| Maximilian
C. Forte, Editor
The views
presented here are those of the Editor alone. Letters to the Editor will
also be published on this page when they are received. You may write to
the Editor at: cariblink@email.com
Now into its second year, the Caribbean Amerindian Centrelink continues
to grow not just in content range but also in terms of its own increased
visibility on the Internet. For 1999, more than 9,000 hits were registered
on the front page, with almost 5,000 distinct visitors accessing the website
(see our page data).
This must be due, in part, to the fact that the number of webpages as a
whole dealing with Caribbean Indigenous issues seem to have been increasing
steadily over the past year. In the first major update for 2000, the Caribbean
Amerindian Centrelink removed a dozen "dead links" but was able to find
almost thirty new links, demonstrating a net growth of pages overall. The
large number of US-based Taino websites has spearheaded this growth in
site numbers, rivaled only by the number of US-based Belizean and Honduran
Garifuna websites, followed by a still small number of Caribbean based
websites.
It is still true that most Caribbean Amerindian communities have not produced
their own websites, that is, there is no official Dominica Carib website,
nor one for St. Vincent or even Guyana, for example. To some extent this
is surprising given how popular and even prestigious the Internet has become
in societies of the English-speaking Caribbean, nor are computers as inaccessible
as one might be led to believe from the continuing high rates of poverty
in the region. One possible hypothesis is that groups that are more recent
in formation, and more embedded in North American society, are the ones
to be most driven and most able in their construction of Internet platforms
designed to bolster their public visibility, their quests for recognition,
and for bringing greater numbers of prospective adherents and parties interested
in highlighting and promoting Caribbean Amerindian heritage.
What is also evident is the increasing number of scholarly papers and pages
dealing with Caribbean Indigenous issues. It was in order to build on that
fact that Issues
in Caribbean Amerindian Studies was launched by the CAC. Issues
in Caribbean Amerindian Studies has been registered with the National
Library of Australia and now also has its own International Standard Serial
Number (ISSN).
On the other hand, it is difficult to understand with any certainty whether
this growth in Caribbean Amerindian related websites is a merely temporary
phenomenon or one that promises to grow in size and scope over the coming
years. One major limitation on the expansion of sites devoted to these
issues is the still generally limited recognition of Caribbean Amerindian
communities and organizations by the wider international audience. The
Caribbean is still widely seen, in academic circles as well, as a pure
cultural creation with a complete lack of an Indigenous presence or heritage.
The most common belief is that everywhere Caribbean Amerindians were simply
driven to the point of biological extinction. On the other hand, the simultaneous
increase in the number of online scholarly materials, whether they be electronic
journals, online encyclopaedias, or the websites of research institutes
and academics, points to a possible growth in online material on Caribbean
Amerindians over the next few years. What has not diminished is the number
of state tourism bureaus and agencies, internal and external to the Caribbean,
that continue to publish online "brochures" that seem to always begin with
an overview, however brief, of the Amerindian history and names of the
various islands.
The latter observation leads us to consider some salient if not troubling
trends with some of the websites that relate to Caribbean Amerindians,
even if not by Caribbean Amerindians themselves. One of these is the continued
propagation of the colonial mythology of the "cannibal" Amerindian in the
Caribbean, a major reason why a
new page on this site has been dedicated to the subject. It is interesting
that 500 years of unquestioning belief in these stereotypes appear to still
be popular in some circles, regardless of the lack of any historical evidence,
and in spite of the increased recognition of the vested interests of European
colonizers in constructing and perpetuating this myth to begin with . What
we are presented with then, to use a well worn cliché, is "old wine
in new bottles."
Also evident is the continued presence and production of websites in the
"protesting 1492" vein specifically aimed at criticizing Christopher Columbus.
This too seems to have become a well worn cliché, and I am not sure
that anything meaningful is to be gained from finding new ways of stating
old condemnations or from over personalizing complex issues of colonial
history. Moreover, such sites rarely seem to invite debate on the views
they present, which seems to undermine the interactive potential that all
of us "Web fanatics" are so wont to proclaim. Interactivity should mean
much more than technical gimmickry.
Finally, what still seems to characterize the variety of Caribbean Amerindian
websites, whether those produced by or about Caribbean Amerindians, or
those whose content is in whole or in part related to Caribbean Amerindians,
is the lack of any real unifying consensus in the form of some common hubs
of meaning. One gets the impression that the various sites, for the most
part, are somewhat mute in terms of not speaking to or even at each other,
acting as if they wish to occupy discrete and untouchable spaces. Of course,
this is a generalization with its exceptions. Nor can one force such communities
of interest to develop overnight. What this does mean, perhaps, is that
this is all still new to most of us and we are still looking at a young
phenomenon. I look forward to being contradicted by readers and to hearing
any of your views.
©
Maximilian C. Forte, 2000
Maximilian
C. Forte, Editor
The views
presented here are those of the Editor alone. Letters to the Editor will
also be published on this page when they are received. You may write to
the Editor at: cariblink@email.com
Let me begin
this month's issue with some brief site news and updates. First we are
featuring some new links from "Indio.Net" on our Arts
Page. These include Francisco Baerga's paintings of Tainos and images
of the island of Puerto Rico/Boriquen, along with the music of Felix Ayala
Guay-Ciba. In addition, a relatively new website has come to our attention,
concerning Guyanese Amerindian descendents in Barbados and the formation
of a Pan-Tribal Confederacy
of Amerindian Tribal Nations headed by Damon Gerard Corrie who
traces his ancestry back to a certain Lokono Arawak Queen in Guyana. This
Confederacy seems to have the official recognition of the Carib Council
in Dominica's Carib Territory (or Reserve as it is officially called by
the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica). As such, he is hailed
as "the second most influential Amerindian leader in the CARICOM" (Caribbean
Community and Common Market), while leaving unsaid who the most influential
leader is exactly and on what basis this is determined and by whom. The
interesting feature of the website is that it also posits a figure for
the actual number of citizens putatively covered by the Confederacy: 53,000.
What this Confederacy sees as its geographical domain is not clear, though
the number given seems to suggest mainland territories are included (but
we do not know which ones). What is also important is the further indication
of the spread of identification with an Amerindian heritage in the Caribbean
and the various processes of legitimation that this renewed sense of identity
is receiving, not least of all via the Internet. (A note to our university-based
readers: you may find some interesting resonance between these phenomena
and those highlighted by Karen Fog Olwig in her May 1999 article in the
American
Ethnologist on the heritage movement, titled "The Burden of Heritage"
which focuses on St. John, US Virgin Islands.)
Turning to other
issues, the Caribbean Amerindian Centrelink is looking for both Contributors
and/or additional Editors. Neither position carries an remuneration and
is purely voluntary and part-time at most. Contributors would include anyone
willing to submit short articles, essays, or any kind of art work to be
hosted on the CAC site, with direct relevance to the kind of material already
featured on the site. Editors would primarily aid in searching for new
links and write reviews of series of websites (more on this in a moment)
as well as serving a liaisons with the various organizations and communities
featured on our site. In the past, there had been some indication of interest
from individuals but through some mistake of my own, I expunged the e-mail
messages. The current editors of the CAC will in all cases discuss whether
to accept a prospective candidate as a conbtributor or new editor.
In addition,
the CAC welcomes any suggestions from our visitors on how to improve and
advance the site, either in part or in whole. Please do not be shy about
providing us with your feedback.
Lastly, I wish
to finish this month's issue of The
Editor's Review with a brief essay to further some points made
above and in the last issue. First, I have only lately been struck by the
static and disjointed nature that characterizes parts of this site, like
other "links" sites, and this lies in the fact that the links are never
more than just categorically associated under one heading, without any
attempt to connect them conceptually or analytically , to discover if they
"speak" to each other and how so. This lack of an analysis of the series
of websites is an important shortcoming, I believe, insofar as the launching
of a website is done at least implicitly with an eye to what is already
on the Internet, what gaps and opportunities exist, and hence may assume
at least a tacitly relational position vis-à-vis other already exisiting
sites. As such, most links pages are mere menus, when they could do much
more. It is on the basis of this impression that I am hoping that we will
eventually be providing written essays on each page that attempt to review,
and if possible, connect the various linked pages, in other words, to make
sense of what is out there. Hence our need for more volunteers.
The second and
last issue I wish to address for this month's issue is a further set of
notes on what I see as the emergence of an Internet Indigeneity. I wish
to focus on the issue of "Internet Facts: Observation, Recognition, or
Legitimation?" This stems from criticisms I have encountered that when
the CAC links to a particular site it can be assumed that the CAC is validating
or legitimating that site, possibly to the exclusion of others. This argument
actually ties in with a number of familiar debates in the social sciences.
Within anthropology, one hears of those who see anthropologists going into
the field as ipso facto helping to construct and add legitimacy
to the groups or organizations they study, which is perhaps why some local
authorities suspect or resent the presence of anthropologists. In extreme
cases, we hear the accusation that anthropologists "invent" the groups
they study. On the other hand, one could take a less sinister view of matters:
these various groups exist regardless of whether or not they are studied
by an anthropologist, they are facts of the social world. Similarly, the
CAC lists sites that are already there on the Internet, regardless of who
likes them or not, they are Internet facts. Since we aim to present comprhensive
coverage, rather than censorship, we try to feature all of these sites
and let our visitors sift through them on their own. Already exisitng Caribbean
Amerindian websites are Internet Facts, which we observe and thus recognize.
However, the notion that this automatically implies a political
form of legitimation presents a theoretical argument that is too ideologically
laboured to be plausible. That's my view...what is yours?
©
Maximilian C. Forte, 2000
Maximilian
C. Forte, Editor
The views
presented here are those of the Editor alone. Letters to the Editor will
also be published on this page when they are received. You may write to
the Editor at: cariblink@email.com
In this issue of the monthly Editor's Review for the Caribbean Amerindian
Centrelink (CAC), I will only be advising readers of new developments concerning
the CAC website.
To start with, we are happy to welcome two new editors on our Editorial
Board: David Timothy Duval of the Faculty of Environmental Studies
at York University in Toronto Canada, and, Santiago Giraldo, a researcher
at the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History at the Universidad
de los Andes. David's area of interest has focused on the archaeology of
the early Saladoid period in St. Vincent and the ethnohistory of the Island
Caribs and especially the Black Caribs of St. Vincent. David has also examined
the impact of tourism on the development of a Carib identity in St. Vincent.
Santiago's involvement with the CAC stems from an interest in seeing the
CAC expand its coverage to include the Caribbean coast of Colombia and
Central America. Santiago is currently engaged in archaeological research
of the Tairona. In addition, Santiago, has conducted ethnohistorical analysis
of trade relationships between the native coastal populations and early
Spanish traders during the 16th century.
Second, we have some new publication news to share with our readers. KACIKE:
The Journal of Caribbean Amerindian History and Anthropology is now
up and running and published its inaugural issue during March 2000. This
electronic journal can be located at http://www.kacike.org/. That site
is already being indexed and listed with major anthropology and social
science pages on the Internet. In addition, Issues
in Caribbean Amerindian Studies (ICAS), published on the CAC site itself,
has recently added a new article, “The Carlisle 62,” by Valerie Nanaturey
Vargas Stehney, concerning a group of Puerto Rican children who were removed
to an American Indian School in the US, and draws upon archival research.
Finally, we have published an addition to our Personal Testimonies page,
an area of the CAC site that specialized in collecting accounts by contemporary
individuals concerning their perceptions of their Caribbean Amerindian
heritage and why they identify with that heritage. The Personal
Testimonies section, edited by Jorge Estevez of the National Museum
of the American Indian, is also accessible from the front page of the CAC.
The CAC is still calling for short articles, essays or other papers to
be submitted to Issues in Caribbean Amerindian Studies.
Third, the Editors of the CAC hope to be able to post condensed reviews
of the websites listed under each category of sites.
Fourth, the CAC has recently added on- and off-site based translations
of our pages, from English to Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and
German. Most of the translation work thus far is being done via Systran
translation software on Altavista.com, with some of the translated pages
hosted by the CAC itself. As has been already widely observed by writers
in online web development journals and e-zines, there are really serious
problems with the quality and method of the translations produced by machine.
Some of the translations are better than others: we have noticed that Systran
automatically translates names of people, i.e., Dale Olsen appears in Spanish
as the equivalent of “The Valley Olsen;” “respect for the spirit of the
people” is translated as “respect for the alcohol of the people;” in most
of the translated languages there is no direct translation for “Amerindian,”
and hence it is left untranslated as are other words; and, the translation
machinery seems to possess only a very basic grammar sense, with any sentence
with syntax more complicated than “I go home” being afflicted by an arbitrary
remixing of words in the translated version.
Fifth, the CAC is therefore issuing an invitation to people with writing
fluency in Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and German (and reading
fluency in English) to work as translators for the CAC. The translators
will serve as interns on the Editorial Board of the CAC. While the positions
are unpaid, such voluntary and part-time service (never more than three
hours per week) can help with building a resume, is ideal for language
students. We would like interpretive rather literal translations to be
done. The CAC has openings for five to ten translators. The details of
the positions are outlined under “Site News” on the front page of the CAC
site.
Sixth, as mentioned above, the CAC hopes to be able to expand its geographic
and ethnographic coverage to include Amerindian groups on the Caribbean
coasts of Central America and Colombia. If you know of any especially noteworthy
websites relating to these areas, please feel free to send your suggestions
to us.
Seventh, those interested in taking part in a listserv discussion of Caribbean
archaeology and ethnology, please see http://saturn.vcu.edu/~dmouer/Standpipe-L_Home.htm
to subscribe to Standpipe-L, a link brought to the CAC courtesy of Dan
Mouer of the Commonwealth University of Virginia.
Eighth, the CAC has added a new
page under “Site News” with a listing of institutions and websites
that have linked to the CAC. This page is constantly growing and features
a wide range of educational resources that visitors might find useful in
their own right.
Ninth, the Venezuela
page has been updated, with the addition of a an elegant, simple and informative
website, Orinoco.org, developed with support from the Cisneros Foundation
in Venezuela. The Trinidad
and Tobago page also been updated with the addition of several Trinidadian
newspaper articles on the Caribs of Trinidad, archived and provided online
courtesy of the National Library and Information Service of Trinidad and
Tobago (NALIS). These are worth reading.
The tenth and last news item is that the Caribbean Amerindian Centrelink
will slowly begin shifting to a new site at Centrelink.org, to be mirrored
at the new address at first, and then the mirror will itself become the
new site and the current hotbot.com one will be phased out. We expect that
the entire move and establishment of the CAC at the new web address will
be complete within the next twelve months. Please keep a note of this.
©
Maximilian C. Forte, 2000
|
Issue
No.4-5
|
May-June
|
2000
|
Maximilian
C. Forte, Editor
The views
presented here are those of the Editor alone. Letters to the Editor will
also be published on this page when they are received. You may write to
the Editor at: cariblink@email.com
IN THIS
ISSUE:
1. New Resource:
The Amerindians of Colombia Page
2. New
Publications
3. Resources
for Educators
4. Vacancies:
Translators Wanted
5. Letters
to the Editor
6. Advertise
Your Events and Web Resources
7. Site
Development Report
Apologies to our subscribers for the long delay in producing this newsletter.
Unfortunately, we here at the Caribbean Amerindian Centrelink are only
part time and voluntary, which means that we only get things like this
done only in rare instances of spare time, or, to the disadvantage of other
priorities. We hope that you will find this material helpful. Feel free
to suggest any material for future newsletters that may be of value to
subscribers.
(1) New Resource:
The Amerindians of Colombia Page
Thanks
in large part to one of our new editors, Santiago Giraldo based in Colombia
at the Universidad de los Andes, we have a new Colombia resource page.
This can be found at:
http://members.nbci.com/cariblink/Colombia.html
(2) New Publications
(in French)
From
a publisher in Guadeloupe (French West Indies),
IBIS ROUGE
EDITIONS, Siège Social DAUBIN - 97170 PETIT-BOURG
GUADELOUPE
FWI, Tél. 0 (590) 95 18 36, Fax : 0 (590) 95 18 48, e-mail:
contact@ibisrouge.fr,
Website: http://www.ibisrouge.fr:
NA'NA
KALI'NA, UNE HISTOIRE DES KALI'NA EN GUYANE
Gérard
Collomb - Félix Tiouka
Ibis Rouge
Editions
148 pages
- format 19 x 25 cm,
couverture
à rabats, quadri pelliculée,
broché
dos carré cousu fil textile.
ISBN 2-84450-068-4
© 2000 (25 Euros) 164 F
Installés
sur le littoral des Guyanes, les Kali'na (longtemps appelés «
Galibis » par les Français) ont subi directement les effets
désastreux de la « rencontre » avec les Européens
; ce passé profondément douloureux reste gravé dans
la mémoire collective des Kali'na de Guyane française et
de la rive surinamienne du Maroni. Aujourd'hui ce peuple s'efforce de reprendre
sa place en
Guyane, et une nouvelle conscience culturelle et politique vient désormais
soutenir l'entrée des individus, des familles et des communautés
dans un monde qu'ils contribuent à édifier.
Prenant appui
sur le travail de l'historien ou de l'anthropologue et sur la mémoire
des anciens, ce livre dessine de premiers repères pour une histoire
du peuple kali'na en Guyane, et voudrait contribuer à rendre à
la culture kali'na une place que l'histoire lui a volée.
Les auteurs:
Gérard
Collomb, anthropologue, chargé de recherche au CNRS. Félix
Tiouka, membre du Groupe de travail sur la langue et la culture kali'na.
(Président de l'AAGF de 1981 à 1986 et de 1990 à 1992;
coordonateur général de la FOAG de 1992 à 1996).
avec la participation
de:
Jean Appolinaire,
membre du Groupe de travail sur la langue et la culture kali'na. Odile
Renault-Lescure, linguiste, chargée de recherche à l'IRD.
(3) Resources
for Educators
Many
thanks from the CAC to Peter Torres/ Ms Beverly Carey Torres for the following
information on resources for educators,originally posted to Taino-L. This
list of resources is based on one originally prepared by Emily Lundberg,
on behalf of the Virgin Islands Humanities Council, and later posted by
the U. S. National Park Service and the St. John Archaeology page.
Please make note of the notations:
* = available
at DOE Curriculum Centers
+ = available
at the V.I. Humanities Council (St. Thomas location, but
items can
be shipped to St. Croix and St. John; 776-4044)
(This list
does not include all books that may be found in school or
public libraries.)
TEACHING
KITS:
*+ "Columbus
Through the Eyes of the Calinas (Island Caribs) 1493," by Jacqueline Ashe.
(information, drawings, story, activities)
*+ "Picture
St. Croix, Then and Now," by Cynthia Hatfield. (information, story, rubber
stamp art supplies for Taino motifs)
SLIDES:
+ "The Art
of the Taino from the Dominican Republic" (59 slides of artifacts, with
explanatory remarks about each)
VIDEOS:
+ "Taino: Guanin's
Story," by Edwin Fontanez. Exit Video, Washington, DC. (book-on-video,
with companion bilingual book of activities and information)
+ "Hunters
of the Caribbean Sea." "Spirits of the Jaguar" mini-series of the "Nature"
series, BBC-TV, 1997. (the Tainos and their environment)
+ "Punta Candelero:
A Window to the Past." Universidad de Turabo, Puerto Rico, 1992. (archaeology
and an early Ceramic Age site of eastern Puerto Rico)
+ Footage of
the Columbus Quincentenary Living History Program held on St. Croix, 1993
(Taino-style ball game, "areytos" of music and dance)
+ "Caguana,"
by José Oliver, 1992. (Taino religion; ball court complex of Puerto
Rico)
* "V.I. Film
Ser. 2. History." Dept. of Education. (V.I. archaeology, 1970s)
ELEMENTARY
STUDENT-LEVEL LITERATURE:
*+ Indigenous
Peoples in Caribbean Prehistory: Two Stories for Children, companion to
this booklet, distributed to school libraries by the VI Humanities Council.
(illustrated booklet, part bilingual; stories about Island Carib and Taino
children; upper elementary for self-reading)
+The Story
of the Arawaks in Antigua & Barbuda, by D.V. Nicholson. Antigua Archaeological
Society, 1983. (illustrated, upper elementary reading)
*Our Virgin
Islands, by Thurston Child. 1930s.
JUNIOR HIGH-SCHOOL
STUDENT-LEVEL LITERATURE:
+Altos de Chavón
(Regional Museum of Archaeology, Dominican Republic), Quincentennial Catalog.
La Romana: Fundación Centro Cultural Altos de Chavón. (easy
bilingual text with lavish illustrations suitable for class)
*Clear De Road:
A Virgin Islands History Textbook, by Roger Hill. USVI Dept. of Conservation
& Cultural Affairs, 1983. (There is also a Teacher Guide, with more
information about prehistory.)
+The Story
of the Arawaks in Antigua & Barbuda, by D.V. Nicholson. Antigua Archaeological
Society, 1983. (illustrated, upper elementary reading)
ADULT-LEVEL
LITERATURE:
MAINLY PREHISTORY
*+The Tainos:
Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted Columbus, by Irving Rouse. New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1992. (comprehensive text)
*+Selected
Presentations from the Public Conference "The People Who Encountered Columbus:
Tainos and Island Caribs of the Lesser Antilles", various authors. Virgin
Islands Humanities Council, 1996. (bound manuscripts)
*+Selected
Readings for the Seminar "The Indigenous Peoples of the Caribbean", various
authors. Virgin Islands Humanities Council, 1996. (bound excerpts)
+The Indigenous
Peoples of the Caribbean, edited by Samuel M. Wilson. Gainesville: University
Press of Florida. To be published in the fall of 1997.
*+Reflections
on Taino Religion: Myths, Cemis and Sacred Ceremonies, by José R.
Oliver, 1993. (bound manuscript)
+Some Observations
on the Taino Language, by Arnold R. Highfield, 1996. (bound manuscript)
MAINLY THE HISTORIC PERIOD
+The Tainos:
The People Who Welcomed Columbus, by Francine Jacobs. New York: Putnam's
Sons, 1992. (intended for popular reading; some illustrations)
*+St. Croix
1493: An Encounter of Two Worlds, by Arnold R. Highfield. St. Thomas, Virgin
Islands Humanities Council, 1995. (eyewitness accounts; an Introduction
also includes much information about prehistory.)
*+1492: Discovery,
Invasion, Encounter, by Marvin Lunenfeld. Lexington: Heath, 1991.
*+A Guidebook
to Resources for Teachers of the Columbian Encounter, Revised, ed. by David
Buisseret and Tina Reithmaier. Chicago: Newberry Library, 1992.
*+The Biological
Impacts of 1492: Some Interpretive Thoughts, by Richard L. Cunningham,
1992. (bound manuscript)
+Wild Majesty:
Encounters with Caribs from Columbus to the Present Day, anthology edited
by Peter Hulme and Neil L. Whitehead. Oxford: Claredon Press, 1992.
*+Post-Columbian
Interactions Between the Island Caribs and the French: Legacy to the Lesser
Antilles, by Aimery Caron, 1996. (bound manuscript)
+The Lesser
Antilles in the Age of European Expansion, edited by Robert L. Paquette
and Stanley L. Engerman. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1996.
+Conquest of
Eden: 1493-1515, by Michael Paiewonsky. Rome, St. Thomas: MAPes MONDe Editore,
1990.
+The Umbilical
Cord: A History of the United States Virgin Islands from Pre-Columbian
Era to the Present, by Harold W. L. Willocks. 1995.
+A History
of the Virgin Islands of the United States, by Isaac Dookhan. St. Thomas:
College of the Virgin Islands, 1974.
The CAC does not vouch for the accuracy or merit of these materials.
Some of these book resources may also be ordered online by visiting:
http://members.nbci.com/cariblink/Books.html
The Arts Page of
the CAC also has other video resources in addition
to the ones
listed above.
(4)Vacancies:
Translators Wanted
The CAC is therefore issuing an invitation to people with writing fluency
in Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and German (and reading fluency
in English) to work as translators for the CAC. The translators will serve
as interns on the Editorial Board of the CAC. While the positions are unpaid,
such voluntary and part-time service (never more than three hours per week)
can help with building a resume, is ideal for language students.
We would like interpretive rather literal translations to be done. The
CAC has openings for five to ten translators. The details of the positions
are outlined under "Site News" on the front page of the CAC site.
(5) Letters
to the Editor
The CAC
Editor's Review welcomes any letters of relevance, either to items in this
newsletter or issues of relevance to the CAC as a whole. Your letters will
be posted on the Editors' Review website and will be distributed in following
e-mailings of the newsletter.
(6) Advertise
Your Events and Web Resources for Free
The CAC welcomes all subscribers to post notices of upcoming events of
relevance, or web resources. Please send information to the Editor, Maximilian
C. Forte, at:
cariblink@email.com
Please indicate clearly your name, your organization, and the nature and
location of either the event or the web resource.
(7) Site Development
Report
The CAC continues to receive visitors at a rate of 14,000 plus per annum.
However, by Internet standards, that may be a relatively low number, most
likely due in large part to the specialized nature of the website.
Plans to move the CAC to a non-free site, and thuswithout forced advertising,
have been shelved indefinitely due to the cost and complexity of the associated
tasks.
Lastly, the CAC will now be going through a final stage of site re-design.
This will be done in part to speed the online transmission of pages, and,
to avoid the jarring effect of having
the masthead
of the CAC mis-translated on the automatic translation websites.
Be sure to visit and let us know what you think.
©
Maximilian C. Forte, 2000
Maximilian
C. Forte, Editor
The views
presented here are those of the Editor alone. Letters to the Editor will
also be published on this page when they are received. You may write to
the Editor at: cariblink@email.com
IN THIS
ISSUE:
1. New Resource:
The Baramaya Taino Site
2. New
Publications: TAINO REVIVAL, Gabriel Haslip-Viera, ed.
3. Letter
to the Editor: Field Commander Rami, Pan-Tribal
Confederacy of Amerindian Tribal Nations
4. Organization
Profile: The Jatibonicu Taino Tribal Nation
5. Press
Release: The International Association for Caribbean
Archaeology to the Prime Minister of the Bahamas.
6. Upcoming
Events: Indigenous Legacies of the Caribbean, 2001.
7. Send
Your Ads and Letters to the Editor
(1) New
Resource: The Baramaya Taino Site
A seemingly new Taino website, the Baramaya Taino Page, is available for
viewing. This site describes itself as representing a yukayeke of Taino
families and contains a series of interesting pages, some of which are
very graphics-heavy and can take a great deal of time to load (one
page having to load over 130 items). This can be found at:
http://baramaya-taino.com/
(2) New
Publications: TAINO REVIVAL.
TAINO REVIVAL:
Critical Perspectives on Puerto Rican Identity
and Cultural
Politics.
Edited by
Gabriel Haslip-Viera (Sociology, City College, City University of New York;
Centro de Estudios Puertorriquenos, Hunter College, City University of
New York).
Published
in 1999 by:
Centro
de Estudios Puertorriquenos, Hunter College, City University of New York
695 Park
Avenue, New York, New York 10021, USA.
This edited
volume, which is the second book to have emerged from the Taino exhibition
at the Museo del Barrio, includes the following chapters:
Gabriel
Haslip-Viera: Introduction
Arelene
Davila (Anthropology, Syracuse): "Local/Diasporic Tainos: Towards a
Cultural Politics of Memory, Reality and Imagery."
Jorge Duany
(Sociology & Anthropology, U. of Puerto Rico): "Making Indians
out of Blacks: The Revitalization of Taino Identity in Contemporary Puerto
Rico."
Peter Roberts
(U. of the West Indies, Barbados): "What's in a Name, an Indian Name?"
Miriam Jimenez-Roman
(Centro de Estudios Puertorriquenos, CUNY):
"The Indians are Coming!
The Indians are Coming!: The Taino and Puerto Rican Identity."
Roberto
Mucaro Borrero (United Confederation of Taino People):"Rethinking Taino:
A Taino Perspective."
For anyone
interested in the contemporary revival of indigeneity in the Caribbean,
this is an excellent book and the first of its kind on the topic, and is
an extremely thought-provoking collection of articles on the subject of
the revival of Taino identity among Puerto Ricans both in Puerto Rico and
in US urban centres.
(3) Letter
to the Editor, 11 June, 2000:
From:
FIELD COMMANDER
RAMI,
SECURITY
COUNCIL,
PAN-TRIBAL
CONFEDERACY OF AMERINDIAN TRIBAL NATIONS
"The Confederacy
is Pro-Traditionalist, we do not cosider our autonomous territories to
be under the authority of any Neo-Colonial regime; however, we are cognisant
of the fact that
we must co-operate
with such regimes in the spirit of equality,peace and friendship.
"The Guyana
government for one - still refuses to officially recognise our existence
publicly, although they have sent correspondence to me contradicting their
'you don't exist' policy. Not that it really matters anyhow, as long as
they don't unduly interfere in our development - we won't interfere with
theirs. I'm not threatening anyone, but politics is a dirty game at times;
and the border tensions with neighboring countries can be made to work
in our favour should it become necessary.
"When the British
left Guyana our dominant tribes - The Makushis and Wapishanas were left
with 40,000 square miles, the neo-colonials have reduced this to less than
half that; my generation will do whatever we have to to ensure that our
unborn generations are not robbed of their god-given inheritence any further.
"Just this
week the Guyana government has accelerated it's callous plans to sell 26,000
acres to Beal Aerospace Technologies (of Texas, USA) for dubious rocket
launches for a mere US$1 per acre, plus a further 75,000 acres at US$3
per acre. Beal has also wrangled a 99
year tax holiday.
"Several Amerindian
groups including the ancient Warrau people will have to be relocated for
the sake of the almighty dollar, they say they will pay the Amerindians
$400,000 (US I presume); as if money can ever compensate a people of their
sacred hunting, fishing, farming and burial grounds.
"Unfortunately
the Warrau have not joined the Confederacy, so my alerting you is about
the extent of assistance we can offer them; their 'area' is what we consider
the Amerindian People's Association's active zone. I don't know what our
brethren over there will do, but it will be passive; and in the times we
live - that can easily be ignored when the oppressed minority is only 7%
of the entire population. The government will do well to remember the Makushi
& Wapishana led armed (by Venezuela) rebellion of 1969, if they have
any mistaken notions of re-locating any Confederacy communities in the
Rupununi region; for their cleptocratic schemes. We have endured enough
abuse at their hands, and our young men are
ready to 'shoulder
the burden of peace'."
(4)Organization
Profile: The Jatibonicu Taino Tribal Nation
In
a letter to the editor (08 June, 2000), Cacique Pedro Guanikeyu Torres,
forwarded the following outline of the structure of the Jatibonicu Taino
Tribal Nation:
"[The] Taino
Inter-Tribal Council is...a New Jersey educational cultural organization
or Corporation that is run by a President and its Board of Directors. It
is only an affiliated sub-division of our tribal nation. Our tribal nation
is made up of three (3) Tribal Bands and three (3) affiliated Educational
cultural non-profit corporations.
"I am the Cacique
of the Jatibonicu Taino Tribal Nation of Boriken (Puerto Rico), Florida
and New Jersey. I reside in Puerto Rico and have a second residence
in New Jersey. My actual
residence
is in the town of Orocovis, Puerto Rico. This town is the place of my birth
and found within our traditional Jatibonicu Taino tribal homeland.
"The sub-divisions
of tThe Jatibonicu Taino Tribal Nation are:
IN PUERTO
RICO
1. El Tribu
Jatibonicu Taino de Boriken (tribe in PR)
The Jatibonicu
Taino Tribe of Boriken (English translation)
2. Fundacion
Historica de Jatibonicu, Inc (actual name).
Historical
Foundation of Jatibonicu (English translation)
IN FLORIDA
3.Tekesta
Taino Tribal Band of Bimini Florida
4.The Tekesta
Taino Tribal Band of Bimini, Inc.
IN NEW JERSEY
5. Jatibonicu
Taino Tribal Band of Southern Jersey
6. The Taino
Inter-Tribal Council, Inc.
"It is to be
noted that at one time we had migrated from Puerto Rico to Florida and
then to New Jersey. Further it should be noted that at one time we comprised
two tribal sub-divisions as we gathered and grew we became a Tribal Nation
of six sub-divisions. It should be noted that we historically have existed
long before any of the modern Taino groups had come into
existence
back in 1992, within the United States and Puerto Rico.
"Today our
sovereign Jatibonicu Taino Tribal Nation of Boriken has joint our South
American Arawak & Carib brothers as a member nation of the 'Pan Tribal
Confederacy of Amerindian Tribal Nations' made up of Arawak and Carib communities
in Guyana and Barbados, and Dominica in the Lesser Antilles."
(5) Press
Release: The International Association for Caribbean Archaeology to the
Prime Minister of the Bahamas.
International
Association for Caribbean Archaeology
Association
Internationale D'Archaeologie De La Caraibe
Asociación
Internacional De Arqueología Del Caribe
Office of
the President:
Dr Jay
Haviser
The Jacob
Gelt Dekker Institute for Advanced Cultural Studies,
Klipstraat
9, Willemstad, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles
Tel. 5999-462-1411,
Fax. 5999-462-1401,
e-mail:
dekkerinstitute@attglobal.net
Press and
Public Relations (London): Quetta Kaye,
5 Little
Brownings, SE23 3XJ, Tel: 0208 699 2115,
Fx: 0208
699 1194
e-mail:
quadack@compuserve.com
PRESIDENT
OF INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR CARIBBEAN ARCHAEOLOGY EXPRESSES CONCERN
AT BAHAMAS REDEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS
Dr Jay Haviser,
President of the International Association for Caribbean Archaeology, writing
to the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham, Prime Minister of the Bahamas, today (2
March 2000) said:
"As President
of the International Association for Caribbean Archaeology, I should like
to express my concern at the building development proposed for the sensitive
heritage site of Clifton Cay, New Providence Island in the Bahamas.
Archaeological
assessment of the Clifton Cay site has revealed that it uniquely encompasses
aspects of Bahamian settlement from the Lucayan (pre-Columbian) period
through to the twentieth century. No other Bahamian site includes all of
these components.
As planned,
the multi-million dollar gated development proposed for this unique area
will destroy the archaeology of up to three Lucayan village sites recently
discovered beneath the foundations of several historic African wattle and
plaster structures, as well as rare survivals of the early eighteenth century
pre-plantation period. In addition, by re-routing the traditional plantation
roads several miles inland, public access to important historic areas of
the site, such as the main early nineteenth century plantation house, the
oldest verified slave church and the best preserved examples of slave houses
and associated 'yards' in the country, will be limited.
Acknowledged
by archaeologists as a site of potential world heritage status, I feel
development at Clifton Cay, New Providence Island, Bahamas, should be delayed
until the full impact of the 1999 archaeological assessment report can
be evaluated and the potential damage to irreplaceable archaeology in an
area of outstanding natural beauty given full consideration."
For more
information, please contact:
Quetta
Kaye
IACA Press
and Public Relations (London)
Tel: 0181
699 2115
Fax: 0181
699 1194
e-mail:
quadack@compuserve.com
2 March
2000
(6) Upcoming
Events: Indigenous Legacies of the Caribbean, 2001.
INIDIGENOUS
LEGACIES OF THE CARIBBEAN: A TOUR-CONFERENCE
January,
2001
Theme: Cuba:
"Music, Plants and Healing"
Sponsors:
The Foundation for Nature and Humanity and
IWT/Plenty
Canada.
Santiago,
Guantanamo,Baracoa, Cuba.
An encounter
with the origins of Cuban music, its uses in healing ceremonies with plants
and other natural medicines and its foundation in the use of the land,
this January, 2001 tour is an excellent opportunity to understand the genesis
of Cuban culture, while enjoying the charm and hospitality of eastern Cuba,
its forests and coasts, its people. From the Taino areito the mountain
guajiro, this seven-day tour/conference traverses through the mountains
and coasts of eastern Cuba, the fabled "Oriente," to study with herbalists
and other medical practitioners
in Cuba's
health care system and to hear and experience the rhythms of the most autochthonous
instrumental musicians and vocalists on the island. Participants will meet
and share with Native peoples of Cuba, the Caribbean and elsewhere. They
will visit Santiago de
Cuba, Guantanamo
and Baracoa. This area is rich in history, from the time and travels of
Columbus, to the time of Jose Marti and Antonio Maceo (1890s) to the time
of Fidel Castro and his revolution. The conference logs considerable time
among the folks, local "friends of Legacies" families that often offer
informal hosting to participants.
The featured
theme of the 2001 Indigenous Legacies of the Caribbean encounter is, "Cuba:
Music, Plants and Healing." Hosted by the prestigious Foundation for Nature
and Humanity,
in Cuba, and
organized internationally by Indigenous World Tours for Plenty-Canada,
a Canadian First Nations NGO, the tour's conference sessions regularly
feature important scholars and arts personalities. Music, medicinal plants
and healing as a theme among other indigenous peoples of the Caribbean
and Circum-Caribbean, and of the Americas generally will frame the topics
discussed by presenters. Caribbean indigenous people, Canadian
Native people,
as well as scholars, researchers, students and writers will attend the
conference, to be hosted in Baracoa, Cuba, January, 2001. This will be
the fifth annual cultural encounter under the theme of Indigenous legacies
of the Caribbean. Cuba's small but active Native population, along with
the broader peasantry, sustain many natural ways, particularly knowledge
of medicinal plants and of planting systems. As mountain folk, they are
also repositories of the oldest of Cuba's musical traditions. They will
be among the featured hosts, speakers and musicians at the January gathering.
The ethnogenesis of Cuban culture in its natural and musical adaptations,
and particularly the music of healing will be discussed, as subjects connected
to natural elements in the eastern ranges. The mountain folk culture of
Cuba is refreshingly accessible and involving. Its music reflects this
engaging quality.
This gathering,
programmed for early January, 2001, in Baracoa, Cuba, respects Cuban national
policies supporting ecological, scientific and cultural exchanges as a
way to protect its
bio-diversity
and cultural uniqueness. Traditional dances, outings to the Toa River Valley
and local beaches and comprehensive cultural/historical information and
context are the hallmark of this annual event, which is relaxed but regularly
attended by a cross-section of scholars and afficionados from a dozen countries.
The "Legacies"
conference is contextualized in the United Nations International Decade
of Indigenous Peoples, 1994-2003. This is a global process within which
Cuban international
policy has
been supportive of the cultures of indigenous peoples. The thematic of
the event focuses as well on the correlation of indigenous cultures with
the protection of nature and sustainable development, international language
that emerges from the Summit Conference of Rio de Janeiro, 1992, the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), and particularly
in the elaboration of the Agenda 21, a central planning document for the
next century. Cuba is exemplary in this context as the first country to
implement a state policy of sustainable agriculture, which is rooted, in
good measure, in the indigenous legacy of the conuco (raised beds agriculture),
the widespread use of medicinal plants and the protection of nature. The
conference features substantial material on this topic, by scholars as
well as
natural healers.
"Cuba: Music,
Plants and Healing," features blends of evenings with Cuban musicians and
herbalists in Santiago, Guantanamo and Baracoa, in conjunction with roundtables
and papers presented by Cuban and international scholars. The mountain
"sones" (sounds) of Cuba are still alive in the sierra communities surrounding
the beautiful coastal town of Baracoa, ancient Taino village and site of
the earliest Spanish settlement in Cuba. For instance, the cross at the
local church was left in Baracoa by Christopher Columbus himself. Grassroots
musicians, mountain guajiros and town folk will join the conference group
and put up popular and ceremonial dances to involve participants in a comprehensive
experience of the spiritual, historical and social heart of Cuba.
Baracoa, First
City of Cuba, offers a rich field of scientific, historical and cultural
study. It possesses one of the most fecund areas of bio-diversity in the
country, including a rich forest, and the watershed of the Toa River, the
most voluminous in Cuba, with its invaluable reserve of endemic fauna and
flora. All of the above characteristics give this event a peculiar importance
for the development of a scientific, ecological and cultural movement in
Cuba and the Caribbean.
Organizers:
In Cuba:
Antonio Nunez Jimenez Foundation for Nature and Man
In Canada:
Indigenous World Tours/Plenty Canada
Curriculum
Coordinator: Dr. Jose Barreiro (jeb23@cornell.edu)
Tour Package
Includes:
-- Round trip
Flights, Toronto-Santiago-Toronto
-- Hotel Accommodations
-- two daily
meals
-- in-country
transportation
-- translator-guides
-- conference
curricula
-- cultural
interpretation
PRICE: US$1400
Limited space
available. Register early.
Early registration
(half payment by August 15th) merits
US$100 discount.
Final Call:
Full payment by October 15, 2000 = $1400
MAKE CHECKS
PAYABLE TO:
Indigenous
World Tours, P.O. Box 475, Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada, NOA 1M0
519-445-0422,
iwt@execulink.com
ITINERARY
Indigenous
Legacies of the Caribbean
January,
2001
* DAY ONE
Travel Day.
Hotel La Lupe Tour members converge in Santiago for transport by tour bus
to Guantanamo. Registration at Hotel La Lupe de Guantanamo. Evening: dinner,
informal reception. We will be greeted by the conference team.
* DAY TWO
Guantanamo
Day. Hotel La Lupe Morning: Breakfast, Orientation, greetings by Grupo
Guama, Caridad de los Indios Afternoon, Evening activities: Reception by
City Historian.
Honoring Ceremony
for Regimiento Hatuey. Lecture on Ceremonia del Cordon. Evening Changui
dance with mountain musicians.
* DAY THREE
To Baracoa
by bus / 4 hours. Hotel Porto Santo Morning: Breakfast. Farewells to Guantanamo.
Tour bus travel via coastal highway to Playitas de Cahobabo on our way
to Baracoa. A remembrance to Jose Marti and the Cuban ecologies he encountered.
Snack at Jose Marti Herbal Gardens. Greetings and presentation by young
children of Playitas, in honor of Friends of Cuban Sovereignty. Afternoon:
Arrival in Baracoa. Room assignments at Hotel Porto Santo. Dinner. After
dinner reception at Matachin Museum. Formal Greetings by Cuban Native delegation
and Baracoa dignitaries. Dedication of Exhibition of Native painters, at
Museo Matachin, one of the oldest fortresses in the Americas.
* DAY FOUR
Baracoa, Hotel
Porto Santo Morning. Breakfast. Opening of Conference. Introductions.
Keynote. Round
table Discussion. Ceremony to Guama, at Monument overlooking Baracoa. Lunch
at El Rancho, near monument. Afternoon: Tour of City of Baracoa; Free afternoon
Evening: Reception
at Casa de Cultura.
* DAY FIVE
Baracoa, Hotel
Porto Santo Morning. Breakfast. Keynote with healers and Round tables.
Healers' day. Demonstration of healing practice of "sorbar empacho." Late
lunch at Rio Toa,
Medicinal
plants walkabout session with don Panchito Ramirez. Afternoon. Free Evening:
Grupo Guama and the sones of the Mountains.
* Day Six
Baracoa, Hotel
Porto Santo Morning. Baracoa Conference closure. Conclusions Round table.
Lunch and snorkeling afternoon at Caguama Beach. Coastal environs discussion.
Reef and fisheries. Local music groups.
* Day Seven
Santiago de
Cuba, Hotel Vista Alegre Morning. Breakfast. Closing ceremony. Tour bus
direct to Santiago. Afternoon Santiago City Tour. Evening activity with
School Children.
* Day Eight
December 20,
Monday. Travel day. Departures for airport and points north.
Indigenous
World Tours,
P.O. Box
475, Ohsweken,
Ontario,
Canada, NOA 1M0
519-445-0422,
iwt@execulink.com
(7) Send
Your Ads and Letters to the Editor
The
CAC Editor's Review welcomes any letters of relevance, either to items
in this newsletter or issues of relevance to the CAC as a whole. Your letters
will be posted on the Editors' Review website and will be distributed in
following e-mailings of the
newsletter.
Advertise
Your Events and Web Resources:
The
CAC welcomes all subscribers to post notices of upcoming events of relevance,
or web resources. Please send information to the Editor, Maximilian C.
Forte, at:
cariblink@email.com
Please
indicate clearly your name, your organization, and the nature and location
of either the event or the web resource.
©
Maximilian C. Forte, 2000
Maximilian
C. Forte, Editor
The views
presented here are those of the Editor alone. Letters to the Editor will
also be published on this page when they are received. You may write to
the Editor at: cariblink@email.com
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. New Addresses for CAC and KACIKE, plus new mirror sites
2. CAC Website Awards
3. International, Latin American, Latino, African News Services
on the CAC
4. Send Your Ads and Letters to the Editor
(1) NEW ADDRESSES FOR CAC AND KACIKE, PLUS NEW MIRROR SITES
AS SOME OF YOU MAY KNOW...The Caribbean
Amerindian Centrelink (CAC) and KACIKE: The Journal of Caribbean Amerindian
History and Anthropology, together form a group of websites.
In order to ensure regularity of service,
to avoid mishaps with sites being down or even accidentally erased, we
have developed a number of mirror sites.
In addition, some of our Internet addresses
are quite lengthy, hence we have developed shorter substitutes.
Please VISIT and BOOKMARK these at your
earliest convenience to make sure that you have these alternate website
addresses:
FOR THE CAC:
MIRROR SITE: http://www.kacike.org/cac-ike/
Also, the ORIGINAL CAC site located at: http://members.nbci.com/cariblink/index.html
can now be accessed through a SHORTER and easier to remember
address:
http://cac.freespace.nu
FOR KACIKE:
The original site is located at: http://www.kacike.org/
The new mirror site is now located at:
http://www.crosswinds.net/~kacike/index.html
The mirror site has its own, short, easy to remember address as well:
http://kacike.freespace.nu
THERE YOU HAVE IT:
kacike.freespace.nu / cac.freespace.nu / kacike.org
(2) CAC WEBSITE AWARDS.
Recently, the editors of the Caribbean
Amerindian Centrelink decided that the CAC should confer website awards
on some of the websites listed by the CAC. This is designed to encourage,
recognize and applaud those sites with a depth and range of content and
good design. There are no defined political criteria for the awards.
A range of awards has been created, descriptions and examples
of which can be found at:
http://members.nbci.com/cariblink/Awards.html
Thus far, the CAC has granted the "Best
Caribbean Amerindian Internet Site: General" award to "BIARAKU--FIRST
PEOPLE OF A SACRED PLACE" whose website is located at: http://members.aol.com/STaino
The award of "Best Caribbean Amerindian
Arts and Crafts Site" was granted to "PRESENCIA TAINA" whose website
is located at: http://www.presenciataina.org/
The award of "Best Caribbean Amerindian
Personal Homepage" was granted to Valery Nanaturey's "BOHIO BAJACU"
website located at: http://www.angelfire.com/ct/taino/index.html
Applications were not made for these
awards, instead, possible candidates were discussed by the editors and
these and other awards can be granted to other websites with time.
(3) INTERNATIONAL, LATIN AMERICAN, LATINO, AFRICAN NEWS SERVICES
AT THE CAC
On the front page of the CAC mirror site,
at http://centrelink.4mg.com visitors
can read and access the day's news headlines, with a special focus on International
News, Latin American News, Middle East News, and with articles from Latino
and Black news services in the US. The original CAC site has a link to
these news services as well.
Recently, LatinoLink.com, whose news
feeds are now available via the CAC sites, featured an article on Puerto
Rico Tainos in New York City. This article was located at:
http://www.latinolink.com/article.php3?article=000712tain
The article, "New York Puerto Ricans Reclaiming Indigenous Roots" by
Rovert Waddell begins: "For Brooklyn native Ric Montalvo, his ethnic
identity has been like a huge jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing. In his
younger days, he was embarrassed to speak Spanish and admits he knew little
of his Latino culture. When he was growing up he thought his Puerto Rican
grandmother was 'una vieja loca' because she would rise at the crack of
dawn and smoke cigars." For reasons of copyright we cannot quote more of
this here. However, what it does show is some of the interesting material
available via these news services.
(4) Send Your Ads and Letters to the Editor
The CAC Editor's Review welcomes any
letters of relevance, either to items in this newsletter or issues of relevance
to the CAC as a whole. Your letters will be posted on the Editors' Review
website and will be distributed in following e-mailings of the newsletter.
Advertise Your Events and Web Resources:
The CAC welcomes all subscribers to post
notices of upcoming events of relevance, or web resources. Please send
information to the Editor, Maximilian C. Forte, at:
cariblink@email.com
Please indicate clearly your name, your
organization, and the nature and location of either the event or the web
resource.
©
Maximilian C. Forte, 2000
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