Zemis

Prior to Spanish contact, The Taino people of the Caribbean possessed a vibrant and diverse culture. Their civilization, however, experienced significant decline after contact with Christopher Columbus. Without a written record, a great deal of mystery shrouds their beliefs and practices. One window into their culture, however, exists within the Zemi idols that they left behind. Analyzing Zemi idols helps illuminate the dynamic relationships in Taino culture spiritually, politically, and societally, and illustrates the importance of Zemi worship to the Taino people.

The Zemi idol above helps illustrate the Taino spiritual relationship with Cohoba seeds. The hallucinogenic effects of the inhalation of Cohoba seeds are connected to the identification of Zemis and the creation of idols. The word, Zemi, refers to the spirit, not the idol itself. To craft an idol, first a Zemi must be identified. After inducing a hallucinogenic trance through the Cohoba seeds, a Cacique (chief) or Shaman would look for things out of place in nature. This could be the movement of a stone or the wiggling of a root. This out of place movement identifies the object as containing a Zemi (Oliver 61). The idol would then be crafted from the material of this object. The above idol shows tears streaming down from the figure's face. These tears depict the eye's reaction to the inhalation of the Cohoba seeds and the induced state required to identify Zemis. The Zemi idols were not mere representation of spirits, but rather the true form of the spirits themselves (Oliver 61). Identifying and caring for the Zemi idols connected the Taino people with the spiritual world that surrounded them.

The above Zemi idol is typically associated with the yuca root, a staple crop in Taino civilization. The three-pointed Zemi idols were believed to help the yuca root grow (Oliver 95). The prevalence of the three-cornered Zemis helps illuminate the relationship in Taino culture between the spiritual caretaking of Zemi idols and the physical success of crops and sustenance. To the Taino, the Zemis actively impacted and influenced the prosperity of their people.

This above image is a Zemi Petroglyph. Taino people would paint and carve on stones Zemis that could be more collectively venerated by a village. These Zemis were identified in the same manner as the others (through the inhalation of cohoba seeds), but rather than a piece of the material being used to carve an idol, they carved into the material itself. These Zemis were for "public use" of a village and were "entrusted" to the Cacique (Oliver 77). Zemis such as these provided links to bind the people of a village together and allowed them a collective spiritual connection.

The above Zemi idol is, in some ways, opposite to the previous Zemi petroglyph. Whereas the petroglyph was for the public use of the village, this Zemi idol was, by the nature of its design, meant to be personal. The three holes in the idol show that it was meant to be worn as a pendent by its care taker. The idea of separate personal and public Zemis illustrates a complex spiritual relationship in which Zemi worship and veneration was communal as well as personal. The "propitiation and manipulation of these...spirits made social life possible" (Atkinson 208) Zemi worship and the Zemis' connection to nature was interwoven at every level: personally, societally, and, as shown in the next image, even politically.

The above image is a stone collar Zemi. These Zemi idols contained Zemi inscriptions similar to the petroglyhps and were adorned by the Caciques. Archeological records show that these collars were not uniquely made for each Cacique, but were rather passed down through multiple generations to the succeeding Cacique of a village (Oliver 79). The caretaking responsibilities for these Zemis appear to be hereditary, and the sole usage by the Caciques alone implies something of a political connotation. These stone collar Zemi idols likely brought legitimacy to the Caciques who cared for them, much in the same way the Caciques maintained and cared for the Petroglyph Zemis. The Caciques duty as village leader entailed not only the physical protection of a village, but the spiritual protection as well. These stone collars put this reality on display.

The image above is a guaiza mask. Guaiza means "soul of the living." These masks may have served as a spiritual window into the soul of the Caciques who wore them (Oliver 171). Guaiza masks had deep connections to Zemis, but the exact spiritual nature of these masks is still debated. However, it is clear that there is a strong spiritual connection to the wearer's soul. A common Taino practice was to give these masks as gifts to other Caciques. Taino Caciques even gave Guaiza masks as gifts to Christopher Columbus (Vilches 207). Were the Taino people entrusting windows to their souls to fellow Caciques as a means of forging alliances and good relations? The guaiza masks serve as an example of how the spiritual relationships in Taino culture connected and interacted with Taino political relationships.

This image is an example of the resiliency of the Zemi idol tradition in Taino culture and the importance of Zemi idol creation and veneration to the Taino people. This Zemi idol was crafted from local, traditional material, in addition to material from the Old World - including a face made from the horn of a rhinoceros (Ostapkowicz 1315). The Zemi idol is believed to have served as a "platform" for Cohoba seeds (Ostapkowicz 1315). Even as the Taino civilization found itself under assault with the influx of Spanish colonizers and the introduction of Christianity, Zemi worship and the importance of the hallucinogenic Cohoba ceremonies continued to be important to the Taino villages - even in the face of "religious and iconoclastic persecution" (Oliver 274). This idol's careful craftsmanship in a post-contact world is testament to the importance of Zemi worship and idol crafting to the Taino people.

This final image is a small, wooden depiction of Christ. It was found in a cave in the modern Dominican Republic and is believed to be from the 16th century. Was this personal wooden statue a remnant of the Zemi idol tradition that was being snuffed out? It is impossible to say for certain, but this early crafted image of Christ is reminiscent of the personal Zemi idols carried by the Taino people. The post-contact Taino had already utilized Old World materials to create new Zemi idols - perhaps they utilized Old World ideas as well.

Atkinson, Lesley-Gail. The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taíno. Kingston, Jamaica, University of the West Indies Press, 2006.

Oliver, José. Caciques and Cemí Idols: The Web Spun by Taíno Rulers between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. Tuscaloosa, Alabama, The University of Alabama Press, 2009.

Ostapkowicz, Joanna, et al. “Integrating the Old World into the New: An ‘Idol from the West Indies.’” Antiquity, vol. 91, no. 359, 2017, pg. 1314-1329.

Vilches, Elvira. "Columbus's Gift: Representations of Grace and Wealth and the Enterprise of the Indies". The Johns Hopkins University Press, vol. 119, no. 2, 2004, pg. 201-225.