Indigenous Survival Day: Forgetting Myths of Extinction

The Lucayan: The Indigenous people Christopher Columbus could not annihilate

October 14, 2019

The Lucayan did not know it was Oct. 12, 1492. They did not know that their island, in what would become the Bahamas, had been spotted by Spanish explorers led by a Genoese man named Christopher Columbus. And they did not know that in less than 30 years, their island would be empty from the coming genocide. As Columbus and his men approached, the Lucayans greeted them warmly, offering food and water, and “we understood that they had asked us if we had come from heaven,” he wrote in his journal. Then he added, “With 50 men they can all be subjugated and made to do what is required of them.”

As the article progresses, it makes the observation that the previously dominant histories of Indigenous extinction in the Caribbean have now completely fallen apart, citing some of the latest research on the prevalence of Indigenous DNA in the contemporary Caribbean. The article takes us to the following reports:

TAÍNO: 'EXTINCT' INDIGENOUS AMERICANS NEVER ACTUALLY DISAPPEARED, ANCIENT TOOTH REVEALS
February 20, 2019

The tooth-derived genome is the first concrete genetic evidence that Taíno ancestry survives to this day. Scientists compared the ancient Bahamian genome to those of contemporary Puerto Ricans and discovered they were more closely related to the Taíno than to any other indigenous group in the Americas. This is likely to also be true of other Caribbean communities, the researchers said. 

Lead author Eske Willerslev, who has posts at both the University of Cambridge, U.K., and the University of Copenhagen, said in a statement: "It has always been clear that people in the Caribbean have Native American ancestry, but because the region has such a complex history of migration, it was difficult to prove whether this was specifically indigenous to the Caribbean, until now."

The study's other lead author, Hannes Schroeder from the University of Copenhagen, called the finding fascinating. 

"Many history books will tell you that the indigenous population of the Caribbean was all but wiped out, but people who self-identify as Taíno have always argued for continuity," he said in a statement. "Now we know they were right all along: there has been some form of genetic continuity in the Caribbean." 

Jorge Estevez, a Taíno descendent working at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York, assisted the project team. "I wish my grandmother were alive today so that I could confirm to her what she already knew," he said. "It shows that the true story is one of assimilation, certainly, but not total extinction."

Study identifies traces of indigenous 'Taino' in present-day Caribbean populations
February 19, 2018

A thousand-year-old tooth has provided genetic evidence that the so-called "Taíno", the first indigenous Americans to feel the full impact of European colonisation after Columbus arrived in the New World, still have living descendants in the Caribbean today. 

Researchers were able to use the tooth of a woman found in a cave on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas to sequence the first complete ancient human genome from the Caribbean. The woman lived at some point between the 8th and 10th centuries, at least 500 years before Columbus made landfall in the Bahamas. 

The results provide unprecedented insights into the genetic makeup of the Taíno - a label commonly used to describe the indigenous people of that region. This includes the first clear evidence that there has been some degree of continuity between the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and contemporary communities living in the region today. 

Such a link had previously been suggested by other studies based on modern DNA. None of these, however, was able to draw on an ancient genome. The new research finally provides concrete proof that indigenous ancestry in the region has survived to the present day.

Origins and genetic legacies of the Caribbean Taino
March 6, 2018

The Caribbean was one of the last parts of the Americas to be settled by humans, but how and when the islands were first occupied remains a matter of debate. Ancient DNA can help answering these questions, but the work has been hampered by poor DNA preservation. We report the genome sequence of a 1,000-year-old Lucayan Taino individual recovered from the site of Preacher’s Cave in the Bahamas. We sequenced her genome to 12.4-fold coverage and show that she is genetically most closely related to present-day Arawakan speakers from northern South America, suggesting that the ancestors of the Lucayans originated there. Further, we find no evidence for recent inbreeding or isolation in the ancient genome, suggesting that the Lucayans had a relatively large effective population size. Finally, we show that the native American components in some present-day Caribbean genomes are closely related to the ancient Taino, demonstrating an element of continuity between precontact populations and present-day Latino populations in the Caribbean.

Solidarity between the Kalinago of Dominica and the Taíno of Puerto Rico

The video below, from Alex Zacarias, features the Chief of the Dominica Carib/Kalinago Territory meeting with members of the United Confederation of Taíno People, and speaking about international indigenous solidarity, activism, organization, and unity.

New Birth Certificates Wont Curb Identity Theft

IF you are a Puerto Rican living on the island, or living in the states, your birth certificate wont be valid.

This past December Puerto Rico's legislature passed a new law that invalidates as of July 1 all previously issued Puerto Rican birth certificates. The action comes after raids in March of 2009 exposing a criminal ring which had stolen birth certificates and other identifying documents from several different schools in Puerto Rico.

Kenneth McClintock Hernandez, the commonwealth's secretary of state says Puerto Ricans on average get about 20 copies of their birth certificates over their lifetimes because originals are required for enrolling children in school or sports and other community activities. Schools and other institutions have typically kept copies, a practice prohibited under the new law since January, McClintock said.

The State Department says as much as 40 percent of the identity fraud in the U.S. involves birth certificates from Puerto Rico.

The new law does not address, however, the thousands of children born in the states who are being raised on the island. I have 5 children who's original birth certificates and copies of social security numbers are held in primary and secondary schools in three cities. Since we lived in an area between two cities, the children attended two primary schools in two different cities and were separated in two high schools to meet their individual career interests. What will happen to my children as they turn 18, apply for jobs, or apply for credit?

Recently a friends son applied for the armed services. He was denied because he was told his birth certificate was invalid. Apparently someone had stolen his identity as a child. The person subsequently died and now my friends son couldn't register. It took time to get it all sorted out, and the military had interest in sorting it out because they need recruits. How much time and effort is the car dealership, bank or universities going to take to fix a problem that isn't theirs when a child who has had his or her identity stolen becomes of legal age?

Reprinting of birth certificates wont stop identity thieves from gaining access to the new certificates either. I can imagine that the persons holding the originals are submitting them today, in order to receive a new false identity document. For those who have already had their identities stolen, getting a new birth certificate wont fix the damaged credit or other issues either.

First Taino-Jibaro Festival and First Artisan-Cultural Fair of Guayaney

This news, kindly sent to me by Dr. Carlalynne Melendez of the Liga Guakia Taina-ke, a not-for-profit cultural conservation and ecological protection organization. The first news, with blogs marking the event, involves the first Taino-Jibaro Festival of Guayaney, held this past May. See:

http://primerfestivalguayaney.blogspot.com/
and
http://masfotosfestival.blogspot.com/

The main objective of that Festival was to unite the communities of that region and to create community networks.

The second news concerns an important and exciting upcoming event, with an interest in expanding its participation to indigenous peoples from across the Caribbean. The Liga is currently organizing the First Artisan-Cultural Fair of Guayaney (December 5,6,7 2008). Those interested should contact Dr. Melendez at lynemelendez@yahoo.com.

Finally, the Liga also has a radio program: Guakia Inkayeke Ahiyaka (Our Community Speaks), transmitted by Radio Walo in Humacao. You can listen to the program online at: http://www.waloradio.com/portal/ or at http://ahiyaka.blogspot.com/. The program airs each Sunday at 9:30am (Puerto Rico Time).

A giant statue of Christopher Columbus has found a new home in PR

For discussion of this piece, please see the Indigenous Caribbean Network

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico

A giant statue of Christopher Columbus has found a home after years of sitting in pieces in a park in the Puerto Rican city of Catano.

The city paid US$2.4 million to bring the 310-foot statue to Puerto Rico ten years ago, but then couldn't raise the extra cash needed to erect it.

Now, Catano Mayor Wilson Soto says port management company the Holland Group has agreed to take the disassembled, bronze and steel statue off his hands.

The company plans to install it in the western city of Mayaguez, where it runs the port. The town is set host the Central American and Caribbean Games in July 2010.

600 Ton Statue of Columbus (1998 article)

For discussion of this piece, see the Indigenous Caribbean Network

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By MIREYA NAVARRO
Published: December 21, 1998

Police Officer Adan Vargas Maldonado tried to picture what a 30-story-tall bronze statue of Christopher Columbus would look like.

''I don't imagine it beautiful, but attractive, yes,'' he said as he kept watch on the mammoth head and other statue parts, strewn about in a park, awaiting assembly. ''It'll be something supernatural for Puerto Rico.''

Such lukewarm views are an improvement over the reaction in almost every American city that has considered but rejected the statue by Zurab K. Tsereteli, the Russian sculptor who gave it to the United States as a gift of friendship in the early 1990's.

In South Florida, cities like Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale passed on erecting the 600-ton monument because of its size and the costs involved, about $25 million for shipping and assembling. In Columbus, Ohio, which debated adding the statue of Columbus at the helm of a ship to its other memorials in honor of the explorer, some nicknamed it ''Chris Kong,'' and American Indians said it glorified someone who represented ''500 years of genocide.''

But where some see a colossal headache, others see a potential moneymaker. The statue is about to settle down in Catano, a city of 36,000 better known for flooding, industrial pollution and playing ugly duckling to San Juan, its neighbor across San Juan Bay, but whose leaders expect soon to blossom as an international tourist attraction.

Plans call for the statue, which would rise here 295 feet above sea level, to become the centerpiece of a waterfront tourism complex, which would also feature a pedestrian mall, restaurants, shops and boutiques, inspired by Epcot Center in Orlando, Fla. Proponents say the complex, a short ferry ride from the cruise ships that anchor at San Juan Harbor, could draw 500,000 visitors a year.

''This is going to put Catano on the map of the world,'' said Sergio Cordero, a Miami consultant who is manager of the statue project here. ''People will recognize it like they recognize the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty.''

Not everyone in Catano thinks it will be money well spent, given the city's municipal problems, but officials are trying to win people over by focusing on the future.

The unlikely but impressive journey from Russia to Catano of the monument titled ''Birth of the New World'' began last February, when Anibal Marrero, the vice president of the Puerto Rico Senate, heard that the statue needed a home. Mr. Marrero, whose district includes Catano, said he thought it fitting that the gift be given to Puerto Rico, an American territory on which, unlike the mainland, Columbus actually set foot during his second voyage in 1493. (Puerto Rico's national anthem includes the lines: ''When to its beaches Columbus arrived, with admiration he cried: 'Oh! Oh! Oh! This is the pretty land I'm looking for.' '')

Senator Marrero, who said the statue honored the man's daring spirit rather than his conquest, said he also envisioned new jobs and an economic bonanza for Catano. The city has one of the most majestic waterfront views on the island and is already the site of a popular tourist attraction, the Bacardi rum plant. But it does have problems, Mr. Marrero said, including an unemployment rate of about 13 percent and a disproportionate number of public housing projects.

After enlisting the support of Catano's Mayor, Edwin Rivera Sierra, who earmarked $3 million to bring the statue's parts to the island, the two officials put a project team together and exchanged visits with Mr. Tsereteli, whose large-scale art is found all over Moscow and in cities like New York.

Mr. Tsereteli had presented scale models of the statue to both President Bush and President Clinton and, last September, to the Organization of American States, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.

The statue depicts Columbus standing at the historically inaccurate wheel of his ship (maritime historians say ships from Columbus's day steered by a bar directly connected to the rudder), his right arm raised in a greeting. Three sails snap in the wind behind him while the three caravels are positioned on a map of the New World at the base.


The statue arrived here in more than 2,500 pieces, some from St. Petersburg, Russia, and some from the United States, where the 11-ton head had unceremoniously languished for six years in a Fort Lauderdale warehouse after South Florida turned the statue down. By contrast, when the head got here last October, a welcoming delegation from Catano was waiting at the dock.

''I feel like a child receiving a gift from Santa Claus,'' Mayor Rivera Sierra, whose statue-related exploits have been the subject of both ridicule and song, told The San Juan Star as he wiped away tears.

Many of the Mayor's constituents, however, are extremely angry over the statue's cost, which officials plan to cover through a $30 million private bond issue. The officials say Catano would only profit, and any expenses related to the statue would be reimbursed, but residents wonder why a monument is the focus when many of their streets still flood every time it rains and some neighborhoods lack sewage hookups.

''That money should be used for necessities, like more hospital services, more police officers,'' said Rafael Roman, 84, a Catano native who was talking with friends one recent evening in the town plaza. ''That statue is not going to resolve anything sitting there. It's throwing taxpayers' money into the trash can.''

Another Catano resident, Luis Ortiz, 47, said, ''We're just praying Catano doesn't sink.''

But if visits to the park where the statue pieces rest under 24-hour guard are any indication, Catano got itself a hit. Officer Vargas Maldonado said visitors from all over the island had already come looking for ''la cabeza de Colon'' -- the head of Columbus.

One recent afternoon, several parents with children stopped by. ''It's a well-done job,'' said Marco Prieto, 8, who visited with his father and two brothers. ''The Mayor has shown great intelligence.''

''The nose has holes and everything,'' his 12-year-old brother, Giovanni, reported excitedly.

The statue has another enthusiastic ally in Gov. Pedro J. Rossello.

''I just picture an imposing structure at the entrance of San Juan Bay which can be seen by air, sea and land and which will be a landmark in United States territory where Christopher Columbus actually landed,'' the Governor said.

Assembly by the sculptor and a crew of about 50 Russians is expected to start in mid-1999, pending environmental and other permits. Officials say they had to rush the transportation of the statue before all studies were completed because of the fear that political instability in Russia might prevent a move.

Unveiling is scheduled for the anniversary of the first sighting of the New World, Oct. 12, 2000.

''It's a beautiful monument,'' Mayor Rivera Sierra said in an interview on Thursday. ''I have no doubt it's going to be a success.''

Archaeological Find in Boriken/Puerto Rico Held Hostage

Puerto Rico archeological find mired in politics

By FRANCES ROBLES

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039567/posts

U.S. archaeologist Nathan Mountjoy sits next to stones etched with ancient petroglyphs and graves that reveal unusual burial methods in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The archaeological find, one of the best-preserved pre-Columbian sites found in the Caribbean, form a large plaza measuring some 130 feet by 160 feet that could have been used for ball games or ceremonial rites, officials said.

SAN JUAN -- The lady carved on the ancient rock is squatting, with frog-like legs sticking out to each side. Her decapitated head is dangling to the right.

That's how she had been, perfectly preserved, for up to 800 years, until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers came upon her last year while building a $375 million dam to control flooding in southern Puerto Rico.

She was buried again last week with the hope that some day specialists will study her and Puerto Rican children will visit and learn about the lives of the Taino Indians who created her. But archaeologists and government officals first had to settle a raging debate about who should have control over her and other artifacts sent to Georgia for analysis.

The ancient petroglyph of the woman was found on a five-acre site in Jácana, a spot along the Portugues River in the city of Ponce, on Puerto Rico's southern coast. Among the largest and most significant ever unearthed in the Caribbean, archaeologists said, the site includes plazas used for ceremony or sport, a burial ground, residences and a midden mound -- a pile of ritual trash.

The finding sheds new light on the lifestyle and activities of a people extinct for nearly 500 years.

Experts say the site -- parts of it unearthed from six feet of soil -- had been used at least twice, the first time by pre-Taino peoples as far back as 600 AD, then again by the Tainos sometime between 1200 and 1500 AD.

''It was thrilling, a once-in-a-lifetime thing,'' said David McCullough, an Army Corps archaeologist. "Just amazing.''

But like all things on this politically charged island, the discovery got caught up in a sovereignty debate: If an archaeological site rich in historic and cultural value is discovered in a federal construction site in Puerto Rico, a commonwealth of the United States, who should be in charge of it?

After months of finger-pointing and accusations of officially sanctioned plundering, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers poured $2 million into preserving the site. Plans to put a rock dump over it were changed, and the unearthed discovery was reburied with the aspiration that archaeologists will eventually return to dedicate the 10 or 20 years needed to thoroughly study the finding.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers promises the collection sent to Georgia will be returned to Puerto Rico. Some 75 boxes of skeletons, ceramics, small petroglyphs and rocks were sent via Federal Express in two double-boxed shipments for analysis.

''The site is a significant contribution to our understanding of what Indians were doing,'' McCullough said. ``The thing that makes it unique is that the petroglyphs are so finely done. We originally were supposed to be there six weeks. It wound up taking four months.''

McCullough said the corps had an inkling that the site was there since the mid 1980s but had never done much testing. They started digging in earnest last year while building a dam and lake to protect the region from floods, and realized the site had significant value.

The corps found a ball court with four walls lined by tall stones, where they believe the Tainos either danced or played games. Three were covered in petroglyphs, among the best experts had ever seen. Some of the figures were carved upside down, which none of the archaeologists had ever seen before. Discoveries included a jade-colored amulet and the remains of a guinea pig, likely the feast of a tribal chief.

''The size of the ball court is bigger than just about anything else in the Caribbean,'' McCullough said.

Archaeologists believe as many as 400 people are buried there.

But in its quest to build the dam and use the location as a dumping ground for rocks, critics say the corps quickly hired a private archaeological firm to mitigate -- a hurried process of saving what can be conserved so a project can go forward. The company sent 125 cubic feet of artifacts in two shipments to its facility in Georgia for analysis, a move allegedly made without consulting Puerto Rican authorities, which locals felt violated the law.

But the question became: Whose law applied? U.S. law says such artifacts found by the corps must be warehoused in a federally approved curating facility. No such place exists in Puerto Rico. And Puerto Rican law says historical artifacts belong to the people of Puerto Rico.

''In Puerto Rico, everything that has to do with our past is sentimental, and Puerto Ricans take it to heart,'' said Marisol Rodríguez, an archaeologist at the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. "There's a feeling that you're taking something that's mine. It's about our national identity, regardless of the island's political status.''

Rodríguez is pleased that the site has been preserved but acknowledges she was furious at how it was originally excavated with heavy machinery.

''I was so angry. I was indignant,'' she said. "I could not believe that a place of such importance was being treated with such disrespect.''

New South Associates, the firm hired to do the digging, says it excavated about 5 percent of the site for study.

''It was in the newspaper that we raped and pillaged the site, because it all got caught up in local politics,'' said archaeologist Chris Espenshade, New South's lead investigator on the project. "We are required to take the artifacts to a federally approved curating facility. That played into the idea that we were stealing Puerto Rican cultural patrimony away and never bringing it back. There's no question these things should be available for Puerto Rican scholars without them having to travel to go see it.

"It's a bad situation.''

What's left of the site will remain beside a five-year dam construction project, which will continue as planned. It may be vulnerable to floods, archaeologists acknowledged, but they note that it lasted that way underground for hundreds of years.

''It's not the best way to preserve it, but it's better than the alternative: to destroy it,'' Espenshade said. "The Corps could have destroyed it, but they took the highly unusual step to preserve it.''

Puerto Rican authorities say they are committed to opening a facility needed to properly store and exhibit the artifacts.

The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture is scouting locations and trying to secure the approximately $570,000 a year needed to operate such a warehouse. Officials hope it will open as early as mid-2009, but some experts still worry.

''Nobody could believe that in the 21st century, a federal agency would hire a private agency to dig up a site and take things,'' said Miguel Rodríguez, an archaeologist who sat on Puerto Rico's government archaeological council for a total of eight years.

He quit in January following a heart attack, which he blamed on stress over the Jácana site.

''Those are the things that happened in the 18th and 19th century, not now,'' Rodríguez said. "Nobody dares go to Mexico, do an excavation and just take the stuff. That's officially sanctioned looting.''

While officials debate where they will find the funds for a museum, storage facility and lab, the Department of Natural Resources has hired 24-hour security to watch over the archaeological site, just to be sure no artifacts wind up for sale on the Internet.

''With the artifacts in Georgia,'' Department of Natural Resources Secretary Javier Vélez said, "at least they are not on eBay.''

Rick Kearns: Indigenous roots inform author's latest work

[Apologies for this long overdue post. As with Jorge Estevez's piece below, both articles will be republished in Issues in Caribbean Amerindian Studies]

*reproduced with the permission of the author*

Indigenous roots inform author's latest work
by: Rick Kearns

Indian Country Today May 02, 2007

An interview with novelist Tina Casanova

OLD SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - In 2004, a DNA study of a sample of present-day Puerto Ricans found that nearly 70 percent had indigenous mitochondrial DNA. The results would force historians and others to re-examine Puerto Rican history and, eventually, Puerto Rican identity. A new fictional narrative examines this indigenous legacy.

Novelist Tina Casanova's ''The Last Sounding of the Conch'' traces a Puerto Rican family 20 generations back to their Taino roots in the context of a modern mystery. In Old San Juan, at the Center for Advanced Caribbean Studies of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, she spoke with Rick Kearns about her research into the indigenous history of the island and of her own family.

Rick Kearns: Ms. Casanova, how did you come across the theme of your latest novel?

Tina Casanova: My background is in historical novels. In them I am recreating our histories in a fictionalized form. They are basically not novels, but fictionalized history. What I was missing was the reconstruction of our indigenous heritage that I didn't want to touch because it's such a difficult subject. These ideas were in conflict with me because I was raised as indigenous. Nevertheless, I heard in school that Indians hadn't existed for some time [in Puerto Rico]. But then, I was born in a bohio [a traditional Taino dwelling] made of straw, I slept in a hammock, I ate yucca, malanga, nyame and calabasa. My mother made casaba bread for breakfast. I played with archaeological pieces that my father found when he was planting bushes on the farm. He dug up a stone hatchet and he said, ''Here is a stone of sunlight'' [a Taino phrase coming from the idea of stones coming out of sunrays]. I played with all those things but I had no awareness of my mother being indigenous. I had no awareness that I was Indian, because they had been ''destroyed.'' That's why it was a little hard for me to work on this theme.

Rick Kearns: Tell me about the story in this most recent work.

Casanova: ''The Last Sounding of the Conch'' is the novel in which I try to recreate what I have just been talking about: taking real historical facts as a foundation. I create a society that conforms to the historical data and I travel through it by following 20 generations.

Rick Kearns: How was it that the indigenous came to be the Boricua that you encounter in the 21st century here in Puerto Rico in Borinquen, and where does the title come from?

Casanova: I set the novel in Chimborazo, which is a place that does exist. It sits between [the towns of] Florida, Ciales and Manati. It is in the calcareous zone because that's where the Enchanted River runs. It is the longest, most completely explored subterranean river in the world. I recreate a mythic, magical place, because it has all these elements, the mountain, the calcareous zone; it has a drain that goes into the Enchanted River. It is the ideal site, with so many caves, for a culture to hide itself and wait, and to wait for a victory. So it is that they can live there or that they could leave and be absorbed. What happens is that they survived. ''The Last Sounding of The Conch'' then is the following.

Chief Aracibo - which is for whom the town of Arecibo is named - decides that the Spaniard is not God, but it wasn't he who [first] decided this. That was found out 15 years beforehand in Hispaniola, now Dominican Republic and Haiti, because it was there that some of the first Spaniards died in Fort Nativity and then [the indigenous] knew immediately that the Spaniard was not God. That was a myth that had to be broken.

It had been 15 years that the Spaniards had been dying like flies, first from the diseases and second from when the Indians started attacking them. Then Aracibo decides, in 1508, ''We know for what they have come, we will declare guasabara,'' which is to declare war. He has a cemi [ancestor statue] of gold that the greedy Spaniards wants. Aracibo says the war will start, but first he engages a medicine man to take the cemi to the Chimborazo Mountain and hide it. Then, when they have won the war - when they have killed off all the Spaniards - he would sound the conch again and the cemi Yucahu, his god, will return again to Arecibo. The conch never sounded that last time. They did not win it in the way one wins a conventional battle; but there are many ways to win ...

And now, when we find out from this study that we have 60 percent indigenous DNA in our blood ... well, then I believe we have won. It is a triumph.

Remember that the Spaniard stole our history from us on top of stealing our gold, because they wrote the history that was convenient to their purposes.

Rick Kearns: Why did they say the indigenous were exterminated?

Casanova: For many reasons, but for me there are two very important ones. One was religious; the other, economic. First, they had decided that the Indians - the indigenous - were people. The blacks, no. The black man had no soul, according to the Catholic Church, so he was not a person. For the Christian, he was not a person.

Rick Kearns: That concept of the indigenous as a human being, did that come from las Casas? [Bartolome de las Casas was a Spanish priest sent to the Antilles who was the first European to assert that ''Indians'' were human.]

Casanova: Yes. Remember that we had the Catholic kings who were closely linked to Rome. Rome named them as such by a series of deceitful maneuvers that were not very clear. They were beginning to unify Spain and they were beginning to win lands for the crown. The last thing the Catholic kings wanted was a scandal because here they were massacring Indians and it was because of that that they sent this friar, Bartolome de las Casas, whose integrity was also questionable as he had black and Indian slaves. He had a black slave given to him as part of his property. While history did not note this in any written form - there were records of de las Casas' slaves elsewhere - the chronicles say he came here and he did protect the Indians because, by then, the Indians were people to the Catholic Church. Whatever they did with the black African slave was not a problem because they were not people; they were even considered a little less than an animal. Because of this we have, all through the generations, blood on our hands.

That's how we have a clear view of that scene; when I go to the chronicles I read them with a very critical perspective ... with a perspective that is very, very selective, looking for the history behind the history. I say that I am recovering our history from the erasures of that official history.

Rick Kearns is a freelance writer of Boricua heritage who focuses on indigenous issues in Latin America.

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Foro: para el aprendizaje intensivo de la cultura y etnohistoria taina

Liga Guakia Taina-ke, Inc.

Quedas cordialmente invitado al Foro Re-educando a un Pueblo: El Caso del Programa de Inmersión Cultural Lingüístico. El foro se celebrara el 10 de abril a las 5:30pm en el Vestíbulo de la Biblioteca Lázaro de la Universidad de Puerto Rico -Recinto de Río Piedras.

Esta actividad pretende crear un espacio donde académicos y escritores puedan reunirse para presentarle al publico (estudiantil, académico y general), puntos de vista variados e informativos sobre la cultura taina en su contexto etno-histórico cultural y lingüístico. El foro dará a conocer el Programa de Inmersión Cultural-Lingüístico (http://guailiguakia.blogspot.com/), implementado en las escuelas publicas de la región sureste de Puerto Rico por la Liga Guakia Taina-ke.

El Programa de Inmersión Cultural-Lingüística es un programa específico para el aprendizaje intensivo de la cultura y etnohistoria taina. El programa piloto promete crear las bases para un mejor entendimiento de nuestra cultura y lenguaje indígena. Dentro de este marco etnohistórico cultural se persigue, afanosamente, la reconstrucción del idioma taino (arahuaco). Esta iniciativa, de rescate ertnohistórico y lingüístico, será el primero en la isla a nivel escolar y comunitario. Con este programa queremos concienciar a nuestros jóvenes sobre su herencia indígena y ofrecer una nueva perspectiva de la cultura autóctona de Puerto Rico – la cual brilla por su ausencia en los textos escolares.

Nuestro invitado especial, Dr. Edil Torres Rivera, nos presentara su ponencia: Herencia Taina: Identidad liquidad. En esta ponencia el Dr. Torres, nos “mostrara evidencia de como la cultural Taina mantiene la reconciliación sicológica entre culturas opuesta en términos de actitudes, valores, y creencias.” También contamos con las ponencias de maestras que participan en el Programa en los distritos escolares de Yabucoa y Maunabo. Las experiencias de estos maestros(as) servirán para desarrollar un plan de trabajo dirigido a la revisión de materiales escolares que tratan la temática etno-historica cultural de Puerto Rico.

Adjunto envió el Programa tentativo. Próximamente estaremos enviando el programa actualizado del foro. También le invito a que visites nuestra pagina Web: http://www.tainakepr.blogspot.com/ para obtener mas información de otros eventos y actividades de la Liga.

[see a PowerPoint overview of the program: click here]

Carlalynne Meléndez, PhD

Liga Guakia Taina-ke, Inc.

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Interview with Taino Almestica

On August 1, 2007 Taino Almestica and Derrick Mayoleth, circumnavigated the island of Boriken (Puerto Rico) in a kayak. They were the first to attempt such a feat since the days when the Classic Taino people traveled across all the islands of the Caribbean in canoes. Taino Almestica a descendant of the islands original inhabitants is the first Taino to not only attempt such a feat but to accomplish his aim as well. Below is an interview I conducted with Taino Almestica upon his return to New York City:

JE: What motivated you to circumnavigate the island of Boriken?

TA: Since my childhood I have been in and out of canoes. As I got older I was searching for that experience again but unfortunately there weren’t that many opportunities around Manhattan. I did eventually find a kayak group in Manhattan and I decided to explore this different but similar craft. The dream of being able to circumnavigate the island was set into motion. I looked for the connection to my ancestors and the personal challenge to me.

JE: How long did this trip last?

TA: It took us 18 days to circumnavigate the entire island but there where a few days, which we took off the water. The first time we took a few days to readjust gear and to plan some other exploring of the island. The second major layoff was when Hurricane Dean was approaching the island. We were off the water for five or six days, which I felt, was too long. I took advantage to visit some family in Aibonito.
a) Start point: We launched from the Toa Baja region of the island near the town of Levittown. We launched from Punta Salinas.
b) Middle: I would say when we arrived in Ponce.
c) End point: that of course would be our start point.

JE: What were the scariest moments for you?

TA: I would have to say two times when we were caught paddling with lighting near to us that for me was the scariest. Not to mention that my mind was always looking out for sharks. The first time I came upon to a pair of very large manatee. I have never seen them that large and from the perspective of paddling right up to them. Did I get knocked into the water or tipped in sure did three or four times. Got caught the first time looking one way and a wave caught me off guard. Then there was one on the North coast which I could hear rumbling behind me as it build in power and size. I tried to out run it or back paddle to let it pass under me but the wall just increase over my head and then collapsed on top of me. I just rolled up. Did a 360 spin under and back up on top of the water.

JE: How was the public support for what you were trying to accomplish on the island?

TA: The community was incredible to us. They provided us with water, food and coffee during the trip. In addition they provided safe places for us to sleep and the fishermen giving us local knowledge of the waters, which we would encounter. Of course they all thought we where crazy!

JE: What does the Kayak and the sea mean to you?

TA: This is my temple, church, I worship and remember to worship and give thanks for a great day and safe journeys. No days are ever alike each wave different from the one before.

JE: As a Taino, did you think about what our ancestors may or may not be thinking as they traversed around the islands of the Caribbean?

TA: I did think about that from several points. Arriving at a location that you don’t know and then having to find a safe place to land and find food and shelter. Another point would be from those who lived in this environment- the daily experience of searching for water, food, protection from the weather. I mean, I like camping, but I came as best prepared as possible and even then there were challenges. I live in an apartment and turn on my air conditioning and go shopping for food right outside my door.. It’s almost inconceivable how our ancestors traveled throughout the islands, long stretches at sea, landing on unfamiliar beaches and then survive the way they did. How could I ever compare myself to them or whine about what I don’t have? I carried all I needed in my kayak.

JE: What message do you want to leave the people of Boriken?

TA: To explore life. If you happen to identify with Taino ancestry whether in Boriken or the other islands, know that you don’t have to be just a warrior, medicine person or a chief. I mean, some one had to throw out the garbage right? I guess that’s my job. To my people I say they must go home to their islands and explore them in their entirety to get a clear view of what it means to be Taino. You will find out what you don’t know and what that means. Experience that and then let us sit down and discuss being Taino.

JE: Any plans for a Caribbean wide trip?

TA: Yes if I could walk away from work, were a whole lot younger and could build up the courage to take the abuse!

Taino with his Daughter Alexandria

JE: You used the symbol of Guabancex Wind and Rain Society, what does it mean to you?

TA: After having some experience with various groups I found the internal and external fighting was just a waste of time and mental resources. The jealousy and envy has fogged the fact that the Taino don’t exist- at least the Taino that some are trying to portray. We have lost so much and we continue to lose our youth every day to outside cultural pressures or pop culture. It was good to be invited into Guabancex since I feel I understand what their philosophy is about.

At first I thought, since the founding members all have academic degrees what could I bring to Guabancex? Of course not all are or claim to be Taino but we all work to research, disseminate and record information whether new or old or relearning what it was. I bring a little from my experience on the island and the things that I was shown by my family; mainly on the island and some here on the main land. Of course put me in a boat or in the mountains and I’m in my elements and I can share that with others and that is the key SHARING. Working on the material and not on how many titles I claim. The connection with the land and how our ancestors had that connection is what I’m learning and experiencing. There is a need for science and a need for what is left from the island people before it is all lost. Maybe if we are lucky someone will take up the mantle on some element of our culture, and run with it. I learned so much from this adventure. That experiencing it is so much more that saying I am it.

JE: I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. You have truly inspired me. Bo Matum Taino.

TA: Bo Matum

_______________

Chasing the Ana-Days 8- 9-10

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Chasing The Ana Team Post Day Eight

foto: Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Almestica called http://www.guajataka.com/ at aprox 1:30pm, they have reached Crash Boat Beach in Aguadilla. What a fast paddle that must have been! Carrie Medina and Nydia Kein are on their way to meet them. Carrie will post tonight.
Marine forcast :
Carib Waters From Punta Viento To Punta Melones And The WatersOutside 12 Nm From Punta Melones To Punta Cadena W To 68w AndS To 17n-This AfternoonSoutheast winds 16 to 21 knots. Seas 5 to 6 feet. Isolated showers.TonightEast southeast winds 16 to 21 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet. Isolated showers.ThursdayEast winds 16 to 21 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet. Scattered showers. Isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon.Thursday NightEast winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms.FridayEast southeast winds 11 to 16 knots. Seas 3 to 5 feet. Isolated thunderstorms in the morning. Scattered showers.Friday NightEast southeast winds 14 to 19 knots. Seas 3 to 4 feet. Isolated showers.


San Sebastián, Puerto Rico August 9, 20071 pmTeam Post - Day Nine

This is Carrie from http://www.kayakscuba.com/ checking in. I met up with Almestica and Mayoleth late last night at Crash Boat Beach in Aguadilla. Mayoleth says his bruised ribs from a fall down the staircase made paddling difficult, but the miles they paddled were impressive enough. The men hope to paddle to Rincon in the morning then on to Mayagüez by the afternoon. I am heading out to that side of the island with Almestica's recharged communications gear. The good time they are making on the west end will be needed time, as the south side of the island, heading east, is anticipated to be a bigger challenge.
While out on the beach we met up with ''Roberto'' who promises to email us. 2 years ago Roberto circumnavigated Puerto Rico on a long board. The 3 man expedition took a year and a half to complete.
UPDATE: MAYOLETH EMAILED, THEY HAVE MADE IT TO RINCON AND WILL LAND IN MAYAGüEZ BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON.

Marine forcast from: http://www.wunderground.com/
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORYCarib Waters From Punta Viento To Punta Melones And The WatersOutside 12 Nm From Punta Melones To Punta Cadena W To 68w AndS To 17n-This AfternoonEast winds 16 to 20 knots. Seas 5 to 6 feet. Isolated showers.TonightEast southeast winds 16 to 20 knots. Seas 5 to 6 feet. Scattered showers.FridayEast southeast winds 14 to 19 knots. Seas 4 to 5 feet. Scattered showers. Isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon.Friday NightEast southeast winds 14 to 19 knots. Seas 4 to 5 feet. Isolated thunderstorms in the evening...then isolated showers after midnight.SaturdayEast southeast winds 16 to 21 knots. Seas 4 to 5 feet. Isolated showers.Saturday NightEast winds 16 to 21 knots. Seas 5 to 6 feet. Isolated showers.SundayEast northeast winds 16 to 21 knots. Seas 2 to 6 feet. Isolated showers.MondayEast winds 14 to 19 knots. Seas 2 to 6 feet. Isolated showers.
Carib Waters From Punta Viento To Cabo San Juan S To 17n And E To64w Including The Carib Waters Of Culebra Vieques And The U.S.Virgin Islands-This AfternoonEast winds 16 to 19 knots. Seas 4 to 5 feet. Isolated showers.TonightEast winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 4 to 5 feet. Scattered showers. Isolated thunderstorms after midnight.FridayEast southeast winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 4 to 6 feet. Isolated thunderstorms in the morning. Scattered showers.Friday NightEast southeast winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 5 to 6 feet. Scattered showers. Isolated thunderstorms after midnight.SaturdayEast southeast winds 16 to 21 knots. Seas 4 to 5 feet. Isolated thunderstorms in the morning. Scattered showers.Saturday NightEast winds 14 to 19 knots. Seas 4 to 5 feet. Scattered showers.SundayEast northeast winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 2 to 5 feet. Scattered showers...then isolated showers.MondayEast winds 13 to 18 knots. Seas 2 to 6 feet. Isolated showers...then scattered showers.
posted by Kayak-QP at

Friday, August 10, 2007
Automatic Weapons Fire at CTA Kayakers
Automatic Weapons Fire at Chasing The Ana KayakersAt aprox 3pm today, August 10,

Chasing the Ana Kayakers Derrick Mayleth and Taino Almestica reported having bullets coming at them and their kayaks just off shore in the Mona Passage.Both men are ok, and http://www.kayakscuba.com/ owner Carrie Medina has contacted the US Coast Guard in Puerto Rico. Officer Balcac has forwarded an email to let the Coast Guard know that the men can be tracked by map at www.guajataka.com/bloghttp://www.kayakscuba.com/ is investigating other possible locations of private firing ranges to avoid any further incidents. Both local police and the Navigation Comisioner will also be contacted Monday morning.Kevlar PFD anyone?
Labels: CTA

Chasing The Ana Team Post Day 10

foto: Almestica y los niños de la isla Borinquen. ''When I grow up I wanna be a kayaker!''

Puerto Real, Puerto RicoAugust 10, 20076 pmTeam Post - Day Ten
Quick check in at http://www.guajataka.com/ by Taino. Problems on the water, but the men are at Puerto Real. Carrie will be checking in with Taino in one hour to find out what the difficulty was. The men are doing well. Special thanks to Mary Mayoleth (Wisconsin USA) and Kumiko Niimi (Ney York USA), the packages have been delivered to the shop and will be delivered to the men Saturday morning.

2007/08/chasing-ana-team-post-day-10.
Certainly we are being challenged. Of course at times like today we were lucky enough to land at the ultra posh Rincon Beach Resort in Anasco just south of Rincon. We have been welcomed in by these guys and enjoy a nice outdoor bar, swimming pools, and or course Wifi in a modern Spanish style open air plaza. Yeah, I could never afford a place like this in real life! My ribs have been more than a bit of a problem. I can tell I bruised them pretty well, but of course I don't have an opportunity to rest. After an hour or so on the water the pain eases away (the 3 tylenol help) and I'm good for paddling for the day. However pulling my kayak up the steep beaches can at times be almost unbearable. Sleeping is not comfortable. Luckily I think I'm building up my left side to compensate. Of course what I need is rest, but we have miles to go. I'm looking forward to a 3 day stop on the south coast and hope to spend much of that time healing before the last leg of the trip.My hard rock landing a couple days ago bent two clips on my Rockpools tail section. At first this looked like a major disaster until I realized I could swap them out with on top clip on the fore and aft sections. Mike had told me the tops only needed on clip, but luckily I asked for the older 2 clip tops. So with that taken care of and the help of a friendly octopus fisherman we were able to seal launch off the rocks and get out through the surf. The north coast of PR is NOT for the weak of heart.This is a good time to note that my second Optio has now died. Yeah, I can't say much good about the camera at the moment. Especially when after talking to Pentax and explaining our situation they refused to do anything to replace it in a timely manor. They basically just wanted us to buy a new one that they would ship from the Philippines in 7 or more days. Their customer service was, frankly, rude. Not for their camera, but for their rude customer service, I will never buy another Pentax or recommend on to you.Yesterday we rounded the western tip where the Atlantic meets the Caribbean ocean. There the sky is moody and the water was dark. I walked the ruins of an old Spanish style building. Only the two story walls were left standing. While walking out again through the grand doorway a boarder patrol truck passed. He waved. We are now in an area under constant guard against people coming in from the Dominican Republic looking for a gateway the US.The West Coast although beautiful is full-on hot. Through the intense heat and thick humidity we paddle south in what often seems like thick green syrup. Of course it's not the water, but the heat making my arms feel weak with each stroke. I stop on occasion to scoop salty water just slightly cooler than the air with my hat to pour over my body. It helps, but only for a moment. Then I look back out into the green/blue sea and slip my paddle again into the water and slide forward a few more feet. In many ways I miss the stormy Atlantic. She my be rough, but I know her moods. This hot Caribbean is new to me. So far she seems to want to lull you into a deep desert dream, where the mirage is land in the distance where you imagine a cold pina colada to be waiting. Thank God, on occasion. . . It is.My super buddy Yvonne Le Guillou, has been kind enough to post some more pictures from my camera here. More to come. Notice Maria doing her headstand in the Alaw Bach without a paddle to stabilize!

New Archaeology Dissertation on Puerto Rico

Many thanks and congratulations to Dr. RENIEL RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS for making available to the public a complete electronic version of his doctoral dissertation, which he recently defended at the University of Florida. His main interest is that the archaeological work that is done in the Antilles reaches the widest audience possible, and we are happy to facilitate. Please download a copy, in PDF format, from:

http://www.box.net/shared/gul7lzccx7

Dissertation Title:

PUERTO RICAN PRECOLONIAL HISTORY ETCHED IN STONE

Contents:
1 INTRODUCTION
Problem Statement
Study Overview

2 THEORETICAL ORIENTATION
Rousean Culture-Historical Systematics: An Overview
Culture-History: Toward an Updated Approach
From Shared Norms to Contested Actions
From Passive Things to Active Objects
From “Cultures” in Isolation to People in Interaction
From the Micro to the Macro and Vise Versa: Toward a Multiscalar Perspective

3 THE METHOD, THE SAMPLE, THE CONTEXTS
Toward an Anthropological Approach to Lithic Technologies
Lithic Procurement Dynamics
Lithic Production Dynamics
Core-Flake Reduction: Individual Flake Analysis
Cores
Core-Flake Reduction Formats
Pecked and Ground Materials
Celts and adzes
Other formal items
Use-Modified Materials
Radiocarbon Database
Nature of the Sample
Paso del Indio
La Hueca-Sorcé
Puerto Ferro
Punta Candelero
Punta Guayanés
Rio Tanamá
Praderas
Lilly-Caribe
Finca de Doña Rosa (UTU-44)
Vega de Nelo Vargas (UTU-27)

4 DISCOVERY OF PUERTO RICO AND THE LIFEWAYS OF OUR EARLIEST ANCESTORS
The Initial Construction of the “Archaic”: From Cuba to Puerto Rico
Rethinking the Pre-Arawak Landscape of Puerto Rico
The Timing of the Discovery of the Island
Traditions of Doing Stone Things in Pre-Arawak Times
Core-flake reduction
Pecked and ground materials
Use-modified materials
The Introduction of Agriculture and Pottery Production
Building Place
Pre-Arawak Socialities
Things that Grow: The Maritime Dispersal of Early Cultivars in the Neo-Tropics

5 COMING, GOING, AND INTERACTING: AN ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE ON THE “LA HUECA PROBLEM”
Multifaceted Overview of the “La Hueca Problem”
Ceramics
Absolute and Relative Chronologies
The Superstructural Element
Infrastructural Organization
Lapidary
Lithics in the Hacienda Grande Complex
Core-flake technology
Pecked-ground materials
Use-modified materials
Tradition of Doing Stone Things in the LH Complex
Core-Flake Reduction
Procurement dynamics
Production dynamics
Pecked and Ground Materials
Celts and adzes
Other ground materials
Use-Modified Materials
Round fine-grained hammerstones
Other hammerstones
Pecking stones
Round pitted stones
Edge-ground cobbles
Striated pebbles
Pestles
Grinding slabs
Angular pitted stones
LH Lithic Technological Styles: A Summary Perspective
Comparison between LH and Cedrosan Related Assemblages
Procurement Dynamics
Production Dynamics
Core-flake reduction
Pecked and ground materials
Use-modified materials
The La-Hueca Problem: A Lithics Perspective
Things that Glow: The Macro-Regional Movement of Shiny Wearable Art in the Greater Caribbean

6 HORIZONTAL DIVERSIFICATION IN PUERTO RICO: THE FORGING OF NEW IDENTITIES
The Crab/Shell Dichotomy: A Synopsis
Multiple Developments, Multiple Interactions: From Cultural Isolation to a Landscape of Plurality
The Pre-Arawak/LH-Hacienda Grande Interface
Of Fissioned Villages, New Communities, and Other Selves
Traditions of Doing Stone Things in the Late Precolonial Landscape of Puerto Rico
Core-Flake Reduction
Procurement dynamics
Production dynamics
Use-Modified Materials
Pecked and Ground Materials
Celts and adzes
Other ground materials
The Lithic Evidence: Some Final Remarks
Public Display of Difference and Power
The Embodiment of Difference: The Onset of Cranial Deformation
Lithifying the Landscape: The Installation of Rock Enclosures
The A.D. 1000-1100 Event and the Intensification of Regional Political Integration
From the Taíno People to the Taíno Spectrum
Things that Show: Displaying Prestige and Ritualizing Power in the Greater Caribbean

7 CONCLUSIONS
The Precolonial History of Puerto Rico
From a Phylogenetic to a Reticulate Model of Antillean Archaeology
From the Antilles to the Greater Caribbean
Five Hundred Years of What? Some Final Thoughts

LIST OF REFERENCES

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Agueybana III reclaims Puerto Rico?

Se qu te va interesar. Salio hoy en las portadas de http://www.endi.com/ y en http://www.primerahora.com/

"Nosotros los indios taínos de Boriquén…"
En medio de la vorágine que provoca en Puerto Rico la eterna discusión del status político, una novel demanda presentada en el Tribunal Federal por un "noble descendiente de la real dinastía del cacique Agüeybaná" cuestionó sin éxito la legalidad de la soberanía estadounidense sobre la Isla.

Juan Ramón Nadal, hijo, "conocido también como Agueybaná III, Jefe Supremo de la Isla de Boriquén, descendiente de sangre de Agüeybaná", reclamaba en su demanda, desestimada por la jueza Aida Delgado, que se certificara como clase la acción presentada a "nombre de los indios taínos de la Isla de Boriquén".

El autoproclamado Agüeybaná III, quien cumple una larga condena en la prisión de Shawangunk, en Walkill, Nueva York, por delitos no especificados, exigía a Estados Unidos una compensación de $515 mil millones por el usufructo de Puerto Rico.

"Nosotros, los indios taínos de la Isla de Boriquén, cuatro millones de personas, que somos una mezcla de sangre taína (nativa), africana y europea… desde tiempos inmemoriales, formamos una nación soberana e independiente", reza parte de la demanda.

"Tras la formación de la Isla de Boriquén, nosotros indios taínos y nuestros ancestros hemos sido y somos los únicos y exclusivos dueños de la Isla de Boriquén, gobernada por nuestras leyes, usos y costumbres...", sostuvo.

Es así que el "tataranieto de Agüeybaná" exigía que se ordenara a Estados Unidos ceder todo reclamo de soberanía y títulos sobre Puerto Rico.

"Estados Unidos evacuará de inmediato la Isla de Boriquén, ahora bajo la supuesta soberanía estadounidense, y al año de la cesión de soberanía nombrará unos plenitenciarios que se reunirán en San Juan, Isla de Borinquén, para arreglar la evacuación de la Isla y negociar y concluir un tratado de paz…"

"Nosotros los indios taínos éramos los ocupantes de la Isla de Boriquén antes de la llegada de Estados Unidos", agrega. "No somos un territorio de Estados Unidos, ni parte de la Unión".

"Nosotros los indios taínos somos una nación política independiente, que no rinde su derecho a la independencia y la autodeterminación", sostiene.

Llama la atención que el autoproclamado Agüeybaná está recluido en Shawangunk donde, según información obtenida en la red cibernética, han cumplido cárcel prisioneros tales como las Panteras Negras, afroamericanos convertidos al islamismo, y posiblemente algún boricua.

Sin capacidad jurídica
La jueza Delgado desestimó la demanda aduciendo falta de jurisdicción y ausencia de capacidad jurídica, aunque no le disputó al demandante "el derecho de considerarse un descendiente de la dinastía de los taínos".

Indicó que la acción no la trajo una "tribu india o banda o cuerpo gobernante reconocido por el Secretario del Interior", que establecería la jurisdicción.

Segundo, dijo, el demandante no tiene capacidad jurídica para reclamar un daño o interés legal que no sea especulativo e hipotético.

"Me cuesta pensar que la referencia a daños sea una invitación a adjudicar la historia política entre Estados Unidos y España…", apuntó Delgado.

"Aunque el demandante no especifica, parece que a esto es que se refiere cuando habla del acto mediante el cual Puerto Rico fue entregado de forma ilegal a Estados Unidos".

"El demandante se fundamenta en una ilusoria percepción de sí mismo como gobernante autoproclamado de los extintos indios taínos y su punto de vista e interpretación de la historia de Puerto Rico, que no se puede tomar de forma racional, ni es suficiente para establecer un reclamo bajo el que se le puede conceder un remedio", sentenció Delgado. -- Sonia Migdalia Rosa-Vélez M.A.

3ra JORNADA INDÍGENA-TAÍNA - AGOSTO 11 y 12, 2007

For a flyer, please download a PDF copy from:
http://www.centrelink.org/encuentrotaino.pdf
-------------------------------------------------

Takaji Familia (Buenos Días Familia),

[Takaji Family,]

CATTA-COOP cordialmente le invita participar en la 3ra Jornada Indígena-Taína en Barrio Coabey, Jayuya, Boriké (Puerto Rico) el Sábado y Domingo, 11 y 12 de Agosto, 2007

(favor mirar el anejo abajo para detalles y ver el enlace de la página cibernética de CATTA-COOP). Un programa detallada estará disponible pronto.

[CATTA-COOP cordially invites you all to participate in the 3rd Indigenous Taíno Gathering in Barrio Coabey, Jayuya, Boriké (aka Puerto Rico) on Saturday and Sunday, August 11-12, 2007

(please see the attachment below for details and check out the link to CATTA-COOP's website). A detailed program will be available soon.]

<<...>>
http://cattacoop.web.prw.net/

Nota: La página cibernética de CATTA-COOP esta disponible solamente en español pero una versión en inglés estará disponible pronto.

La invitación arriba, sin embargo, esta in ambos idiomas (español y inglés), y también se puede ver en la página calendario cibernética al http://cattacoop.web.prw.net/CATTA_Calendario.htm.

[Note: The CATTA-COOP's website is currently only available in Spanish but an English version will be made available soon.

The preliminary flyer above, however, is in both languages (Spanish and English), and can also be viewed on the website's calendar page at http://cattacoop.web.prw.net/CATTA_Calendario.htm.]

Donaciones son aceptadadas y agradecidas, y voluntarios bienvenidos (favor llamar para más detalles).

[Donations are accepted and appreciated, and volunteers are welcome (please call for more details).]

Esperamos verlos.
[We look forward to seeing you.]

Omá Bahari (Con Respeto),
[With Respect,]

Tio Bo Guatukan (Bendiciones Ancestrales),
[Ancestral Blessings,]

Amor, Abrazos, Paz y Taíno-tí (Honramos la Luz en Ti),
[Love, Hugs, Peace & We Honor the Light in You,]

Joanna y Familia
[Joanna & Family]

Indigenous Founding Mothers of the Americas

Many thanks to the author of the following article, Rick Kearns (rickearns@comcast.net), for the permission to reproduce his article below. This website's Creative Commons license does not apply to this piece. The article originally appeared in Indian Country Today (www.indiancountry.com), on November 9, 2006. Rick Kearns is also the author of several pieces on the Taino restoration movement that appeared in Issues in Caribbean Amerindian Studies--please see: http://www.centrelink.org/Papers.html

The indigenous roots of Colombia are coming into focus, as it is yet another Latin American nation learning about its true history: the founding mothers of Colombia were indigenous.

According to a recently released DNA survey, 85.5 percent of all Colombian women have indigenous mitochondria, a component of DNA that is passed down unaltered through the maternal line.

Dr. Emilio Yunis Turbay, a distinguished scientist who founded the Genetics Institute at the National University at Bogota, was the principle author of the study. Yunis Turbay assembled a team of specialists, including his son, Dr. Juan Jose Yunis, who analyzed 1,522 samples of mitochondrial (mt) DNA from across Colombia.

The final analysis yielded a startling conclusion: Almost 90 percent of all Colombian women have a Native grandmother in their ancestry. This finding echoes the results gathered in Puerto Rico three years ago, where it was discovered that 61 percent of all Puerto Ricans had indigenous mitochondrial DNA.

According to Dr. Juan Martinez Cruzado, author of the Puerto Rico study, this signals a trend.

''This seems to be a common thread in all Latin America,'' he asserted. ''I spoke with a Mexican researcher who tested some Mexicans in the north of their country as well as Mexicans living in the southwestern United States, and over 80 percent of them had the indigenous mitochondrial DNA.''

Martinez Cruzado added that he had examined 16 indigenous mtDNA samples from Aruba recently and 86 percent of those samples showed the indigenous mtDNA. He has been in contact with Venezuelan scientists who informed him that a majority of the residents of Caracas, the capital city, also contained indigenous mtDNA.

''And in Argentina, which is so white, so European and which is most identified with Italy and Spain, most of the Argentineans also have indigenous mtDNA, according to the research of the well-known scientist Claudio Bravi,'' asserted Martinez Cruzado.

The presence of these grandmothers in the histories of Colombia and probably all of Latin America will force a re-evaluation of each country's story. And while the role of fathers and grandfathers is very important in any culture, it is the mother who teaches the children directly. It is the mother and grandmother who transmit the cultural values and beliefs.

For anyone who comes from Latin America, a great many of us are ''part-Indian.'' The ramifications of this historical fact will produce some similar results as well as some that are unique to each country.

Yunis Turbay put forward a similar argument in other media statements. He noted that upon analyzing the genetic structure of the Colombian population, one re-invents the history of the country as one reaches the conclusion that Colombia (like many Latin American countries) is genetically fragmented. But for Colombians specifically, there is another aspect of their genetic fragmentation that bears examination, according to the famous scientist.

There are ''the mulattoes on one side, the blacks on another, the indigenous in another, the white mestizos [mixes] in another,'' he pointed out. ''One begins to make a picture that shows a country made up of genetic patches. Looking at it this way explains the utilization of the tools of power to exclude populations,'' he asserted.

''The unity of Colombia is made by 'superstructures,' not by a structural development based on means of communication that integrate the market, allowing for the exchange of products, of cultures and unions of different origins,'' he continued. ''We have made Colombia a very unequal country, and what is worse, with citizens of different categories. We have regionalized race.''

Yunis Turbay and others in Colombia there are trying desperately to unify the country, an extremely difficult task for now. However, there is a good chance that Yunis Turbay's research and calls for action will be taken seriously. He is possibly the most well-respected scientist in his country, who has also contributed to national Colombian discussion on identity. He conducted a larger genetic study of the country in 1992 and authored a book, ''Why Are We This Way? What Happened in Colombia? An Analysis of the Mixing (Mestizaje).'' This work contains a series of essays in which he connected genetics, history, geography and politics to advance his argument of how to unify the country through markets and geography.

Here's hoping that his fellow Colombians are listening to him. Here's an idea: Maybe we should invite him to study the U.S. population, starting with Washington, D.C. Just a thought.

Rick Kearns is a freelance writer of Boricua heritage who focuses on indigenous issues in Latin America.

Los mitos taínos

Los mitos taínos is a website that CAC Editor Jorge Estevez recommends to our readers. It is in Spanish. The various sections of the website deal with Taíno themes in Spanish Caribbean literature; Taíno mythical genealogy; photographs of the Tibes museum; monuments that have been built in commemoration of Taíno historical figures; select myths; and, a very useful page of links to complementary resources on Taíno history and mythology, well worth examining.

The first page of the site explains its purpose in the following words:

"Esta página le ofrece al lector un repositorio de información sobre el tema mitológico-literario taíno. Ha sido construída como un recurso educativo para aquellos que desean mantener viva la herencia taína."

The author of the website is Sonia M. Rosa. The site emerged as extracts from her Masters thesis in 2003, and she is the copyright holder for all images on the site.

Una travesía por nuestra cultura

[Ed: article submitted by Jorge Estevez]

1 de agosto, 2007: Una travesía por nuestra cultura

El 1 de agosto, 2007 se producirá un evento histórico en Boriken. Taino Almestica, junto con David Mayoleth y Wendy Killoran, navegarán alrededor de la isla de Boriken, haciendo escalas en las islas de Vieques y Culebra.

El señor Almestica llegará a Boriken el próximo 29 de julio y permanecerá allí hasta el 1 de septiembre, 2007. Su esperanza es inspirar a otros en Puerto Rico a aprender sobre las maravillas de la navegación en canoas y en kayaks. Su visión es ver más personas involucradas en estos deportes.

Nuestros ancestros eran maestros mareantes que viajaban a las islas del Caribe en sus canoas todos los días. Taino Almestica viajará alrededor de la isla de Puerto Rico con este espíritu. Taino ha expresado muchas veces que cuando se navega en canoa o kayak en alta mar, donde cada ola es diferente, aunque igualmente persistente, se alcanza un despertar espiritual. Esto nos recuerda a nuestra cultura, a pesar de haber pasado 500 años después del primer contacto, del colonialismo y la aculturación: nosotros como pueblo, con una cultura singular, persistimos.

Taino es hijo de Boriken y miembro de la sociedad Guabancex Viento y Agua, con bases en Kiskeya y en los Estados Unidos. Esta organización está dedicada a investigar y diseminar los aspectos de las expresiones culturales tainas pervivientes, incluyendo la cultura material, la tradición oral y el rescate de tradiciones culturales que han desaparecido con la rápida expansión de la cultura occidental en las islas caribeñas.

Para Taino el ideal sería contar con el apoyo de todas las personas, grupos y organizaciones tainas. Sería un reto para todos enfocarnos sólo por 24 horas como colectivo y vitorear a Taino y sus acompañantes en este arduo viaje.

Por favor apunten esta fecha en su agenda y oremos porque Taino tenga un buen viaje y un mejor regreso a casa. Para más información, por favor visite estos enlaces:

www.tainokanoa.com y www.kayakquixotica.com

Bo Matum
Jorge Baracutei Estevez (Taino)
National Museum of the American Indian
One Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004
(212) 514-3716
Estevezj@si.edu

A Voyage for the People

[Ed: this article was submitted by Jorge Estevez]

On August 1, 2007 there will be an historic event taking place in Boriken. Taino Almestica (Taino) along with David Mayoleth and Wendy Killoran will circumnavigate the island of Boriken, making stops in Vieques and Culebra.

Mr. Almestica will arrive in Boriken on July 29, 2007 and will be there until September 1, 2007. His hope is to inspire others in Puerto Rico to learn about the wonders of Canoeing and Kayaking. His vision is to see more people involved in this sport.

Our ancestors were master seamen who traveled the Caribbean islands in their canoas on a daily basis and it is in this spirit that Taino Almestica will travel around the island of Puerto Rico. Many times Taino has expressed that there is a certain spiritual awareness that a person comes to when Kayaking/Canoeing in the open sea, each wave different than the next yet equally persistent. This is reminiscent of our culture, despite 500 years after first contact, colonialism and acculturation, we as a people, with a unique culture, persist.

Taino is a son of Boriken and a member of Guabancex: Wind and Rain Society which is based in Kiskeya (Dominican Republic) and the USA. This organization is dedicated to researching/investigating and disseminating all aspects of surviving Taino cultural expressions including material culture, oral tradition and the rescue of cultural traditions that have disappeared with today's rapid western expansion on the Caribbean islands.

For Taino the ideal would be to have full support of all Taino people, groups or organizations. It would be a challenge for all to focus just for one day as a collective to celebrate and cheer Taino on this very arduous voyage.

Please keep this date in mind and let us pray for Taino"s safe trip and safe return home. For more information please visit:

www.tainokanoa.com and www.kayakquixotica.com

Bo Matum
Jorge Baracutei Estevez

Jorge Estevez (Taino)
National Museum of the American Indian
One Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004
(212) 514-3716
Estevezj@si.edu

Destruction of Taino Remains in Puerto Rico

The human remains of our native ancestors, the Taínos, who gave origin to our culture and our roots, our national patrimony, lay resting in an archeological site found at Calle Agueybana of Comunidad Parque del Monte in the municipality of Caguas, Puerto Rico....

The large enterprises with created interests have proposed to construct over the remains of our ancestors, businesses such as fast food. For us, the descendants of the Taíno ancestors, it is an insult that large economic interests want to destroy, not only our national patrimony, but also interrupt the eternal rest of the souls and the spirits of our Taíno ancestors. We cannot allow mediocre people, who do not care about our pre-historic heritage, destroy the human remains of our ancestors who have rested in this same place since their death and before the arrival of the European colonizers. We urge international support from all individuals, tribes, groups and affiliations to help us. We, the survivors of the Taínos, firmly oppose to the distruction of the human remains of our ancestors and we firmly oppose the disturbance of their souls. Economic interests can be obtained anywhere else, but not over our Taíno cemetery. We don't have an e-mail yet, but you can call 787-743-6304 and ask for Rene Melendez.

For updated information and pictures got to:
www.indio.net/aymaco