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"They call him Yúcahu Bagua Maórocoti" is the earliest mention of the zemí taken from the first page of Fray Ramón Pané's ''Account of the Antiquities of the Indians''.<ref>Fray Ramón Pané was the first European missionary to arrive in the New World and the first to learn the native language. He was the first person who studied the beliefs of an indigenous people, and his account was the first book to be written by a European on American soil.</ref> As the Taíno did not possess a written language, the name is the phonetic spelling as recorded by the Spanish missionaries, Ramón Pané, and [[Bartolomé de las Casas]]. The three names are thought to represent the Great Spirit's epithets. Yúcahu means spirit or giver of cassava. Bagua has been interpreted as meaning both "the sea" itself and "master of the sea." The name Maórocoti implies that he was conceived without male intervention.<ref name="Pane">Pané 1999</ref><ref name="Arroyo">Stevens-Arroyo 2006</ref><ref name="Rouse">Rouse 1993</ref> He was also later known as "El Gigante Dormido", or "Sleeping Giant".
[[File:Pico El Yunque.jpg|thumb|[[El Yunque (Puerto Rico)|El Yunque peak]] in Puerto Rico is the mythological dwelling of Yúcahu.]]
The Taíno had a well developed [[creation myth]], which was mostly passed down via oral tradition. According to this account, in the beginning there was only [[Atabey (goddess)|Atabei]], who created the heavens. However, there was still a void, where nothingness prevailed. The heavens were inactive and any action was meaningless. Earth and the other cosmic entities laid barren. Despite being dominated by darkness,
Yúcahu became known as the deity of [[agriculture]], as well as the semi of peace and tranquility, he represented goodness. This was contrasted greatly by the goddess Guabancex (more commonly, but erroneously, known as [[Juracán]]) whose fierce nature was regarded as responsible for persuading other semis in other to bring forth chaos and who was associated with the more aggressive [[Island Caribs|Caribs]]. Yúcahu was believed to have a throne in [[El Yunque (Puerto Rico)|El Yunque peak]], the largest mountain found in the tropical [[El Yunque National Forest]] reserve, where he resided in the same manner that the [[List of Greek mythological figures|Greek gods]] did in [[Mount Olympus]]. The Taíno referred to the peak as ''yuké'', or "The White Lands", in reference to the tick cloud shroud that always surrounds it. This mountain range diverts the wind of hurricanes, minimizing the damage that the storms do to the lower parts of the island. Noticing this, the natives interpreted this as Yúcahu confronting Guabancex and her cohorts over the safety of his worshipers. Located in the northern mountains of Puerto Rico, the region where El Yunke is located was originally known as "Yukiyu", a name that became associated with the deity. Following the Spanish colonization, it became known under the Hispanized variant of [[Luquillo, Puerto Rico|Luquillo]] a name that remains in use.
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