THE TAINO

RELIGION
CREATION STORY OF THE TAINO EXPLAINED

• The Taino believed they were descended from the primordial union of a male
“culture hero” Deminan (from the creation story above) and a female turtle.
In the above Taino mythology, the wife of Deminan- Turtle woman – was the
ancestral mother . Deminan is depicted as a male wearing a female turtle
carapace on his back.
 RELIGION

• Religion played a very important part in the lives of the Tainos.

• Their religion was a colorful mixture of nature and ancestral worship and protective magic.
They believed in many nature gods and ancestral spirits who controlled, wind, rain,
sickness, luck and misfortune.
• Each of these gods could be represented by a carved idol or zemi.
• These zemis could be made from wood, bone or shells and took the shape of human or
animal.
• Cotton zemis or zemi baskets held the bones of respected ancestors.
 THE WAY THEY WORSHIPPED

• Each village had its zemi house set aside from the other buildings.
• The priest and caciques entered this building to communicate with the gods and ancestral
spirits.
• Powdered tobacco (coyiaba- prayer) was burnt before the zemis.
• Cohoba ( a powder ground from seeds of trees native to south America and the Caribbean)
was also used to speak to the spirits.
• Sometimes it was taken by the priest to send them into a trance in which the spirits would
speak to them.
 BELIEFS IN THE AFTER LIFE

• They believed in a life-after death in Coyaba (heaven)

• The Taino believed that the soul left the body after death and wandered for a
while at night feeding on mammy apples.
• This unhappy time ended when the soul was miraculously carried to magical
islands in the south to join other souls.
 BURIALS

• The dead were usually buried under the house, but the caciques and other
high-ranking nobles were thought to be dangerous to the living.
• Night- flying creatures such as owls and bats were regarded as their
messengers.
 ASSIGNMENT

• Using your text describe the way in which the cacique will summon the
village for a religious ceremony?
• What was the Taino word for mother ?