A Glossary of Caribbean Indigenous, African, and other words used by Amana and Skelele

Contributed by Taino Elder Sobaoko Koromo, Miguel Sague Jr., and scholar-at-large Dr. Keshia Abraham.

Abakuá

(Kikongo): Afro-Cuban male mutual aid society with roots in Calabar and Cameroon.

Abarimaa

(Akan): boy/male child

Ala

(Igbo) (also known as Ani, Ana, Ale, and Ali in varying Igbo dialects): The female Alusi (deity) of the earth, morality, fertility. Ala is considered the highest Alusi in the Igbo pantheon. Ala’s husband is Amadioha, the sky deity.

Amma

(Dogon): god/goddess

Anacaona

(Taino) (Anakaona) (female): Important historical chief from the island Ayiti-Kiskeya (Haiti-Dominican Republic).

Anani

(Taino): water flower

Areito

(Taino): ceremonial song-dance

Atabey

(Taino): The name of a very important divinity who is the mother earth spirit of Taino cosmology and is perceived as the birth source of the whole universe. She is associated with horizontal bodies of water such as lakes and streams and even the ocean.

Baba

(Taino): father

Bagua

(Taino): the sea

Batey

(Taino): A special rectangular or circular flat cleared outdoor area of a community sometimes lined with upright stones and used for ritual and ceremony.

Beike

(Taino): spiritual leader

Bi

(Taino): beginning

Bibi

(Taino): mother (the term ata is also used for mother)

Bo

(Taino): generous or big

Cán or can

(Taino): centre

Cemi

(Taino) (zemi): A divinity or spiritual entity of the higher magnitude. A sculptural representation of such an entity, usually in stone. Some modern-day Tainos and researchers use this word to refer only to certain sculptural representations of one specific divinity, Yokahu, in his three-point stone manifestation.

Daca

(Taino) (daka and dakia): me or I

Dùndún

(Yoruba): A drum, a family of tension drums also known as the talking or singing drum; onomatopoeia.

Eniyan Ọrun

(Yoruba): Sky People/people or being in the astral plane.

Guami-ke-ni

(Taino): Lord of Land and Water

Guarico

(Taino): come

Hahom

(Taino): thanks

Hu

(Taino): wind or breath

Huracan

(Taino) (Hurakan): Hurricane, meaning “centre of wind.”

Iba

(Yoruba): Paying homage or salutation; giving reverence to the energies of the multiverse.

Igbo, Yoruba, Twi, Akan

African languages carried to the Caribbean and around the world by people of these nations.

Ireme

(Kikongo): Spirit dancer. Cuban term for the Abakuá dancer also known as Ireme or Ndem in the Cross River region.

Jan jan catu

(Taino) (Han han katu): Literally “Yes yes indeed!” (Used as a form of strong confirmation or affirmation, also used in the same way that modern-day colloquial American English uses the term “Amen to that!”)

Kai

(Taino): food

Kaiman

(Taino) (caiman): The crocodile, who represents the surface of the earth.

Karaya

(Taino): moon spirit

Ke

(Taino): earth or soil

Maboya

(Taino): negative or destructive spirit

Manaya

(Taino): stone-bladed hatchet

Mayohuacan

(Taino) (mayohuakan): A hollow log slit drum with no skin heads. It is played by striking the wood itself with mallets or drumsticks.

Nanichi

(Taino): “my love” or “my heart”

Naniki

(Taino): Animating soul being, akin to the “hu” or active spirit.

Ni Ara

(Taino): water entity or water person

Nommo

(Dogon): In what’s now called Benin, the word for consciousness; primordial beings/forces of nature; to make or drink; the creator spirit who emerged with a female twin.

Nsalabanda

(Kikongo): Charm, spiritual amulet/a powerful cloth or powerful sound able to traverse between the earthly and astral planes.

Nyame

(Akan): Supreme Being

O ni ife mi!

(Yoruba): “You love me!”

Ocama

(Taino) (Okama): “listen” or “pay attention”

Ogotemmêli

(Dogon): Dogon elder/sage who wrote and shared Dogon cosmology with the world.

Olódùmarè

(Yoruba): Supreme Being, synonymous with Olorun.

Prenda

(Spanish): garment or pledge

Taino

This is a word that most current-era Caribbean Indigenous descendants recognize as the tribal name of the Arawakan language–speaking people of the Caribbean. It is derived from the term “tai,” meaning “honourable” or “righteous,” and the suffix “no,” which is a simple pluralizer that renders the term “the noble ones” or “the honourable ones” or “the good ones.” It is believed to have been used by the ancient Tainos as a comparative expression to differentiate themselves from their enemies who were not so “good.”

Taino ti

(Taino): A term of greeting meaning “High honours to you.” “Taino” is used here to denote honour or honourable and the term “ti” means “high.”

Tekina

(Taino): Teacher, one who leads a learning process.

Turey Ara

(Taino): sky entity or sky person

Turey toca

(Taino) (turey toka): “It is in the sky,” “dwells in the sky,” “is in Heaven.”

Wa

(Taino): no

Wá

(Yoruba): come

Yaya-Guaturey

(Taino): The Great Spirit, a supreme being that incorporates the combined essence of both the male Yokahu and the female Atabey together.

Ÿê-owópàrö

(Yoruba): changeable/changeling, shapeshifter

Yukiyu-jan

(Taino)(Jukiyu): A misspelling commonly used by some modern-day Tainos to refer to Yokahu. “Yokahu” meaning “supreme male spirit of life” and “-jan” meaning “yes.”

Zarabanda

(Kikongo): a spirit of iron; incredibly powerful sorcerer, warrior, protector

Zuimaco

(Taino): title of the supreme female divinity

Glossary References and Guidance

1. Fakinlede, Kayode J. Yoruba Modern Practical Dictionary. New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc., 2003.
2. Olatunji Somorin, Oluwo, of Ode Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria.
3. Thompson, Robert Farris. Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy. New York: Vintage, 1983.