"For Sale": Stolen Taino Artifacts from the Dominican Republic

Over the past few days I have been contacted by a certain "Lai Tran," writing from either Champs or Marseilles in France, advertising for sale a number of artifacts, all shown below, which appear to be Taino artifacts, though a couple of items may not be genuine originals. No prices were mentioned, nor was the name of the collectors. I was told that the items were taken by two collectors who lived in the Dominican Republic, who have a second house in Nassau, and they "built buildings, public roads and 2 private airports." They found some of the items themselves, and others were obtained from workers and farmers. Some items were collected from "known Dominican collectors and antique dealers in Nassau." The entire collection shown below is currently being held in France.

According to a knowledgeable correspondent, it is illegal to remove such items from the Dominican Republic, but there is little that can be done to get them back. In addition, there are lax controls in place to prevent travelers from leaving the country in possession of such items. According to this one source, what is shown below is the tiniest tip of an iceberg, and even a "vast percentage" of items held in storage at the Museum of Dominican Man have disappeared. In addition, it is alleged that dealers in Taino antiquities have found buyers among officials of the Dominican state.

Posting images of these items is one way to keep track of what has been removed, and a way of posting a "beware" notice to any potential buyers: we know that these items have been illegally removed, and your purchase will also be illegal.

This message has been forwarded to Taino colleagues working in museums in the U.S. as well representatives of the United Confederation of Taino People and the Taino Nation of the Antilles.

May the day come that colonial Indiana Jones figures stop raiding the Caribbean as if it were their private, personal, plaything to be raped at will.

Jorge Estevez's article in Indian Country Today: "Batu: The ancient game lives on"

For the complete article with illustrations, please see:

http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096416899

EXCERPT:

Batu: The ancient game lives on
Posted: March 26, 2008
by: Jorge Estevez / Guest columnist

Imagine traveling back in time, 500 years to be exact, to the islands of the Caribbean. There you find beautiful sandy beaches with turquoise waters, palm trees, warm weather, soft winds and green mountainous landscapes.

In the distance, you hear the sounds of drums and maracas. You follow the pulsating music and reach the outskirts of a village. The people you meet are moving about excitedly in preparation for a ball game they call batu.

The game is played in a rectangular playing field called a batey. The batey is surrounded by huge stone slabs with carvings that bear a semblance to those found in other regions of the Americas, yet these are distinctly unique to the Caribbean. Two teams of players enter the batey. The teams have come together from different communities - perhaps to cement their political or social bonds, or just simply for the love of the game.

In any event, these games are central in the Taino social structure. The villagers begin praying and chanting to Koromo, Achinao, Rakuno and Sobaoko, the four directions. The rules of the game have long been established, but the players are reminded once again that one cannot touch the ball with their hands or feet. Only hips, elbows, shoulders and head are allowed. A heavy rubber ball is tossed in the center ... and the game begins.

After contact with the Spaniards in 1492, the Taino Indians of the Caribbean were enslaved and prohibited from continuing this ancient tradition. Just as our North American cousins who were forced into boarding schools, our people were forced into missions by the Catholic priests. Our Native customs and traditions were subsequently denied to us. Hence, our ancestors were unable to continue playing.

How and why we competed was gradually forgotten. Only in historical records do we find descriptions of how this Native sport was played. Today, archaeologists are continually finding remnants of these playing fields.

Huge bateys have been found in Kiskeya (Dominican Republic), Haiti and a few of the lesser Antilles. But the island of Boriken (Puerto Rico) has yielded the highest number of bateys found to date. It is quite possible that the most important tournaments were held on this island.

In addition to playing fields, stone collars carved with motifs of religious significance have also been excavated. Batu and ulama (ball game played by the Mexica Indians of Mexico) and other similar games were played throughout Mesoamerica before the arrival of the Europeans.

One would assume that these Native games were lost forever, but like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the descendants of the first people to meet Columbus are reviving the game. In fact this revival has been going for quite sometime....CONTINUE

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

The Lost Fort of Columbus...and the Tainos of Today

From an article appearing in the History & Archaeology section of The Smithsonian Magazine for January 2008, by France Maclean:

And then there's Clark Moore, a 65-year-old construction contractor from Washington State. Moore has spent the winter months of the past 27 years in Haiti and has located more than 980 former Indian sites. "Clark is the most important thing to have happened to Haitian archaeology in the last two decades," says [archaeologist Kathleen] Deagan. "He researches, publishes, goes places no one has ever been before. He's nothing short of miraculous."

(...)

In 1980, Moore showed some of his artifacts to the foremost archaeologist of the Caribbean, Irving Rouse, a professor at Yale. "It was clear Clark was very focused, and once he had an idea, he could follow through," Rouse recalled to me. "Plus he was able to do certain things, such as getting around Haiti, speaking Creole to the locals and dealing with the bureaucracy, better than anyone else." Moore became Rouse's man in Haiti, and Rouse became Moore's most distinguished mentor.

(...)

One night, when Moore was entertaining friends at his harborside cinder-block house in Cap-HaÔtien—he lives there with his wife, Pat, a nurse from Nebraska with 16 years' service in Haiti's rural clinics—the conversation turned to the fate of the Taino. "The Taino really weren't all wiped out," Moore said. "There are groups in New York, Puerto Rico and Cuba who call themselves the descendants. They're reviving the language and ceremonies and want the world to know 'Hey, we're still here.'"

"The descendants in Haiti are secretive," a visiting archaeologist chimed in.

_______________

RECLAMANDO NUESTRA HERENCIA TAINA

From: Carlalynne Melendez, LIGA TAINA-KE:

20 de febrero de 2006

Estimados colegas y compañeros,

Es un verdadero placer volver a saludarlos. Los vuelvo a contactar para anunciar la creación de la organización Liga Taina-ke, Inc (Tierra Taina), fundada el 6 de enero de 2006. Adjunto le envío la visión y misión de la organización. El principal objetivo de la Liga es llevar a cabo estudios que apoyen la protección, conservación y manejo de los recursos culturales, históricos, biológicos, y naturales de Puerto Rico. La Liga lograra estos objetivos a través de investigaciones multidisciplinarias en los campos de la etnografía, geografía y estudios ambientales. La Liga también fomentara actividades educativas y culturales enfocadas en la temática etno-histórica-cultural Taína.

Les invito a que se unan a La Liga Taina-ke para que juntos, trabajemos por esa Boriquén que soñamos. Una Boriquén llena de confianza, propósito, y esperanza. Y a ti joven boricua te hago un llamado para que te integres a La Liga para construir tu futuro–un futuro lleno de confianza, propósito y esperanza–recuerda que tu eres Boriquén y solo tu puedes transformarla.

Agradezco infinitamente su interés, consideración y cooperación en esta iniciativa. Si tienes alguna duda o necesitas cualquier información adicional favor de contactarme al 787-671-0455 (celular), 787-764-0000 / Ext. 2479 / 3626 (Departamento), o a la siguiente dirección de correo electrónico (lynemelendez@yahoo.com).

Los invito a que visten el nuevo sitio de La Liga Taina-ke:
http://www.tainakepr.blogspot.com/
http://anthro.binghamton.edu/graduates/
cmelendez/BoricuaCibao.htm

Adjunto les envío la misión y visión de Taina-ke.

Carlalynne Melendez, PhD
Catedrática Auxiliar
Universidad de Puerto Rico
Recinto de Rio Piedras