The yuke, or ceremonial belts, are used in the Taino Batey
Ceremonial ball game as follows. The players in this contest are not
allowed to use their hands, only their other body parts. The
yuke is worn around the waist and used to reflect or hit the
ball off of it when in play. The ceremonial belts are made of stone or
wood with many sacred symbols or writings on them. The belts are in
the shape of the woman's uterus or of the Guacara (cave) -
the Caguana birth place or the opening to the Coabey (meaning the
underworld realm) of ancestors. This sacred pre-Columbian Taino Batey
ceremonial contest was revived in the early 1970's and is still being
played today by modern day Native Americans of the Caribbean Islands
and Florida as part of their Taino indigenous religion.
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The yuke, or ceremonial belts, are used in the Taino Batey
Ceremonial ball game as follows. The players in this contest are not
allowed to use their hands, only their other body parts. The
yuke is worn around the waist and used to reflect or hit the
ball off of it when in play. The ceremonial belts are made of stone or
wood with many sacred symbols or writings on them. The belts are in
the shape of the woman's uterus or of the Guacara (cave) -
the Caguana birth place or the opening to the Coabey (meaning the
underworld realm) of ancestors. This sacred pre-Columbian Taino Batey
ceremonial contest was revived in the early 1970's and is still being
played today by modern day Native Americans of the Caribbean Islands
and Florida as part of their Taino indigenous religion.