MAISI

Did You Know – The Taino word for corn is maisi or mais (maiz), which is the origin of the word “maize”. While not as important as yuka (manioc/cassava), it was a significant food source found throughout the Caribbean islands in several varieties. Traditionally, corn was eaten, roasted, off the cob as well as ground into meal. According to Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, it seems that cornbread was not as favored as it molded faster than bread made from yuka. Some chroniclers stated that Taino drank a fermented corn beverage called chicha as well as a fermented yuka beverage called uiku.  A traditional Taino form of boiled corn dumpling called guanime is still made today in various forms. – UCTP Taino News © 2012

Boriken’s 1777 Census

Did You Know – Puerto Rican Historian Salvador Brau noted that a census taken in Boriken (Puerto Rico), in the year 1777, estimated a population of 1,756 “pure Indians” in the area known as “Las Indieras (Indian Lands)”. Today, it is generally agreed that this area encompasses the contemporary municipality of Maricao and surrounding areas. Maricao is still known as the "Pueblo de las Indieras (Town of Indian Settlements)" – UCTP Taino News © 2012

ANAMU

Did You Know - Anamu is the Taino name for a tropical plant (Petiveria allliacea) found throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, and Florida. The leaves of the Anamu plant can be used fresh or dried and made into an herbal tea, or they can be chewed.  Anamu produces a strongly pungent leaf and root; it is known for its distinct garlic-like smell. Throughout the Caribbean and beyond Anamu is used as a natural remedy for many physical ills and certain medical conditions including arthritis, skin conditions, intestinal gas, sinus problems, pain, and even cancer. Local oral traditions claim that Anamu has the ability to ward off bats, insects, and mischievous Spirits.  – UCTP Taino News © 2012

*Disclaimer: Any reference to medicinal use is not intended to treat, cure, or prevent disease. Please check with your doctor or health care professional before using.

Meals Among the Taino

Did You Know - During first contact with Europeans, many Taino communities generally observed four meals a day including breakfast, an afternoon meal, an evening meal, and a night meal. Spanish chronicler, Bartolome De Las Casas noted that between the evening and night meal, some Taino took an emetic, and went to a nearby river to purge themselves. Following this they would devote their attention to the nightly meal as well as to dancing and refreshments. Christopher Columbus remarked on how Kasike (Chief) Guakanagari and his people washed their hands with certain herbs after they shared a meal together. - UCTP Taino News © 2012   

*Illustration by Modesto Garcia.

World Water Day 2012

DID YOU KNOW - Water = Atl (Nahua), Ba’am (Yaqui), Ba’huí ,(Rarámuri), Hitya (Né Cha’ cñâ), Intáwi (Matlatzinca), Itsi (P’urépecha), Ja’ (Kiliwa), Nandá (Mazateco), Neppi (Kikapú)(Kikaapoa), Niza (Zapoteco), Sudagi (O’odham), Xkán (Hamaispini), Ama (Cherokee), Ko (Mapuche), Kuuyi (Hopi), Kóh (Jicarilla Apache), Tú (Navajo), Tuu (Atna), Tó (Carrier), Chuu (Gwich’in), To (Hoopa), Tutlxut (Tolowa), Mni (Lakota), Miri (Hidatsa), Bili (Crow), Ni (Osage), Nin (Ioway, Otoe and Missouri), Nippee (Shawnee), Sukquohana( Powhatan), Nebi (Abenaki), Nupi (Mohegan), Mbi (Delaware), Aohkíí (Blackfoot), Mahpe (Cheyenne), Nipiy (Cree), Nibi (Ojibway), Baa’(Shoshone), Oka (Choctaw), Ohneka (Mohawk), Gántl ( Haida), Hin (Tlingit), Tstoóxo (Sanish), Kiítsu' (Pawnee), Oni (Lokono), Ni (Taino)... UCTP Taino News 2012

Kasabi: Bread made from iuka (yuca)

DID YOU KNOW: Traditionally, bread made from iuka or cassava is known in the Taíno language as kasabi or kasabe. It was created by grating iuka (yuca, cassava/manioc) flour into flat disks and roasting them on flat ceramic griddles called burén over a cooking fire. Today, the baking of kasabi, now more commonly called kasabe, is modernized for increased production, but it is still presented in the original flat, round style. Whether made from bitter or sweet varieties of iuka/manioc, kasabi is known to preserve exceedingly well with a preservative-free shelf life of about 8 months. In the time of the ancient Taino, it was taken on long journeys over land and sea without spoiling, providing a sometimes a much-needed burst of carbohydrates. The bitter cassava is said to produce a kind of kasabi that was virtually “unassailable by vermin” since it retained a small amount of hydrocyanic toxin harmless to humans but harmful or deadly to insects and rodents. Hab jao (jab jao) is the Taíno name still given to the thinnest kasabi in Kiskeia (Dominican Republic). According to Taino tradition hab hao or hau hau (xau xau) was reserved for community leaders and dignitaries. Since the 1970s, kasabe production in Kiskeia has expanded the availability of this ancient Taino culinary tradition from the local to international markets. - © 2012 UCTP Taino News

References

De las Casas, B. (1875). Historia de las Indias (Vol. 1). Imprenta de Miguel Ginesta. (Original work written 1559–1561).

Rouse, I. (1992). The Taínos: Rise and decline of the people who greeted Columbus. Yale University Press.