The Taíno Indians of the Greater Antilles were among the first group of people Christopher Columbus met when he first set foot on the island of Hispaniola in the West Indies. They inhabited in the islands now known as Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. The Taíno people are mostly known for their stone carving and pottery skills. One of their most important wood sculptures are Zemis, representing deities worshipped by the Taíno; signifying “sacred thing.” Zemis symbolized high political power, social status, and fertility. Made all along the Caribbean the deity figure of a Zemi is out of wood around the 1400-1600 A.D era. Taíno's made Sculptures of Zemis from a range of materials that included wood, stone, clay, and…show more content… Its historical background and significance in the life of many Taíno people was something in which I could relate in a personal way. The idea behind the protection given by the Zemi reminds me of the religious saints I as a catholic have at home for protective and belief reasons. The human-like figure the Zemi resembles and its facial expression shows the empowerment behind the figure. I also liked the importance of the material used to create these sculptures. For instance, the most preferred material to use in the creation of a Zemi sculpture was wood from trees such as, mahogany, cedar, blue mahoe and silk cotton. The images of Zemis are found, though out cave walls and carved on rocks all over the Greater Antilles. Illustrated in variety of ways it was one thing that made the Zemi sculpture unique. Unlike the Zemi in this exhibition, Zemis are also made in a triangular form in which the tips have decorations with either human faces, animal or other mythical objects. Believed to imitate the shape of Taíno food called cassava tubers, which is an essential food in their lives, inspiring the naming of Three Pointed Zemis. Burried into the soil, these three-pointed Zemis "helped" the growth of plantations. It was interesting to find out the multitude of forms the Zemi forms and the way they impact the lives of the Taíno people…show more content… Though the influence of Spanish settlers, the belief behind Zemis slowly disappeared and had an alternative point of view. Zemis were later believed to be the reason behind many illnesses; therefore, it created lack of information towards the religious beliefs Taíno people followed. Spanish settlers invaded not only on a cultural view, but religious as well. Conversion to the Christian religion took over the Caribbean. There has been a missing “gap” between the religious history of the Taíno community which embarks in the start of the Spanish settlement. The missing history of Zemis is not illustrated nor explained thoroughly which was an important part of the identification of the Taíno identity. The influence of the Spanish colonizers imposed a religious belief that was completely different from their original. Like the history of Black people, history of the Caribbean tends to begin when they interacted with the colonizers, and not what happened before they stepped into the picture. Cultural identities such as traditional foods, dancing, and music where one of the few ways in which the Taíno identity is still being crossed over to modern society and are few aspects of the original culture that have lived before and after their colonization. Unlike food, music and dance which still lives on today, Zemis and the symbolization of the
