Taino Body Stamps

Did You Know: With hand-crafted clay stamps, Taino people traditionally printed various designs on their bodies or on cotton cloth material. In a process comparable to temporary tattoos or henna-painting, pigments attained from plants such as Bija or Jagua and other natural resources were applied to the Taino stamps. The stamps were then pressed onto the body or cloth, imprinting the beautiful and varied designs. Body stamp designs could represent many concepts. While some designs could have a more traditional meaning among a certain community, others designs could be more of an individual expression. – UCTP Taino News © 2007

Behike

Did You Know - Among the Taino, the behike or shaman, was usually in charge of curing the ills in the community, thanks to his or her knowledge of medicinal plants and interaction with the spirit-world. Sometimes kasike (community leaders) took on a dual role of chief and medicine person. Kasike were also recorded as calling on behike for advice in major decisions affecting the well-being of the community. Alogn with the term behike (behique), other terms were used to identify this or a similar community role including bohitiu, buhiti, bohike, and piaie (piaman). -- UCTP Taino News © 2007

Image credit: Miguel Sague

Day of the Puerto Rican Indian

Did You Know - The official “Day of the Puerto Rican Indian” was inaugurated in a State Proclamation of the Interim Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Hon. Fernando Chardón, on the 12th day of August 1970. Recently, the autonomous municipality of Jayuya (Office of Tourism) in cooperation with local Taino represented with a community organization called CATTA-COOP Inc. has celebrated this day with a weekend of special presentations and programs entitled "La Jornada Indigena". - UCTP Taino News © 2007

Baseball

Did You Know - Baseball as sport has its origins in the Taino batu game played in Cuba and throughout the Caribbean. Spanish chroniclers who traveled to the islands during the conquest and colonization periods provide evidence of this activity. The batu game was played at the batei/batey (ball field/court/ceremonial ground) and players used a ball made of resin and shaped leaves. As recorded in Cuba, in some cases, this ball was hit with an instrument similar to an oar or spade. According to Cuban linguists there is a relation in the origin of the words bate (bat) and batear (hit) with the corresponding words batey and batu used by the Tainos. – UCTP Taino News © 2007

See also:

http://www.cubaheadlines.com/2007/07/02/4218/history_of_baseball_in_cuba.html

Mabodamaka

Did You Know - Kasike Mabodomaka was one of the Taíno leaders during the 16th century Indian Wars in Boriken (Puerto Rico). Mabodomaka’s Iukaieke (territory) extended through the present day pueblos of Camuy, Quebradillas, and Isabela. Before the European invasion this area was known as guahataka (Taíno for "The Water Ladle"). Local oral history states that when his warriors could no longer hold back the European invaders he led his people up the Guajataca River and disappeared into the Island's central mountain range. Route # 113 (Quebradillas - Isabela) has been renamed "Avenida Cacíque Mabodomaca" in honor of this great Kasike (Chieftain). - UCTP Taino News © 2007

Chico Spring: Taino Waterhole*

Did You Know - Chicho spring in Bayahibe, Dominican Republic is one of four individual caverns that makes up the "Padre Nuestro" complex, which is a series of water-containing sinkholes in limestone of the Pleistocene origin. The entrance of Chicho spring is a steep slop that descends 25m to a freshwater pool in an underground chamber. The chamber is 30m wide and 20m high and has some sunlight in the mouth of the cave during the day. The underwater pool itself is 8m wide by 20m long and has depths of 8m. The spring has no measurable flow and little runoff resulting in little sedimentation. It has crystal clear water that stays a constant 25 C year round. Currently the complex is used by a local resort for its water source, but this site was also used long ago by the local Taino people for gathering fresh water. Archaeologist used scuba equipment to help them with excavations in Chicho spring. They collected artifacts on several reconnaissance dives, producing an assemblage of 30 ceramic pieces. All of the ceramics are bottle forms and the assemblage included one intact vessel. Taino water bottles in the southeastern region of Dominican Republic are typically heart-shaped with zoomorphic or anthropomorphic heads attached on both sides. This bottle form is locally known as potiza and 28 of the ceramics followed this form. The artifact seen above is relatively simple, but the more elaborate potizas in museum collections show that the two lobes actually represent female breasts and is termed mammiform. The two non-potiza ceramics recovered were pieces of bottles with different forms, one with a double-bulbous form and one with a modeled, figurine-like body. - - UCTP Taino News © 2007

*See more photos of the ceramics excavated at Chico Spring at:http://lisahopwood.com/ceramicphotos.html