User:Making.history/sandbox

 Histroy & Cultural Context 

Artifactual evidence in the Greater and Lesser Antilles indicates the presence of humans for at least 5000 years years prior to Columbus' arrival. Taino culture emerged on the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico and likely descended from an intermingling the Arawak peoples from South America and the archaic peoples who migrated from Mesoamerica and Florida. The Taino were agricultural and lived in communities governed by leaders called caciques. They had no written language, but produced ornate sculptures from stone, wood, and clay that were used in many types of ceremony. Those that resembled gods were called cemis or zemis.

 Cemis & Belief Systems 

Cemi is a Taino word for god, as well as a word that describes the sacred objects that represent and embody gods. These same objects also represented ancestors and were believed to have supernatural powers. Each member of a given Taino community or cazicazgo was in possession of one or more cemis, which connoted both political and social as well as spiritual power. They were kept in shrines, and sometimes traded or given as gifts. The caciques were in possession of the most powerful cemis, and sometimes their skulls were preserved and turned into cemis as part of their burial ceremonies. Cemis played an important role in decision making, and caciques sought guidance from semis when planning one the first major rebellion against the Spaniards. Their precise role in areíto ceremony is unknown, although it was observed by the colonizers that the cemis were always present during performances.

 Definitions of Areíto & Historical Evidence 

There are several primary accounts describing areíto in the Antilles from the period of early contact between the Taino and Spanish colonizers. Each account characterizes areíto slightly differently, leading to the terms broad all encompassing nature. Areíto was a Taino word that the Spanish adopted to describe epic poems, song-dances, ceremonies, festivals, performances, and ritual. Ramón Pane, a missionary who arrived in the new world in 1494 chronicled events in which the Taino recited epic 'poems' that they 'learn by heart' accompanied by percussive instruments that looked like gourds. Pané drew comparisons between these Taino performances and ceremonies of the Moors, additionally observing that areíto served as a mnemonic device for societal rules and traditions. Peter Martyr, a royal chronicler writing in the early 1500s who never traveled to the new world but instead gleaned information from discussions with other travelers, focused on areíto's function as a historiographical method. His accounts detail areíto's role in commemorating the great deeds of ancestors in peace, war, and love. He noted how the content of the narrative affected the style of its delivery and emphasized the role of the cacique and his immediate family in the tradition of learning and performing areíto. Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés served as royal chronicler after Martyr, and traveled to the new world numerous times, observing what he deemed areíto in the Antilles as well as in Nicaragua. Although Oveido was aware of a distinction between the customs of the indigenous peoples of Nicaragua and the Antillles and although learned a separate word for their performance practices, he used the term areíto to encompass their performances. Oveido also honed in on the integral role of dance and movement in the areíto of the Taino. Shifting the descriptions of these ceremonies away from 'poem' and towards 'song-dances' Oviedo noted that the songs were accompanied by precise and complex choreograph and lead by a 'dance-master' who could be wither male or female. Additionally, he distinguished between two types of areíto, once which commemorated historical events and the other which served as entertainment for festivity. Bartolomé de las Casas traveled to the new world as a colonist, but once there began writing in defense of the indigenous peoples. His definition of areíto was even more inclusive than Oviedo, including many elements of festivals such as drinking, feasting, celebration, and pantomime.

Martyr: The areito gift trade for protection

Despite superficial similarity to "airito", the diminutive form of the Spanish word for a musical air, the term areíto is originally a Taíno language word, which was adopted by the earliest Spanish chroniclers to describe local dances, poems, chants and songs of the Taíno people.[4][5] Anacaona was one of the early noted composers of areítos.

Areítos were especially common among the Classic Taíno of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, but they were held in all Taíno areas. Areítos were held for a variety of reasons, including to honor and entertain guests. In the early days of European colonization, Taíno chiefs hosted areítos for Spanish visitors, who recorded information about the ceremonies. According to the historical documentation, areítos often featured assemblies of nobles dancing and singing to music played with rattles and drums. The ceremonies invoked elements of Taíno culture and religious practice, including veneration of the zemis and ancestors. Areítos were held in designated spaces, specifically the public plaza or dance ground outside the chief's house. Classic Taíno villages often featured an elaborate dance court, an outdoor area surrounded by earthwork banks and sometimes stone carvings of the zemis.[6]

 Old Opening Section 

The areíto or areyto was a type of performance and ceremony of the Taíno people of the Caribbean. The areíto involved dancing, singing and music, and conveyed elements of Taíno religion and culture. It generally took place on designated grounds in villages.

 Works Cited for Wiki Project 

Please note: because I am not sure how to indent (tab function seems different) I have created a numbered list for ease of reading. I understand in MLA the second line and all that follow should be indented, but couldn't figure out how to create that formatting in here. I tried the short cut of (Tab, Control ]) but it did not work. Apologies for the inconvenience.


 * 1) Alegria, Ricardo E., and Jose Arrom. Taíno: Pre-Columbian Art and Culture from The Caribbean. New York: Monacelli Press, 1997. Print.
 * 2) Carpentier, Alejo, and Cohen Ethel S. "Music in Cuba (1523-1900)." The Musical Quarterly 33.3 (1947): 365-80. Web. Accessed 25 Sept. 2016.
 * 3) Coopersmith, Jacob Maurice. "Music and Musicians of the Dominican Republic: A Survey--Part I." The Musical Quarterly 31.1 (1945): 71-88. Web. Accessed 25 Sept. 2016.
 * 4) Curet, L. Antonio. "The Taíno: Phenomena, Concepts, And Terms." Ethnohistory 61.3 (2014): 467-495. Academic Search Complete. Web. Accessed 25 Sept. 2016.
 * 5) Kallendorf, Hilaire. "A Myth Rejected: The Noble Savage in Dominican Dystopia." Journal of Latin American Studies 27.2 (1995): 449-70. Web. Accessed 25 Sept. 2016.
 * 6) Milanich, Jerald T. "Taino Encounters." Archaeology 54.1 (2001): 67. Academic Search Complete. Web. Accessed 25 Sept. 2016.
 * 7) Oliver, Jose R.. Caciques and Cemí Idols: The Web Spun by Taíno Rulers Between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2009. Print.
 * 8) Simmons, Merle L. "Pre-Conquest Narrative Songs in Spanish America." The Journal of American Folklore 73.288 (1960): 103-11. Web. Accessed 25 Sept. 2016.
 * 9) Scolieri, P. A..Dancing the New World: Aztecs, Spaniards, and the Choreography of Conquest. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2013. Project MUSE. Web. 25 Sep. 2016. .
 * 10) Taylor, Diane. The Archive and the Repertoire: Performing Cultural Memory in the Americas. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003. Print.
 * 11) Taylor, Diana. "Translating Performance." Profession, 2002, 44-50. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25595729. Accessed 25 Sept. 2016.
 * 12) Thompson, Donald. "The "Cronistas De Indias" Revisited: Historical Reports, Archeological Evidence, and Literary and Artistic Traces of Indigenous Music and Dance in the Greater Antilles at the Time of the "Conquista"" Latin American Music Review / Revista De Música Latinoamericana 14.2 (1993): 181-201. Web. Accessed 25 Sept. 2016.