Caciques and Cemí idols the web spun by Taíno rulers between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico [electronic resources]
José R. Oliver.
- Tuscaloosa University of Alabama Press c2009.
- xviii, 306 p. ill., maps 25 cm.
- Caribbean archaeology and ethnohistory .
- Caribbean archaeology and ethnohistory .
Includes bibliographical references (p. [257]-279) and index.
Introduction -- Believers of Cemísm : who were the Taínos and where did they come from? -- Webs of interaction : human beings, other beings, and many things -- Personhood and the animistic Amerindian perspective -- Contrasting animistic and naturalistic worldviews -- The Cemí reveals its personhood and its body form -- Cemí idols and Taínoan idolatry -- Cemís and personal identities -- The power and potency of the Cemís -- The display of Cemís : personal vs. communal ownership, private vs. public function -- Face-to-face interactions : Cemís, idols, and the native political elite -- Hanging on to and losing the power of the Cemí idols -- The inheritance and reciprocal exchange of Cemí icons -- Cemís : alienable or inalienable; to give and to keep -- Stone collars, elbow stones, and caciques -- Ancestor Cemí and the Cemífication of the caciques -- The guaíza face masks : gifts of the living for the living -- The circulation of chief's names, women, and Cemís : between the greater and lesser Antilles -- Up in arms : Taíno freedom fighters in Higūey and Boriquén -- The virgin Mary icons and native Cemís : two cases of religious syncretism in Cuba -- Religious syncretism and transculturation : the crossroads toward new identities -- Final remarks.
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Taino Indians--Religion. Syncretism (Religion)--Hispaniola. Christianity and other religions--Hispaniola. Christianity and culture--Hispaniola. Icons--History.--Hispaniola Stone implements--History.--Hispaniola Indians of the West Indies--First contact with Europeans--Hispaniola. Taino Indians--Colonization. Taino Indians--Implements.