The persistent exuberance of Taíno
UPDATE: This program has been cancelled because of the possibility of a government shutdown beginning midnight Friday, April 8.
The Smithsonian will host a symposium on the survival of Taíno language, identity and material culture in contemporary Caribbean consciousness Wednesday, April 13, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Room 4018 on the fourth level of the National Museum of the American Indian. Panelists include geneticist Juan Martínez Cruzado, archaeologist Osvaldo García-Goyco and historians Lynne Guitar and Alejandro Hartmann. José Barreiro, assistant director for research at the National Museum of the American Indian, will moderate.
An engraving depicting an encounter between Christopher Columbus and natives of Cuba. (Image courtesy Hutton Archives/Getty Images)
This symposium is part of the Taíno Legacy Project that explores the culture, history and legacy of the Native peoples of the Caribbean islands. In particular, this project will focus on the Taíno, the inhabitants of Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, who both greeted—then resisted—Columbus and his men during the first decades of Spanish colonization in the Americas.
This clay zemi, or Taíno religious object, depicts the important deity Deminan Caracaracol. Made between 1200-1492 AD, this figurine was ritually deposited in a small cave in what is now the Dominican Republic, until it was collected in 1916. Courtesy of the National Museum of the American Indian.
This project reflects one of the most important cultural encounters in world history. It provides perspectives on Taíno civilization before European contact using the Smithsonian’s archaeological collections, while demonstrating the enduring presence of a “consciousness of Taíno” on the islands—from domestic architecture, agriculture and spirituality to art, language and biology. “The term, extinction, as applied to a culture and its human community, is always troublesome,” said Barreiro. “There is a persistent exuberance about ‘Taíno,’ in the islands and in their diasporic communities. This is what we are exploring.”
This project is a multiyear collaboration between the Smithsonian Latino Center, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. An exhibition and public program series on Taíno Legacy are currently under development in collaboration with scholars from the United States and the Caribbean. For more information call (202) 633-0925 or visit the Latino Center’s website.
Posted: 7 April 2011
Jose Barrero:
How long ago it seems we worked together on Native Peoples in Struggle.
How much change has there been – surely, Taino would have entered the pages of that collection had there been such a fantastic upsurge of the Taino as there is today. Makes me feel so good to have been a co-author with you Jose, an honor that I’ll never forget
rmw
Borikén/Puerto Rico (UCTP Taino News) – The 2010 U.S. Census count for Borikén (Puerto Rico) had some significant surprises. The census reveals a 48.8 percent gain over the last 2000 census in the American Indian category, which is a verifiable resurgence of indigenous affirmation among families on the island. With DNA research documenting the continuation of the pre-Colombian indigenous Taino gene-pool and the increasing visibility of active Taino community organizations and cultural manifestations – the myth of extinction is finally being dispelled.
The Director of the United Confederation of Taino People’s Borikén Liaison Office, Roger Guayakan Hernandez attributes the increase in the census count to expansion of information and communications technologies available today.
“We have always been here but recently there has been an explosion of pertinent information regarding Borikén’s indigenous heritage. The difference is that now there are more ways to get the information to the people” stated Hernandez.
Hernandez noted that the Confederation, an official Census partner, used the increased focus on Taino heritage as well as new technologies like social networks in its campaign to raise awareness about the census process.
With the 2010 U.S. Census counting 19,839 individuals living in Puerto Rico officially claiming American Indian heritage, the Taino community is indeed becoming visible after two centuries of near invisibility.
Hernandez continued stating that “the whole chapter on the Caribbean’s Amerindian history is being reexamined and supports the affirmation of indigenous descendant families on and even off the island”.
A 1790 Puerto Rican Census count in an area called “Las Indieras” documented fewer than 3,000 `Indios (Indians)’ on the western side of the island. Since then, with official census terminology changing to discount the indigenous population, a reversal has taken place revealing how Taino families see themselves in the 21st Century.
“Colonial history may have counted us out in Puerto Rico, but today the Taino People have clearly counted ourselves back in” declared Hernandez.
UCTPTN 03.28.2011
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Unfortunately, this program has been cancelled because of the possibility of a government shutdown beginning at midnight, April 8. If there is a shutdown, the Smithsonian Institution, all of its museums and the National Zoo will be closed.
Takahi. Representatives of the United Confederation of Taino People will be there to cover the proceedings and publish related news items via our UCTP Taino News Network. Seneko kakona.
I am thrilled to see this article and the presentation scheduled for 4/13. There is so much ignorance concerning Taino people throughout America. Thank you for educating the masses! Now if only the wording in the current laws would include commonwealths so that Tainos can take their rightful place amongst federally-recognized tribes in this nation!
For Taínos all over the world and far away from WA DC, will the Institute be able to record the lecture, whether in video, audio, PowerPoint or a script so we can also benefit. Of course video would be the best of all but I will appreciate any format used. Gracias!