FEWKEs] DESCENDANTS OF PORTO EICAN INDIANS 25 



limps tfiven in the late censn.s repoi't (1899) " show that the negro pop- 

 ulation predominates over the white in the eastern half of the island. 

 It is important to determine how much admixture of Indian blood b}' 

 intermarriage has taken place in the two regions. 



]Many of the inhabitants of a mountainous section called Indiera, at 

 the western end of the island, also have pronounced Indian features, 

 and we may expect to find in that region many legends, curious cus- 

 toms, and words directly traceable to the aborigines. Indiera lies in 

 the mountains between the tributaries of the Guabano river, called 

 Prietas and Blanco, south of Lares and east of Marias. The name 

 Indiera, Indian land, is significant, and many archeological objects have 

 been found in this region. Several contractors who have employed 

 large numbers of laborers in building roads have noticed the pre- 

 dominance of Indian features in the mountains near Utuado and 

 Comerio, where careful investigation may reveal individuals with 

 comparatively pure Indian blood. 



It must be borne in mind, however, that indications of Indian ances- 

 try in these regions are not necessarily' evidences that those bearing 

 them are descendants of native aborigines, for in the early history of 

 the island, as is stated above, Indians were brought to Porto Rico 

 from Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Bahamas, and the Lesser 

 Antilles. The Carib were introduced as slaves, and they also had 

 left many of their descendants in Porto Rico before the advent of the 

 Spaniard. So great was this admixture of Caril) l>lood that Oviedo 

 speaks of Porto Rico as one of the Carib islands. 



The distinctive aboriginal culture was practical!}' destroyed before 

 these Indian slaves were introduced, so that we may sav that it disap- 

 peared immediately following the discovery of the island. But no 

 people can be suddenly destroyed in this way; it may lose its distinct 

 culture but its blood is not so easily exterminated. When the 

 natives died out the new peoples from the Bahamas and other islands, 

 negroes from various parts of Africa, and other races, replaced them, 

 but not before considerable intermixture had resulted. 



The Spaniards had children by Indian women to a limited extent, 

 the blacks intermarried with them, and the Indians introduced became 

 fathers of children born of Porto Kican women, so that there exist on 

 the island to-day survivals of the crossing of several diflerent races. 



AVith this amalgamation of races came a mingling of as many 

 forms of culture and the introduction of customs foreign to the abo- 

 riginal life of the island. Thus it has come about that, side by side 

 with pi'imitive American customs, there survive those whose' parent- 

 age is traceable to Spanish, African, and other foreign sources. The 

 folklore of Spain exists side by side or mingled with that of Africa 

 and of the various West Indian islands from which this composite race 

 sprang. 



uLieut. Col. J. P. .Sanger. Report on the Census of Porto Rico, p. 1-417, Washington, D. C, lii99. 



