The Name Tekesta/Tequesta

We here use the Indian spelling of Tekesta rather than the Spanish Tequésta or the more familiar English Tequesta.

Cacike Pedro Guanikeyu Torres, Principal Chief, Taino Tribe of Jatibonicù, analyzes the Tekesta name is as follows:

Te (short form of Tei): "To be," or "to be constituted as a people". For example,

Teitoca: To be still, estate quieto

Tekína: To be an envoy or messenger

Ké: "Earth" or "land." For example,

Borikén, the proper name for Puerto Rico

Ké refers to the Earth, as would be used to refer to a woman of great value.

(Qué Radical indo-antillana, significando tierra. Mejor seria para fijar la fonética escribir ké; Qué Indo-Antillean radical which signifies land. It is best written phonetically as ké).

Sta (Ta, short for Tai): "Good" (as in the term Taino). For example,

Késhta: Good Earth?

(The root word for sta and its concept may be a misspelling or corruption of Taino sounds like Késh or Kishkéya. The only other Taino sound that is related is the "sh" sound found in proper names like Guarionesh(X), Caguash(X). Orocobish(X). The X sound in these Chiefs' names is a Spanish corruption of the shé sound found in words like warishé [woman]).

In short, the term Tekeshta or Tekesta means "We the People of the Good Earth." But this intepretation is based on a dialect and should be checked against Dr. Julian Cranberry, The Timucua Dictionary.