Caribbean Cultural Department
The Caribbean Cultural Department is the newest addition to the Native American Arts Council. Many of our council members are Taino, therefore we felt it was a necessary addition. Our main focus is to help New Yorkís large population of Caribbean people understand more about their culture.
Some interesting new developments; an article in the San Juan Star stated DNA genealogists took hair samples from 56 individuals, all coming from ìindierasî translated to Indian Country otherwise known as the mountains of Puerto Rico. Genealogists chose individuals based on their Native American traits e.g. black straight hair, high cheekbones, etc. They were tracing mitochondria in which they found that 39 of those individuals tested positive for Native American DNA. The studies control consisted of 39 random individuals of Puerto Rico where more than half revealed Native American DNA. The results of the test suggest that Taino inheritance is greater than that of any other ethnicity on the island. Further studies have revealed that a total of 63 Taino students, labeled ìPorto Rican Indiansî, appeared on the rolls of the United Stated Indian School located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The Taino students attended the school within the years of 1898-1918. Many of these students were present n one of Geronimoís last speeches in 1915. Three short years later, Carlisle Indian School was closed.
We will continue to inform you of further studies or other interesting developments that affect our Caribbean people. For further information, you may contact our Caribbean Cultural Department.
