EPISCOPAL CHURCH & MISKITO INDIANS Episcopal Church & Miskito Indians

Episcopal Church & Miskito Indians

Miskito Indians

The Miskito population is descended from Chibcha tribes, who lived in the lowland forests of northern South America before the arrival of Europeans. The Miskito name possibly comes from or is related to the "musket" which was introduced by the British gun and traded on that coast. The origin of the Miskitu as an ethnic group is unclear. The Miskito themselves and many scholars believe that they have always been Miskito. Some authors agree that the Miskito people emerged in the seventeenth century, a mixture of social and biological bawinkas, Tawahkas (chief), Africans and Europeans (Acosta & Castellón, 1999).

Linda Newson says there are no references to the Miskito and apparently they arose early colonial period, emerging in the seventeenth century. The earliest reference to the Miskito as Newson, makes Exquemelin buccaneer who, in 1672, noted that they were a small nation from 1600 to 1700 inhabitants. In 1681, Dampier, making a more conservative estimate, noted that, they are but a small nation or family, and there are 100 men of them in number, inhabiting the north shore, near Cape Gracias a Dios, between the out Honduras and Nicaragua.

It has suggested, and it seems likely that mosquitoes are a purely historical group that originated in the Indian Supreme mix with blacks who shipwrecked in the Florida Keys Mosquito in 1641. In 1711, the Bishop of Nicaragua described the origin of the "Zambos or Mosquitos"(Acosta & Castellón, 1999).

"In the year 1641 a ship loaded lost on the coast of Black Sea and the northern part between the mouth of the Rio San Juan, province of Nicaragua and the city of Trujillo province of Honduras ... recording the corresponding third of blacks and others retreated and took shelter among the weeds of the mountains occupied by Carib Indians who jealous and suspicious of those new guests he made war with each other very crude, eventually defeated the Caribbean blacks, retiring in this mountain into the lands of Segovia and Chontales ... who today are fierce enmity with them ... With women of the vanquished were multiplying the victors, and those who have died first guests today their descendants are called to be Zambos children of blacks and Indians (Anaya & James, 2004). "

There is some biological evidence that supports the proposed mixed racial Miskito. In a survey of blood groups and Miskito indigenous Tawahka River area Segovia, Matson and Swanson found that while all belong to the Supreme "O" blood group distribution among the Miskito was 90% "O "and the remaining percentage of the types" A and B ".

The next association between Miskito Tawahka and can be seen in their legends and languages. For example, a legend tells how the ancestors Tawahka tribal Mai-Sahana and Yapti-Misri, born of an enormous rock near the Rio Patuca and then gave birth to the Miskito, Tawahka and ...