Page 513 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

Before worshiping, the Tamos induced vomit-
ing to purify themselves (cat. 416-417). They
inhaled narcotic powder (cohoba] through tubes
of wood or bone (cat. 418) in order to induce
hallucinations, which they interpreted as mes-
20
sages from their deities. Vomiting spatulas and
sniffing tubes were often carved with repre-
sentations of zemis, as were many kinds of
household furnishings and personal ornaments.
The Tamos danced and sang communally in
their plazas, accompanying themselves with
drums and rattles. They commemorated past
events in the songs (areitos), thanked their
gods, and prayed for success in future endea-
vors. Villagers in the heartland also held cere-
monies in roadways and on more-or-less
rounded courts, which they constructed by
leveling fields, raising embankments, making
stone pavements, and setting up stone slabs that
were occasionally decorated with carvings
depicting zemis.
The Tamos played their version of the ball
game known throughout tropical America. In
the heartland they built rectangular courts
[batey] for the purpose, some of which appear to
have been situated on the boundaries between
chiefdoms. The balls made of rubber amazed the
Spaniards, who had never seen such resilient
fig. 5. Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes, Canoe. Drawing from Historia general y natural de material. Players wearing wooden or stone belts
las Indias, i: fol. 8r, manuscript. Huntington Library, San Marino to protect themselves were allowed to hit the
ball with any part of the body except the hands.
The stone belts, also limited to the heartland,
were elaborately carved with figures of zemis
objects that are a mainstay of the Tamo art (cat. For example, the threatening features of certain and geometric motifs (see cat. 420). As in
412) and appear in simpler form as far back as statuettes may be those of Baibrama in his role Middle America, the thickest specimens are
Saladoid time. Yucahu's mother, Atabey, was of enforcing the taboo against eating the cassava too heavy to wear and must have been purely
goddess of the moon, tides, and springs and root before extracting its deadly juice. The ceremonial. 21
protectress of women in childbirth. cadaverous head with empty eye sockets and The Tamos were the first native Americans to
The Tamos applied the term zemi to a large leathery lips of another type of zemi may come into contact with the Europeans, and they
number of other deities and to the objects they indicate that it depicts Maquetaurie Guayaba. 19 bore the brunt of the early phase of the con-
carved to portray them. For example, Boinayel The statuettes of the zemis were kept not quest. Relatively few died in military confron-
and Marohu were twin gods of rain and fair only in homes but also in caves. Chiefs derived tations, for they soon realized that their simple
weather, respectively. Another male zemi, Bai- much of their power from their zemis. Some wooden clubs (macana) and wood-tipped spears
brama, presided over the production and con- rulers owned so many of these statuettes that or arrows were no match for the steel swords
sumption of cassava. The Tamos grated the they had to erect separate buildings in which to and lances, the horses and dogs trained for war-
fleshy roots of that plant and squeezed out their house them. The Tamos believed that the spirits fare, and the firearms of the conquistadors.
poisonous juice before processing them into a of the deceased were transported to the land of The Tamos who submitted to Spanish rule
kind of bread, which they prized because it kept the dead whence they could return to their were put to work in gold mines, ranches, or
especially well in the hot and humid tropical households and influence the welfare of the sur- households. Most were assigned to individual
climate. viving occupants. Consequently, the Tamos Spaniards in a system of forced labor called
Still another male zemi, Maquetaurie Guay- worshiped their ancestors to ensure success and encomienda in which they remained under the
aba, was lord of the land of the dead. He sent to avoid misfortune. They sometimes kept the leadership of their village chiefs and were sup-
the owl to announce to a family that one of its bones of ancestors in elaborately decorated posed to be allowed to return to their homes
members was soon to die, a belief that survives funeral urns or wrapped them in cotton cloth, periodically for rest and relaxation. In practice,
in the folklore of the Spanish West Indies. The but more often put them in baskets (jaba), however, they were often overworked and
zemis also included spirits that lived in trees, which they hung in their homes. As time poorly fed, and many died from exhaustion and
caves, or other features of the landscape. passed these receptacles decomposed and the malnutrition or committed suicide by hanging
Arrom has pointed out that some of the bones were deposited in the refuse, leading themselves or drinking cassava juice. They also
objects depicting zemis have features that can some archaeologists to conclude that the Tamos suffered severely from European diseases, to
be related to the characteristics of specific gods. practiced cannibalism. which they lacked immunity. In 1518 an epi-

512 CIRCA 1492