The Relationship of the Caribs of Arima with the Taínos of Puerto Rico and the USA

Maximilian C. Forte, 1999, 2001, 2006

Ties between the Carib Community and individuals in various United States based Taíno organizations began to take shape in the late 1990s. This has become one of the most important of all the Caribs' external relationships, especially from the point of view of the shaman of the Arima Carib Community. Both parties to the relationship, the Arima Caribs and groups such as the Taíno Nation of the Antilles and the United Confederation of Taíno People, have struggled against scholarly dismissals of their presence. Both are actively pursuing the recovery of Amerindian traditions, with the cultivation and relearning of shamanic practices being one of them. Also neither of the actors involved thus far has achieved any important, independent hold on resources such as land, and both suffer a sense of displacement. Moreover, both have had to struggle with the issue of being "racially mixed," an issue that burns as hot in the US as it does in Trinidad.

The relationship first seemed to get underway in November of 1997, with the staging of "Harmony in Diversity" in Arima, an important event focusing on inter-ethnic knowledge and respect which received a certain amount of media coverage. A private Baha'i foundation, Harmony in Diversity, was responsible for bringing two Taíno representatives to Trinidad in what turned out to be a mini intercontinental indigenous gathering that included an Australian Aboriginal representative. The two representatives were Daniel Waconax Rivera and Kacique René Çibanakán, of the Taíno Nation of the Antilles. Çibanakán has immersed himself in shamanic knowledge and traditions and shared these with his like-minded Arima counterpart, shaman Cristo Atékosang Adonis. This relationship developed into a close one that continued well after the event terminated, with frequent correspondence and telephone calls. The second Taíno delegation to Arima, on a more informal basis, came in the form of two young men from New York City, Içahuey and Waha, in June of 1998, as the guests of Ricardo Kapaupana Cruz, the second shaman of the Carib Community and founder of Kairi Tukuienyo Karinya, a NGO that is loosely affiliated with the Carib Community and counts among its members some prominent artists and activists. In addition, Roberto Mucaro Borrero, of the United Confederation of Taíno People (UCTP), has visited the Carib Community at least three times since 2000, and the Carib Community became formally affiliated with his UCTP.

THE CARIB COMMUNITY AND LA NACIÓN TAÍNA DE LAS ANTILLAS
These are photographs taken during the late 1997 visit to the Arima Carib Community by members of the Taíno Nation of the Antilles, under the auspices of Harmony in Diversity. FIRST FROM LEFT: Cristo Adonis, René Çibanakán, and Ricardo Cruz. SECOND FROM LEFT: René Çibanakán and Cristo Adonis practice some dance steps on Calvary Hill in Arima. THIRD FROM LEFT: Cristo Adonis welcomes Daniel Waconax Rivera to the Harmony in Diversity conference in Arima, at the meeting hut of the Carib Centre. FOURTH FROM LEFT: Daniel Waconax Rivera and René Çibanakán are shown here being received by the Member of Parliament for Arouca North, Jarret Narine, of the Peoples National Movement, and the Deputy of Mayor of Arima, Kelvin Seifert, also of the Peoples National Movement, at a formal reception held in the Arima Town Hall. (These photographs, probably belonging originally to René Çibanakán, were provided courtesy of Cristo Adonis. They may not be distributed or copied without the permission of those named.)

There were two platforms for the interchange of cultural ideas and the forging of personal ties. One was the performance of the Carib shaman's Smoke Ceremony. This is something that René Çibanakán was apparently keen about. In the process they both adopted some of each other's practices. For example, the cigar and tobacco leaves have now become a central feature of the Cristo Adonis' Smoke Ceremony, and he attributes this to Kacique Çibanakán's influence. Also, the Cristo has incorporated Taíno zemis in his personal "treasure chest" of shamanic items. Moreover, both men have an interest in promoting the revival of Amerindian ceremonial aesthetics, such as traditional wear and body adornments, and in reclaiming Amerindian names. As a result of these exchanges, both Cristo and myself quite frankly have developed a strong appreciation of Taíno culture and history.

The second platform was more abstract and concerned the issue of "race." Both Çibanakán and Cristo have felt the derogatory scorn and suspicion that comes from feeling and claiming an indigenous heritage and identity while appearing in the eyes of some others as "black." Being dismissed as charlatans, impostors, or intruders into the realm of indigenous purity is something that individuals such as the Shaman have had to endure from Church officials, political party figures, and even representatives of other Caribbean Indigenous groups. Both Çibanakán and Cristo have rejected the racial purity approach to indigeneity, noting how many of the "racially pure" actually care little for their culture. Both have an understanding of indigeneity that is affective and not phenotypic in nature. Transcending the bounds of the parochial and the provincial, even while pursuing a local indigenous identification, is a trademark of people such as Cristo whose own adopted name, Atékosang, means "the traveller."

Subsequent to the meeting with the four members of La Nación Taína (the Taíno Nation), mentioned above, members of the Santa Rosa Carib Community also developed contacts with the United Confederation of Taíno People, especially in 2000. In March of 2000, two representatives of the UCTP visited Arima and members of the Carib Community. In August of 2000, during the Santa Rosa Festival, members of the UCTP attended Arima's Third Indigenous Gathering of delegates from Amerindian groups from across the Caribbean and North America. In December of 2000, contact with the UCTP was renewed when Cristo Adonis traveled to New York and visited with Robert Mucaro Borrero of the UCTP.

Ties with Taíno organizations have been important to the various branches of the Carib Community, including Katayana (led by Cristo Adonis) and Kairi Tukuienyo Karinya (led by Ricardo Cruz). Individuals such as Adonis and Cruz have been keen to adopt a variety of Taíno motifs in their dress and ceremonies. One would predict that ties between the Arima Caribs and the Taínos will increase and deepen with time.