Introduction
Bernard Nietschmann spent his career documenting how the Mosquitia, or "Miskitu Coast" is a region "between land and water" (1973). Located in the Central American Caribbean lowlands, and long a frontier of colonial geopolitics, the Miskitu Coast is home to numerous indigenous groups, which make up distinct nations including the Miskitu, Kriole, Mayagna, Garifuna, and Rama among others. Over the course of the region's interactions with the outside world, which stretch back to the 1500s, many outsiders have settled along its Caribbean shores, often in solidarity with the indigenous population (Linebaugh and Rediker, 2000). While the Miskitu Coast was never a colony, it was a haven for pirates, smugglers, and anti-capitalists from Europe and later the United States, who used its barely navigable waterways to hide from persecution. A close analysis of the region's place names show some interesting patterns which reflect the distinct geography that makes the Miskitu Coast unlike the rest of Honduras and Nicaragua, where settler capitalism, piracy, and internal colonialism continue to leave its mark on modern settlements, infrastructure and natural landmarks across the region.
Syncretism, being the combination of different, previously unconnected elements into a new form, is a key concept to understanding settlement patterns in the Mosquitia. Earlier in 4031 we studied how religious sycretism in Mexico, which combined indigenous and Catholic toponyms, altered the settlement landscape of Tlaxcala. Clawson and Tillman used the case of Santeria in Cuba, which is a mixture of Yoruba and Catholic relgious practices, to show how two very different religions and cultures created new types of being and belonging in the new world (2018). Tillman also did resarch on the Moravian settlement landscape of the Mosquitia, finding that the church's infilitration of traditional villages, rather than the establishment of new ones, had a direct impact on its importance to religious transformation in the region (2011). Charles Hale found the affinity for English and American culture and products among the Miskitu as a direct result of settler capitalist and neocolonial processes (1994). I proposed an investigation into the language origin of settlements in the Mosquitia, to see how the processes discussed above have influenced place names and their location.
Description of Project
To inquire into the impact of these processes on the settlement landscape, I developed the following research question: How is the Miskitu Coast's diverse history demonstrated in its place names, and have those place names changed over time? Before mapping the regions major settlements by language (Miskitu, English or Spanish), I consulted the earliest accounts and travel narratives of people who visited the region, in order to confirm the urban legends told to me during fieldwork on the origins of their largest towns and cities. I found that the historical record proves that the largest current settlements across the Miskitu Coast were indeed settled by pirates, including Bilwi, Bluefields, Brus Lagoon and the Pearl Lagoon among others (M.W., 1732; Dampier, 1906). Some of these place names have changed due to political decisions, war or settlement patterns, as in the case of Bilwi. The town was originally a tiny lumber settlement used by a pirate named Braggmann, who named the place "Bragmann's Bluff." The settlement was near a Miskitu village named Bilwi, which is now the city's recognized name. However, for decades the Nicaraguan state referred to the city as Puerto Cabezas, and often still calls the city by its settler-colonial toponym.
Results also show a lack of Spanish place names in comparison to English or Miskitu settlements. One exception to this finding is the route from Nicaragua's Pacific coast to Bilwi, which is the only road directly connecting the rest of Nicaragua to the Northern Autonomous Region. Overall, a few patterns are discernable from the results. We see an obvious pattern of English place names for coastal settlements throughout the region, with few even Miskitu toponyms until dozens of miles inland. Once reaching the upper Rio Coco region, we see an overall lack of English place names. Local residents refer to the Rio Coco settlements as the heartland of the Mosquitia, with a more "pure" Miskitu dialectic which uses less English words. There are a series of settlements around the town of Bilwi and on the Wawa River referring to logging operations. This is fascinating given the centuries-long history of logging pine and mahogany in the savannahs behind these coastal settlements. Religion plays a very minor yet foundational role in the place names of the Miskitu Coast. While only two settlements explicitly refer to religion, one of these is the earliest settlement in the region, which is now under the control of Colombia.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we see a clear impact from piracy, logging and indigenous presence in the place names of the Miskitu Coast. While technically within the nation-states of Honduras and Nicaragua, there is a lack of Spanish place names in comparison to English and Miskitu settlements. This paired with its outward mobility and trade with Belize and the Cayman islands highlight the Miskitu Coast as a Caribbean oriented polity, unlike the pan-mestizo hegemony of Nicaragua and Honduras. Unsurprisingly, we see more Spanish place names the further inland one travels, including in the southernmost part of the RAAS near the eastern side of Lago Cocibolca and the Costa Rican Frontier. Lastly, while the urban centers of the Miskitu Coast may share their origins with pirates and buccaneers, a majority of riverine settlements on the Rio Coco, Patuca and elsewhere reflect the strong presence of indigenous language. and the importance of swampy, riverine landscapes to the Miskitu people.
Bernard Nietschmann spent his career documenting how the Mosquitia, or "Miskitu Coast" is a region "between land and water" (1973). Located in the Central American Caribbean lowlands, and long a frontier of colonial geopolitics, the Miskitu Coast is home to numerous indigenous groups, which make up distinct nations including the Miskitu, Kriole, Mayagna, Garifuna, and Rama among others. Over the course of the region's interactions with the outside world, which stretch back to the 1500s, many outsiders have settled along its Caribbean shores, often in solidarity with the indigenous population (Linebaugh and Rediker, 2000). While the Miskitu Coast was never a colony, it was a haven for pirates, smugglers, and anti-capitalists from Europe and later the United States, who used its barely navigable waterways to hide from persecution. A close analysis of the region's place names show some interesting patterns which reflect the distinct geography that makes the Miskitu Coast unlike the rest of Honduras and Nicaragua, where settler capitalism, piracy, and internal colonialism continue to leave its mark on modern settlements, infrastructure and natural landmarks across the region.
Syncretism, being the combination of different, previously unconnected elements into a new form, is a key concept to understanding settlement patterns in the Mosquitia. Earlier in 4031 we studied how religious sycretism in Mexico, which combined indigenous and Catholic toponyms, altered the settlement landscape of Tlaxcala. Clawson and Tillman used the case of Santeria in Cuba, which is a mixture of Yoruba and Catholic relgious practices, to show how two very different religions and cultures created new types of being and belonging in the new world (2018). Tillman also did resarch on the Moravian settlement landscape of the Mosquitia, finding that the church's infilitration of traditional villages, rather than the establishment of new ones, had a direct impact on its importance to religious transformation in the region (2011). Charles Hale found the affinity for English and American culture and products among the Miskitu as a direct result of settler capitalist and neocolonial processes (1994). I proposed an investigation into the language origin of settlements in the Mosquitia, to see how the processes discussed above have influenced place names and their location.
Description of Project
To inquire into the impact of these processes on the settlement landscape, I developed the following research question: How is the Miskitu Coast's diverse history demonstrated in its place names, and have those place names changed over time? Before mapping the regions major settlements by language (Miskitu, English or Spanish), I consulted the earliest accounts and travel narratives of people who visited the region, in order to confirm the urban legends told to me during fieldwork on the origins of their largest towns and cities. I found that the historical record proves that the largest current settlements across the Miskitu Coast were indeed settled by pirates, including Bilwi, Bluefields, Brus Lagoon and the Pearl Lagoon among others (M.W., 1732; Dampier, 1906). Some of these place names have changed due to political decisions, war or settlement patterns, as in the case of Bilwi. The town was originally a tiny lumber settlement used by a pirate named Braggmann, who named the place "Bragmann's Bluff." The settlement was near a Miskitu village named Bilwi, which is now the city's recognized name. However, for decades the Nicaraguan state referred to the city as Puerto Cabezas, and often still calls the city by its settler-colonial toponym.
Results also show a lack of Spanish place names in comparison to English or Miskitu settlements. One exception to this finding is the route from Nicaragua's Pacific coast to Bilwi, which is the only road directly connecting the rest of Nicaragua to the Northern Autonomous Region. Overall, a few patterns are discernable from the results. We see an obvious pattern of English place names for coastal settlements throughout the region, with few even Miskitu toponyms until dozens of miles inland. Once reaching the upper Rio Coco region, we see an overall lack of English place names. Local residents refer to the Rio Coco settlements as the heartland of the Mosquitia, with a more "pure" Miskitu dialectic which uses less English words. There are a series of settlements around the town of Bilwi and on the Wawa River referring to logging operations. This is fascinating given the centuries-long history of logging pine and mahogany in the savannahs behind these coastal settlements. Religion plays a very minor yet foundational role in the place names of the Miskitu Coast. While only two settlements explicitly refer to religion, one of these is the earliest settlement in the region, which is now under the control of Colombia.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we see a clear impact from piracy, logging and indigenous presence in the place names of the Miskitu Coast. While technically within the nation-states of Honduras and Nicaragua, there is a lack of Spanish place names in comparison to English and Miskitu settlements. This paired with its outward mobility and trade with Belize and the Cayman islands highlight the Miskitu Coast as a Caribbean oriented polity, unlike the pan-mestizo hegemony of Nicaragua and Honduras. Unsurprisingly, we see more Spanish place names the further inland one travels, including in the southernmost part of the RAAS near the eastern side of Lago Cocibolca and the Costa Rican Frontier. Lastly, while the urban centers of the Miskitu Coast may share their origins with pirates and buccaneers, a majority of riverine settlements on the Rio Coco, Patuca and elsewhere reflect the strong presence of indigenous language. and the importance of swampy, riverine landscapes to the Miskitu people.
Figure 1. The ungovernable wetlands.
References
Clawson, D. and Tillman, B. (2018). Latin America and the Caribbean: Lands and Peoples. 6th Edition. Oxford University Press.
(1906). Dampier's voyages: Consisting of a new voyage round the world, a supplement to the voyage round the world. In J. Masefield (Ed.), Two voyages to Campeachy, a discourse of winds, a voyage to New Hollard, and a vindication, in answer to the Chimerical relation of William Funnell. London: E. G. Richards.
(2010). In ( Trans), The Buccaneers of America: A true account of the most remarkable assaults committed of late years upon the coasts of the West Indies by the Buccaneers of Jamaica and Tortuga. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hale, C. (1994). Resistance and Contradiction: Miskitu Indians and the Nicaraguan State, 1984-1987. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Linebaugh, Peter and Rediker, Marcus. (2000). The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
M.W. (1732). A familiar description of the Mosqueto Kingdom in America, with a Relation of the strange Customs, Religion, Wars, etc of the Heathen People. In A. Churchill (Ed.), A collection of voyages and travels, some now first printed from original manuscripts, others now first published in English: In six volumes with a general preface giving an account of the progress of navigation from its first beginning (Vol. VI) (pp. 285– 298). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2027/aeu.ark:/13960/t81k04n86
Nietschmann, B. (1973). Between land and water: the subsistence ecology of the Miskito Indians, Eastern Nicaragua. Seminar Press.
Nietschmann, B. (1985). Fourth world nations: Conflicts and alternatives. Center for World Indigenous Studies, Olympia, WA.
(2007). Creating Mosquitia: Mapping Amerindian spatial practices in eastern Central America, 1629–1779. Journal of Historical Geography, 33 (2), 254– 282.
Tillman, B. (2011). Imprints on Native Lands: The Miskito-Moravian Settlement Landscape in Honduras. University of Arizona Press.
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