[dolphin22860]

Ta'kahi (Greeting)
Looking to see if there are any Taino's going to this site to find info or get in touch with other Taino's.. I live in Georgia and need to see how many are out there and do you want to start a Thread about being Taino and what is out there for us. I am hoping that more Taino's will come forward, with the census now upon us we must make our voices heard. Are you Taino, Caribbean, Native people who have been told about your people and what Christopher Columbus did. We were called Indians first..History books have tried to bury us.
come on a let me hear your voice

[Mordamere]

Originally Posted by dolphin22860

Tau/Hello
Looking to see if there are any Taino's going to this site to find info or get in touch with other Taino's.. I live in Georgia and need to see how many are out there and do you want to start a Thread about being Taino and what is out there for us.

Yep, we are out here ..... im grandson of Natal of Otoao Boriken from the region of Guarionex....

Taino & Proud to the end!..

[Yabey]

Tau guaitiaos daka yabey daka taino da guarico a yukayeke Coamo kaya Boriken. (Hello my friends I am yabey I am taino I come from the village Coamo, Island Boriken). I am a Taino decedent from Boriken now known as Puerto Rico and so proud of my taino roots.
Pow wow (Areito)

www.lapiedrita.net - LaPiedrita.net***** Taino American Nation******* The Rainbow Warriors*****We The TAINO People Who Di

[miriampena]

Originally Posted by dolphin22860

Ta'kahi (Greeting)
Looking to see if there are any Taino's going to this site to find info or get in touch with other Taino's.. I live in Georgia and need to see how many are out there and do you want to start a Thread about being Taino and what is out there for us. I am hoping that more Taino's will come forward, with the census now upon us we must make our voices heard. Are you Taino, Caribbean, Native people who have been told about your people and what Christopher Columbus did. We were called Indians first..History books have tried to bury us.
come on a let me hear your voice

im also looking for Tainos is Canada. my brother and i are going to canada next week and we wanted to atteend one of the meetings.if you know of anything please let me know. Thanks

[Flametree]

Hello and good day to all, I believe I qualify to participate in this forum. My grand parents were born in Guanijibo county Puerto Rico in the 1890's and their family (farmers)had lived there for hundreds of years previously.It is and was a Mountainous area and from what I know today it was one of the few places in PR were there was still an Indigenous population at the turn of the century. My mother's people did not know they were Native,well, they knew that native blood flowed through them but did not make a big deal of it. The Spanish made sure that almost all evidence of the natives were destroyed. Guanijibo is a Taino word I know now but all meaning has been lost, my mother did not know what it meant, neither did her parents. I know today that I am Native, a true American, not only bye our appearance but also proven bye genetic testing. I can claim the blood and genes of the first Americans too suffer the horrors inflicted on them bye the European Invaders. I have a Spanish sur-name, I take no pride in that, it saddens me to now know that part of my heritage enslaved,raped and murdered the other part of my heritage. I am an old man now, I learned all these truths in the twilight of my life. To all who may read my foolish words, try to understand my bitterness. I was raised to believe I was one thing but the true me was hidden inside me and it took a genetic test for me to learn what I truly am!

Jace

[dolphin22860]

Takahi (Greetings) Tiao (brother) Hahom (thank you) for your reply, please note that many of our people knew but keep quite about being indian, we were called Indio's (indian) first, please note to check out www.uctp.org
It is known as United Confederation of Taino People, we are the only organzation here in the states that has treaties with other tribes, part of the U.N. and have a congressional letter stating our position with the United States...I hope that if you live in the states, that you may reach out to others here in the states and if you still live in Boriken (Puerto Rico) I know someone you can reach out too...or someones...Please check out the site The United Confederation of Taino People....www.uctp.org

Omabahari (with respect)
Mamonahttp://www.uctp.org

[Flametree]

Thank you for your reply and for your suggestions. I'm already a member of the UCTP # 00486 (Flametree)and have been for a few years. I have reached out to members but have had very little success in establishing contacts or any directions to gatherings. I have reached out and tried to join groups in Puerto Rico but have been totally ignored so I gave up, maybe its because I'm from the mainland (USA)and I'm not accepted as one of them. I live in the Philadelphia area, originally born and raised in the New York City area.

If you have other suggestions I would be glad to receive them, so keep in touch.

Jace: pronounced like ACE with a J in front.

[dolphin22860]

Takahi, I am sorry to hear that this has happened to you concerning groups in Boriken, I am a first generation born U.S..child of my fathers who was born in Ponce and my grandparents and etc..all from there and the surrounding mountain area'sI have been to Boriken to visit and find out more about my family and our people several years ago and rec'd very much a welcome...I now live in Ga. in the mountains of Cherokee people, and I am married to a Cherokee...I am sad that so many of our people are not as friendly and as open as we are...it is good to hear that you live in Philly, have you tried reaching out to some of the people in your area, I know that there are several Taino's in your area..if you wish I could connect you with them, they do have arieto's and batey's there, as well as there is a Behike who also live near the Philly area...

I pray you week will continue to go well,
Seneko Kakona...
Mamona...aka Monika
Southeastern Represenative for the UCTP...

[yaahl]

Moved thread from War Discussions to Native Issues

[Hewanorra]

Originally Posted by Mordamere

Yep, we are out here ..... im grandson of Natal of Otoao Boriken from the region of Guarionex....

Taino & Proud to the end!..

I'M originally from Hewanorra(original native name for st lucia) which is now known as st lucia colonized by french and british, my great gran dad was carib indian married to an african descendant and now im mixed but the native blood still runs strong

[AmigoKumeyaay]

Originally Posted by Hewanorra

I'M originally from Hewanorra(original native name for st lucia) which is now known as st lucia colonized by french and british, my great gran dad was carib indian married to an african descendant and now im mixed but the native blood still runs strong

Welcome to the forums! Be nice to see a Carib powwow thread going here, hope we can get islander people more active here. I had coworkers that were Taino, but they never talked much about language or traditions, they danced salsa 24/7

che'vere!

[Flametree]

Originally Posted by dolphin22860

Ta'kahi (Greeting)
Looking to see if there are any Taino's going to this site to find info or get in touch with other Taino's.. I live in Georgia and need to see how many are out there and do you want to start a Thread about being Taino and what is out there for us. I am hoping that more Taino's will come forward, with the census now upon us we must make our voices heard. Are you Taino, Caribbean, Native people who have been told about your people and what Christopher Columbus did. We were called Indians first..History books have tried to bury us.
come on a let me hear your voice

Hello, good day to you from the Delaware Valley Pennsylvania. I have friends in Georgia and some associates in Florida that are Seminole (Hog catchers). I am learning about my heritage and would like to learn more. I don't pretend to speak the old tongue and I do not think I would look very good in Native garb. The Taino walked around nude from what I understand and at my age I think I would get arrested. But all jokes aside, I would like to know more about the people responding to this tread.

Jace Flametree

[AmigoKumeyaay]

Indigenous Puerto Rico:
DNA evidence upsets established history
By Rick Kearns

Most Puerto Ricans know, or think they know, their ethnic and racial history: a blending of Taino (Indian), Spanish and African. Students of the islands’ past have read the same account for over 300 years; that the Native people, and their societies, were killed off by the Spanish invaders by the 1600s. It was always noted though, how many of the original colonists married Taino women or had Taino concubines, producing the original mestizaje (mixture) that, when blended with African, would produce Puerto Ricans.

Those first unions, according to the conventional wisdom, explain why some Puerto Ricans have "a little bit" of Native heritage. Mainly we are Spanish, we are told, with a little African blood and far-away Taino ancestry.

But the order of that sequence will have to change.

Dr. Juan Martinez Cruzado, a geneticist from the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez who designed an island-wide DNA survey, has just released the final numbers and analysis of the project, and these results tell a different story.

According to the study funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, 61 percent of all Puerto Ricans have Amerindian mitochondrial DNA, 27 percent have African and 12 percent Caucasian. (Nuclear DNA, or the genetic material present in a gene’s nucleus, is inherited in equal parts from one’s father and mother. Mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from one’s mother and does not change or blend with other materials over time.)

In other words a majority of Puerto Ricans have Native blood.

"Our study showed there was assimilation," Martinez Cruzado explained, "but the people were not extinguished. Their political and social structure was but the genes were not.

"The people were assimilated into a new colonial order and became mixed … but that’s what Puerto Ricans are: Indians mixed with Africans and Spaniards," he asserted.

"There has been an under-estimation of the Amerindian heritage of Puerto Rico, much larger than most historians will admit," he said.

Martinez Cruzado cited the historical descriptions of life in Puerto Rico during the 17th and 18th centuries as an example.

"These accounts describe many aspects that are totally derived from Taino modus vivendi, not just the hammocks but the way they fished, their methods of farming, etc.," he related. "It is clear that the influence of Taino culture was very strong up to about 200 years ago. If we could conduct this same study on the Puerto Ricans from those times, the figure would show that 80 percent of the people had Indian heritage."

Another historical moment that should receive more attention involves the story of a group of Tainos who, after 200 years of absence from official head-counts, appeared in a military census from the 1790s. In this episode, a colonial military census noted that all of a sudden there were 2,000 Indians living in a northwestern mountain region. "These were Indians who the Spanish had placed on the tiny island of Mona (just off the western coast of Puerto Rico) who survived in isolation and then were brought over," Martinez Cruzado said. "They became mixed but there were many Indians who survived but eventually mixed with the Africans and Spaniards. These Mona Tainos must have had a further influence as well".

Martinez Cruzado noted how many customs and history were handed down through oral tradition. To this day on the island, there are many people who use medicinal plants and farming methods that come directly from the Tainos.

This is especially true of the areas once known as Indieras, or Indian Zones.

He also pointed out that most of these Native traditions probably do come from the Tainos, the Native people who appeared on the island circa 700 AD. But there were other waves of migrations to Puerto Rico and the entire Caribbean area.

Through the extensive study of the Puerto Rican samples, Martinez Cruzado and his team have found connections between island residents and Native peoples who arrived before and after the Tainos. He pointed out how a few of the samples can be traced back 9,000 years from ancient migrations, while others correspond to the genetic makeup of Native peoples of the Yucatan, Hispaniola, Margarita Island and Brazil among others. These latter genetic trails point to the presence of other Native peoples who were probably brought to the island as slaves from other Spanish or Portuguese colonies after the 1600s.

While island scholars will have much work to do to catch up with these "new" facts, the genetic detective work for Martinez Cruzado is also far from finished. As word spread of the remarkable survey, other scholars from the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Venezuela began to invite the Puerto Rican scientist to present his findings. They also want him to assist in similar projects in their respective countries.

"We started a very similar survey in the Dominican Republic last year," he stated. "And archaeologists from Venezuela and Cuba have invited me to do the same and I intend to go … I hope to have a proposal ready to collect samples in both of those countries and do a Caribbean-wide study. They already have evidence of migrations from both sides, north and south."

In the meantime, while Martinez Cruzado and his colleagues will focus on the history of Pre-Columbian migrations, people in the current Taino restoration movement (such as Nacion Taina, The Jatibonicu Taino Tribal Nation of Boriken, Taino Timucua Tribal Council, the United Confederation of Taino People, and others) are hoping that many of their compatriots reflect on the following quote: "The DNA story shows that the official story was wrong," Martinez Cruzado said. "This means a much larger Amerindian inheritance for Puerto Ricans."

And if some folks in the Dominican Republic and Cuba are right, the same will hold true for their histories.

[Flametree]

I am glad to know that now there is evidence to prove our history and our ascendance. When I was a little boy living in NYC my aunt would tell me "we are Indian" it was just something people would say. We still thought of ourselves as "Spanish" or Spanish decent others called us that as well. I never felt comfortable with that label, now they call us Hispanic which is just an English way to say Spanish. Another label would be Latino, but seriously do we speak Latin are we Roman the original Latin people? Some years ago my brother and I submitted to a genetic test, when the results came back I was not so surprised but was elated to finally know where I came from. We were overwhelmingly Hap-lo-group C which is a Native American racial group. Yes, I have a Spanish surname, yes, I was baptized Catholic, but these were forced upon our people under penalty of torture enslavement and death. So, what are we? I have chosen what about you.

Jace Flametree

[sydnee]

Originally Posted by dolphin22860

Ta'kahi (Greeting)
Looking to see if there are any Taino's going to this site to find info or get in touch with other Taino's.. I live in Georgia and need to see how many are out there and do you want to start a Thread about being Taino and what is out there for us. I am hoping that more Taino's will come forward, with the census now upon us we must make our voices heard. Are you Taino, Caribbean, Native people who have been told about your people and what Christopher Columbus did. We were called Indians first..History books have tried to bury us.
come on a let me hear your voice

I'm Taino!

[Areitoyaya]

Ahiyaká-arijuakéwaria. I'm Taíno. There is actually a movement going on in Boriken where people are identifying more and more with their Taíno heritage.