The Caribbean is a beautiful place, and that beauty fetches a high price as luxury developers try to claim dominion over a piece of paradise. But a long time ago, before fancy hotels and casinos became the norm, the Caribbean islands were the home of the Taíno people. History books tell us that the arrival of Europeans brought on the downfall of that chiefdom, and the Taíno people slowly dwindled into extinction.
However, there are many who disagree with that notion. Kacike Roberto Mukaro Agüeybana Borrero, president of the United Confederation of Taino Peoples and a member of the Guainía tribe , is one. "Right now, the Taíno people would be considered the tenth largest tribe or nation in the United States and its territories," Kacike Mukaro says.
Yet the Taíno Nation is not recognized by the US Federal Government. In fact, the only government organization that currently recognizes any tribe of Taíno people as an Indigenous group is the government of the US Virgin Islands . But why is this? And why is there still so much contention around whether the Taínos still exist and who can claim that ancestry? Well, much of it stems from the way colonial powers imposed their policies on Indigenous populations, something that the tribe is still seeing the effects of hundreds of years later.
The Impact of Colonialism on the Taíno Nation "Over the years, the way that we understand race, people, and connections to community has been affected by colonialism," says Kacike .