[Aztlan] Maia or Maiam?

[Hoopes, John W]

In 1511, shortly after Bartolomé Colon's account of 1506, a widely distributed account of early explorations was published by Pedro Martyr de Anghiera:
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Martyr_d'Anghiera <https://owa.ku.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Martyr_d%27Anghiera> 
 
You can download a 1912 English translation of De Orbe Novo from Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12425 <https://owa.ku.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12425> 
 
Third Decade, Book IV provides the following account from Columbus' 4th voyage (another source gives the date of his landfall at Guanasa as August 8, 1502).  In brackets are notes from the translator, Francis Augustus MacNutt:
 
"He stopped in Hispaniola for some time, either of his own accord or with the Viceroy's[2] assent. Pushing straight to the west, he left the islands of Cuba and Jamaica towards his right on the north, and discovered to the south of Jamaica an island called by its inhabitants Guanassa.[3] This island is incredibly fertile and luxuriant. While coasting along its shores, the Admiral met two of those barques dug out of tree trunks of which I have spoken. They were drawn by naked slaves with ropes round their necks. The chieftain of the island, who, together with his wife and children, were all naked, travelled in these barques. When the Spaniards went on shore the slaves, in obedience to their master's orders, made them understand by haughty gestures that they would have to obey the chief, and when they refused, menaces and threats were employed. Their simplicity is such that they felt neither fear nor admiration on beholding our ships and the number and strength of our men. They seemed to think the Spaniards would feel the same respect towards their chief as they did. Our people perceived that they had to do with merchants returning from another country, for they hold markets. The merchandise consisted of bells, razors, knives, and hatchets made of a yellow and translucent stone; they are fastened in handles of hard and polished wood. There were also household utensils for the kitchen, and pottery of artistic shapes, some made of wood and some made of that same clear stone; and chiefly draperies and different articles of spun cotton in brilliant colours. The Spaniards captured the chief, his family and everything he possessed; but the Admiral soon afterwards ordered him to be set at liberty and the greater part of their property restored, hoping thus to win their friendship.

"[Note 2: This direct violation of his orders was due to his wish to trade one of his vessels, which was a slow sailer, for a quicker craft.]

"[Note 3: Guanaya or Bouacia, lying off the coast of Honduras.]

"Having procured some information concerning the country towards the west, Columbus proceeded in that direction and, a little more than ten miles farther, he discovered a vast country which the natives call Quiriquetana, but which he called Ciamba. There he caused the Holy Sacrifice to be celebrated upon the shore. The natives were numerous and wore no clothing. Gentle and simple, they approached our people fearlessly and admiringly, bringing them their own bread and fresh water. After presenting their gifts they turned upon their heels bowing their heads respectfully. In exchange for their presents, the Admiral gave them some European gifts, such as strings of beads, mirrors, needles, pins, and other objects unknown to them.

"This vast region is divided into two parts, one called Taïa and the other called Maïa.[4] The whole country is fertile, well shaded, and enjoys delightful temperature. In fertility of soil it yields to none, and the climate is temperate. It possesses both mountains and extensive plains, and everywhere grass and trees grow. Spring and autumn seem perpetual, for the trees keep their leaves during the whole year, and bear fruit...

"[Note 4: This is the first mention of the word Maya. The traders whom Columbus met were doubtless Mayas, coming from some of the great fairs or markets. For the second time, he brushed past the civilisation of Yucatan and Mexico, leaving to later comers the glory of their discovery.]"

Notice Martyr's linguistic pairing of "Taïa" and "Maïa".  This suggests that these may have been directional terms, but they also seem to approximate the boundary between Mayan and Chibchan language areas.  "Taía" was also transcribed as "Paía", becoming "Paya," a term subsequently applied to a Chibchan-speaking group in eastern Honduras that prefers the term "Pech".
 
Despite MacNutt's comments, the identity of the traders themselves as "Mayas" is not completely clear.  As Martyr wrote, "The chieftain of the island, who, together with his wife and children, were all naked, travelled in these barques."  The eastern frontier of Mesoamerica, especially northwestern Honduras and the Bay Islands, was an ethnically complex transitional zone and the contents of the trading canoe (especially crucibles, copper, and metal ornaments) suggest goods procured in southern Central America
 
There is an extensive compilation of translated material relevant to this question in William Duncan Strong's 1935 publication "Archaeological Investigations in the Bay Islands, Spanish Honduras", which has been reproduced online.
 
http://www.aboututila.com/UtilaInfo/William-Strong/AI-History.htm <https://owa.ku.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.aboututila.com/UtilaInfo/William-Strong/AI-History.htm> 
 
Here's what Strong had to say about it 70 years ago (p. 18):
 
"As the evidence now stands, there is no positive proof regarding either the language spoken by the traders at Bonacca or the location of the region Maia. Regarding the first, it is clear that 'Giumbe' could make himself understood among certain groups on the mainland adjacent to the Bay Islands, but it is equally certain that several different languages were spoken even in the immediate vicinity of the Cape of Honduras. My own interpretation of the evidence is that 'Giumbe' and his fellow merchants had come from the western part of Honduras, probably from near the mouth of the Uloa, and that their native tongue, which may have be Chol or Chorti Maya, Jicaque, or even Lenca, was understandable to numerous mainland groups to the west of Cape Gracias á Dios. As to the provenience of the land of 'Maia', I incline towards the testimony of Ledesma and Peter Martyr, that it was on the Honduras mainland. If it were one of the provinces of the culturally advanced Uloa region occupied by Maya, all the bites of evidence concerning these much-discussed traders fall into line. However, there may be difficulties, linguistic or otherwise, of which I am unaware, standing in the way of such a solution. In any case we are no nearer an answer to the original problem concerning the linguistic affiliations of the Bay Islanders.
 
"A compilation of modern linguistic classification leads to no more definite results. Squier states that there are good reasons to belive that the people of the Bay Islands and those of the adjacent mainland pertained to the same stock. He classified both as Lenca, a group in which he also included Jicaque and Paya. (Squier, 1859, pp. 252, 604) In 1910 Lehmann grouped the Sumu and Miskito as close linguistic affiliates of the Talamancan subdivision of the Chibchan stock, with the Paya, Lenca, and Jicaque as more remote members.
 
"In his later work he indicates that the people of the Bay Islands were Paya in speech, on the grounds that in 1622 Spanish missionaries took Bay Island Indians to the Paya to serve as interpreters."
 
John Hoopes