A Contested Caribbean Indigeneity: Language, Social Practice, and Identity within Puerto Rican Taíno Activism

Critical Caribbean Studies

by Sherina Feliciano-Santos

A Contested Caribbean Indigeneity is an in-depth analysis of the debates surrounding Taíno/Boricua activism in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean diaspora in New York City. Drawing on in-depth ethnographic research, media analysis, and historical documents, the book explores the varied experiences and motivations of Taíno/Boricua activists as well as the alternative fonts of authority they draw on to claim what is commonly thought to be an extinct ethnic category. It explores the historical and interactional challenges involved in claiming membership in, what for many Puerto Ricans, is an impossible affiliation. In focusing on Taíno/Boricua activism, the books aims to identify a critical space from which to analyze and decolonize ethnoracial ideologies of Puerto Ricanness, issues of class and education, Puerto Rican nationalisms and colonialisms, as well as important questions regarding narrative, historical memory, and belonging.

Genres: Indigenous, Nonfiction, Anthropology, History

256 pages, Paperback

Published February 12, 2021

Reviews

[Veronika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know if the author of this book will read this review, but I hope she does. My mother came to Boston when she was 9 months old pregnant with me in 1993. She was someone who my entire life was very passionate about Puerto Rico, the case for independence and most of all our Taíno ancestry. I always knew I had Taíno blood even if there was no DNA test to prove it. I also knew that I have European and African blood too. I was raised around other latinos, mostly Dominicans, so I never really felt like anyone outside of my mother understood the war of feelings this multi-ethic reality of being "Boricua" (especially in the US) caused me, and I've felt more and more alone in those feelings since my mother passed in 2010 and the rise of the internet where Puerto Rico is not often discussed this way. When I saw this book I felt like it was the book I had been waiting to read my whole life, and I only wish that my mother were here to discuss it with. This book was lovely and engaging and well researched, but it also made it feel much less alone in my experiences and for that I am very grateful.

[Alice Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being neither a linguistic anthropologist, nor someone well-versed in scholarship on indigeneity or the Caribbean, generally, I was delighted to emerge from this book much more knowledgeable about each of these subjects. Dr. Feliciano-Santos’s style is accessible and a pleasure to read. Her discussion of her interview process reads like a novel. Her exploration of Taino-Boricua indigenous identity—its history, erasure, modern manifestations, activism, education, and acceptance—is as riveting as a search for treasure. The subject of who is india and what that means is also personal to the author snd her family, which adds another dimension to her exploration and makes this book the richer for it. I highly recommend this book! I look forward to her next book.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was great to read a contemporary take on the Taino movement from a member of our community. Please keep capturing these experiences as we need them for future generations to grow and learn! Hahom!

[Leidamarie Tirado-Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up I remember being sold the “We, Puerto Ricans, are a mix of Spanish, Taíno, and African” and how we should be proud of that. However, I found it very confusing that there was also a tendency for the adults around me to minimize the contributions of African culture to the island and why jíbaro could be a national icon and insult. This book has helped me make sense of what I observed so much growing up but didn’t understand at the time. I also found learning about the Taíno reclamation efforts very intriguing.

[Sangeetha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I impulse bought this at El Museo del Barrio in New York. Like many Americans, I've visited Puerto Rico, and I've heard of the like, "racial triad", founding mythology, but I never really questioned it or thought through it more critically. I hadn't really heard about the Taíno before much less the contemporary movement for visibility and recognition. Feliciano-Santos walks you through the history of Spanish and then American colonization of Puerto Rico, the different theories for what happened to the Taíno, and the modern efforts to revive the language and preserve the culture. She puts together a really strong argument for the value of ambiguity in understanding our histories. It sort of reminds me of Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie's viral Ted talk about the danger of a single story. Plurality makes us stronger. Simplistic, unifying theories often leave people out and feel unsatisfying. There's a natural sense of tension around defining oneself as indigenous. Is it for bureaucratic legitimacy, land rights, and compensation? Is it to delegitimize and diminish blackness? I think a solid companion piece is this New Yorker article about the value of the term indigenous in today's age.

[Charlie Bavis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the best ethnography I have read. Feliciano-Santos provides really thought provoking discourse on indigeneity.