﻿ABORIGINES 
  OF 
  HISPANIOLA 
  KEIEGER 
  497 
  

  

  decorated 
  appropriately 
  in 
  paint 
  and 
  feathers. 
  This 
  applied 
  not 
  only 
  

   to 
  the 
  men, 
  as 
  the 
  women 
  were 
  also 
  given 
  to 
  painting 
  their 
  bodies. 
  

   All 
  had 
  their 
  arms, 
  and 
  legs 
  from 
  the 
  knees 
  down, 
  covered 
  with 
  orna- 
  

   ments 
  of 
  shell 
  which 
  rattled 
  as 
  they 
  moved. 
  The 
  cacique 
  entered 
  the 
  

   zemi 
  house 
  where 
  the 
  shamans 
  were 
  preparing 
  the 
  zemi 
  and 
  sat 
  down 
  

   on 
  a 
  stool 
  at 
  the 
  entrance. 
  He 
  then 
  began 
  beating 
  the 
  extended 
  

   lateral 
  surface 
  of 
  a 
  hollowed 
  wooden 
  drum 
  which 
  was 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  a 
  

   man's 
  arm 
  and 
  resembled 
  a 
  calabash 
  with 
  a 
  long 
  neck. 
  Another 
  form 
  

   had 
  H 
  -shape 
  and 
  rectangular 
  holes 
  cut 
  bilaterally 
  through 
  the 
  thin 
  

   wooden 
  walls. 
  Oviedo 
  described 
  such 
  drums 
  as 
  making 
  a 
  "bad 
  

   noise. 
  " 
  

  

  After 
  purging 
  themselves 
  by 
  vomiting 
  produced 
  by 
  thrusting 
  a 
  

   swallowing 
  stick 
  of 
  carved 
  manatee 
  rib 
  down 
  their 
  throats, 
  the 
  

   villagers 
  began 
  a 
  ceremonial 
  chanting 
  while 
  squatting 
  before 
  the 
  zemi. 
  

   Women 
  appeared 
  carrying 
  baskets 
  of 
  bread, 
  which 
  was 
  first 
  offered 
  to 
  

   the 
  zemi 
  and 
  then 
  distributed 
  among 
  the 
  celebrants, 
  who 
  carried 
  the 
  

   portions 
  back 
  to 
  their 
  huts 
  as 
  a 
  powerful 
  amulet 
  against 
  hurricanes 
  

   and 
  other 
  disasters. 
  The 
  singing 
  of 
  "arietos," 
  epics 
  in 
  honor 
  of 
  the 
  

   cacique 
  and 
  liis 
  ancestors, 
  occurred 
  both 
  on 
  this 
  occasion 
  and 
  at 
  other 
  

   social 
  gatherings. 
  The 
  musical 
  maraca, 
  a 
  closed 
  hollow 
  reed 
  or 
  

   wooden 
  cylinder 
  pierced 
  transversely 
  with 
  wooden 
  rods 
  against 
  

   which 
  pebbles 
  were 
  shaken 
  in 
  rhythm 
  accompanied 
  the 
  recital 
  of 
  the 
  

   arietos. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  reference 
  in 
  the 
  literature 
  to 
  the 
  aboriginal 
  use 
  in 
  

   Haiti 
  of 
  flutes 
  and 
  of 
  pan's-pipes 
  as 
  in 
  South 
  America 
  beyond 
  the 
  

   Amazon. 
  

  

  Not 
  all 
  zemis 
  or 
  aboriginal 
  deities 
  were 
  of 
  the 
  sort 
  described 
  in 
  the 
  

   ceremony. 
  Fewkes 
  classifies 
  the 
  several 
  forms 
  thus 
  : 
  "The 
  name 
  was 
  

   apparently 
  applied 
  to 
  anything 
  supposed 
  to 
  have 
  magic 
  power. 
  The 
  

   dead 
  or 
  the 
  spirits 
  of 
  the 
  dead 
  were 
  called 
  by 
  the 
  same 
  term. 
  The 
  

   designation 
  applied 
  both 
  to 
  the 
  magic 
  power 
  of 
  the 
  sky, 
  the 
  earth, 
  the 
  

   sun, 
  and 
  the 
  moon, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  tutelary 
  ancestors 
  of 
  clans. 
  

   Zemis 
  were 
  represented 
  symbolically 
  by 
  several 
  objects, 
  among 
  which 
  

   may 
  be 
  mentioned 
  (1) 
  stone 
  or 
  wooden 
  images, 
  (2) 
  images 
  of 
  cotton 
  

   and 
  other 
  fabrics 
  inclosing 
  bones, 
  (3) 
  prepared 
  skulls, 
  (4) 
  masks, 
  

   (5) 
  frontal 
  amulets, 
  (6) 
  pictures 
  and 
  decorations 
  of 
  the 
  body." 
  

  

  CLOTHING 
  AND 
  WEAVING 
  

  

  The 
  Indians 
  of 
  Haiti 
  possessed 
  but 
  little 
  clothing, 
  although 
  skillful 
  

   weavers 
  of 
  cotton 
  cloth. 
  In 
  the 
  more 
  advanced 
  districts 
  a 
  distinction 
  

   between 
  women's 
  skirts 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  rank 
  of 
  the 
  wearer 
  was 
  

   made, 
  the 
  typical 
  garment 
  of 
  this 
  description 
  reaching 
  from 
  the 
  

   waist 
  to 
  mid-thigh. 
  The 
  Lucayans 
  of 
  the 
  Bahamas, 
  and 
  the 
  male 
  

   population 
  of 
  the 
  Greater 
  Antilles 
  generally 
  went 
  entirely 
  nude. 
  

   Both 
  sexes 
  wore 
  ornamental 
  bandages 
  on 
  upper 
  arms, 
  below 
  the 
  

  

  