VOA标准英语2010-Decimated Tribe Seeks Recognition Through

Puerto Rican Tainos were nearly wiped out after arrival of the Spanish

Lydia Crafts | Austin, Texas 05 April 2010

Cacike Caciba Opil, a Taino chief, hopes Puerto Ricans will regain¹ pride in their native heritage.

Related Links:

Tainos in Puerto Rico
Indigenous² Cultures Institute
Puerto Rican Folkloric³ Dance & Cultural Center

A people thought to be dead for 500 years hope to prove they're still very much alive, thanks to the 2010 census⁴.

The census counts everyone in the United States, including territories like Puerto Rico. Thousands of Puerto Ricans are rediscovering their indigenous heritage and plan to ensure that the U.S. government knows about them.

On a blustery day at the Texas state capital building in Austin, members of the Taino tribe rally to raise awareness⁵ about the 2010 U.S. census. Dr. Ana María Tekina-eirú Maynard leads the group in song. She's the tribe's tequina suania, meaning she directs and teaches ceremonial dances to Tainos in the United States.

 

The Tainos greeted Columbus when he arrived on what is now the island of Hispanola.

Decimated tribe

She explains that the Tainos greeted Christopher Columbus when he landed in the New World in 1492, but the Spanish conquistadors who followed him decimated the tribe. Some Tainos managed to survive by fleeing to the mountains. But in the 1800s, Spain stopped counting indigenous people in the census of its colonies.

Tekina-eirú Maynard says that stripped thousands of full-blooded Tainos of their identity. "If you happened to be a Taino who lived up in the mountains and you weren't in the sun a lot and maybe your skin was a little lighter⁶, then they threw you in the 'white' bucket."

Today, most history books say the Tainos were wiped out 50 years after the Spanish explorers arrived. After hundreds of years of mainstream⁷ thought that taught them the Tainos were dead, many Puerto Ricans forgot about their native ancestry⁸.

Tainos like Tekina-eirú Maynard see the 2010 U.S. census as their chance to finally prove the history books are wrong.

"We are survivors," she says. "We are part of the people who went into the mountains to survive when the conquistadores were massacring our people."

Some Puerto Ricans plan to identify themselves as 'Tainos' in the 2010 US Census.

DNA⁹ link to the past

In 2000, a study funded by the National Science Foundation revealed that more than 60 percent of Puerto Ricans have Taino blood.

The Cacike, or chief, of Tainos who are members of El Concilio Taino Guatu-Macu A Boriken, which is the nonprofit organization on the island that represents the tribe, said that study awakened¹⁰ a Taino consciousness in the Puerto Rican people. "The results showed that in every Puerto Rican, Taino blood runs in our veins¹¹."

Following the study, Puerto Ricans from across the island and many living on the mainland had their DNA tested by submitting samples of their saliva¹². Many began to identify themselves as Taino, and they started working to restore their traditions by studying the stories passed down by their grandparents.

The Cacike's wish now is for all Puerto Ricans to regain pride in their native heritage.

"Our history was written with Taino blood. The conquest cost the lives of three million people. Our beliefs were taken from us, and beliefs were imposed upon us at the point of sword and cannon¹³. Today we are free," he says. "We believe as our ancestors believed. And we know our spirituality is genuine. It's true, like the light of the sun. It's so true it's like the wind. You cannot see it, but you can feel it."

Seeking official recognition

Although thousands of people now identify as Taino, the tribe has yet to receive official government recognition or the federal benefits that accompany it. So Tekina-eirú Maynard was excited to learn about questions added to the 2010 census that will allow them to declare their indigenous heritage on paper.

Mario Garza speaks about the census at a pow-wow in Texas.

That is what Maria Rocha and Dr. Mario Garza are urging Latinos to do. The couple runs the Indigenous Cultures Institute, a Texas-based nonprofit that works to preserve native traditions.

Garza explains that on previous census forms, Latinos could only claim their race as 'white' or 'non-white'. "We're trying to educate these people that even if they identify as Hispanic, they still come from a very rich heritage and cultural background which is their indigenous part."

The Indigenous Cultures Institute has been sponsoring pow-wows around Texas to urge Hispanics with Taino heritage to complete the 10 questions on the 2010 census form.

Rocha and Garza tell members of their audience they can still recognize their Latin American heritage on question 8, which addresses ethnicity. Question 9 is the one that asks about race. Rocha and Garza tell Latinos to check their race as 'American Indian' and to write in their tribal¹⁴ affiliation¹⁵ in the space provided. That's where Puerto Ricans can identify themselves as 'Tainos.'

Rocha says her group's census campaign has also resonated with Latinos of other indigenous backgrounds across the U.S.

"People have a need to be out there and do something important for their ancestors," she observes, "not just register with the government or tick off themselves as a number. This has some significance to our people."

Ana Maria Tekina-Eiru Maynard participates in a ceremony in Puerto Rico.

Putting a people back into the history books

When Dr. Ana Maria Tekina-eirú Maynard learned how she could identify herself as Taino on the census, she sent an email explaining the process to 5,000 people on her cultural center's email list.

"There will be thousands of Tainos who will check the box and write the word Taino," she says. "And I can't wait until the census is done and all of this happens."

At the Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Austin, she and her family practice aretos, or songs for ceremonial dances. Tekina-eirú Maynard wrote the songs and believes they were inspired by her ancestors. "I would sit on my back porch and these songs would just sort of come to me," she says.

Proud heritage

Her 13-year-old son, William plays a traditional drum that Tainos from Puerto Rico made for him.

He says playing the aretos brings him closer to his indigenous heritage. "This is a very native, very pure thing, which, especially for me, I have a connection to this. It's really like you can feel it in your heart."

Tekina-eirú Maynard says the best thing about reconnecting with her Taino ancestry is that she can finally help her family understand their origins.

"I feel like I am putting my family back on track. After 500 years — that they had gone to the mountains to hide and hid so well that they forgot who they were — I feel that I have a chance now to put my family back to where they belong. And you have no idea how meaningful that is to me."

That's why Dr. Ana María Tekina-eirú Maynard says she will continue raising the voice of the people until every history book says the Tainos are still here.

 

1 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

2 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

3 folkloric   

adj.民间传说的；民俗的

参考例句：

• In the rush to go folkloric watch out for collision of cultures. 在民俗化的热潮中，要提防不同文化的冲突。
• Lunch blowout beside the pool, accompanied by folkloric dancing (Vanity Fair) . 盛大的午餐在游泳池边进行，还有民族舞蹈助兴（名利场）。

4 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

7 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

8 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

9 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

10 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 saliva   

n.唾液，口水

参考例句：

• He wiped a dribble of saliva from his chin.他擦掉了下巴上的几滴口水。
• Saliva dribbled from the baby's mouth.唾液从婴儿的嘴里流了出来。

13 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

14 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

15 affiliation   

n.联系，联合

参考例句：

• There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似，但我们之间并没有关系。
• The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。