130 THE ABORIGINES OF POKTO EICO [eth. Axx. 25 



nence. He finds this theory of Cantei'o as objectionable as that of 

 Doctor Stahl that the Borinqiiefios liad no religion, because there is no 

 reason to laelieve that the Kiche god Cabraken was thought to be 

 buried under Borinquen. Navarette" finds in this image a " cosmotheo- 

 gonic" (cosmotcogonico) symbol, conforming perfectly with a tradi- 

 tion given by Buret de Longchamps. "The cone," he says, "is chaos, 

 from which in the form of suni<en rocks (escoUos) ai'ose Taraxtaihe- 

 tomos, the 'principio creador' perfectly defined, represented T)y the 

 head, and Tepapa. the inert unformed matter, represented by the 

 posterior part ' crossed ]>y rays' (posterior appendages and feet)." The 

 universe was born from this "principio ereador" and matter, as was 

 likewise the firmament ("boveda (pie cubria la tierra"); hence he 

 asserts the base (of the three-pointed stone) is scooped out in the form 

 of an arch. " In a word," says Navarette, "this figure (three-pointed 

 image) is a fse/ni {zeuii), the unique Indo-Borincpieiio idol, in which is 

 symbolized the creator and inert matter on two sides of chaos, which 

 extends over tlie firmament (boveda del universo)." 



The author's chief o})jection to Doctor Cantero\s interpretation of the 

 symbolism of the three-pointed idols is that he elevates a "genius of 

 evil " to a place it never occupied in the mind of the Antilleans. There 

 is no satisfactory proof that the Borinquefio Indians ever recognized a 

 god of evil as we understand the conception. They no doubt believed in 

 a great being whose power causes the terrible hurricanes which at times 

 sweep over the island, and they possibly personated or deified this 

 power as a great snake god. The early missionaries readily imagined 

 that this deification of a mythic sei'pent was the analogue of their own 

 personification of evil, but this interpretation was wholly their own, 

 not that of the Indians.'' 



Navarette ad\-ance8 no adequate support for his statement that the 

 conoid projection represents "chaos," and gives no authority for the 

 statement that the Antilleans l)elieved that the union of the "principio 

 ereador " and matter gave birth to the universe. The author must take 

 issue with him also in his statement that the senti {sem!) is the unique 

 " Indo-Borinqueilo " idol in which is sj'mbolized this "principio erea- 

 dor," believing he has mistaken the true meaning of the term zemi. 

 Althougli the great Sky god may have Tteen called a semi, cliemi, cemi, 

 or ;>;/(/, the word proliably means not one l)ut many subordinate super- 

 natural beings, as was elsewhere pointed out. Tutelary gods are called 

 zeinis, in which case the word has simply the same meaning as clan 

 totem. These three-pointed Borinquefio idols have different forms, 

 representing reptiles, birds, and human beings, a fact which makes it 



ti Estudios de arqueologia rte Puerto Rico, resultados de una excursion cioiitifioo, nrl ioles 1 to 7, first 

 printed in the periodical ICl .\oiicio, May, 1S9S; reprinted in Aquila, Ponce, .ipril and Jlay, 1904. 



''The word mahoum. used hy the Antilleans as a name o£ some of their gods, as well as of images 

 of the same, is probably derived from ma (great), bona (snake). The same word, hotia. from which 

 comes the Unglisli bon, likewise gave the name (w«'/ (sorcerers) to some of their priestly orders. 



