This Vibrant Indigenous Community in the Caribbean Was Almost Lost Forever — but It's Not Too Late to Get to Know Them

Every Wednesday on the Lost Cultures: Living Legacies podcast, host Alisha Prakash, Travel + Leisure's associate editorial director, explores a unique cultural identity around the world and shares how you can learn more about it on your travels, too.

At the tender age of 12, Jorge Baracutei Estevez had a life-altering experience. And it was all thanks to a misinformed museum sign. 

“I went on a school trip to the museum, and I wanted to show my friends indigenous culture from the Caribbean,” he said on T+L's Lost Cultures: Living Legacies podcast. He arrived ready to show off his family’s ancestral culture — only to get a quick punch in the gut. 

“So, when I got there, I remember that there was a big sign that said, ‘West Indies and the Tainos.’ I ran up there. And I was like, ‘You see. Look at all these objects. They come from my country.’ They were, you know, Taino objects from all over the Caribbean. But there was this little sign that read, ‘Sadly, by 1565, all the Tainos had disappeared. And I remember that struck such a chord with me. It just bothered me.”

Why? Because Estevez, a Taino, happened to very much exist.

So, he did what any kid would do: returned week after week to stare at the sign. And one day, he became a researcher dedicated to finding out more about what really happened to the Taino. 

The Taino were among the first indigenous inhabitants of the Caribbean. They were also the first people to encounter Christopher Columbus’ expedition. Columbus even wrote about the meeting in his diary: “They traded with us and gave us everything they had, with goodwill. They took great delight in pleasing us. They are very gentle and without knowledge of what is evil; nor do they murder or steal. Your highness may believe that in all the world, there can be no better people. They love their neighbors as themselves, and they have the sweetest talk in the world, and are gentle and always laughing.”

Eventually, like other indigenous peoples in the Americas, the Taino would come to know Columbus’ personal brand of cruelty. While he kidnapped some to sell, he forced others into slavery to work in farms and mines and to pay tribute with gold or cotton. As a result, 50,000 Taino died within two years of Columbus’ arrival, according to the National Humanities Center. However, the Taino didn’t cease to exist then and there. They rebelled and fought back, eventually winning recognition of their freedom, as well as land and charter. However, because of their dwindling numbers, the Taino were almost lost to history forever — until the 1980s, when those living in the Caribbean or of Caribbean descent started looking deeper at their familial histories, and appointing chiefs to their newly reformed groups.

“As time went on, more groups developed. And then, it started spreading throughout the Caribbean, so today you have groups in Jamaica, in Haiti, in Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and in Cuba. Each of the groups have their appointed chiefs. I started Higuayagua mostly because I wanted to create a group of researchers. I was trying to avoid the whole tribal structure because my thing is research,” Estevez said. “But it's inevitable that, as you get more and more people, you have to manage it. I was a logical choice since I was the one who formed a group to take over that responsibility. But it is a responsibility, one that I do not wish (laughs) on my enemies, you know. I say that jokingly because it's actually quite an honor to do it, but it is hard work.”

To learn more about the Taino, listen to Prakash's conversation with Estevez and Ikra Mateo, a singer-songwriter of Taino descent, in Lost Cultures: Living Legacies, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and everywhere podcasts are available.

Editor's Note: Please be mindful that this transcript does not go through our standard editorial process and may contain inaccuracies and grammatical errors.