#1478: Taino People in LaGonave : Perrault comments again

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: ange perrault <ange.perrault@mail.tju.edu>


Let me restate my point, in case I was not clear:

I have been dealing with Taino issues on a different listserver
run by ENCUENTRO, an organization which deals with afro-latino issues
and the majority of Puerto Ricans (PRans) are denying their african
heritage and embracing Tainos, to the point that very little in PR
is atributed to African contribution to the island. Taino symbols are used
on everything. I am still trying to locate the genetic studies being
conducted in PR wher they have found PRans to be 51% Taino (I would guess
the remaining 49% white?).  In other words "mulattoes" (White/black) are
becoming "mestizos" (White/indian).

I am only concerned with what will be be taught to the next genneration:
One could argue that DAMBALLA is Taino, and remove any african influence,
or that the majority of food that we eat is mostly indigenous. The proper
way to go is to show how Africans and Tainos have interacted in the little
time they have overlapped, and how adaptations were made to survive the
oppresion that was imposed on them.

Give credit to the Taino what they have brought to the decendants of Haiti,
and give credit also the African contribution to our culture.

I am not against a Taino village or enclave in La gonave, but dealing with
the few PRans who claim Taino descendence is a mean for them to explain why
they are not white, but that no way they be considered black. There is a
clear distinction between cultural heritage and ethnic heritage.

I still don't see how Two canadians and two french can pass for Taino.