Taino Guayuko

DID YOU KNOW - The Spanish chronicler Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdez (1478-1507) recorded the word guayuko or guaiuko to refer to a type of breech cloth that was small and covered the genital area. A breechcloth (sometimes called Lioncloth) is a long rectangular piece of cloth. It is worn between the legs and tucked over a belt or cord, so that the flaps fell down in front and behind. In Boriken (Puerto Rico) the word was widely used in the rural areas and coastal cane fields and came to refer to an old pair of worn Khakis working pants up until around the 1950s. Although the term has largely fallen out of use some elders and language enthusiasts have kept the word alive. A similar term is nagua. Although the original Taíno term nagua referred to a breech cloth over the years it has come to refer to pantyhose and is sometimes also called enagua.- - UCTP Taino News © 2008