This
series of blogs will focus on the Chronicles on Latin America, most of which
were written in the 16th century. I will provide my translation to
English first, followed by the text in Castilian, retaining the original orthography as
much as possible.
Francisco
López de Gómara was born Soria in 1511 or 1512. One of the chroniclers “de
oídas”, that is, he never saw America (he was born and died in Soria), and his
account is essentially a hodgepodge of various sources he collected either from
oral or written sources while living in Castile. Nonetheless, he has presented
the information in a cogent manner, his style not being without its charm, and coming
from an individual who never set foot on American soil, his tone when
describing the customs of Native American groups is more neutral and is
certainly worth reading at a glance.
This
extract is about the Bahamas and its islands. It deals with the customs of the
local populations and provides a few details about their clothing. While the text isn’t
fascinating in and of itself, it forces us to mull over the geography of the Caribbean,
forces us to wonder how it must of felt for primitive Europeans to observe such beauty and diversity of landscape and culture and
goodwill; retrospectively we can conclude they weren’t ready for it. At least
through the reading of these ingenous texts from 16th century
Europe, we can at least “breath in” the cultural air emanating from Latin
America in that period, still virginal and pure, with forests untouched, and clean
air, and just contemplate on it.
Francisco López de Gómara, The first part of the natural history of The
Indies
“The
Lucayo Islands are located at the north of Cuba and Haiti and there are 400 [of
them][2],
as we’re told. All of them are small, except Lucayo island[3], (whence
the islands receive their name), whose [coordinates measure] between 17 and 18 degrees[4];
Wanahani[5],
which was the first land spotted by Christopher Colombus, Maniwa[6],
Wanima[7], Zawareo[8] and
a few others. The people on these islands are paler and more well-proportioned than
those from Cuba and Haiti, especially the women, for whose beauty many men from
the Spanish Main[9],
[places] like Florida, Chicora [10]and
Yucatán, go off to live with them; and thus there were more common manners
among them than in the other islands, and with a great diversity of languages.
And from here I believe originated the saying that there were Amazonians and a spring
wherein the elderly could rejuvenate themselves. They walk around without
clothes, unless during times of war, celebrations and dances, and in that case
they wear some highly crafted cotton and feather coverings and large tufts. The
women, if they are married or known to the men, cover their shame with a belt
from the waist to the knee with a small cloth; if they are virgins they wear
some small cotton netted coverings with herbs stored in the mesh: this is [done]
after they begin to menstruate, because before that [happens] they walk around completely
naked; and when it happens, their parents invite relatives and friends over,
celebrating like at a wedding.
They
have a king or lord, and he is the one in charge of fishing, hunting and
sowing, ordering each person to do what must be done. They enclose the grain
and roots which they pick in the king’s public granges or garners. From there
they are handed out to each person like in a family; they afford themselves
much enjoyment; their treasure is in cheap nacre and vermillion coloured
shells, from which they make dangling earrings, and some little ruby-like
stones, reddish, that resemble fire embers, and they extract these from the
heads of certain very large sea snails which they fish at sea and eat them as
an esteemed delicacy. They usually wear [ornamental] threads, necklaces and
things to tie around the neck, arms and legs, made from stones [which are either]
dark, white [or] coloured and of scant value, and which are to be found on the
beach. And the women who walk around without clothes seem completely fine about
it”.
[1] The
original name given by the Europeans for The Bahamas. The Lucayans were a Taíno
people.
[2] As of 2019, they are numbered at around 700 islands.
[3] Almost certainly Andros Island, called originally Espíritu Santo by the Spaniards. Its
area of 2,300 square miles makes it larger than all of the other Bahamian
islands combined.
[4] equates to roughly 1,176 to 1,245 miles, or 1,210 miles if he means
literally “17 and half”, or is just giving an approximation of “17 to 18”; it
is most likely the former. In reality its area of Andros Island is 2,300 square
miles, almost twice the size of Gómara’s calculation.
[5] Most probably San Salvador island, in The Bahamas. The spelling
offered here (and elswhere) corrects the corruption of wa to gua made by the
first Europeans to hear the diphthong as spoken by the native populations.
Interestingly, 16th century Castilian in fact possessed the sound wa in their syllabary, like in the nouns
“huevo” and “huerto”, but the corruption stuck and spread as far as South
America, continuing to influence (in the 21st century) how these
diphthongs are rendered in words from Quechua or of Quechua origin, like “wawa”
and “guagua”, baby.
[6] see note
above. The online dictionary ASALE defines the word maniwa, or manigua
as “a swampy tropical and impenetrable forest”. [Bosque tropical pantanoso e impenetrable]. As
for its geographical location, it is probably Samana Cay. Curiously, it is now
an uninhabited island growing freely, and its appearance matches the definition
provided by ASALE.
[7] Probable Cat Island in The Bahamas.
[8] Eleuthera,
in The Bahamas, the Spanish variant may occasionally be seen written as “Ziguateo”. I am unsure as to what the
most pure rendering of this Taíno word should be, or indeed its meaning. In
Gómara’s 16th century Castilian, “Çaguareo”
seems a heavily corrupted rendering, so we may not be able to ever ascertain
its original pronunciation in Taíno.
[9] Tierra Firme, the European name for the Spanish mainland territories, to differentiate
them from the island ones.
[10] Located in present day Carolina, named after Francisco de Chicora, a
native of the area, kidnapped in 1521 by the Spaniards Franscisco Gordillo and
Pedro de Quexos at the Pee Dee River. His name spawned a legend for Europeans seeking
gold and wealth at the beginning of the 16th century in colonial
America.
[texto original]
Francisco López de Gómara, La primera parte de la Historia natural de
las Indias
[de cómo son y cómo se visten
los nativos de las islas Lucayos]
«LAS YSLAS LUCAYOS
Las yslas Lucayos o Yucayas caen
al norte de Cuba y de Haití y son quatrocientas y más, según dizen. Todas son
pequeñas, sino es el Lucayo[1],
de quien toman apellido, el qual está entre diez y siete y diez y ocho grados;
Guanahaní[2],
que fue la primera tierra por Christóval Colón vista, Manigua[3],
Guanima[4],
Çaguareo [5]y
otras algunas. La gente d'estas yslas es más blanca y dispuesta que la de Cuba
ni Haití, especial las mugeres, por cuya hermosura muchos hombres de Tierra
Firme, como es La Florida, Chicora y Yucatán, se yvan a vivir a ellas; y assí
avía más policía entre ellos que no en otras yslas, y mucha diversidad de
lenguas. Y de allí creo que manó el dezir cómo por aquella parte avía amazonas
y una fuente que remoçava [6]los
viejos. Ellos andan desnudos, sino es en tiempo de guerra, fiestas y bayles, y
entonces pónense unas mantas de algodón y pluma muy labradas y grandes
penachos. Ellas, si son casadas o conocidas de varón, cubren sus vergüenças de
la cinta a la rodilla con mantillas; si son vírgenes traen unas redezillas de
algodón con hojas de yervas metidas por la malla: esto es después que les viene
su purgación, que antes en carnes vivas se andan; y quando les viene, combidan
los padres a los parientes y amigos, haziendo fiestas como en bodas. Tienen rey
o señor, y él tiene cuydado de pescar, caçar y sembrar, mandando a cada uno lo
que ha de hazer. Encierran el grano y raýzes que cogen en graneros públicos o
troxes del rey. De allí reparten a cada uno como tiene la familia; danse mucho
al plazer; su riqueza es nacarones y conchas bermejas, de que hazen arracadas,
y unas pedrezillas como rubís, bermejuelas, que parecen llamas de fuego, las
quales sacan de los sesos de ciertos caracoles muy grandes que pescan en mar y
que comen por muy preciado manjar. Usan [7]traer
sartales, collares y cosas que se atan al cuello, braços y piernas, hechas de
piedras negras, blancas, coloradas y de poco valor, y que se hallan en la
arena. Y a las mugeres que van desnudas todo les paresce bien».
-Francisco López de Gómara, La primera parte de la
Historia natural de las Indias, 1554.
[1] Probablemente la Isla de Andros,
que ya esta es la más grande de todas las restantes islas bahameñas combinadas.
[2]
Isla de San Salvador, en Las Bahamas.
[3] hoy día Cayo Samaná, Las Bahamas.
[4] Isla del Gato, Las Bahamas.
[5] Eleuthera, Las Bahamas. Ignoramos
de cómo debe ser tu pronunciación original en idioma taíno.
[6] «remozar»: renovar, ponerse más
lozano.
[7] «usan»: suelen. cf. la frase lat.
«usus est», solía.
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