Indigenous Spirituality in the Caribbean

                        Introduction to Indigenous Spirituality in the Caribbean

Indigenous spirituality in the Caribbean and its peripheries embodies a profound connection to the natural world, the cosmos, and ancestral wisdom, showcasing traditions that have endured through centuries of colonization and cultural upheaval. The Taíno, Kalinago (Caribs), Warao, and Maya peoples have each developed rich spiritual landscapes that intertwine their cosmologies, rituals, and everyday life, reflecting a deep symbiosis with their environments.

For the Taíno, whose presence predated European contact in the Greater Antilles, spirituality centers on revering zemis, or ancestral spirits, and playing the ceremonial ball game Batey, which acts as a conduit for communion with their deities. They intricately weave their cosmology with the sacredness of caves, believing them to be portals to the afterlife and spaces for significant religious ceremonies.

The Kalinago, known for their seafaring prowess and resilience in the Lesser Antilles, perceive the spiritual world as an extension of the physical one. Their rituals often involve the invocation of maboya spirits and the use of plant-based medicines to maintain balance and harmony within their communities. Storytelling and oral traditions play a crucial role in preserving their spiritual and cultural heritage.

The Warao people maintain a spirituality deeply rooted in their riverine environment. The term "Warao" itself means "boat people," highlighting their intrinsic relationship with water. Their spiritual practices include elaborate ceremonies led by Marais (shamans), who interpret dreams and communicate with hekura (spirits) to guide their community in matters of health, navigation, and social harmony.

Incorporating spirituality into every aspect of life, the Maya, with their advanced civilization spanning present-day Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. The Maya deeply rooted their religious practices in a sophisticated understanding of astronomy and agriculture, incorporating rituals that honor a pantheon of gods associated with natural elements and celestial bodies. The Maya calendar, a complex system of interlocking cycles, reflects their belief in the cyclical nature of time and the universe. Temples, pyramids, and ceremonial centers serve as sacred spaces for rituals, including offerings, bloodletting, and dances, which seek to maintain harmony between humans and the divine.

These indigenous spiritual traditions, while distinct in their practices and beliefs, collectively reflect a holistic worldview that honors the sacredness of nature and the continuity of life and spirit. They stand as testaments to the enduring resilience and adaptability of Caribbean and Mesoamerican Indigenous cultures, offering profound insights into the human spirit's capacity to harmonize with the natural world.

•  Taíno
• The Kalinago (Caribs)
•  The Garifuna (Black Caribs)
•  The Maya
• The Warao

                  Readings for Indigenous Spirituality

  Taíno

•       Arrom, José J. "Taíno mythology: Notes on the supreme being." Latin American Literary Review (1980): 21-37.
•       Guitar, Lynne. "Classic Taino Spiritual Beliefs and Practices"
•      Martin, Ryan. "Ceremonial offerings and religious practices among Taíno Indians: An archaeological investigation of gourd uses in Taíno culture." IU South Bend Undergraduate Research Journal 2 (1999): 71-76.
•    Rodriguez Lopez, Ivan. "Antillean islander space: On the religious beliefs and representations of the Taíno people." Journal of Religious History 40, no. 4 (2016): 453-474.
•    Saunders, Nicholas J., ed. The peoples of the Caribbean: An encyclopedia of archaeology and traditional culture. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2005.
•       Schwantes, Katharine. "Caves, plazas, and Gods: the impact of geomorphology on Taino utilization of ceremonial sites." PhD diss., 2011.
•      Stevens-Arroyo, Anthony. "Taíno Religion." The Oxford Handbook of Caribbean Religions 49 (2024): 1.
•    Valle, Lis. "Toward postcolonial liturgical preaching: Drawing on the pre-Columbian Caribbean religion of the Taínos." Homiletic 40, no. 1 (2015).

    Kalinago (Carib)

 

•     Bissessar, Ann Marie. "The Funerary Rites, Rituals, and Practices of the Indigenous Peoples of the Caribbean." In Post-colonial Burial and Grieving Rituals of the Caribbean, pp. 15-24. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2024.
•    Butt, Audrey J. "" THE BURNING FOUNTAIN WHENCE IT CAME":(A study of the system of beliefs of the Carib-speaking Akawaio of British Guiana.)." Social and Economic Studies (1953): 102-116.
•      Honychurch, Lennox. "The leap at Sauters: the lost cosmology of indigenous Grenada." In UWI Cave Hill (Barbados): Grenada Country Conference. 2002.

   The Garifuna

•   Bianchi, Cynthia Chamberlain. Gubida illness and religious ritual among the Garifuna of Santa Fe, Honduras: an ethnopsychiatric analysis. The Ohio State University, 1988.
•  Johnson, Paul Christopher. Diaspora conversions: Black Carib religion and the recovery of Africa. Univ of California Press, 2007.
•  Johnson, Paul Christopher. "On Leaving and Joining Africanness through Religion: The ‘Black Caribs’ across multiple Diasporic Horizons." In Africas of the Americas, pp. 39-78. Brill, 2008.
•    Perdomo, Marcela Maria. "Somatizing the Past: Healing the Dead through Spirit Possession in the Garifuna Dugu of Honduras." Journal of Africana Religions 10, no. 1 (2022): 47-71.
•   Poluha, Lauren Madrid. "“Decolonizing Our Spirits”: Music as Resistance in the Garifuna Catholic Church." Trans: Transcultural Music Review= Revista Transcultural de Música 24 (2020): 9.

The Maya

•      Bassie-Sweet, K., 2021. Maya gods of war. University Press of Colorado.
•      Gillespie, Susan D., and Rosemary A. Joyce. "Deity relationships in Mesoamerican cosmologies: The case of the Maya God L." Ancient Mesoamerica 9, no. 2 (1998): 279-296.
•      Harrison-Buck, Eleanor. "Maya Religion and Gods." Tracing the Relational: The Archaeology of Worlds, Spirits, and Temporalities (2015): 113-124.
•       Hudson, D. "Exploring the Cultural/Spiritual Histories of the Q’echi Maya and Yoruba-Caribbean People in the Americas: Maya Feminine Spirituality and Shango as Symbols of Cultural/Spiritual Preservation and Transnationalistic Unity." International Research Journal of Social Science 1 (2012): 34-42.
•    Kennedy, Clara Scillian, John Rector, Secondary Reader, David Doellinger, and Kimberly Jensen. "From Out of the Earth: Water, Maize and Caves in Ancient Maya Myth and Religion." In HST 499 Senior Seminar. 2011.
•      Martin, Simon. "Cacao in Ancient Maya Religion." Chocolate in Mesoamerica: a cultural history of cacao (2006): 154-183.
•    McGraw, John J. "Maya Religion." In Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions, pp. 1238-1242. Springer Science+ Business Media, 2013.
•      Dütting, Dieter. "The great goddess in classic Maya religious belief." Zeitschrift für Ethnologie H. 1 (1976): 41-146.’

 The Warao

•       Wilbert, Werner. "Bush-spirit encounters in Warao life and lore." Antropológica 77 (1992): 63-92.
•      Wilbert, Werner. "The pneumatic theory of female Warao herbalists." Social Science & Medicine 25, no. 10 (1987): 1139-1146.