[h2]Taíno heritage in modern times[/h2]
Dominican girls at carnival, in Taíno garments and makeup (2005)
Many people identify themselves as descendants of the Taínos, most notably among the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, both on the islands and on the United States mainland. The concept of living Taíno has proved controversial, as the historical canon has for so long declared the Taíno to be extinct.[sup]
[44][/sup]
Some scholars, such as Jalil Sued Badillo, an ethnohistorian at the University of Puerto Rico, assert that the official Spanish historical record speak of the disappearance of the Taínos. Certainly there are no full blood Taíno people alive today, but recent research does point towards a large mestizo population.
Frank Moya Pons, a Dominican historian documented that Spanish colonists intermarried with Taíno women, and, over time, these mestizo descendants intermarried with Africans, creating a tri-racial Creole culture. 1514 census records reveal that 40% of Spanish men in the Dominican Republic had Taíno wives.[sup]
[44][/sup] Ethnohistorian Lynne Guitar writes that Taínos were declared extinct in Spanish documents as early as the 16th century; however Taíno Indians kept appearing in wills and legal records in the ensuing years.[sup]
[44][/sup]
Anthropologist and archaeologist Dr. Pedro J. Ferbel Azacarate writes that Taínos and Africans lived in isolated
Maroon communities, evolving into a rural population with predominantly Taíno cultural influences. Ferbel documents that even contemporary rural Dominicans retain Taíno linguistic features, agricultural practices, foodways, medicine, fishing practices, technology, architecture,
oral history, and religious views. However, these cultural traits are often looked down upon by urbanites as being backwards.[sup]
[44][/sup] "It's surprising just how many Taino traditions, customs, and practices have been continued," says David Cintron, who wrote his graduate thesis on the Taíno revitalization movement. "We simply take for granted that these are Puerto Rican or Cuban practices and never realize that they are Taino."[sup]
[45][/sup]
A recent study conducted in Puerto Rico suggests that over 61% of the population possess Amerindian mtDNA.[sup][46][/sup] As of 2010 this study does specify that 80% of all Native American DNA markers are of the original people of Boriken and less than 20% of the markers are from outside tribes. Juan Carlos Martinez, a biology professor at the University of Puerto Rico who conducted his own mtDNA studies, says, "Our results suggest that our genetic inheritance of indigenous origin can't be very low and could be even higher than the inheritance from the other two races (Caucasoid and Negroid)."[sup][47][/sup]
Heritage groups, such as the Jatibonicu Taíno Tribal Nation of
Boriken, Puerto Rico (1970), the Taíno Nation of the Antilles (1993), the United Confederation of Taíno People (199
and El Pueblo Guatu Ma-Cu A Boriken Puerto Rico (2000), have been established to foster Taíno culture. However it is controversial as to whether these Heritage Groups represent Taíno Culture accurately as some Taino groups are known to 'adopt' other native traditions (mainly North American Indian).
Many aspects of Taino culture has been lost to time and or blended with Spaniard and African culture on the Caribbean Islands. Peoples who claim to be of native descent in the islands of Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and Eastern Cuba attempt to maintain some form of cultural connection with their historic identities. Antonio de Moya, a Dominican educator, wrote in 1993, "the [Indian] genocide is the big lie of our history... the Dominican Taínos continue to live, 500 years after European contact."[sup][48][/sup]
[sup]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taíno_people#cite_note-47[/sup]
anymore stupid assertions anton wants to spew?
