ETHNOLOGY OF THE CIGUAYAN" INDIANS 27 



eastern Brazil occur caves that were formerly used as shelters by 

 groups of hunters. Caves on the island of Trinidad yielded no 

 skeletal remains, although caves on the island of Jamaica contained 

 burials. No burials were found in the caves of Samana, although 

 rock-cleft burials on near-by islands were uncovered by the Museum 

 expedition. 



HISTORICAL NOTES ON THE ETHNOLOGY OF THE CIGUAYAN INDIANS 



OF SAMANA 



During his first voyage to the New World Columbus heard of the 

 island of Haiti while cruising westward along the north shore of 

 Cuba. Lucayan Indians from the island of " Guanahani," where 

 Columbus had first landed, accompanied him as interpreters and 

 guides on the interisland voyage which followed. As their speech 

 was Arawak, which was understood throughout the Bahamas and the 

 Greater Antilles, their services were of great value. They informed 

 Columbus that land existed on the southwest, northwest, and the 

 southeast. By this they obviously referred to the islands of the 

 Greater Antilles and to Florida. 



Their repeated references to a land lying to the east as being 

 rich in gold influenced Columbus to turn about and to sail his 

 caravels eastward. The high mountains of the island of Haiti 

 were soon seen looming in the distance. The Lucayan guides now 

 assured Columbus that the land sighted was inhabited by cannibals, 

 while the land itself was referred to as Bohio, the meaning of which 

 has been variously interpreted.^^ 



More than a month elapsed from the time that Columbus first 

 landed at Cape St. Nicholas, the extreme northwestern point of 

 Haiti, until he had completed exploration of the 400 miles of its 

 northern coast and entered the Bay of Samana in January, 1493. In 

 the meantime he had suffered shipwreck of one of his caravels, the 

 S(mta Maria., near Cape Haytien. The large native village of 

 Guarico was located about 2 miles from the scene of the shipwreck. 

 Goacanagaric, the cacique of the northern native Province of Marien, 



15 The term " cannibal " originated through a mispronunciation of the Indian name 

 Kalina, or Carina and Caripuna, later corrupted into the term Carib by the transference 

 of the letters I and p into r and h. The island of Haiti was also referred to as Quis- 

 queya — that is, the mainland. The native Arawak term Aiti, or Haiti, appears also to 

 have been generally applied to the island by natives speaking the Arawak language. 

 Haiti signifies mountainous country or high land, and in this sense the term was also 

 applied to a subprovince of eastern Magua. The native name Cuba became Juana to the 

 Spanish, and the island of Boriquen was renamed Porto Rico. Haiti gradually became 

 known by the same name which the Spanish had given to their capital city, namely, Santo 

 Domingo. Columbus had renamed the island of Haiti Espaiiola. This word was later 

 corrupted into Hispaniola. Modern practice is to again use the native term Haiti when 

 referring to the entire island but to apply the term San Domingo when referring to 

 the Dominican Republic. 



