On the Huecoid

 

Watching this old but interesting documentary on the Huecoid on the Youtube channel of Gerardo M. Piñero Cádiz was quite interesting. Luis Chanlatte Baik himself appears in this, explaining his work on the first Huecoid site identified back in the 1970s. While his theory of an Andean origin for the Huecoid needs more evidence, it is interesting to noe the amulets or pendants with a condor-like bird holding a human head does have a long pedigree in Andean cultures. Perhaps the Huecoid really were of Andean origin or were influenced by Andean cultures to some extent, before migrating to Puerto Rico and Vieques over 2000 years ago? And if evidence from the lithics can be relied upon, the Huecoid truly were a distinct tradition from the Saladoid who appear to have Arawakan speakers from Venezuela. Were the Huecoid representatives of another language family besides Arawakan? 

Speculating on Xaragua Demographics

While perusing Repartimientos y encomiendas en la Isla Española: El repartimiento de Albuquerque de 1514 by Luis Arranz Márquez, we decided to speculate on what the population of areas associated with the former cacicazgo of Xaragua may have been before 1514. Obviously, there are severe problems and limitations with the data. For instance, Anderson-Cordova's totals for the 3 areas we are considering here as part of the former Xaragua was only 3554. However, the data as presented by Arranz Márquez gives a somewhat higher total for Yaquimo, La Sabana (perhaps more autonomous due to its distance) and La Vera Paz, 3625. One must also remember that some of the indigenous population in this part of Hispaniola may have been relocated to areas closer to mining operations. While the 1517 Interrogatory found forced relocation to be something severely resisted by the Indians, causing them to rebel, flee to the mountains or threaten to commit suicide, some indigenous peoples were probably forcibly relocate during the initial phases of conquest. Of course, the brutal Spanish conquest of Xaragua under Ovando must have similarly lowered the area's population through slaughter and fleeing populations. That raises another issue, too, since some of the population may have fled to other islands or other inaccessible areas and were not formally enumerated in repartimiento statistics.

That said, looking at population data for 3 areas associated with the former cacicazgo of Xaragua in 1514 might offer suggestions for its population before 1492. We know from Spanish sources that it was considered the most powerful chiefdom on the island before the Spanish conquest. Xaragua would have been able to support a relatively large population through its use of irrigation canals, too. That would have been necessary to support Xaragua's unusually large nitaino population. Indeed, the very name Xaragua, according to Granberry and Vescelius, means Lake Country. The "Taino" are known to have relied heavily on seafood as well as some of the fauna that would have also lived in the lakes and rivers. Furthermore, according to Oviedo, Xaragua still had large villages in the 1510s. When he first visited the area in 1515, Oviedo reported large villages near Lake Azuei. While Oviedo may have exaggerated the population capacity of Taino villages or aldeas in the precolonial period, there was undoubtedly a large concentration of people in the area of Xaragua. The combination of lakes, rivers, access to the sea, irrigation, large cotton production, and larger than average "elite" population make this seem likely.

So, how does one interpret that demographic past with the sad statistics of 1514? If 3554-3625 is a rough estimate of what the Indian population of that part of Hispaniola was in 1514, then what would the population in precolonial times have been? Surely, it must have been orders of magnitude greater. While the aDNA evidence of precontact remains by David Reich et al suggest a population of the island in the tens of thousands, we find it likely that Xaragua could have supported at least two or three times more (probably even more) people before the Spanish conquest. Indeed, using the number of caciques (plus 1 nitaino) reported in the 1514 Repartimiento, one finds 85 for the region of what once comprised Xaragua. According to Las Casas, writing from memory as an elderly man, Xaragua before Spanish rule had 100-200 nitainos. Supposedly the Spaniards under Ovando's leadership also massacred around 80 nitaino when they killed Anacaona. If that is accurate, assuming Las Casas remembered correctly, but 60-70 Spaniards married women from among the elite of Xaragua in Vera Paz. Yet, in 1514, Vera Paz only had 24 caciques (25 if you count the nitaino). Yaquimo had 40 caciques while Sabana had 21. If these numbers are added up, you have a total of 86 "caciques (including 1 nitaino who functioned as a cacique). Due to the unspecified breakdown of Xaragua's caciques and the caciques to their south and southwest, we can only guess that the core of Xaragua may have had 100+ caciques. The lesser caciques may have been counted as nitainos by Las Casas, though we have no evidence for that.

Moreover, in 1514, there was an average of about 43 people per cacique in the three areas considered here as part of the chiefdom. In preconquest times, when Xaragua had more caciques and a higher population, each cacique ruling over an aldea or yucayeque probably included at least 100-150 in his community. Francisco Moscoso, in his detailed study of "Taino" demographics in Puerto Rico, reached some conclusions which may be worth applying to the Haitian case, too. For example, assuming the figure of Las Casas for an average yucayeque being around 2500 (unlikely to be true in all parts of the Greater Antilles), and each cacique ruled over an aldea, Puerto Rico's population may have reached as high as 110,000 (assuming the number of 44 caciques is accurate). If we assume that each cacique ruled an aldea of around 2500 for Xaragua in precolonial times, then we can easily reach figures of 60,000 for the "core" part of the chiefdom. For the other two sections, again assuming each cacique had a community of 2500, we would quickly reach numbers that are contradicted by the genetic data for population estimates (over 200,000 people living in western Hispaniola, or Haiti's Ouest and Sud departments).

However, applying the lower range of estimates used by Moscoso might bring us closer to the demographic realities of Xaragua. If the paramount chiefs ruled aldeas of 2500 or more but the regional caciques headed communities of 500-1000, Puerto Rico's "Taino" population may have been around 44,000. Applying those same figures to Xaragua's "core" area with 24 "caciques" (23 times 500, plus 2500 for the paramount cacique's community) gives a figure of 14,000. Of course, one must remember that the Spaniards had killed Anacaona and a large segment of Xaragua's nitaino. Perhaps the center of the chiefdom had a population greater than this. Nonetheless, a figure of 14,000 for the "core" province of Xaragua with about 24 caciques would mean each cacique ruled an average of 583 people. That is probably still too high. Including Yaquimo's 40 caciques, associating each with a community of about 500 people, leads to an estimate of 20,000, which is also likely far too high. Instead, we must apply different formulas to arrive at a possible estimate. If our 43 people per cacique in 1514 is any reliable estimate, we may be safer tripling that number in precolonial times to reach more accurate estimates. If, say, there were around 129 people per cacique before the Spanish conquest, then perhaps the total population of Xaragua would have been around 18, 207, including about 7500 people living in larger settlements associated with the most powerful caciques in Xaragua  (Behechio's settlement), Yaquimo, and the area of La Sabana. 

Overall, we are still not sure what the population of Xaragua may have been before its fall. We believe the "core" could have possibly supported a large, extensive population. That area, which presumably lost quite a few of its caciques during the violent conquest, may have had several thousands of people living there. The whole chiefdom, extending it to the southeast and southwest (Haiti's Sud) may have had over 18,000 people although that is a very rough estimate. We are assuming that the average population in an area per cacique in 1514 can be tripled to reach very tentative figures. If we went with a less conservative approach that assumed a population of 5 times as many people per cacique in the precolonial era, Xaragua may have had over 20,000 people, which is not unlikely given its influence and wealth. Unfortunately, the lack of a more detailed breakdown or reliable accounts of Xaragua make all this guesswork. It is also possible that the system of repartimientos elevated the number of caciques in some areas (Yaquimo) or lowered it in others, or perhaps some nitainos became caciques in the Spanish system. 

Indigenous Ancestry

Like everyone else, we succumbed to genetic testing. Using AncestryDNA, which is said to sometimes inflate the indigenous ancestry of people with roots in the Spanish Caribbean, we found we do indeed possess "Amerindian" ancestry from the Caribbean. Playing around with GEDMatch has led me to think the "hacked" score of around 7% for Indigenous Puerto Rico may be more accurate than the 9% assigned in the official AncestryDNA results. Overall, this is not surprising. If the average Puerto Rican, according to studies by researchers, possesses around 14 or 15% indigenous ancestry, then someone who is half Puerto Rican will probably inherit some of that. 

We suspect the Bolivia & Peru ancestry detected at 1% might just be from the indigenous Caribbean ancestry. After reading studies on the "Taino" genome and their relations to South America, including the around 14% Ceramic-related ancestry found in Puerto Ricans, we found allusions to some degree of overlap with populations in Andean South America. While the genetic, linguistic, and archaeological evidence points to an origin among Arawakan-speaking groups of the Amazon region, the "Taino" also overlaps with other South American populations. Indeed, one study found links between pre-contact ceramic Puerto Rico and Amazonia and the Andes, although the strongest similarities in terms of mtDNA variation and haplotype frequency was with Eastern Tukanoan groups. What surprised us is that Ancestry reported the Bolivia & Peru was inherited from both parents. Perhaps our Haitian mother does indeed have very distant indigenous ancestry? 

Playing with GEDmatch also pointed to some "Amerindian" ancestry. Various admixture calculations suggest about 6-7% indigenous Americas ancestry, and the "archaic" matches did point to indigenous people in Brazil. Autosomal DNA comparison with the kit for an indigenous woman of the Bahamas who lived around 1000 years ago showed very minor connections, with the longest segment at 6.7 cm for a match. G25 simulated coordinates also included a prehistoric Brazil sample. This all seems about right, although I am sure I do not have mtDNA or Y-DNA haplogroups of indigenous ancestry. Indeed, playing around with raw data suggested J for Y-DNA, which also seems about right. Alas, sub-Saharan African ancestry is never easy to analyze here...

Languages of the Pre-Columbian Antilles

The collaboration of Julian Granberry and Gary Vescelius produced a short but very readable analysis of the languages of the precolonial Caribbean. Determined to see how linguistic evidence can be of assistance with tracking external and internal migration in the archipelago based on archaeological and ethnohistoric evidence, Languages of the Pre-Columbian Antilles proposes a few general theories. First, that the earliest Archaic population in the Antilles came from Central America, possibly speaking a Tolan language. A possible remnant of this ancient language presence might be attested in Hispaniola among the Ciguayo, whose word for gold, tuob, indicates a possible connection with that language family. Quisqueya, one of the indigenous names of the island of Haiti may also shouw a connection to Eastern Tol languages of Honduras. Of course, we lack enough words from the language spoken by the Ciguayo of Hispaniola to actually know for sure. But it's an interesting idea, considering the archaeological evidence of a movement of Central Americans from the area of Belize/Honduras into the West Indies in prehistoric times. Granberry and Vescelius also propose a movement of a population speaking a language related to Warao, a language isolate of Venezuela. This movement happened after the movement of Central Americas into the Antilles, and may have survived in the Macorix language, still spoken in parts of Hispaniola when the Spanish arrived (although not restricted to only Hispaniola). 

The authors then propose the movement of Arawakan speakers after this period, who spoke a language from the Northwest branch of Maipuran languages, closer to Goajiro than, say, Lokono and the Northeast branch. Over time, the expansion of Arawakan speakers into the Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles led to the replacement of the Warao-like language or a new, creolized form of the Arawakan tongue, which became the Taino language. Evidence for a pre-Taino Warao-related language is also lacking enough evidence to support, but words like duho or duhu in Taino appear to be derived from the Warao word for stools or sitting. Similarly, the word for gold, nozay, in the Lucayan Islands may be related to the Modern Warao term for gold. According to Granberry, this Warao-influenced Arawakan language was the "Ciboney" tongue used in Cuba, western Hispaniola, probably Jamaica and the Lucayan islands. The language we call Classic Taino, however, was the universal tongue and appears to have been in a process of expansion into Cuba right before the Spanish conquest. As for the Guanahatabey of Cuba, Granberry and Vescelius accept the theory of their Archaic origins, which implies they may have spoken one of the pre-Arawak languages of the Antilles.

Trying to connect language shifts with ceramic styles and lithics can be fraught with danger. Sometimes languages spread or change without necessarily correlating with ceramic styles or other aspects of material culture. In that regard, we are unsure how to interpret the theory of a Meillacoid ceramics style and Chican being signs of distinct languages. In addition, we wonder about the power of Xaragua in western Hispaniola, which was considered by Las Casas to have spoken the most refined form of the universal language of the island. If that language was Taino, and they spoke the most refined form of it while also being considered the most powerful cacicazgo of the island, does that not imply a strong or influential Classic Taino influence in the western parts of Hispaniola? Nevertheless, Granberry and Vescelius's study, despite its very limited data to support their ideas of Tolan and Warao-like languages in the ancient Great Antilles, raise a number of interesting insights. For instance, using toponyms to postulate where the first inhabitants of the Lucayans came from (Cuba and Hispaniola) is an interesting idea that can be supported with archaeological evidence. Furthermore, the adoption of the Warao duhu for what is one of the most important signs of chiefly power and ceremonial uses in Taino civilization is certainly interesting, even if no other Taino words related to chiefly power or spirituality have a link to Warao.

Likewise, the fact that Eyeri or Lesser Antilles Arawakan language was closer to Northeast Arawakan languages on the South American mainland, a pattern still evident in the Garifuna language which descends from, illustrates the huge linguistic diversity in the precolonial period. A few other instances of specific words that do not demonstrate clear Arawak affinities or archival sources might have further strengthened some of the ideas proposed by the authors. For example, Oviedo's reference to the use of the word "eracra" for bohio or house by the Indians of the island of Haiti should have been examined to see if it shows any similarities with Warao or Central American tongues. And the explanation of the prefix maku and the definition of Macorix or Macorix could have been expanded upon for understanding references to "Macurijes" in other parts of the Great Antilles, such as Cuba. If Macurijes in Cuba during the second half of the 16th century did not speak Taino, was it a Warao language? Or were they speaking what the authorss considered "Ciboney" instead? It is difficult to know, although the idea of Macorix implying a non-Arawakan language is an interesting one. It might be worthwhile to also look into languages in Florida the coast of Panama and Colombia for possible connections with other cultures the Greater Antilles peoples were in contact with.

Cahokia

Cahokia: Ancient America’s Great City on the Mississippi by Timothy R. Pauketat serves as an adequate introduction to the precolonial metropolis known today as Cahokia. A site we hope to one day visit, Pauketat's book analyzes the history and, to a certain extent, the history of the archaeologists who have worked at the site. With its impressive mounds, or pyramids, (including one of the largest in the Americas) and evidence of complex rituals, social stratification or ranks, long-distance trade and contacts and its legacy in the Mississippian cultures, Cahokia was an impressive civilization. Lamentably, as one might expect, the site has not been respected by 19th and 20th century Euroamericans, whose plows, construction, highways, and subdivisions have destroyed parts of Cahokia and related sites at St. Louis and East St. Louis. 

Nonetheless, the impressive remains that have been salvaged and continue to be an area of study for archaeologists have shown the rise of a city or urban complex at Cahokia beginning around the year 1050. Pauketat proposes a connection with the supernova visible in the sky in the year 1054, an astronomical observation that must have been noticed by indigenous peoples like those who built Cahokia. After all, their Woodhenge was also associated with astronomical alignments and significance related to the cosmos. The supernova and the chronology we have for Cahokia's rise and fall, built on what used to be a smaller village site, suggest its influence spread far and wide in the Plains, Midwest, and South. While not unique for the construction of mounds, the scale of Cahokia's mounds, the large numbers of sacrificial victims found at the site, and vastness with villages peopled by inhabitants from distant areas suggest at least some degree of political centralization. The labor costs for the mounds, plaza, and the food and supplies to feed the area at its zenith, which was at least 10,000 in the urban area, must have also been an additional area the city's elites expressed their power. Religion, the human sacrifices at the mounds, and perhaps Cahokian traders, colonists, and chunkey games seem to have played a prominent role here, too, helping to establish Cahokia's influence across a huge swath of the North American continent and influencing subsequent indigenous cultures.

Ultimately, there is a lot we don't know about the site. The various oral traditions, legends, linguistic data, and finds from other sites in North America are all utilized in this source to construct a possible/plausible history of Cahokia. Was it a powerful kingdom perhaps influenced by Mesoamerica? No irrefutable evidence has been found yet, but common references and symbolism in Native American cultures either descended from Cahokia or influenced by it with Mesoamerican traditions are suggestive. If Cahokia was the center from which Mesoamerican influences may have spread further in North America, then perhaps people from Cahokia really did travel to Mexico in the 11th century (or Mesoamericans traveled north?). Further evidence is required to verify, but this idea of Mesoamerican influences brought to mind the past scholarship on the Taino and possible contacts with Mesoamerica in the precolonial period. The indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles, for instance, had some overlap with Mesoamerican art and religious practices according to Puerto Rican scholars and theorists such as Eugenio Fernandez Mendez. Perhaps there was some sort of "moment" around the 11th century or so that witnessed direct or indirect relations between Mesoamerica and the Caribbean as well as Mesoamerican and what is now the United States?

The Indian in Haitian Consciousness

Léon-François Hoffmann's chapter in Haitian Fiction Revisited, "The Indian Element in the Haitian Collective Consciousness" is an interesting essay on an important topic that is often overlooked or neglected. While the theme of the Indian in Spanish Caribbean literature and history has received a far more thorough treatment and analysis, the role of the indigenous past and its legacy in Haitian identity and literature is not often discussed. This, of course, is partly a reflection of the greater presence and legacy of the indigenous Caribbean in places like Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Nonetheless, as the first independent state in the Caribbean and one that revived the indigenous name for the island while also pioneering historical research into this indigenous past by 19th century Caribbean authors (Nau, for instance), Haiti deserves a second look in this topic.

Hoffmann's chapter endeavors to do this, mainly through an analysis of the function and character of the Indian theme in Haitian poetry, drama, fiction and, to a lesser extent, ethnology and history. Hoffmann's occasionally ironic commentary on some of the more extreme claims by Haitian authors of a Taino influence in Vodou or Haitian culture more broadly reflect his likely reasonable skepticism, particularly in the penchant of some Haitian authors to make these claims without presenting a shred of evidence. Nonetheless, he was not so dismissive in its entirety, merely pointing out some of the problematic assertions of Alexis, Maya Deren, and the fanciful or imaginative nature of claims of a Taino influence. One wishes he offered a more thorough analysis of Hermann Corvington's "historical vulgarizations" on the island's indigenous caciques, especially since those texts are so difficult to find today. However, he also found traces of the island's indigenous people in Haitian poetry that alluded to the use of zemis in Vodou, although this in itself does not mean Vodou practices were influenced by living Tainos. Still, the intriguing literary references show that the Haitian, including those from non-elite backgrounds, likely possessed some degree of interest in the island's precolonial inhabitants. 

One wishes the author had also addressed the claim by some Haitian authors to Indian ancestry a little more deeply. Madiou, Comhaire-Sylvain, and others, for example, seem worthy of mention and some attempt at historical analysis to understand how and why identification as "Indian" appealed to some Haitians, too. The political implications of specific uses of the "Indian" theme in Haitian literature and politics may also be worthy of deeper study. Especially, in 1983, the Duvalier regime's attempt to create an Indian-themed national holiday and to commemorate that legacy with a statue to the Unknown Indian in the capital. Yet, a few years later, when the Duvalier regime fell, the statue honoring the Indian was also toppled alongside that of Columbus. Was the Duvalier dictatorship's attempt to capitalize on the island's Indian past and legacy a move to gain legitimacy and establish its legitimacy, which was under challenge and then rejected by the masses of Port-au-Prince? And were moments of parallelism and identification with Indians particularly their tragic history, linked to the US Occupation of Haiti and other moments when a Haitian government was perceived as too eager to serve imperialist interests? There is a lot to consider here, and perhaps, one day, the "Indian" them will be revisited in a similar broad context.

Hacked DNA Results

Well, although it's so small that it wasn't included with their DNA Origins or Ethnicity estimates, our Haitian parent did possess trace amounts of  Indigenous Americas ancestry. At only 0.26%, it could be an error or perhaps some remnant of very distant indigenous origins. It was likely Taino or indigenous Caribbean, but the algorithm used by Ancestry labelled it as Bolivia & Peru. For what it's worth, a few of the DNA matches from the same part of Haiti also had trace Indigenous Americas ancestry, but closer to 1% or sometimes slightly higher. So, overall, the Haitian is overwhelmingly of African origin but sometimes with significant French or European ancestry. None of this is surprising, although I do wonder why some geneticists reported our part of Haiti as having an oral tradition of native ancestry.