Caciques and Cemi idols : the web spun by Taino rulers between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico / / Jose R. Oliver.

• Superior document: Caribbean archaeology and ethnohistory
• Author: ProQuest (Firm); Oliver, Jose R.
• TeilnehmendeR: ProQuest (Firm)
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Language: English
• Series: Caribbean archaeology and ethnohistory.
• Physical Description: xviii, 306 p. :; ill., maps.

Table of Contents

Introduction -- Believers of Cemiism : who were the Tainos and where did they come from? -- Webs of interaction : human beings, other beings, and many things -- Personhood and the animistic Amerindian perspective -- Contrasting animistic and naturalistic worldviews -- The Cemi reveals its personhood and its body form -- Cemi idols and Tainoan idolatry -- Cemis and personal identities -- The power and potency of the Cemis -- The display of Cemis : personal vs. communal ownership, private vs. public function -- Face-to-face interactions : Cemis, idols, and the native political elite -- Hanging on to and losing the power of the Cemi idols -- The inheritance and reciprocal exchange of Cemi icons -- Cemis : alienable or inalienable; to give and to keep -- Stone collars, elbow stones, and caciques -- Ancestor Cemis and the Cemiification of the caciques -- The guaiza face masks : gifts of the living for the living -- The circulation of chief's names, women, and Cemis : between the greater and lesser Antilles -- Up in arms : Taino freedom fighters in Higuey and Boriquen -- The virgin Mary icons and native Cemis : two cases of religious syncretism in Cuba -- Religious syncretism and transculturation : the crossroads toward new identities -- Final remarks.