this is not taino

educating & reconnecting with the diasporas a list of not taino

[desiree-rodriguez]

A short story about our ancestors, the Taino Indians

A short story about our ancestors, the Taino Indians. Perfect accompaniment for reading and curriculum guides Series Tai Editorial Antillano.

[this-is-not-taino]

This is nonsense

[this-is-not-taino]

Kinda weird that you're attacking poc who have been told they're descended from Taino instead of like... actual instances of cultural appropriation lmao

Mestizxs are one of the biggest, if not the biggest, appropriators of Latin American Indigenous cultures. Try again.

[sevenpencee]

why do none of your bios mention yalls race?

I guess that could be added? I personally didn’t feel a need to add it, but my bio has to get updated anyways, since I no longer go by the name Toni.

In case you are wondering tho, I’m a poc. I’m mixed Latinx/Taino/Black and ethnically Jewish.

- Mod Robin

[this-is-not-taino]

@sciencenerdwest Latinx and Taino are not races. They are ethnic groups.

[sevenpencee]

I’m aware of that, but I’m still both Latinx and Taino. Idk what else to classify myself as if not Latinx, so I replied with that. 

- Mod Robin

[this-is-not-taino]

Weird, considering you mentioned Black too. Or is that just an afterthought? What Taino community to do you claim to be from/part of?

[sevenpencee]

I was raised predominantly Latinx, since that’s how both of my parents were raised, just with the knowledge that I’m also mixed Taino, Black and ethnically Jewish. I wasn’t adding Black as an afterthought. I also wasn’t raised with any knowledge of which community I come from, just the fact that I am Taino.

This, however, is an afterthought. Why are you so concerned about this?

- Mod Robin

[this-is-not-taino]

If you weren’t raised in the culture or an active part of a community, you’re a descendant but not Taino.

[sevenpencee]

I don’t understand how that works? Again I ask, why are you so concerned about this?

-Mod Robin

[this-is-not-taino]

Because you're claiming to represent an entire culture, hundreds of people, and entire communities when you claim to be Taino and are not.

It's our concern as Taino people to correct misinformation and misrepresentation.

If you'd like more information, browse this Tumblr.

[this-is-not-taino]

Out of curiosity, why is something considered anti-black but when directed against natives, it is considered "upholding white supremacy." Why is it not anti-native, in combination to colonialist and white supremacist? Is it because anti-native is not an established theory? Native and indigenous people are persecuted globally in every culture, shouldn't there be a specific term? Love your blog by the way, I have learned so much, and appreciate your dedication to education and decolonization.

Because anti-Blackness is a term that was coined to describe an entire body of work and theory based on this axis of oppression. When Natives (meaning here Amerindigenous people) say “anti-Native”, they’re not coining it independently but because of exposure to the terms ‘anti-Black’ and ‘anti-Blackness’. This is profiting directly off the labor and work of Black theorizers, and directly manifests repercussions (violence) against Black folks. 

Most importantly, this violence is the same pattern of violence which is faced by all Indigenous peoples worldwide, not just Amerindigenous folks. This is in contrast to Black peoples globally, because they are all denigrated and face unified violence, based on a “code” of phenotypic features white people have stereotyped as ‘Blackness’.  

Violence against Black peoples is arbitrary, universal, not exclusive to white people, and dedicated to forcing them into continued enslavement, terrorization, and suffering. Indigenous Black folks, African peoples being one example, face colonialism as well as anti-Blackness. 

The term ‘Native’ is not used the same globally and it is also not used universally. The specific violence, in which Indigenous peoples are disappeared and supplanted, and face worldwide, is colonialism (and genocide). 

[guacamoolie]

The indigenous people of the Caribbean should be celebrated and talked about today.

[jpegcorrupted]

Here are the indigenous tribe names to remember btw: Taino/Arawaks/ Ciboney/ Kalinago 

[this-is-not-taino]

First of all, we’re Indigenous nations, not tribes. And we’re not interchangeable. Taino are not “Arawaks”, and the Lokono are a South American nation, not Caribbean in a strict sense. 

Glad the Kalinago are being mentioned, but what about the Garifuna? If you’re gonna mentioned “Ciboney”, you should mention other non-extant nations who were brutalized:  Kakütino, Hįeri, Kali'na, Wanahatabai, Siwayano, Makorisi, Siabayo?

The tags on indignantcraka’s post are frankly ridiculous, talking about the erasure of “focusing the narrative on Native Americans” on a day about the genocide and erasure of my Indigenous nation. 

Who are also still affected by these events? Foremost, the Taino, and by extension all Amerindigenous people of the Americas. Black chattel slavery preceded these. I see what is trying to be done here, but it ends up being violent because this is not the context to have this conversation. This is coming from a Black Native.  

Furthermore, descendants/mestizxs, who aren’t Indigenous, simply don’t face the same impact from these events as Indigenous people. We have struggled to keep our culture alive daily for the past 524 years. The violence non-Indigenous people face in the Caribbean is either via white supremacy if they’re brown, or anti-Blackness if they’re Black. 

[indigenous-caribbean-deactivate]

@hojisitas​:

[1: ‘Fuck Columbus’ is an useless display of impotent rage.]

[2: Last year I was very frustrated to see photosets being shared online of people saying this]

[3: What does this accomplish? What does this mean? Who does it affect?] [4: Columbus was a genocidal sociopath who single handedly killed thousands of Taino] [5: His legacy may be the colonization of all the Americas, but Columbus never set foot in North America and colonialism preceded him] [6: Who is Columbus? A dead man whose grave & bones haven’t been defiled or desecrated. Unless you’re campaigning for tht, why say “fuck Colón”?] [7: Saying “fuck Columbus” doesn’t strike at the heart of the issue. The root of the issue is colonialism in all it’s forms.]

[8: Why isn’t saying “fuck the nation-state” or “fuck white supremacy” or “fuck white culture” more popular than “fuck Columbus”?] [9: It’s easy to blame a nobody. But while Columbus was responsible for our genocide, there are larger implications to who is responsible today] [10: If you really wanna “fuck Columbus”, stop dropping his name. Let him fade into obscurity and disappear like he tried to do to us]

[11:  Now, it’s becoming recognized that this is Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Let him die the most final of deaths and breath his name no more]

[12: Let us put our pain and grief to bed this day]

[13: I would rather celebrate all of us]

[hojisitas]

I’m so here for the abolition of “Columbus Day” and the observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, or for us the Day of Genocide. But if you’re not Taino, I ask that you examine the reasons and motivations behind saying “Fuck Columbus” and what that accomplishes.

Every year I get so see hundreds of copies of a photo of a North American Indigenous woman flipping the bird and saying “Fuck Columbus” while smiling, and we cannot observe peace and solace on this day of grief. 

I’m so here for the celebration of Indigenous peoples worldwide, but don’t forget nations outside of North America. The Taino survived, and Columbus died. 

[vryblk]

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day! I love celebrating my ancestors, my culture and tribe. I want to tell my grandparents how much I love them and what an honor it is to be apart of their legacy. I truly value being anArawak Taino and I truly understand and know how wonderful it is being a descendent of BORIQUEN.. I have a lot of resilience and strength in my heart today. As some of you may or may not know my grandparents, the Arawak people of the greater Antilles (present day Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Guyana, Martinique and may other carribean islands) were the first native indigenous people to be colonized by the Spanish regime that was implemented by Christopher Columbus, by way of Queen Isabelle’s Spanish imposition. We suffered a terrible genocide, the many of our women were made pregnant and married to by Spanish conquistadors. We single handily were decimated in population by large amounts, and were forced to assimilate and hide our traditions, language and culture.. Today many people, and especially our youth reclaim our birth right in re identifying who we are as indigenous people. That is why their is a big influx of people refusing to be called “Spanish” “Latino” or “Hispanic. It is also why young Taino people dress in native garb, practice Arawak. And attend pow wow and medicine ceremony.. I think the de colonization of young people is vey beautiful and I am very honored to be apart of the community of indigenous people who no longer have to live in secrecy or fear as many of our grandparents did

So I just wanna say.. Grandparents today is about YOU!!! I love you! Repost: @princessnokia

[this-is-not-taino]

“Arawak” is a language family. It is a deprecated, sometimes offensive term, referring to the Lokono who are not Taino. The Taino Nation still exists, and remains separate from the general population of the Greater and Lesser Antilles. 

While the denial of ‘Spanish’ or ‘Hispanic’ is quite warranted, non-Black and non-Native mestizxs are refusing to be called ‘Latinx’ because they want to fetishize and appropriate Indigeneity or out of racism if they are simply white.

Mestizxs are not Indigenous people. This erases and supplants actual surviving Indigenous peoples and contributes to our genocides. The folks in the photo are not wearing any Native garb at all; this is a fetishitic costume and literally redfacing. 

Decolonization is also not a metaphor, but refers directly to the unsettling and deoccupation of Indigenous lands by white people, with the Caribbean included. 

Look here to see more about how Destiny Nicole Frasqueri/Wavy Spice/Princess Nokia was proven to be a fraud.

[this-is-not-taino]

Hi! As a young woman who is half Puerto Rican I'm wanting to learn more about the Taino ancestry so intrinsic in our culture but having a really hard time deciphering what are solid sources. I don't want to become misinformed and perpetuate fetishization of the culture. what are some sources or outlets you would suggest? I'm really interested in both the cultural and linguistic aspects of the Taino culture. Many thanks!

Taino ancestry is not “so intrinsic” to Puerto Rican culture. That’s misinformation and fetishization right there. Puerto Rican culture is not equivalent to Taino culture either. Both cultural and linguistic aspects of our culture are closed (meaning not for the consumption of outsiders). 

[oaluz]

Centering Columbus Day on The Caribbean and Central America (with images, tweets) · ReinaAtlantico

Columbus Day is a US holiday. Its roots and history have been Americanized to the point where the true history of where Columbus landed, the people he oppressed, & their descendants have been drowned out. I took over the #AbolishColumbusDay to end the erasing of West Indians and Central Americans.

[this-is-not-taino]

The author of this content, therealstarfire/mixedleanbh/Frostbite___/ReinaAtlantico/Misniúil, is a fraud who claimed to be Taino and continues to try to speak over Taino folks, the people and Indigenous nation who was directly affected by Christopher Columbus himself, to support her own agenda of fetishization.

They refer to non-Taino Afroindigenous Caribbean folks celebrating Carnival as “Arawak”, and to Kalinago people as “Caribs”, which they admit in the storify is offensive and derogatory. This Storify is composed of a conversation she had with bad-dominicana/Zahira Kelly, another fetishizer and fraud.

Also, it’s very disturbing that in searching for the origin of this photo or the name of the person in it, I can find no information. This Afroindigenous Caribbean person should not be wearing a mockup of a warbonnet, which is sacred to Plains Cultures and not part of Caribbean cultures at all. 

Finally, Misniúil also openly chats with and quotes well-known, and notorious child molester and pedophile (Real Life 13 Yr Old @dtwps/dumbshitwhitepeoplesay/Riley) in this Storify. 

[indigenous-caribbean-deactivate]

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE TAINO NATION

[this-is-not-taino]

This Day of Genocide, or Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we invite you to remember why this day is remembered in history. We invite you to learn why this day is chronicled in history, not only why its celebration is contested by Indigenous peoples today. Learn not only the consequences and repercussion of Columbus’ landing, but why we refuse to let stand the assumption Columbus and his ilk won.

Remembering is a radical act; it is an act of resistance. Our survivance, our cultural continuity that has gone uninterrupted since Spain’s opportune and fraudulent call of a death knell, makes our nation proud. We have not faded into the annals of time. We refuse to simply die.

From the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ in Standing Rock to Matsés resistance in Sierra del Divisor, we are active presences denying forced and coerced absence, erasure, and genocide. We are here to situate and deliberately reconnect memory to names, geographies, and communities; to rectify historical and epistemological erasure.

We want to be unmistakable.

We invite you to learn with us.

[this-is-not-taino]

I've wondered what your opinion is or the Taino community opinion on the use of taino glyphs like the the sun of jayuya symbol for example being a symbol that has been associated with PR nationally and even on some mayor buildings and doors?

It’s appropriative and trivializing, and their use for “nationalistic” purposes erases their origin and supplants our cultural meanings. They’re not symbols for non-Taino to use, invoke, or reference. 

[this-is-not-taino]

Im Dominican and my grandfather is half taíno but we were never allowed to learn about the culture since our family assimilated and pretended they were only a black and Spanish mix but all my life Ive wanted to reconnect with this culture and idk how

Again, please contact @opielguobiran off anonymous. 

[this-is-not-taino]

hey, I've recently heard about the taino people threw princess nokia but I wanted to get more info. I myself are not taino but I am interested in the culture/people etc. first question. what/where are the tainos from?

Could you clarify your questions? Not sure what you’re asking or what you’re referring to in the statement “the taino people threw princess nokia”. 

[this-is-not-taino]

I admit I was ignorant about a lot of things because I didn't have very good sources but your blog has been very informative! Thank you! Now I can correct myself! Also, I checked the blog you recommend to others for reconnection but messaging is off

Thank you for your message. Which blog are you referring to?

[eveningstarwoman-deactivated202]

So, I started sharing all the tribal resolutions in support of Standing Rock…but there were so many, I thought I’d just post a list! If your tribe passed a resolution and is not on the list, let me know and I’ll add it. If not, ask your tribal leaders to join in supporting Standing Rock in standing up for the land, the people, and tribal sovereignty. #noDAPL

The list: Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Oglala Lakota Nation, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribe, Northern Arapaho Tribe, Crow Nation, Blackfeet Nation, Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy Reservation, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation, Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas, Nez Perce Tribe, Big Pine Paiute of the Owens Valley, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Hoopa Valley Tribe, Central Council of Haida and Tlingit Indian Tribes, Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, Oneida Nation, Seneca Nation, Jatibonicu Taino Tribal Nation.

[this-is-not-taino]

The “Jatibonicu Taino Tribal Nation” is a New Age revivalist group and not a legitimate Indigenous nation/band/group/organization.

[eveningstarwoman-deactivated202]

It is so amazing and inspiring to see tribal nations unite together like this! Official tribal government support of Standing Rock in defending the land and people, from Omaha, Kickapoo, Tsitsistas, Hupa, Lakota, Dakota, Taino, Seneca, and Nimiipuu.

[this-is-not-taino]

That's a New Age revivalist group, not a "Taíno" tribal government, @nitanahkohe.

[this-is-not-taino]

so, would you be willing to show examples of authentic taino regalia/artwork?

Obviously not.