In the introduction to the English edition of Father Pané’s An Account of the Antiquities of the Indians, translator Susan C. Griswold notes that the text is “[our] best source of information on the culture of the Taínos, as the people who greeted Columbus came to be known” (xi). Indeed, since the Taínos relied on an oral tradition, Pané’s text is an important anthropological document that contains a wealth of information on a now extinct culture. Since he lived among the native population from 1493 to 1498, he spent a great deal of time observing and absorbing their cultural practices.
However, it cannot be ignored that Pané is also a product of a certain ideological framework (that of late 15th century European Catholicism) and his primary intention was to convert the Taínos to Christianity. Thus, the reader must approach the text with a certain cautious reservation. Given his theological bias and his missionary intentions, how accurately can Pané depict Taíno religion? Exactly how reliable are his descriptions of their beliefs and practices? One might expect that his account is overflowing with images of uncultured heathens that need to be “Christianized.” Luckily, though, Pané, proves to be more complex and more interesting than that. He does expectedly condemn some of their practices as idolatry, but much of the text is simply reportage and surprisingly free of value judgments. In fact, he’s even critical of the Spanish in many places and reveals injustices committed against the Taínos. In the end, while Pané’s account is inescapably a European representation of an indigenous American religion, it also contains valuable insights into a long-lost and forgotten culture.
Much of Pané’s information has been corroborated by archaeological evidence. Griswold notes that he “appears to have been an attentive listener. His commission from Columbus required him to record the Tainos’ beliefs and ceremonies as accurately as possible” (xii). She also refers to various artifacts discovered in archaeological digs in Hispaniola (and in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica) that are strikingly similar to Pané’s descriptions. For example, both uncovered zemis (religious statues) and cohoba inhalers appear as he described them in his account. Additionally, many of the myths that he relates are also found in the mythologies of various indigenous South American peoples related to the Tainos (xii). Such information allows the reader to consider Pané’s text relatively trustworthy.
Nevertheless, all supposedly fact-based accounts are always told from a certain perspective, and all texts are inextricably intertwined with ideology. Obviously, Pané’s primary motive was not simply to “record” but also to convert the Tainos to Christianity. He refers to them as heathens and idolators, and he describes the behiques (shamans) as deceitful people that trick the innocent commoners. Generally, this only occurs in a few places, though. He was apparently not a particularly zealous missionary. In his Apologética historia de las Indias, Bartolomé de Las Casas notes that “his efforts amounted to nothing more than to say the Ave María and Pater Noster to the Indians, and some words about there being a God in heaven who was the creator of things, according to what he was able to teach them with abundant flaws and in a muddled way” (57). Las Casas also attributes this to Pané being a “simple man” with “limited faculties” (57). Since little information is known about Pané, it’s difficult to say whether or not this is true, but it’s enough to make one doubt the complete accuracy of his testimony. For instance, Griswold notes that Chapter V of the account begins with Pané declaring:
And because they have neither writing nor letters, they cannot give a good account of how they have heard this from their ancestors, and therefore they do not all say the same thing, nor can one even write down in an orderly fashion what they tell” (8).
However, later in Chapter VIII, Pané admits possible error while simultaneously defending the accuracy of his report:
“Because I wrote it down in haste and did not have sufficient paper, I was not able to write down in that place what I had copied down elsewhere by mistake; but in any case, I have not been in error because they believe everything just as I have written it down” (12).
Misgivings about Pané’s intellectual abilities aside, he does seem to have developed a certain sympathy for the Taíno people after living with them for a few years. In one instance, he separates himself from the Spanish by calling them “wicked” since they “had taken possession of [Taíno] lands by force” (xiii). Also, at the end of his account, he reveals a particularly disturbing incident that involved the public burning of some Taíno men that turned out to be a simple misunderstanding. Apparently, some of the natives had thrown Catholic images on the ground, buried them, and urinated upon them. Predictably, the Spanish were outraged, brought the offenders to trial, and killed them. (In Taíno culture, however, this was not an offense but an important religious ritual. Burying and urinating on sacred images simply ensured a bountiful harvest.) In contrast, though, Las Casas describes this incident very differently: the Spanish didn’t kill the Indians, but the Indians killed those who had converted to Christianity (66). It seems clear here that Pané’s account is a more accurate rendering of the tragic incident.
Nevertheless, despite his sympathy for the Taínos, Pané’s account ends with a chilling passage on his conversion philosophy. He writes:
“[Some] were inclined to believe easily. But with others there is need for force and ingenuity because we are not all made of the same stuff. Although those people made a good beginning and a better end, there will be others who will begin well and afterwards will laugh at what has been taught them; with them there is need for force and punishment” (38).
Thus, while his report is mostly straightforward and seemingly factual, it is inevitable that in the end Pané is unable to escape his social and cultural context. Despite his affection for the Taínos, he nevertheless remains an instrument of the ideology of domination and suppression of 15th century Spain.
Works Cited
Pané, Fray Ramón. An Account of the Antiquities of the Indians. Trans. José Juan Arrom and Susan C. Griswold. Durham: Duke UP, 1999.
