From Taiwan to Chile: A Source of the Indigenous of the Americas

First published June 4, 2013. Major revisions June 17, 2014.

Based on a comparative analysis of the Taiwanese aboriginal language, Siraya, and the oldest Maya language Ch'orti', as well place name and language name analysis in Taiwan, there is a likelihood that Taiwan was one of the origin points for the Maya and most of the indigenous in the Americas. As discussed here, there is a possibility of two origin points for this migration group. A Taiwanese origin point is consistent with the idea that the Monte Verde-related migration was by ocean rather than overland.

Almost all of the indigenous of the South and Central America are linked to Monte Verde and the Ch’orti’ that was spoken there. In a later publication I will further link many of the indigenous groups of North America to Monte Verde and, in most cases, to the Ch’orti’ language.

As described previously, the first peoples of South America were familiar with water craft and likely traveled by raft from Monte Verde, Chile, to Taima-taima, Venezuela, moving around South America in a counter-clockwise motion near the Pacific shore, through the Straits of Magellan, and then along the Atlantic shore. They also arrived to the other sites mentioned above by raft, as the story along the coast of Colombia makes clear. The first peoples were sailing people, quite familiar with the ocean.

When looking for the origin place and people of the Monte Verde migration, I considered coastal people from east Russia and China, Japan, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Indonesians are among the people who make up the Austronesian language group, who are well known sailors, also including Malaysians, Filipinos, and Polynesians. But the Austronesian language group seems to have its origin in Taiwan – nine out of ten Austronesian language branches are Formosan according to Robert Blust. It does not appear that the people of this language group had dispersed beyond Taiwan by 12800 BCE, the approximate date of the passage to the Americas.

The Taiwanese aboriginal languages are commonly called the Formosan languages. Siraya is part of the East Formosan branch. It was spoken at the time of the arrival of the Dutch along the southwest coast of Taiwan. Its historic area has been hypothesized to center on the Chianan Plain, which is one of the most fertile in Taiwan. I chose Siraya because it is a coastal language rather than a mountain language, thus more likely to be ocean people. Based on the name Siraya and its location bordering on nearly all of the other Formosan languages I think that it is one of the older Formosan languages. But the Formosan languages may not have diverged much at the time of the passage to the Americas. Therefore, looking at any of the Formosan languages should reveal similar linguistic connections with Ch'orti'.

The linguistic similarities between Siraya and Ch'orti' are found mostly in the cultural heritage words, such as those for close relatives and parts of the body.

Comparison of Cultural Words, Siraya and Ch'orti'

Siraya	English translation	Ch'orti'	English translation
na, ana, ina	mother	nana'	mother
chana	grandmother	cha' + nana'	second + mother
tau	human	tata'	grandfather
tau	human	tahu	get together
ma, ama	father	mama'	old man
ala	son or daughter	ar (al)	offspring, mammal
voal	body	bah	body
timi	cheek, face	ti'	mouth
pook	limb	ok	stalk, leg
uoeg	soul, spirit	weh	flesh
kate	evil	katu	moon deity
bulum	sky	lum	earth, land
uma	field, land, town	lum	earth, land
malii	land, soil	mar (mal)	open space
su	word	suht	reply
siriang	to make good	sir + ay	raise, lift + to be

The close translations of similar meaning words for mother, grandmother, father, and human are significant. These are among the words least likely to change in a language. The similarity of of these words is likely not random. Furthermore, similar words with related meanings for body, cheek, and limb are also important.

Although sky (bulum) in Siraya flips to earth (lum) in Ch'orti', these are both basic elements of nature. In addition, there is a similar Siraya word for field or land (uma) with a close correspondence to land (lum). Another Siraya word for land or soil malii corresponds closely with mal in Ch'orti' (open space). More comparative words are listed in the appendix.

The languages do not appear to share personal pronouns, which is another way show linkage between two related languages.

One phonetic similarity between the two languages is an exchanging of the 'l' and 'r'. In Ch'orti' this appears to be complete, where there has been only one letter pronounced in between 'l' and 'r', like Japanese, at least until modern times. In Siraya there appear to be two separate letters but in some words, they are inter-changeable. One example of this is the word for cat, which can be either ruklau or luklao.

One other similarity between Ch'orti' and Siraya is that both languages appear to be agglutinative, that is larger words are formed by creating compounds from smaller words. One example from about the time when the first peoples arrived in Chile in 12800 BCE, that is, when proto Ch'orti' began to separate from proto-East Formosan, is the name of the river by Monte Verde, Chile: Chinchihuapi, which is formed from six base words:ch’i in ch’i’h wa’ ha’ pi.

Next I will examine some places in Taiwan, as well as the names of tribes and languages. They tell the story of the peopling of Taiwan and, it seems, the story of the departure of the Monte Verde culture for the Americas.

The name Taiwan can be understood with Ch’orti’. Taiwan would be ta’ wa’ ahn and means "beings on the residue in the current." There are at least two examples where residue (ta’) is used to describe an island in Reloncavi Sound, near Monte Verde, Chile: Tabon Island and Tak Island. There are also examples were the word for residue, ta’, was pronounced "tai," like in Taiwan, such as the Venezuelan site, Taima-taima.

The name Siraya also is understandable in Ch’orti’. Siraya is si ir ha’ yam or "see the series of circles in the water." The final ‘m’ was often dropped in both archaic Ch’orti’ as well as more recent Ch’orti’. I understand seeing the circles in the water to mean the island of Taiwan and the surrounding islands, which signifies that the Siraya forged their identity when they saw Taiwan and moved there from China. It clarifies that Taiwan was separated by water from China and not a contiguous land mass.

The aboriginal peoples of Taiwan’s western plain, sometimes including the Siraya, are called Pingpu or Pinpu. In Ch’orti’ this would be pi in pur or "first companions on the up and down." This indicates that the west of Taiwan was the first place to be settled from China, which makes sense. The "up and down" I take to mean the tides experienced while journeying by boat across the Strait of Taiwan, which is today 130 to 180 kilometers wide.

Looking back the other way, there are two place names in China that likely date from the time of the first migration to Taiwan. Forty-five kilometers northeast of Quanzhou is Pinghai Bay. Pinghai is pi in ha’ and means "first companions in the water" – perhaps the first ones to journey out into the ocean. Language on Taiwan indicates they learned sailing there, so the first journey to Taiwan was likely with raft and paddles. Another 50 kilometers northeast, on the peninsula closest to Taiwan, is Pingtan. Pingtan has a similar word structure as Pinghai and is pi in ta’ ahn, meaning "first companions to the residue (island) in the current" – the first to Taiwan. Given its location it is logical that they would have departed from Pingtan to get to Taiwan.

In the Siraya area is Tainan City. Tainan is ta’ in ahn and means "first on the residue in the current." Also in the area is Sinhua Township, which is si in wa’ and means "many first beings (people)." These names add to the sense that the west side of the island hosted the first aboriginal communities.

All five of the sub-tribes of the Siraya have names that are translatable in Ch’orti’ and refer to the island of Taiwan or an animal (seals) found near Taiwan. Mattauw would be mat ta’ uh in Ch’orti’ and means "wrap-around sacred residue (island)" – perhaps the first to boat around the island. Taivoan is ta’ po’ ahn and means "residue (island) in the current of the deep hole." Soelangh seems to be soh hel ahn ak’ and would mean "like a curved skin in the current." Sinckan is si in ak’ k’a ahn and means "series of our first desirable skins in the current." Baccloangh is bah kel lo’ ahn ak’ and means "cut open skin and bodies of the loose ones (animals) in the current."

Many of the other Formosan (Taiwan aboriginal) languages are also translatable in Ch’orti’ and tell more of the story of the peopling of the island. They also seem to hold the key to explaining how the passage of a group to the Americas took place. I’ll start by going clockwise from the Siraya area to the northwest and then start at the Siraya area again before going counter-clockwise up the east side of the island. [click to enlarge]

Kwamikagami at en.wikipedia [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from Wikimedia Commons

The Hoanya speakers are directly north of the Siraya speakers and are part of the Western Plains language group. Hoanya is ho’ ahn yam and means "desirable circle in the current," referring to the island of Taiwan. Thao, up above the Hoanya, is ta’ ho’ in Ch’orti’, meaning "desirable residue" or desirable island.

The Babuza speakers are north of the Hoanya speakers. Babuza is bah buh tza and means "bodies cut up in the wetness" – later I’ll get to the violent group known as the controllers of the water. Papora speakers are right next to the Babuza and their name seems to relate to Babuza. Papora is pah po’ hor ha’ and means "leaders’ bodies in the water of the deep hole." Like the Babuza this name seems to relate to the violence done by the controllers of the water.

The Taokas are located at the shortest distance between Taiwan and China. Their name seems to indicate that they were the first group to land on the island. Taokas is ta’ ok kah as and means "beginning of walking and playing on the residue (island)." The Hoanya, Babuza, Papora, Thao, and Taokas make up the Western Plains Formosan language group. The names seem to indicate the first people of these languages made up the first migration from China to Taiwan.

Aside from Thao, the interior languages may have been the last to develop, as people moved from the coasts to the uplands. The names seems to be from a time when the language was diverging from Ch’orti’. The Tsou language is above Hoanya in the mountainous interior. Tsou might be chu’ in Ch’orti’, in which case it would mean "breast," or mountain.

Of the eight Taiwanese aboriginal language groups, plus one Polynesian group, five are understandable in Ch’orti’: the Western Plains group, Paiwan, Yami, Puyama, and the Eastern Formosan group. In the case of the Paiwan and the Yami, they may have been named by the Eastern Formosan group. This may indicate that the Western Plains and Eastern Formosan language groups are the oldest two groups.

Paiwan is spoken at the far southeastern corner of Taiwan. Paiwan is pi wa’ ahn and means "companion beings along the current." The name is in the third person – perhaps named by someone else.

The Yami are from a much smaller island southeast of Taiwan. The Yami language is a Malayo-Polynesian language so it likely was a much later migration. But the island seems to have an ancient name, named by the first inhabitants of Taiwan. The island name later may have been attached to the group that settled on Yami. Yami is yam mi and meant "circle of the cats" or perhaps island of the Amis.

The Puyuma are located just north of Paiwan and mostly are located inland. Puyuma is puh yum ha’ in Ch’orti’ and means "cut to pieces by the controller of the water." This name may explain why the Puyuma left the coast and primarily settled inland, although alternately, it could be "cut to pieces by the bad controller (master)." Who were "controllers of the water?" It was likely the same group who afflicted the Babuza and Papora.

A name on the coast very near to the historic Puyuma area is telling – Taimali township. Taimali is ta’ im mah li and means "beside the bad blasting ones of the residue (island)." "Blasting" is a way of saying hitting and was used, at times, in South America to denote hunting. This makes it likely that it was a next-door neighbor of the Puyuma who cut them to pieces – either the Amis to the north or the Paiwan to the south. A name with a similar meaning is located 12 kilometers south of Taimali – Duoliang Station. Duoliang is tol li ahn and means "next to the bruisers of the current." Further south, in the middle of the Paiwan area, is Manzhou Township. Manzhou is mah ahn suh and means "bad ones of the layer in the current," referring to their rafts. This supports the idea that it was the Paiwan who cut up the Puyuma and who were the controllers of the water.

The location of the Paiwan between two East Formosan language groups gives some likelihood that the Paiwan started out in the same language group. Their bullying tactics could have made them isolated socially, causing their language to diverge quickly from the East Formosan languages.

The last group with names understandable in Ch’orti’ are the East Formosan group. We already looked at the Siraya, situated on the southwest corner of Taiwan. Based on the Siraya sub-group names, the Siraya may have been the first members of this language group and the others diverged from there.

Today, the Amis are the largest aboriginal group in Taiwan. They are north of the Paiwan and Puyama, and occupy a coastal strip that stretches for 130 kilometers. Amis is am mi ix and means "cats’ spider movement." The expression "spider movement" seems to refer to the arm movements necessary for sailing. A similar same expression was later used in naming the Amazon River, which was used to practicing sailing before inexperienced sailors went out into the ocean. This name suggests that it was the Amis who first sailed among the Taiwanese aboriginal groups.

Amis Dance, By takunawan (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Given their name, Amis, it is likely that the Maya, and most indigenous of the Americas, derive, in part, from the Amis. The Maya have called themselves mi or mis throughout their history, a word which means "cat" in contemporary Ch’orti’. While the phrase "cats" seems to be embedded in Amis, it is also possible that the expression mi originated with the naming of the Amis. It is present in the island name Yami. And the use of mi is present around Monte Verde, likely soon after the 12800 BCE passage.

Following the place names up the Amis east coast further confirms that proto-Ch’orti’ was spoken there and tells more of the story of the early developments on Taiwan. Taitung is ta’ tun and means "stones of the residue (island)," perhaps referring to the mountains that rise to the west.

There are several place names that support the idea that sailing advanced on the east coast of Taiwan, just like the tribal name Amis. Guanshan is located 25 kilometers north of Taitung. Guanshan is wa’ ahn chan and means "serpent beings in the current." The tacking movement of the sail rafts was likened to the motion of a serpent. Yanping is 20 kilometer northwest of Taitung. Yanping is yah ahn pi in and means "first injuries to companions in the current." This seems to refer to the first people injured and likely killed while sailing. Not coincidently, Yanping is located directly downhill from the important Peinan archeological and burial site. Peinan is per in ahn and means "first collapsed ones in the current." Collapsed refers to people who died. From the many references to sailing, Peinan seems to refer to the first people who died while learning to sail. Thus, the mountainous Peinan seems to have been a special burial site since the earliest of times.

The next three names refer to a specific geological formation on the coast – the small island to the east of Sansiantai. Chenggong is the name of the township there and is chen k’o on and means "perforation in the ancient tooth (stone)," referring to the water separating Sansiantai from the nearby island. They surmised that the stone of the island was, at one time, unbroken to the mainland, but perforated over time by the current. The town of Sansiantai, on the coast across from the island, is san si ahn ta’ and means "swelling of current between the residues (islands)." Si is a plural marker. The township inland from Chenggong is Fuli, which is pul li and means "next to the up and down," referring to the surf going up and down between the two islands at Sansiantai.

Changbin is 65 kilometers north up the coast from Taitung. Its name suggests that it was the first place that the Amis learned to sail. Changbin is chan bi in and means "first serpent companions." Like with Guanshan, the chan in Changbin means "serpent" and refers to sailing. Yuli is the township just inland from Changbin. It is yul li and means "next to the breaking through." This most likely means the invention of sailing, but it also could mean that sailing allowed the Amis to break through the tight grip of the controllers of the water, the Paiwan. A little north is the township of Ruisui, which also speaks about sailing. Ruisui is ruhp pi ix si, the ‘p’ dropping out of the middle, and means "companions’ series of movements in the froth."

The next set of names to the north speak about a formative event for the Amis people, and for the Maya ancestors and the ancestors of most of the Native people in the Americas. The names speak about a group of men coming on the current – sailing – and retaining a group of people, women most likely, and presumably taking them on their sail rafts. The township of Guangfu is wa’ ahn pur and means "beings in the up and down of the current." This could refer to the Amis out sailing, but the use of "beings" rather than "companions" makes it seem as though it is outsiders.

On the coast of Guangfu Township is the town of Fengbin, which is ben bi in and means "first wild (lost) companions." In modern Ch’orti’, ben means wild, but I think "lost" is a good meaning in this context. This implies that there were later additional lost or snatched people. In any case, it provides some evidence that Fengbin was the location of the seizing of the women who would make the passage to the Americas. Fengbin is located in Hualien County. Hualien is wa’ li ben and means "beside the lost beings," which seems to refer to both the women who were taken as well as the men who took them. Just north of Guangfu Township is Fenglin Township, which is ben li in and means "next to the first lost ones."

The language group in this area is Nataoran, which is closely related to Amis. There are several dialects of Nataoran. Nataoran and many of the names of these dialects speak about the women who were retained and taken by unknown men:

• Nataoran language: naht ta’ hor ahn – "leaders (men) from distant residue (island) in the current." This does not mean that the Nataoran were from a distant island but rather unknown men from a distant island visited the Nataoran. The Nataoran began to form an identity apart from the Amis when the distant men came to make their visit. The name clearly refers to the distant visitors as men, hor, not men and women.
• Cikosowan dialect: si ik’ k’o os soh wa’ ahn – "number of beings from the current with stones and arches fit in the wind." This name uses "beings" rather than "companions" indicating a likelihood of strangers. A sail raft would have heavy stones for ballast as well as arches (sails) that were fit into the raft.
• Kaliyuawan dialect: k’al li yup ha’ wa’ ahn – "beside the retained ones who joined the beings from the water current." This is perhaps the clearest explanation regarding what happened. People were retained and then left Taiwan, joining those who came (men) and they all left by water. The use of the word "beside" would indicate that the people who were retained, were not from the Kaliyuawan lineage.
• Pokpok dialect: po’ ok’ pok – "uprooted and divided in two by the deep hole." The deep hole refers to the ocean. At least some of the people retained and taken were from the Pokpok lineage.
• Tauran, sometimes used as a language name other than Nataoran: ta’ ur ahn – "explain what happened on the residue (island) and in the current." Those who remained explained later to other Amis from other villages what happened to those who were taken.
• Sakizaya Amis, language just north of Nataoran: sahk ix ha’ yah – "in pain, search for those who moved in the water." A search party was formed by sail to look for those from Fengbin who were taken.

The places and language names on the north side of where the Amis are located, consistently and clearly talk about the retention of a group of people, most likely women, by a group of men who arrived in sail rafts. I believe that this event marks the start of the passage from Asia to the Americas of the primary group of indigenous in the Americas.

The languages on the north side of Taiwan are considered to be East Formosan, along with Amis and Siraya and related languages. The area of Kavalan speakers is on the east coast about 150 kilometers north of the main Amis area. Kavalan is k’ah bal ahn and means"satisfying boats on the current." This seems to be another reference to sail boating, like the names in the Amis area. On the northern tip of Taiwan are the Ketangalan and Basai languages. These two languages suggest the Paiwan "controllers of the water" oppressed them, just as with the groups further south. Ketangalan is ket ahn k’al ahn and means "retained in the current by owners of the current." Basai is bah si and means "series of bodies," likely referring to deaths, perhaps due to the oppressive Paiwan rulers.

Elsewhere I discuss the genetics of the descendants of the participants of the main passage from Asia to the Americas and, put together with this narrative, produce a likely scenario that a group of only men from the Russian Pacific Coast, sailed to Taiwan, retained a group of women, and took the women with them on the sail-raft passage to the Americas – to Monte Verde, Chile, specifically. Given that the men and the women each came from cultures that were sailing in the ocean, they were likely among the most advanced cultures in the world at that time. The women prevailed with their language – it was their language, proto-Amis, later known as Ch’orti’, which was spoken in southern Chile, just as it was on the east coast of Taiwan. The women may not have been so sorry to leave Taiwan, given the oppressive presence of the Paiwan, just down the coast. In fact, at least one indigenous origin story, among the Lenca people of Guatajiagua, El Salvador, speaks about escaping an oppressive ruler across the sea, according to Jaime Nuñez. That oppressive ruler would have been the Paiwan, the controllers of the water.

Through what became the Ch’orti’ language, this chapter establishes a consistent path from coastal China to Taiwan to south Chile and from south Chile to Venezuela, Colombia, and Peru. The next chapter will extend that path to El Salvador and Mesoamerica. Separate research will link Chile to northward migrations to the west coast of North America and to the Great Plains of North America and the so-called Clovis people.

As the sail rafts journeyed down the Pacific coast of the Americas toward south Chile it is likely that they hit some lax winds, which they blamed on the long landmass that they sailed along. This led to the naming of America, which is am mer ri ik’ ha’ in Ch’orti’ and means "that which is beside the water and makes wind sailing impossible." America was named from the Pacific Ocean, referring to the way the continent(s) slowed the winds along certain portions of the coastal waters.

Because the men likely did not speak too much Amis-Ch’orti’ yet, America was most likely named by the Amis women. This is reinforced by both Amis and America beginning with am, which means "spider", but in both names was a figure of speech for sailing. Later Amazon would be named with the same am, or sailing.

Let’s return to Lake Llanquihue in South Chile, with a sense of poetic history. The first generation women from Taiwan were sad, missing Taiwan and their families, upset at being forced from their homes into new households with men they did not choose. They ran to Lake Llanquihue, named yah ahn ki’ wehr – "pained heart from the running lake" – and expressed their pain and sadness. But as they sat at the lake, gazing at the water and the Osorno Volcano, something began to happen inside. Maybe it was then and there that they created a new word, yan, by combining ya and ahn, "pain" and "running." The new word, yan, can be translated as "change" or "becoming." And then the new meaning of Lake Llanquihue was "change of heart lake."

Photo credit: By Sarah and Iain [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Appendix: Possible Cognates, Siraya and Ch'orti'

Siraya	English translation	Ch'orti'	English translation
alak	child	ar (al)	mammal, offspring
atinik	black ant	xinich	ant
avaw	breast	bah	body
baig	kiss	bah + ik'	body + wind
bulbul	desolation, destruction	bur (bul)	burning
chamumu	grandfather	cha'mama'	step uncle
cit	attack	siht	stun (as from a blow)
hay, haey	yes	eya	exclamation
icha	yesterday	cha	two
ilig	listen	ir (il) + ik'	watch + wind
kahan	finish	kah	beginning
kainaan	lady	kay + na'	sing + woman
kariskaus	disgrace	kar	drunkenness
kaya	wife	kaya	song, singer
kirig	break	kirik	thunder
lug	soak, bathe	luhx	swim
mala	place	mar (mal)	open space
mamu	old	mama'	old men
masashut	trust	hut	face of person
mate'	bad	mah / matia'	bad / never
moy	fill	mor	pile, mound
nanog	ball, shot, hail	na'k'	ball, pelled
papa	gift	pa'	food (masa)
papunpun	offspring	pun	change, a becoming
peri	to choose	pere	to obtain, to acquire
pudim	to add, to increase	bu't'	to fill up, to increase
ralum	water	lum (rum)	land, earth
raway	youth	wet	companion
ruut	neck	ut	any small opening of the body
sawtaway	abandon	satar + wa'	lost, hidden + being
su	word, speak	tz'u'	sip, a sipping
ta-ing	excrement	ta'	excrement, waste
taltal	bridge	tal	arrival
talum	plant	te' + rum	plant + earth
utiag	emerge	ut	eye, any small opening
uwal	right	wa'ar (wa'al)	standing straight
vati	life, soul	bah	body, soul
yupan	spirit	yum	gods, deity
zung	secret, dark	sun	foreign