All about history book of myths and legends. ( PDFDrive )

The Taíno lived in the Greater Antilles and the

Bahamas in the centuries before the arrival of

the European settlers in the Caribbean. These

people were the rivals of the Caribs, who lived

mainly in the Lesser Antilles. Although the

occupations of the Taíno included hunting

and fishing, they also developed agriculture

and grew both corn and the cassava plant.

Their religion involved the worship of spirits,

gods, and ancestors. Especially prominent

were the deities who presided over the fertility

of the soil and the growth of crops. Many

of their myths were perpetuated through

ceremonial dances and oral retellings.

Gods and Spirits

THE CARIBBEAN

Taíno people

The Taíno lived in villages

of circular thatched houses.

They grew their crops on

large mounds of soil called

conucos, which were said

to be an invention of Yúcahu.

Cassava

The cassava plant is known in the

Caribbean as yuca. It can be boiled,

or made into bread. The three-

pointed image of Yúcahu is often

thought to represent the triangular

shape of the cassava tuber.

Three-pointed stone

Images of Yúcahu in the form of

three-pointed stones have been

found in the Caribbean. These

were often buried as offerings.

Sometimes the top of the deity’s

head was shaped like a nipple.

YÚCAHU

The staple food in the Caribbean was the cassava plant, the starchy root of

which was widely eaten. Of all the gods of the indigenous people, the

most powerful were those who helped cassava to flourish. Among

these deities, Yúcahu was the most important. Known as the Fruitful,

Yúcahu was a god of the sea, as well as a fertility god who looked after

the crops and made them grow. In addition, he was also a guardian

deity, who watched over people and protected them. Yúcahu was

seen as having a triangular form with his face in the centre, and on

some images of the god there were patterns resembling the stems

and foliage of plants. People made carvings of the deity that

they buried in the fields, pouring oferings of water on the

soil where the image was interred. This action of pouring

the water “fertilized” the image, which in turn spread

Yúcahu’s growth-bringing powers to the fields.

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