INSIDE NMAI
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A HERO’S PREDICAMENT BY ANTONIO CURET A
n unfortunate encounter once put the Caribbean folk hero Deminan Caracaracol in a sor- ry state. His condition, and its surprising outcome, appears
to provide the story for this beautiful bottle, now on display at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York. This sophisticated ancient Caribbean
artwork was collected in the Dominican Re- public by Theodoor de Booy in 1916. It shows the high artistic skills of the artisans of the island of Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and Dominican Republic) and the central position religion had in their lives. The effigy repre- sents a male figure wearing a highly decorated bonnet and belt, armbands and elaborate ear spools, all symbols that indicate his high sta- tus. The figure has both hands on his thighs, is standing in a semi-squatting position and has an erected penis, possibly indicating that he has inhaled cohoba (a hallucinogen consumed to achieve a state of spiritual transformation and to contact the supernatural). Significantly, the hump on his back resembles a turtle with frog-like legs. This hump suggests that he is the mythical
figure Deminan Caracaracol. It possibly refers to one of the adventures of the mythical qua- druplets, Caracaracol and his three brothers, whose mother died giving birth to them. The adventures of the quadruplets are recounted in a cycle of stories, including the creation of the ocean from a great flood. The brothers obtained fish, cassava bread and cohoba from mythical beings to provide for humankind. They were the Prometheus of the Natives of the Greater Antilles. This particular story was recorded by Fray
Ramon Pane in 1495–96 on the island of His- paniola. A friar of the Order of Saint Jerome, he arrived to the island in 1493 on Christo- pher Columbus’ second voyage. Columbus 38 AMERICAN INDIAN FALL 2018
Deminan Caracaracol, a mythical hero or zemi of the ancient Indigenous Caribbean, was one of the quadruplet children of Itiba Cahubaba. Their travels brought many misadventures such as the painful gestation of a turtle on Deminan’s back in this fine thin-walled ceramic. The vessel was probably used in important ceremonies. Deminan Caracarcol bottle, A.D. 1200-1500. Andres, Dominican Republic. Clay: 8.7" x 8.7" x 16.1". Collected by Theodore de Booy, circa 1916, for the Museum of the American Indian. 5/3753.
PHOTOGRAPH BY WALTER LARRIMORE, NMAI
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