Ofelia, declares “Anacaona was
revered in this plaza when my grandparents were children and their grandparents before them.
Amantina informs us that she has cared for
Anacaona’s stone for a great part of her life. She
inherited these duties from her husband’s sister.
Amantina’s husband had cared for the stone as well for
many years after inheriting these duties from Amantina’s
grandmother. At one point the entire family had cared
for the stone. It became abundantly clear to me that this
custom was very old. “Some people say there is nothing
(spiritual) here. Haitians, Evangelicals, people from

other countries and religions will say this. But the teaching is that the misterios, those Indian spirits that
dwell here and our queen Anacaona only make their presence known to those people that are truly
worthy.” This is the Agua Dulce sect. Within this sect sunrise ceremonies are common. Associated with
the sunrise ceremony is a spirit known as “Gamao or Guamao” who rules over the entire Indian realm. In
this place however Anacaona and her husband, Cacique Caonabo reign supreme. This sounds strikingly
similar to ancestor worship.
The misterios (spirits), is a complex spiritual belief system sometimes associated with “la 21
division. “ In turn the 21 Division is sometimes referred to as Dominican voodoo. Although Dominican
voodoo is often compared to its Haitian namesake, they are in fact different. However often times
outsiders will confuse the two. The closer one is to Haiti the stronger the African component within 21
Division becomes. Haitian Voodoo also makes reference to Indians, but not to the extent as do the
Dominican sects.
The Liboristas (Olivoristas) also make reference to Indians in many if not most of their
ceremonies. Some past researchers noted this strong Indian content. But historians have long claimed that
there are no Indians descendants left on the island. Some investigators suggest that this association to
Indians may in fact have a European “water nymph” origin or perhaps attributed to the Africans that were
brought as slaves to this region. All sects in this region have another thing in common; the usage of caves
for ceremonies. Interestingly these caves were used by the Classic Taino for ceremony as well.
The Maguana region was the melting pot of many
different peoples. Spiritual ideas and customs of the native
Taino Indians, Fon and Ewe people from the Congo region
of Africa, Canary Islanders and people from Andalusia,
Spain all coalesced here. American Ethnographer Martha
Ellen Davis documented many of these traditions in her film
"Papá Liborio: el santo vivo de Maguana." (3 ) No doubt
these people had many similar customs and may have
influenced the native Taino people to an extent. It is a
historical fact that after contact with Europeans, numerous
groups of Indians escaped to the mountains and formed
maroon communities across the island. Others lived on the outskirts of Spanish society preserving many
of their beliefs which undoubtedly blended with that of other ethnic groups.
This scenario makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly what is Taino and what is not. Many scholars
claim that as more and more Africans and Europeans arrived, these maroon colonies gradually mixed out
of existence. Others strongly uphold the total extinction model which posits that an entire race of people
vanished 30 years after contact with the Spaniards. That inexplicably and for some strange undefined
reason these extinct peoples were able to influence those that displaced them with so many aspects of
their culture, language and customs. Yet, many visitors to the island are struck with the amount of
indigeneity of the island. Take for example this seemingly paradoxical statement by Alastair Reed
““Although the Taino population of Hispaniola was “wiped” out within thirty years of the discovery, it is
as though the Tainos had left their mode of life embedded in the land, to be reenacted in a surprisingly
similar form by the campesinos now”. Rich soil, a benign climate, and plants of predictable yield
guarantee basic survival, although today on a threadbare level..... Pucho asks me a lot about the Tainos--
I once read him from Las Casas the descriptions of their common crops and agricultural practices, and
he was as startled as I was that everything was all still growing within shouting distance, that we were
more or less enacting the Tainos' agricultural patterns, using their words, living more or less as they did
except for our clothes and our discontents. (4)

The debate as to whether the Taino left descendants and consequently culture and custom, or not,
has been raging for some time now. Often times this debate can be pretty vicious in particular from many
historians who pretty much accept the notion that history is not biased and therefore literally true.
Opponents of Taino survival often times demand proof of Indian ancestry and curiously down play any
evidence to the contrary offered. These voices suggest that in order for one to be Indian, he or she must be
culturally and racially pure. A glance through the pages of “Taino Revival: Critical Perspectives on
Puerto Rican Identity and Cultural Politics” a book edited by Gabriel Haslip-Vieras, critically ridicules
Caribbean peoples who identify with their Indigeneity . Within its pages one finds disparaging chapters
with titles such as “The Indians are coming1 The Indians are coming!” and “Making Indians out of
Blacks. “ Mostly this book suggest that A) Indio identified people of the Caribbean are denying their
Negritude, B) That these people are identifying with a group that historically did not collectively call
themselves Taino C) that the majority of Caribbean peoples are in fact African and finally D) Haslip-
Vieras suggests that the Taino identity movement began during the 1970’s as a direct result of Puerto
Rican grass roots opposition to statehood. (5)
Offering Proof of survival would actually be an anomaly as true science does not offer proof to
support a theory but rather a preponderance of evidence that supports said theory. Modern investigative
tools are gathering evidence of strong undeniable indigeneity, survival and continuity via genetics,
linguistics, ethnography etc. On the other hand proponents of Taino extinction constantly offer historical
records and census counts written by the colonizers themselves as absolute “proof” of total Taino
extinction. Canadian Anthropologist Dr. Max Forte argues that in the “Caribbean” what is not clearly
European is by default considered black; it appears that Indians are held to a “purity” standard, whereas it
only takes one drop of African blood to make one black.” (6) It is no wonder that ethnographers
investigating Dominican culture leave Taino cultural and religious influence in the colonial past and focus
only on the African or Spanish.
The assertion that the Taino
did not collectively call themselves
Taino or rather were not a
homogenous group is interesting.
Certainly, archaeology gives us a
window into the pre-Columbian past
and indeed the Taino were a mixture
of various ethnic groups who arrived
in the Caribbean over thousands of
years from the Yucatan and South
America. Columbus did take note
however that there was a general sameness to their cultures from the Bahamas to Puerto Rico. Juan Bosch
states that one of Fray Pane’s first Indian converts to Christianity claimed that all the islands were called
Bohio (home). (7) Can we imagine that perhaps groups of people isolated in Caribbean for millennia with
similar material culture may have had a sense of unity, of being a people?
There are some who claim that the term Taino was coined from the Taino word NiTaino and was
applied to the indigenous people of the Caribbean by archeologists. However the term first appears in the
writings of Diego Alvarez Chanca a physician and companion of Christopher Columbus who claimed that
the Indians approached their boats yelling “Taino- Taino!”

The Africans never collectively called themselves African either. Yet many modern researchers
such as Haslip-Vieras insist that Caribbean peoples today are mostly African. Identifying with Taino,
which is synonymous with all Indigenous Caribbean people, is viewed as suspect and inauthentic.
Questions of authenticity are rather disturbing as no one has yet set the standard as to what is and what is
not Taino. What is certain today is that Caribbean people of Indigenous extraction call themselves Taino,
while others refer to all dark skinned people as African.
The people of Maguana have traditionally identified with both Indians and Africans. Why are
they so drawn to Native American culture and religiosity? Can an entire people be wrong about their
ancestry, their culture and customs, their origins? Or are they all collectively lying? In Maguana many
people identify as Afro-Indigenous and attribute their religious beliefs to both. But how can we be certain
of this racial and ethnic mixture?
Recent genetic DNA sequencing studies can and do shed light on this debate. Unlike history
genetics is a complete science. Mitochondrial DNA is passed down from a mother to her children and
unlike Autosomal DNA which recombines at a fast rate, mtDNA does not recombine easily. Haplogroups
are further divided into Halpo-types which are mutations which take upwards of two thousand
years to do so. Thus an American Indian from North America who is Haplo- group A can be easily
distinguished from a South American Indian of the same Haplo-group via his Halpo-type. All American
Indians descend from four halpo groups, A, B, C and D. These are found throughout the Western
Hemisphere. In the Dominican Republic one study found that Dominicans have 9 Native American
lineages via Haplo-group A alone. Of these 9 lineages 3 are said to have arrived via the slave trade during
the past 500 years. The other six lineages however are local mutations not found outside the Caribbean .
This study found that 33% of Dominicans had mtdna A (7). A similar study by Japanese geneticists
Tajima/Hamaguchi asserts the following “Thus, the maternal gene pool of the Dominican Republic
population may mainly consist of both Native American and African ancestries. (8)
African based syncretic religions such as Santeria traditionally utilize the names of
Catholic saints in place of names of their African deities, no doubt used as a survival strategy to
hide them from their oppressors. An obvious difference between Santeria and Agua Dulce for
example is that locals revere Indian spirits which use the names of Cacike’s such as Anacaona,
Caonabo, Guarionex etc. Further many of the spirits worshipped such as Anaina, Jibaro, Ercilia
Dasolei etc. appear to be post contact indigenous figures. It gives the impression that the
reverence for ancient Taino chieftains once held in this valley is still strong today. The
syncretism between Central African traditions and Taino is indeed strong as both peoples merged
in various degrees during the colonial period and created this beautiful blend of culture and ideas
Jan Lundius writes, “The San Juan Valley is the entire islands center for Indian worship; It
appears as if there are several historical reasons behind its elevated status. Hispaniola’s first
chronicler, Bartolome de las Casas, tells that Hispaniola was divided into five Taino
“kingdoms”. Of these Maguana was the biggest, and most influential, “a country, very
temperate and fertile”. When Columbus arrived, Maguana was governed by Caonabo, the most
powerful Cacike (chieftain) of the entire island, “who for power, Dignity and gravity,
ceremonies which were used towards him, far exceeded the rest.” (9)
The traditions that exist in this region and other isolated areas as well are very old. The
debate as to whether or not they are Indian will undoubtedly continue. But within this
community and others like it there is no debate. My personal opinion is that the principles of

Occam’s Razor can and be applied to this debate. A simple theory suggesting that perhaps Taino
people survived in isolated communities across the island, preserving scattered versions of their
many spiritual beliefs, food ways, planting ways, linguistics, genes etc makes more sense than
the total extinction model.
Dominican writer and philanthropist Manuel Garcia Arevalo says "The persistence of a
Taíno genetic component in contemporary Dominican life, along with the survival of certain
undeniably indigenous beliefs and traditions (kept alive in rural areas and passed along through
oral tradition) requires the recognition of a native substratum in our midst today” (10)
Amantina’s church which is visited daily by worshippers is a big, dimly lit room, with pictures of
saints and statues of the same. African Palo drums and Indian figurines are everywhere. Casabe, water
and stones are placed in the altar dedicated to Anacaona. Amantina repeatedly reminds us that Anacaona
is an Indian woman of the water. I am reminded of descriptions of Taino female deity, Atabeira by
Spanish chronicler Fray Ramon Pane. A footnote by Ulloa, In the Revised Antiquities of the Indians book
by Pane states “Atabeira (from atte the vocative for “mother” and the attached suffix beira “water”) is
the equivalent of mother of the waters.” (11) I cannot help but wonder if perhaps this Anacaona is in
reality the goddess Atabeira. Certainly it is worthy of a deeper study. Opiyelguabiran the so-called dog
deity for example was a deity which legend has it disappeared into a river when the Spanish arrived on
the island. Oral tradition tells us that this deity still makes his presence known. Although not revered he is
feared. Legends of “Indio del Charco” are attributed to him. “ Still today through 5 centuries this
quadruped cemi governs threads of the imagination of our campesinos. The story has transformed itself of
course. People from the interior swear that an Indian male or female combs its hair with a golden comb---
further…There is a small cave with a wide interior. In it lives a saint with four legs that comes out at
night to bathe…(12)
Every time Amantina speaks she rings a bell and sprays a sweet smelling mist. I am curious of the
bell and ask her why she does this and if she has always used a bell. “In the old days people used a
maraca, but later people found that the sound of the bell reaches god faster and changed and thus was
changed from maraca to bell.” She says.
We reach the stone. I light tobacco and
offer a prayer of gratitude for finally making it
to this sacred place and the reception we have
received. As we all stand there, it seems fitting
to gift Amantina my headdress. I check first
with my wife of course, who graciously agrees.
A light rain begins to fall. “ From this moment
on I will wear this headdress for every
ceremony that we hold for Anacaona. It is an
honor for me to receive such a beautiful gift!”
she exclaims. As the light rain stops, numerous strange ring patterns at least 20 feet in circumference
begin to appear everywhere. I wonder if perhaps it is some sort of fungi? But Amantina softly says
“Anacaona is very happy with you, the rain drops are tears of joy and the rings mark the spots where
ancestral bohios (homes) once stood.”
Looking deep into my eyes she says “Jorge, we have a lot of work to do here. You must return and
help me accomplish this. There are many secrets here. There are hermandades (brotherhoods) who are
keepers of many secrets and traditions. We are counting on you to return.” She hugs us all, turns and
walks away. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I know I will return.

1) Fray Ramon Pane- The Antiquities of the Indians p. 10- New edition with an introductory study, notes and appendices by Jose Juan
Arrom, tanslated by Susan G. Griswold-“And the woman Guabonito gave Albeborael Guayahona many guanimes and Cibas so that
he would wear them tied to his arms, for in those lands the cibas are made of stones very much like marble, and they wear the
guanimes in their ears.” (1)
2) Juan Bosch – Indios- Apuntos Historicos y Leyendas-
3) Martha Ellen Davis- "Papá Liborio: el santo vivo de Maguana-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dFTB9ij7ag
4) In “Reflections: Waiting for Columbus" by Alastair Reid in "The New Yorker" (February 24, 1992, pp. 57-75)
http://muweb.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/art/REID-01.ART
5) Taino Revival: Critical Perspectives on Puerto Rican Identity and Cultural Politics edited by Gabriel Haslip-Vieras
6) Searching for the Digital Ether- Maximillian Forte- http://www.tainolegacies.com/170582889 also Notes on the Indigenous
Caribbean Resurgence on the Internet. In “Indigenous Resrugence in the Contemporary Caribbean” Edited by Maximillian C. Forte
2006- by default iwhen so black is the default identity when writes “They are trying to evade their blackness Can anyone cite a
representative number of examples to support the assertion? If Indians with "one drop" of African blood are evading their
"blackness" by proclaiming themselves Indian, then what do we say of Africans with "one drop" of Indian blood who proclaim
themselves African?). Indeed, "black" is taken as the "normal", "natural", and unquestionable default identity of Caribbean peoples in
such arguments, and anyone claiming a distinct history must be motivated by a sinister, separatist agenda. Lurking in the background
are unexamined and thus unquestioned attachments to outdated ideas of assimilation and evolution, better suited to the era of
scientific racism than the post-colonial period.
7) Genetic Prints of Amerindian female migrations through the Caribbean revealed by control sequences from Dominican Haplo Group
A Mitochondrial DNA By Arlin Feliciano Vélez 2006
8) Genetic background of people in the Dominican Republic with or without obese type 2 diabetes revealed by mitochondrial DNA
polymorphism Tajima/ Hamaguchi
Received: 2 April 2004 / Accepted: 18 June 2004 / Published online: 5 August 2004 The Japan Society of Human Genetics and
Springer-Verlag 2004 p. 498
9) Jan Lundius- The Great Power of God in the San Juan Valley, Syncretism and Messianism in the Dominican Republic. p. 137
10) “Trans-culturation in the contact period and contemporary Columbian Consequences”, by Garcia Arevalo, 1990 page 275
11) Fray Ramon Pane- The Antiquities of the Indians p.4- New edition with an introductory study, notes and appendices by Jose Juan
Arrom, tanslated by Susan G. Griswold
12) Juan Bosch – Indios- Apuntos Historicos y Leyendas p. 41
13) Lynne Guitar Dr. Lynne Guitar in “Cultural Genesis: Relationships among Indians, Africans and Spaniards in Rural Hispaniola, first
half of the sixteenth century, page 315, 1998.