Tall is Her Body

 

The time is 1200 AD. In the Caribbean, conflict between two ethnic groups on the islands, the Caribs and the Taíno, has been ongoing for some time. On one island this conflict comes to a head and leads to an extraordinary event; the crossing of the Atlantic, west to east.

 

 

 

The women set up a wailing as Waitukubuli, “tall is her body”, gradually receded on the horizon. The fifteen sea canoes kept bunched together for now, the paddles lifting and dipping in a steady rhythm.

 

The current was strong here gripping the boats and bearing them along.

 

Awak had had a vision; he saw great killing and destruction of their village and crops and houses, by a new tribe from the mainland.

He had gone to worship in the grove of Tiete Shen in Sineku. There he had taken the ritual offering of tobacco and burnt it on a paddle in front of the god.

And taken the cohoba. He fell into a trance, the palms danced before his eyes, the god statue turned from a stone snake to a real snake large, coiled. Then the snake vomited and from its vomit came a human figure who rose to his full height over the prostrate Carib chief.

Tiete Shan in his youthful manifestation.

 

On his head a bright feathered headdress rose from a head band; his body naked except for a shell necklace and a loin cloth.

He crowed like the jungle cock then spoke, his voice deep and slow.

This was the prophesy,

 

“Strangers will come from the south, many, many war canoes to kill your people.

Build the biggest canoes you can. Take the canoe logs from the mightiest sacred trees here on the upper slopes of my body Waitukubuli. Take your people and go with the current north across the ocean. There you will find many islands.

Awak’s heart sank. The open ocean. The Carib and the Taíno war canoes were big, suited for the short journeys between the islands; he feared the men could not paddle the great distances that would be needed.

Tiete Shan seemed to read his mind.

“I will give you new knowledge to undertake this journey and he waved his arms in the air.

A cloud of mist appeared, spread, then in the middle thinned.

Awak could quite clearly see a large war canoe filled with people, a hut in the centre and a strange thing, a tree just beyond the hut. Spreading out from the tree a large cloth, the wind pressing against it.

“Study this vision carefully Awak; note the details for this will carry you and your tribe across the wide ocean.”

The vision hovered.

Awak looked on in awe. He noted that the cloth was held at the top by a large horizontal pole and held out by ropes to different each side of the canoe.

“This is my wing,” continued Tiete Shan. It has the power to lift and carry you over the sea.”

The vision and the young man faded before him. Only the stone statue remained. Then in the nearby forest he heard the cry of the jungle fowl.

Awak rose and descended the mountain, his mind a whirl.

 

 

The village was buzzing with preparations for the ball game.

 

The Taíno calchique had agreed that his tribe and the Carib should play here on the island Waitukubuli, Tall is Her Body.

 

The alternative would have been war. There had been many years of conflict. It would start with minor bickering between groups of young men. Then, as the weather grew hot and sultry as the time of Juracán approached, skirmishes would erupt; there would be a killing followed by a reprisal, then open full scale warfare.

Many men would be killed, women and children abducted; these acts built hatreds and vendettas.

 

But then five years ago, from the mainland, Toaché had appeared. He brought with him the Balls; round, the size of a man’s head, made of latex. When he descended from his canoe and bounced them on the hard ground the people laughed.

Imprint

Publisher: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Text: alastair macleod
Images: alastair macleod: "Feather Tribal Headdress from South America", purchased from Dreamstime royalty free photos.
Editing: alastair macleod
Translation: cover typeset in goodfish
Publication Date: 12-11-2014
ISBN: 978-3-7368-6363-7

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To The Taíno and all they have given us, and to the Gulf Stream that brings us her warmth.