Endijèn

by Houngan Aboudja on Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 11:58pm

In the history of Haitian Vodou, the least known, least studied of all aspects

The word Taíno means, "Men of the Good;" however, more common among Kiskeyan Taíno
was the name Lokono, a composite word scholars translate as "people," but more accurately
means "the people of Loko." The name Loko (also written Louquo, or Luquo by the French) is a
corruption of Yukú, itself a contraction of Yukahú, the name of the divine ancestor of the Taíno.

According to legend, Loko came from the sky, climbing down the trunk of the Great Ceiba Tree
(called Mapou in Haiti). He appeared to the ancestors on three separate occasions. The first time
Loko brought the ancestors yuka (manioc), a root that quickly became a staple for the Taíno. The
second time, Loko brought knowledge of the spiritual world. Descending a third time and final
time from the sky, Loko brought laws and gave order to society. He became was the first kasik
(chieftain) on the island of Kiskeya, and all the rulers who followed were directly descended
from Loko.

Yukahú Baoa Maorokotí, meaning, "White Yuka, Great and Powerful as the Sea and
Mountains," is a praise name for Loko representing the entire Taíno cosmos. This cosmos was
tripartite in nature, and included not four, but seven directions. The first four encompassed the
familiar four corners of the world ―north, south, east, and west. The remaining three include the
three plains of existence: "up" or turé (the sky; home of the Creator, Yaya), which is signified by
the sacred mountain, "down" or Koaybay ( the underworld of the dead), signified by the sea, and
finally, "here" or Kiskeya, which is the "mother of all lands," the land of the living.

For the Taíno of Ayiti Kiskeya, the earth was a solid mass (represented by the mountain) set
upon the back of a female turtle floating in the primordial sea ―the expanse of the heavens
above, the watery depths below. In the center of the world, a circular pole or tree passed from the
bottom of the sea up through the earth and into the very center of the heavens. A mythical axis
mundi, this pole connected the earth to the sacred spaces above and below it. For the Taíno, this
was the mystical fifth direction of time and space and associated specifically with the ceiba tree
(both sp. pendantra-bombax), the World Tree whose roots grow from the depths of the sea and
whose branches support the vault of the heavens. In Taíno myth, the first people arrived in
Kiskeya from beneath the earth.
Remarkably similar to traditions found in both West and Central Africa, Kiskeyan Taíno religion
was complex, centering on ritualized reverence of powerful spirits called zemi who governed the
cosmos, presiding over all the mechanical operations of nature. These powerful spirits were
associated with rain, wind, the sea, fire, human fertility, the successful growth of crops, all the
natural processes of the world.

Yaya the creator, an invisible spirit in the sky, was known only through His messenger Guataubá
who traveled back and forth between worlds. Atabey was the Creator’s mother, of all the spirits
in fact and the mother of waters, as well. Jurakán the spirit of wind and storms, sometimes
violent storms, walked together with Boinayel, the zemi of rain. Maketaori Guayaba was the
ruler of Koaybay, the underworld. Deminán Karakarakol was the semi-divine antagonist of
legend who broke the calabash containing the bones of his son, thereby causing the whole world
to flood.

Like other pre-Columbian cultures, the Taíno venerated their ancestors (hupiya), some of who
assumed exalted positions in the afterworld, becoming zemi in their own right. Although kasikas
were given more elaborate funerary rites by virtue of their semi-divine status, thus assuring their
go’yiz (soul) was properly received in Koaybay, it was common to bury the family dead the
under the house. The Taíno believe the life energy resided in the bones and remained there after
death, and so, in some cases, bones of family members were eventually exhumed, and, after
further ceremonies, hung in baskets from the ceiling. While the souls of the dead resided in
Koaybay during the day, most could return at night to walk the earth, and some were a danger to
the living. All night-flying creatures, especially bats and screech owls were considered
messengers of the dead, and so, the Taíno revered these animals in particular.

The obvious presence of Endijèn blood in many Haitians is given little consideration by cultural
geographers who study the country; so unfortunately, absolutely no research on this subject is
available, at least not in the English language. Many self-styled ethnologists go so far as to claim
that no Taíno cultural influence remains in Haiti today. This is false, and represents a rather
amazing, glaring oversight on the part of these researchers.

In isolated mountain enclaves throughout Haiti, one may find many, many surviving elements
and rituals maintained by smaller communities that are not of African origin at all, but instead
represent a direct survival of Native Taíno traditions and culture beyond those apparently
maintained in Petwo, and Makaya or Bizango lineages. It is a testament to the relationship
between Africans and "Indians" that in many of these older lineages, one finds not only the
sacred language and symbols of Taíno religion, but also Taíno-derived liturgy, living ceremonies
preserved intact (more or less), being performed at appropriate liturgical intervals.
These communities, which today are becoming rare, exist in isolated areas, such as the
mountains of the Massif, of La Selle, and La Hotte. They thrive in the Bahoruco region in the
southeast, all of which are known historical strongholds of marronage and resistance. They also
exist in the extreme north of the country, perhaps even more frequently.

One of the most noted of these lineages thrives in the mountains above Port-au-Prince, beyond
Kenscoff, in a habitation near the Dominican boarder ―Konabo’ya. This is the very name of the
great Taíno chief Koanabo, and no surprise, two of the lwa served in this lineage are called
Konabo and Ayinana (which is only Anakaona herself). This particular habitation has maintained
not only many rituals, such as the sitting of stones for elders, those for rain, and for planting, but
many prayers and songs in Taíno language, as well, regardless how corrupted the form. "Bo’nata
ana ba yakou wakiya-ka’wo nana bo... Yaya waba ti." This is a very small portion of the langaj,
the language of the spirits; however, these secret languages still translate from Taíno-Arawak;
for example, the last part, "Yaya waba ti" clearly means, "God who is our Father."

That these Endijèn traditions still exist today is one thing. That this fact means these traditions,
preserved by Africans and their Haitian Kreyòl descendants, are over 400 years old is another
thing entirely, especially considering that there has hardly been a visible Taíno population in
Haiti since well before 1600, though curiously, the 1824 census does list 1500 "Red Indians" in
Haiti (Beard, J.R. 1853, p.9). Were Taíno people still living in Haiti in 1824? It is unlikely;
however, their mixed-blood descendants might have been, and one has but to look across the
border into the Dominican Republic to see just how very probable this was.

The influence of Taíno history has always remained a discreet, if not discrete, element in Haitian
traditional culture. Even if these authorities do not have knowledge of, or access to, those
remaining native spiritual elements preserved within many lineages of the Vodou religion, as
well as Makaya or Bizango tradition, it is obvious that the Native Taíno impacted the nation’s
culture, especially linguistically, and this is a common area of cultural influence the world over.

There are many Taíno-derived words preserved in the lexicon of both Haitian Kreyòl and Haitian
Vodou liturgy until today. These include such words as Bahoruco, hamaka (hammock), canoa
(canoe), boukan (a method of cooking food), babakou (barbeque), and kasav (cassava), along
with tabak (tobacco), digo, (indigo), and, of course, jurakan (hurricane), the name of a violent
Taíno storm spirit. There are the titles sanba and simalò (terms for a master songwriter/singer
and story-teller/historian, respectively), which are still in common use today, magouye (probably
from mabouya; literally, "big evil"), the mythical seven ingredient stew served in Vodou called
tchaka (and possibly its sister word tchanpan, though this looks an awful lot like "champagne")
and kwi (gourd bowl). There is kasik (spelled "cacique" in French), the Taíno word for king or
chieftain, as in the Kreyòl "kasik e maj," which references the authority and power of certain
priests. Other words of Taíno origin include zemi (a sacred stone housing a spirit), tanga (a form
of ritual dress still found in the countryside), and kwa-kwa (rattle) to name a very few.

Of particular interest is the word bayakou, which in Vodou is the name for Venus, the morning
star. This is the Taíno word bajakú, which means "dawn," or "morning light." Yet, it also appears
close to the Taíno biarakú (pronounced, ba’a-RA-ku). Biarakú literally translates as "First People
of the Sacred Place," one of many names by which the Taíno were (are) known. The similarity in
words is as tantalizing as the reference itself.

Haiti has an oral tradition that speaks of surviving descendants of the Native Taíno, an endijèn
people supposed to live, even today, in the inaccessible mountain ranges that blanket the country.
Such people are called Vyen-vyen (or Tchen-tchen). In a tradition similar to European hollow-
hills legends, these surviving Amerindians are said to continue to live in subterranean dwellings
deep within the mountains, where they maintain their culture and traditions still governed by
native chiefs who are direct descendants of the great kasik of old ―Koanabo, Anakoana,
Beheshwa, and others.

Such stories align nicely with the legends of Kasibajagua (pronounced, ka’sEE-bah-ha-WA),
literally, "Cave of the First People." In Taíno mythology, Kasibajagua is the name given to the
cave or hole out of which the Taíno first arrived on earth, and it is said to lie somewhere in
Kiskeya (Haiti). Now, it is no secret that many places, Trou Fobane and Grot Sen Fransis (both
sacred grottos), along with the Caves at Dondon, not only show signs of historical Taíno activity,
but also, continue to play significant roles not only in Vodou, but Makaya and Bizango
traditions. It is also no great leap of faith to wonder if perhaps the legends surrounding Temple
Lavilokan, the island’s first hounfò located in the town of Vilokan near the cities of Port-au-Paix
and St. Louis du Nord in the north of Haiti, might easily relate to the myth of Kasibajagua, as
well. Here, it is said, the last terrestrial entrance to Ginea is carefully guarded.

Whether or not a pureblood lineage of Vyen-vyen remains in Haiti, it is certain that they once
did, and well past the time they were assumed decimated by the colons. At one time, these bands
formed marron communities high up in Haiti’s rugged mountainous terrain where the colonial
powers could never reach, and it is still possible to find the hidden roads paved in smooth flint
used by these bands of Taíno as they traveled through these mountain regions generations before,
and after, the arrival of Columbus. It is also still possible (frequent in fact) to find many of their
tools, ceremonial or otherwise, such as the Neolithic axe heads Vodou adepts call zemi or pye
tonè (literally, "thunder stone") when tilling fields or when walking through dry riverbeds. Not
only do these stones contain one or more spirit, but they also represent a codified liturgical
language of symbolism for Vodou devotees by providing a direct spiritual and historical link
backwards in time to the ancestors of the land, both African and Endijèn.

Finally, it is also certain that the surviving Taíno assured the continuance of their bloodlines by
marriage, not only with the African marrons who took refuge with them during the time of
slavery, but also with the very Spaniards responsible for the destruction of their culture. A census
taken in 1514 shows almost 40% of all Spanish men living in the colony of Hispaniola had Taíno
wives. In this way, if by no other, the Taíno people of Ayiti Kiskeya escaped destruction.

Now, the fact that the history of the island’s indigenous population has become somewhat
mythologized does not change their impact. On the contrary, it proves that the history and
struggle of the Taíno, even as myth, was so significant that it became an integral and important
part of not only Haitian history, but of Haitian racial, cultural, and religious identity, as well, and
this means Vodou tradition. Those people who attempt a better understanding of the history of
Haiti and of Haitian Vodou would do well not to ignore this.

Ginea ara wakiya-ka’wo; b’ariwoun atibo ma’akou.