Taíno Land Back Efforts

Indigenous people across the globe, on too many occasions, have been left like a tree without roots… with a lack of knowledge of our homelands and little to no access to what was left behind by our ancestors that strived for survival.  

As Taino People, a group of indigenous people that occupied the Greater and Lesser Antilles region, historians and scholars have taught the world that we are extinct when in fact we are still here, present and active. 

We were the people that first met Columbus when he became lost at sea. We had government systems, a writing style, spoken language, art, and most importantly a robust culture that has managed to transcend time regardless of the adversities our people have faced. 

We are resilient; 

However many of us still suffer from the effects of colonizing our lands. 

AraYeke has a goal to obtain ancestral land back where we’d like to once again lay roots in our homelands and teach the descendants of our ancestors… the grandchildren of the survivors, their culture. We would like to create a space within the homelands where our grandparents and their grandparents, and so on, can be honored, remembered and respected. 

It is our goal to create a campaign to raise money to build a cultural center to house artifacts, provide cultural lessons, create employment opportunities, provide food through agriculture, and teach what our ancestors left for us. With your help, we can make this dream happen!

Please consider a donation, any amount aides in our overall goal; however if you’re unable to donate, please share the link to as many people as you can. 

 

We’d like to generate a new narrative surrounding the Taino people, one that is rooted in truth, honor and respect. 

We are here, and we are thriving. 

Our children are survivors… and our ancestors? They’re heroes. 

“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” - Maya Angelou