﻿ABORIGINES 
  OF 
  HISPANIOLA 
  KRIEGER 
  489 
  

  

  local 
  variation 
  within 
  the 
  Arawak 
  culture 
  horizon 
  from 
  the 
  stand- 
  

   point 
  of 
  time 
  sequence 
  and 
  culture 
  lag. 
  

  

  Martyr 
  wrote 
  in 
  his 
  De 
  Orbe 
  Novo 
  that 
  a 
  cave 
  population 
  similar 
  

   to 
  the 
  Guanahatabeyes, 
  "Ciboneys." 
  also 
  mentioned 
  by 
  Velasquez, 
  

   had 
  lived 
  on 
  the 
  southwestern 
  peninsula 
  of 
  Haiti. 
  Martyr 
  relates 
  

   that 
  "it 
  is 
  said 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  savanna 
  district 
  in 
  the 
  most 
  westerly 
  Prov- 
  

   ince 
  of 
  Guaccairima 
  (Xaragua) 
  inhabited 
  by 
  people 
  who 
  only 
  live 
  

   in 
  caverns 
  and 
  eat 
  nothing 
  but 
  the 
  products 
  of 
  the 
  forest. 
  They 
  have 
  

   never 
  been 
  civilized 
  nor 
  had 
  any 
  intercourse 
  with 
  any 
  other 
  races 
  of 
  

   men. 
  They 
  live, 
  so 
  it 
  is 
  said, 
  as 
  people 
  did 
  in 
  the 
  golden 
  age, 
  without 
  

   fixed 
  homes 
  or 
  crops 
  or 
  culture; 
  neither 
  do 
  they 
  have 
  a 
  definite 
  lan- 
  

   guage. 
  They 
  are 
  seen 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time, 
  but 
  it 
  has 
  never 
  been 
  possible 
  

   to 
  capture 
  one, 
  for 
  if, 
  whenever 
  they 
  come 
  they 
  see 
  anybody 
  other 
  

   than 
  natives 
  approaching 
  them, 
  they 
  escape 
  with 
  the 
  celerity 
  of 
  a 
  deer." 
  

   Las 
  Casas 
  lived 
  in 
  the 
  villages 
  of 
  the 
  extreme 
  southwestern 
  portion 
  

   of 
  the 
  island 
  in 
  the 
  Province 
  of 
  Xaragua. 
  He 
  did 
  not 
  see 
  the 
  cave 
  

   dwellers 
  described 
  by 
  other 
  writers, 
  but 
  reported 
  the 
  population 
  of 
  

   Xaragua 
  (the 
  present 
  Haitian 
  Province 
  of 
  Jeremie) 
  as 
  resembling 
  in 
  

   its 
  culture 
  the 
  Higuey 
  Indians 
  of 
  Santo 
  Domingo. 
  He 
  mentions 
  the 
  

   Ciboneys 
  as 
  being 
  a 
  primitive 
  group 
  living 
  in 
  the 
  mountains 
  of 
  the 
  

   interior 
  and 
  as 
  not 
  given 
  to 
  the 
  practice 
  of 
  agriculture 
  as 
  were 
  the 
  

   natives 
  of 
  the 
  central 
  valleys 
  and 
  coastal 
  plains. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  possible 
  that 
  Arawak 
  immig^rants 
  had 
  subjugated 
  these 
  earlier 
  

   people. 
  Las 
  Casas 
  believed 
  this 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  case 
  when 
  he 
  wrote, 
  

   referring, 
  however, 
  to 
  the 
  natives 
  of 
  Cuba, 
  that 
  the 
  "servants 
  sub- 
  

   jugated 
  by 
  the 
  invaders 
  from 
  Haiti 
  were 
  known 
  as 
  Ciboneyes." 
  

   These 
  Ciboneyes 
  of 
  western 
  Cuba 
  spoke 
  a 
  language 
  that 
  Columbus's 
  

   interpreters 
  from 
  the 
  Lucayan 
  Islands 
  could 
  not 
  understand. 
  

  

  Caves 
  were 
  used 
  by 
  the 
  island 
  Arawak, 
  however, 
  for 
  various 
  pur- 
  

   poses 
  such 
  as 
  temporary 
  dwelling 
  places, 
  as 
  ceremonial 
  chambers 
  for 
  

   expression 
  of 
  religious 
  cult, 
  as 
  burial 
  vaults, 
  and 
  for 
  shelter 
  from 
  their 
  

   enemies, 
  also 
  doubtless 
  for 
  several 
  other 
  purposes. 
  Spanish 
  wTiters 
  

   observed 
  that 
  fishermen 
  occupying 
  the 
  small 
  islands 
  off 
  the 
  coasts 
  of 
  

   Cuba 
  and 
  Haiti 
  were 
  subjects 
  of 
  the 
  superior 
  Taino 
  (Arawak) 
  but 
  

   that 
  they 
  did 
  not 
  live 
  in 
  caves. 
  

  

  HABITATIONS 
  

  

  The 
  dwellings 
  of 
  the 
  aboriginal 
  Haitians 
  resemble 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  

   highly 
  developed 
  tribes 
  of 
  tropical 
  South 
  America. 
  The 
  dwellings 
  

   of 
  the 
  Seminole 
  Indians 
  of 
  Florida, 
  also 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Florida 
  key 
  

   fishing 
  tribes, 
  were 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  type 
  and 
  were 
  not 
  like 
  the 
  pile 
  dwell- 
  

   ings 
  of 
  the 
  Warrau 
  of 
  the 
  Orinoco 
  lliver 
  delta, 
  which 
  represent 
  a 
  

   more 
  specialized 
  Vjuilding 
  tcchnic. 
  Isolated 
  remains 
  of 
  pile 
  dwellings 
  

   have 
  been 
  recovered 
  in 
  Cuba 
  by 
  Cosculluela 
  and 
  on 
  Key 
  Marco, 
  

   Florida, 
  by 
  Cushing. 
  

  

  