UCTP present during the Protest at the Puerto Rico Zoo in Mayagüez

UCTP present during the Protest at the Puerto Rico Zoo in Mayagüez

8/25/2013

On August 16, 2013, “Fanáticos de Animales” (a FB page for animal lovers with over 8,000 followers), concerned citizens and members of the United Confederation of Taíno People (UCTP) and Taíno representative of the Caribbean Amerindian Development Organization (CADO), joined in a protest in front of the Puerto Rico Zoo in Mayagüez.

Several weeks earlier the TV show “Dando Candela” and its journalist, Ojeda, presented a report where several animals seemed extremely underweight and these images caused an outrage in the community. As more images and anecdotes of recent visits to the zoo rose, “Fanáticos de Animales’” administrator, Mr. Felixis Falcón, decided to organize a protest to become the voice of those who cannot speak for themselves.

From an indigenous perspective, the respect and protection of all living things is one of the utmost responsibilities of a native person, hence, UCTP members, Joanna “Aya” Soto-Avilés, Sonia “Nube” Vigo, her son Guaily and myself, Tai Pelli as UCTP Officer and Taíno Representative for the Caribbean Amerindian Development Organization (CADO), set to become participants in the protest.

Upon arrival, we noticed a heavy police presence in and outside zoo grounds.

Mr. Felixis Falcón and myself were granted the opportunity to meet up with zoo officials and were the only ones allowed on the premises. Dr. Luis Figueroa, Curator and Veterinarian of the zoo, and Biologist Mr. Oscar Vázquez, led the visit. We expressed our concerns and those of the demonstrators that were not allowed in. Dr. Figueroa stated that he was glad to see that people cared for the zoo, for it shows him that the zoo is important to them. He wanted to reassure us that everything was fine with the animals and that there were no problems at the zoo.

We were taken to the Emú area. Emphasizing it was an Emú and not an ostrich, as was expressed through the media. (An Emú looks like an ostrich). We did not step out of the golf-cart. It was a quick stop. (Hmm! I had to wait to return home and verify the image I had seen of the Emú. I did, and the plumage is very different from the one I saw. I later wanted to get Felixis opinion, and he too, agrees that the Emú from the picture does not look like the one we were shown.)

We proceeded to the area where they store and prepare the food. The place was ARMY-clean. Although the food had been prepared, I did not see a tiny particle of a leaf, nor anything on the floor. Counters were clean.

As Felixis and I followed Dr. Figueroa into the walk-in freezer, I saw a room filled with boxes of food, stacked in perfect order. One box opened, which contained Nebraska Feline Diet. We were shown packages of hospital-quality meat (low-fat) from an additional freezer and bags of frozen rats. Understanding the place had just been stocked-up, I asked specifically about food shipments. Dr. Figueroa stated they get their food supply on Tuesdays and Fridays, with the exception of supplements, which they order on an “as needed” basis. He stated that because they knew we would be there Friday the 16^th, they asked to get the shipment the day before.

As we went from point “A” to point “B”, there would be a number of zoo personnel awaiting us.

Time to see the lion! We encountered the most zoo personnel at this location, yet the ones who primarily spoke were Dr. Figueroa and Biologist Oscar Vázquez. We came to realize Tsavo was in the same room as us, when Dr. Figueroa called his name and he lazily roared. (It sounded more like a yawn!) Tsavo was lying down leaning against a wall, in what seemed like a narrow hallway that connected to other areas. He swatted his tail a couple of times. Dr. Figueroa let him lick his hand and was inviting us to get closer. We both maintained a safe distance. Tsavo was uninterested and could care less about our presence (he pretty much looked away from us most of the time unless the Dr. tried to get his attention). His mane, did not look as mangled as we had seen in the many pictures taken by an array of sources. We could not compare the body to the images because of the position he was in. Although the ventilation system they use to fan away the smell was off, the area looked very clean and one could not smell the animal nor any traces of urine in the area. The pills he was taking were conveniently placed on a sill and were shown to us.

Dr. Figueroa asked if we were satisfied and immediately Mr. Vázquez interjected and said we now had to write an apology! He still wanted to place the blame on us for what Ojeda had purportedly said about Dr. Ribero during the report in “Dando Candela”, which of course, had nothing to do with us and was not our responsibility. Mr. Vázquez’ main issue was the fact he felt that Dr. Ribero had been disrespected and in his view was not deserving of the alleged comments on the show. He spoke very highly of Dr. Ribero as a person and as a professional.

Mr. Falcón expressed that it was clear they had plenty of time to prepare for this visit and that he still had not received an explanation for the photos. He showed Dr. Figueroa pictures stored in his phone, one after another, to no avail. We received many excuses: there was a lioness that was in heat and male lions don’t pay much attention to nourishment during this time, Tsavo is old, Tsavo is old and gets sick just like people age and get sick, the photographer maliciously waited for the lion to be at a bad angle to snap the shot, nowadays anyone can do anything to pictures (inferring “Photoshop”), there was a change in government administration 7 months ago and people do things like this.

I asked about the other lion and although the immediate response was: “Do you want to see it?” and I replied affirmatively, we were never taken to see him.

As we were walking out, they showed us the new aquarium exhibit. We thanked them for their disposition in granting us the interview. We were then escorted out of the premises.

A huge sign had been posted by the entrance, according to some, on August 8^th, announcing a Remodeling Project for the Lion and Aviary exhibits. The grass had been recently cut, and had not been raked.

WORA TV and WOLE TV interviewed Felixis and I. WORA TV showed a small clip of our protest on Friday’s Evening News and an edited version of our interviews and that of Dr. Figueroa on Monday August 19^th, 2013. WOLE TV posted a YouTube Video with Felixis Falcón’s interview, the Zoo Administrator and Dr. Figueroa.

The Zoo Administrator and Dr. Figueroa seem to have different information with regards to the food supply shipments. Dr. Figueroa told me weekly, on Tuesdays and Fridays with the exception of the supplements for variety. The Administrator told WOLE TV they get weekly shipments of Fruits and Vegetables on Mondays and Fridays and a once a month shipment of meat! You be the judge!

Dr. Figueroa admitted on one of the interviews that Tsavo had indeed lost approximately 20 pounds, yet the Administrator inferred that the claims (that the animals were underweight) were uninformed. Dr. Figueroa stated they will now implement a weekly weigh-in for the lions to keep tabs on any weight changes.

The zoo has been known to have an array of challenges throughout the decades. Things get bad, animals escape, animals look underweight, things get better for a while and something else happens. What it needs is consistency in maintaining a high level of quality.

We must keep an eye on the conditions of the only zoo in the island of Borikén. It is up to us to be vigilant and voice our concerns on behalf of those who cannot do it for themselves.

Tai Pelli

Samwel Naikada; a humble pastoralist with a bright vision for his Maasai Peoples

12/18/2012

This year, I had the privilege to participate in Tribal Link Foundation’s Project Access, a Training Program designed to prepare Indigenous Peoples from around the globe, to participate in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

It was on that first day, that I met Samwel Naikada, a humble Maasai pastoralist from Kenya, Africa, as each of us introduced ourselves to the group. When it was his turn, the tall, slim, 39 year old man, stood up in his traditional Maasai attire and spoke in a soft, yet firm and almost regal fashion about his Maasai people, and the menace of deforestation of the Dupoto Forest. This forest has been the livelihood of the Maasai Peoples for time immemorial.

His desire, he expressed, was to develop and promote Eco-tourism as a mean of survival and preservation. The room was quiet and all eyes were on Samwel. He spoke about his teaching young people about taking pride on who they were. Deep inside, I thought: “How could anyone not take pride on being Maasai, with this brother that speaks so proudly about his people and who has such an impressive ability to communicate and who projects that same pride he speaks of!”

We had learned from the representative of the Ogiek Tribe (also from Kenya), how the Maasai were helping them. To me, this was extremely significant, to know that these people who are having struggles of their own, still find the means to help a fellow tribe!

There were many in the group who had achieved all kinds of high-level education. Humbly, Samwel mentioned how he understood he might have not the knowledge as the others, for he did not possess any formal education, perhaps to the level of those in the group. He expressed his desire, his dream of pursuing a degree in Community Development so that he could effectively help his people and achieve the goals he had set forth. Although I understood what he meant, I could not help it but tell him that he could stand in a room filled with Ph.D’s and address them in the same way he had addressed us, for he spoke from the heart and the message was loud and clear.

In times like the ones we are living, very few people have the passion or aspire to dedicate their lives to develop and preserve their communities the way Samwel does.

This past summer, he was able to enroll at Narok University College, Kilgoris Branch in Kenya, to obtain his degree in Community Development. The cost of his education per year is $1,000.00. His first year has been covered through some donations, one of them by Tribal Link Foundation, but he still needs the additional $3,000.00.

Samwel is married to one wife and has six children. He is a pastoralist depending on livestock and is the first and only one to complete secondary education in the whole village, so far. He plans to invest his acquired knowledge in advocating for the rights of his people, assist youth and women to use available resources and skills so that they can economically improve their living standards. His goal, to link his community with National and International Programs that will assist and build their capacity.

I strongly believe, in my deepest core, there is someone out there or a Foundation that would be willing to cover the $3,000.00 needed to cover the remaining balance of his college tuition, hence, helping Samwel Naikada attain the education he is so much committed to complete to improve the quality of life and sustenance of the Maasai Peoples.

For more information about Samwel Naikada, you may contact me at taimar16@yahoo.com .

Tai Pelli

Central Florida Liaison Officer

United Confederation of Taíno People

At Risk! El Campito...

AT RISK! El Campito, Urban Forest in the City of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico

08/27/2012

The Movement “Salvemos El Campito” (Let’s save El Campito), led by Attorney Ricardo Delestre, has been exposing the detrimental effects that the destruction of this urban forest will have, should the local authorities allow its current owners to destroy 50% of this forest to construct apartment buildings.

Some of the effects of destroying El Campito:

·        Over 1,000 trees plus other vegetation will be destroyed.

·       The loss of biosequestration of carbon dioxide (the most abundant greenhouse gas!) resulting in an increase    to the already huge problem of global warming

·        Destruction of natural habitat for many life species (loss of bio-diversity)

·         Interruption of natural flow of the Las Tunas/Mendoza Creek

·        Increase of flash floods that will affect residential areas and businesses

·         Destruction of a spring and several other bodies of water within this Urban Forest

·         Air and water pollution. Destruction of the “lungs” of the urban center of Cabo Rojo

·         Erosion and climatic disruption

In the late 15^th century, the island of Borikén (Puerto Rico) was described by chroniclers as the island with the thickest forest, from the very shores. It seemed impenetrable! Today, Puerto Rico is 54% urbanized. The preservation rate is that of only 8% vs. the 25% standard in the United States. Every year the islanders are experiencing hotter temperatures, mudslides (some even mortal), and flash floods as they had never been seen before.

El Campito is a 16 acre Urban Forest, considered the “lungs” of the city’s urban center. It’s proximity to the Sports Complex Rebecca Colberg, has made it an extension for sports, such as mountain biking, hiking, etc.. Volunteers preserve the trails while respecting nature. Just recently, neighbors alerted members of the “Salvemos El Campito” Movement, when they saw heavy equipment go in. Sadly, they found many trees cut down, trails blocked with some of the same trees they had cut down and bulldozed-widened trails.

According to Attorney Delestre, the permits were expired, and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources regulations regarding reforestation had not been followed whatsoever.

The “Salvemos El Campito” Movement,, hasn’t been one to just oppose, but one that has presented viable alternatives to the City of Cabo Rojo, including the acquisition of El Campito, as part of the Sports Complex Rebecca Colberg, promoting healthy lifestyles, ecotourism, agricultural projects, a butterfly haven, while assuring that the Mendoza Creek is not disturbed any more than it already has, for residents in its vicinity have suffered flash floodings that have destroyed everything they owned, some having to be rescued from their rooftops. Many small business owners faced losses as well. The destruction of 50% of El Campito will have a detrimental effect for Cabo Rojo that will be beyond repair. Trees and vegetation layer absorb and serve as a water retention mechanism. Deforestation will almost guarantee a menace of more flash floods. Flora and fauna life forms impacted would be irreplaceable.

We are well aware that deforestation is collaborating to: the extinction of bio-diversity, climatic changes and a global unbalance overall. Half of the forests of the world have been destroyed, most of them within the last 50 years. At this time, it is understood that ANY act of deforestation is frowned upon by the international community and environmentalists, REGARDLESS of the size of the area at risk. The island of Puerto Rico has and is still suffering the effects of reckless deforestation; trees have been sacrificed and exchanged for cement.

This is our plea to you, so that you can join us in preserving the natural beauty and important elements that made the island earn the name of “The island of enchantment”!

Tai Pelli

Send your email, English or Spanish to the Mayor of Cabo Rojo, Hon. Perza Rodriguez,  perzarodriguez@gmail.com

Let her know you oppose to more deforestation in Boriken, particularly, El Campito, the Urban Forest of Cabo Rojo, and that you urge her to proactively promote its preservation by pursuing its acquisition.

When a child dies a mother is reborn

When a child dies a mother is reborn

June 15, 2012

(Dedicated to Wilma Flores-Arroyo, Marisol Martinez Negrón, Aide Vazquez-Mont, Carmen Laura Báez, Bibi Mille Torres-Speeg)

This matter has been too close to me, hence I choose to understand it as a reality. No caring mother will ever be the same after she loses a child. No one shall ever expect her to be the way she used to be before the biggest loss a human being can experience. The different approaches and/or religions or sets of belief systems are simply a band aid to a humongous wound. They can pretend to be Ok, or act as though things are just moving along, but don’t you buy it for a second. In her solace, she will be yearning for that child as she did at that precise moment where she learned her child had passed. Age is irrelevant! A mother can see gray on her offspring’s hair, and to her, he or she will forever be her baby. They can grow up, they can leave the nest and regardless of whether they are near or far, nothing changes that feeling.

From the moment you feel or learn you are going to have a child, you change as a woman. The second you hold that little bundle of life in your arms, you experience the biggest and most overwhelming vibration in your entire being! A bond is formed, an unbreakable bond. The love of a mother for her child is the purest of all loves.

When a mother has to face the fact her child has been taken away by illness, accident or suicide, that woman experiences a void that nothing can replace. She may have other children, she may not, but it does not matter as far as it being a filler for that part of her that is no longer there for her to hold, hug or kiss. She too, dies. A new person has to emerge!

She may falter, get weak on the legs and low on strength, but just as a baby needs to flip over, crawl, give their first few stumbling steps before they can walk steadily, a mother has to do the same. She has to be re-born, for when her child left this plain, she too, left with him or her.

Don’t ever expect this woman to be the way she was, unless you want her to put up a show. Yes! A show!  She knows what she is presenting you with is not her true self. The pressures of family and friends with good intentions, can sometimes almost force these mothers to act in a way only they understand is NOT real. You may end up seeing what you want to see, but you are no longer getting her true essence.

Let her be! Let her go through the process of this re-birth. Embrace her, support her, encourage her! She may act different, she may even choose to do things she had not done before, but now she has come face to face with the fragility of life! She had to endure and survive not just her child’s, but her own demise.

Let her be! Eventually, not only may you be able to see her walk, if you give it time, you may be able to see her freely display the wings of her spirit, as she soars high as this new mother that has just been reborn!

Tai Pelli

Traditional Knowledge

Traditional Knowledge

06/01/2012

There are many aspects to this term; it is amazingly extensive with cultural elements, oral history and traditions, but I want to concentrate on something that now seems to be a “gem to be acquired” by the same ones that put it down over 40 years ago.

I will share my own story. I was born in New York and eventually my parents decided “I needed to learn Spanish in the island (Borikén/Puerto Rico)”, yes, that was their lame excuse to leave me behind with my grandparents during one of our trips. My Manhattan’s tall buildings were exchanged for a humble farm that cultivated everything but rice. A beautiful sugarcane field was our commercial source. The coffee field was for the consumption of the family. We had fruits, spices, bananas of every kind, we had jaguas (há-goo-as), guamá, caimitos, mamey, guayaba, among many other autochthonous fruits (look at the names, mostly Taíno), and every herb capable of curing or alleviating any ailment.

At the beginning I went along with grandma’s remedies, but eventually I became infested and I started doubting the effectiveness of their knowledge on healing with their “archaic ways of healing”. These were times of doctors and medicines and everyone had the habit of asking what you had been given to help your illness. Of course, I was a child, the elements of peer pressure were already present and I did not want to confess that grandma had made me special teas or placed some leaves of whatever it was to bring swelling down when that was the case. I learned to feel shame in their ways. I had already lived it and seen the others’ reactions. When I helped grandma clean and organize the triangle-shaped shelves, I always placed the alcoholado with herbs on the back of the shelf, in case we had company. I remember that whenever grandpa had his kidney problems, I had to go to a particular garden that had a variety of healing herbs for all kinds of ailments and grandpa would drink from that water saved for him in that large pitcher with herbs.

Whenever he came from the sugarcane field and was bitten by a venomous centipede, grandma would send for these huge leaves that had to be placed over the affected area.

My grandma from Mayagüez also made special teas whenever we were sick. Those were the ways! Oh! But I was from the growing generation that believed and bought into pharmaceuticals and who presented people like my grandparents and their ways as primitive and ignorant. Believe me , I had to go to that garden so many times, and look for jaguas by the tree for that special water they too, made me drink. Unfortunately for me, I learned very little compared to all they knew and had to offer.

The thing is that I was not the only one hopping onto this van wagon of so-called progress. An entire generation was being influenced and pharmaceuticals started making lots of money. People began to prefer the pill vs. the tea, the topical cream vs. the leaf on the affected site. We became the pill generation. Trusting our doctors and taking whatever they prescribed, while something else became damaged, so that they could sell you yet another pill and so on. People started dying of cancers, or as they said in the island: “unexpectedly”. But hey, they had been on five different pills for their condition!

I still remember how in the 70’s it seemed like everyone was dying from cancer. In my family, the Pelli’s and the Negron’s, both strong people, were falling like mangoes off a tree. Ah! The advancements and progress over those primitive ways!

Argh! It angers me to remember grandpa’s stories of meals of funche (corn meal) and bacalao (cod fish), or simply a coconut when there was nothing else and times were hard. Him and my great grandmother lived an entire century, when now the average life expectancy in the U.S. for example is of 89.5 years, but what they don’t share is the quality of those 89.5 years, of blood diluted with what I call the “pharma-plasmas” that instead of giving you life, extend your misery.

A lot of Indigenous Peoples lost their ways and habits of sustenance. I still enjoyed eating what we grew and grandpa’s agricultural system and wisdom, but eventually a lot of that changed as grandpa aged. Actually, both grandpas aged and canned food and packaged things seemed more advanced and practical than going to “La Plaza del Mercado”, (Farmer’s Market), which had impressed me so much when I arrived from New York. It was filled with people, chatter, fruits and vegetables, poultry, all so very fresh. I still remember the smell and the activity. Oh! Now, it is all fancied-up, but it is dead; it lost its life and there are so very few people that I prefer staying away and preserving the joyous memories of my childhood.

Chef Boy-ar-dee, Spam, canned tuna replaced the cod fish, going to the farm to pull some yucca, or the wonderful trip to the fish market, as local fishermen arrived in their “yolas” with their catch (unpretentious small-type-boats), and watching the beautiful ocean while at it.

However, the rules of the game changed, and some fool realized that the old way was not that primitive after all. People were healthier, stronger, and their foods had all these properties so beneficial to the human body. They also realized that the old remedies worked, and as they thought about it, dollar signs multiplied over their heads, and with this grave mentality that anything that belongs to anyone indigenous is a “free for grabs”, they did just that.

They started approaching people to learn about remedies. Knowledge that was shared with good intention, but the receiver was already thinking of the Sales & Marketing Strategies for it, of course, excluding the indigenous peoples from those who would benefit from it.

So they took again! It has not stopped!

Why? Why do Bolivians have to see their Quinoa leave their country, so that the fancy in my own city, New York, could benefit from it? The Quinoa is the most recent example. Bolivians used it in an array of dishes and forms. Now they can hardly acquire the nourishment that was part of their diet for centuries if not longer. Remember “Uña de Gato”? Same thing, mass production and mass profits.  

Why is organic food unaffordable to Pepe González? It is all about the money, and if you have it, you can eat organic. If you are part of the bigger mass that has to stretch the dollar and make miracles with it, you have to buy the high-fat, high-salt, canned food , which is what you will be able to afford and eventually, get so sick the pharmaceutical can squeeze you out some more while you get on some type of pill.

Territories “officially declared” as Indigenous lands are being taken over, and as opposed to the continuance of the agricultural  system that has sustained its peoples, what’s being planted is one type of tree, i.e. Eucalyptus, which drains the terrain of water, hence leaving adjacent villages without the precious liquid that sustains us all.

I have listened to “experts” (people that think know a lot), try to educate and encourage Indigenous Peoples to plant their food. Ok, REWIND!!!!! They are now coming to tell them to plant, so that they can eat healthier? Meaning no Spam, no foods high on fats and salt, no canned foods? Go Organic? So, isn’t this about going back to basics, going back to what had been the normal way of sustenance before these global invasions?

Yesterday, while at a doctor’s office, I had no choice but to amuse myself by reading every poster on the wall; all advertising some pill, of course, with the disclaimers of all the things that could go wrong, or the areas that may become affected by taking that medication, including death. Absurd!

I have learned to appreciate the teas and the leaves. They still work! Conventional medicine has gotten to a point where saying: “It could be this or it might be that, or I don’t know”, have become the new norm, while simultaneously handing you a prescription. However, if someone chooses to seek alternative methods, they are quick to frown or even drop them as patients not before telling them off.  When someone has made a claim to have either gotten better or cured from an illness by using these methods, they are quick to criticize, mock or blatantly discredit and/or deny that such has occurred.

I have had my share of medical challenges, I still live with them. I have heard the I don’t know’s, the maybe it’s this, or maybe it’s that, and at my weakest moments and frustration, the memory of my grandmothers pop to mind and I am so sure, that had they been alive, one of them would have had some special tea, or placed their hands on me in that peculiar way I saw one do to so many people that sought her help,  that perhaps would have cured me a long time ago, instead of having to serve a Life Sentence with Pharmaceuticals.

Tai Pelli

The Doctrine of Discovery and its effects

The Doctrine of Discovery and its effects

(Original version written in Spanish on May 17^th, 2012)

This year at the 11^th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the theme to be discussed was “The Doctrine of Discovery”. A vast array of areas in which the effects and ramifications of this cruel doctrine continue to impact Indigenous Peoples adversely, and how it is still being applied today and at a Global Level.

In the Americas, we experienced the arrival (invasion) of flag ships over 519 years ago, however now, we encounter the multi-nationals that continue presenting a mask for a so-called economic progress for some, and the despair and destruction for the masses, particularly, Indigenous Peoples, whether or not they are recognized, or continue to be invisible/extinct, as the best excuse to continue taking over lands, knowledge and resources from which depends the livelihood and sustenance of the Indigenous Peoples.

I was dumbfounded, as I learned the stories of so many people at a Global scale, who like the Taíno, have had to deal with and fight the myth of the so-called extinction. It seems to have been an effective method, which has been utilized for hundreds of years, hence creating a curtain of invisibility before the governments, where the human rights of the Indigenous Peoples are excluded. To me, it was incredible to listen to these stories from people from other parts of the world and continents: Asia, Transcaucasia, Central and South America, The Pacific and Africa; it was, as we say in my beloved Borikén (Puerto Rico), “to listen to a scratched up long play (LP) record!”

One of the most impacting things for me to hear was the fact that there is still a problem in categorizing the Indigenous as a PERSON. Yes! That’s right! There is resistance to consider us as people! (The term Indigenous Peoples, refers to the different Indigenous groups/tribes/nations)

Winston Churchill said once, during one of his speeches that: “when we don’t learn from what has happened historically, we are apt to repeat it.” Well, I say we are more than half a millennia behind, if Indigenous Peoples are still seen as sub-human, savages, heathens, etc., and whose lands and resources seem to become a “free for all” when conceptualizing the Indigenous this way.

The Taíno, The Charrúa, The Pipil, Indigenous Peoples from Bangladesh, from Crimea, The Munda, among so many, many Indigenous Nations, continue on this intense battle to run the curtain of invisibility. Even Peoples like  - and this is just an example – The Maasai from Kenya, Kayapó and many others from the Xingú River in Brazil, The Ñuña from Mexico, The Kuna from Panamá, continue to be trampled over by the injustices of an established system that does not encompass nor protects their rights in the same fashion that the rights of non-indigenous people are upheld and defended. They speak about an equality of paper; for that is not a reality. The Mining companies, the hydroelectric plants, Developers continue to invade and take over indigenous lands, without any care as to who they stomp over, while at it. The courts dictate, but it does not matter. We are well aware that Belo Monte could care less, when a Cease order was issued by a court in Brazil.

During a peaceful protest In Panamá against these type abuses (mining/hydroelectric plant/dam) six Ngobe women were arrested and later raped in the patrol cars, a crime that is yet to see any justice.

The Maasai People from Kenya, fight to defend the forest that sustains them, yet they are facing the threat of deforestation to developers. So, what about the survival of the Maasai? The same Maasai that helps the Ogiek Tribe from Kenya!

The Climate Changes to which so many want to close their eyes to, are already affecting people, putting at risk not only their methods of nourishment, but their own lives and everything related to their way of life, traditions, customs and homes.

Ah! People watched Al Gore’s video, others see the icebergs from the Poles as something that only affected the Titanic, and even when they may have seen something that shows they are melting, it seems as though they think the only ones that will be affected are the polar bears and the penguins. They forget that if they are melting, it is increasing the sea level, and that the planet has islands and coasts everywhere.

The beautiful and small island of Tuvalú, in the Pacific, is already being affected. Many of its inhabitants have felt the need to move to New Zealand,, leaving behind many times, loved ones and an entire life. The island floods, each time more than the last. Gardens and crops don’t grow when they are saturated with salt water. You see, these floods are not particularly caused by rain, but by ocean tides that continue rising and taking over the land. It has been estimated (by those who say know a lot), that from here to 2050, Tuvalú will be totally submerged. The people from Tuvalú, who have not damaged the environment with toxic gases and who have had their autonomy, could lose their island and their everything, as a consequence of the actions of others that continue to spread their lethal virus, that makes them think more of profits than life, or even the planet in which they live on.

In every case aforementioned, when the help of authorities has been sought, the message received has been a : “The hell with you!” Between money and Indigenous Peoples, the money is chosen.

We have lost the sense of humanity. Every day, we see beautiful messages in the social networks, yet we need to go beyond that. Change begins with us, in our own homes, in our conscience.

What’s happening to our planet, regardless of divisions, languages or colors, is of everyone’s concern. Eventually, this too, will knock at your front door, and as I always say: “Life is about choices!”, you either choose to die in the misery of inaction, or you join the effort to defend the most important race in the planet, the human race!

I hope you care!

Tai Pelli

Project Access 2012

May 13^th, 2012

Project Access

As I reflect on what has transpired in the last twelve days, I must admit the experience has been surreal. I had the wonderful opportunity to be part of Tribal Link’s Project Access Global Capacity Building Program to later participate in the 11^th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

There were twenty-eight of us at the training. On that very first day, as each of us introduced ourselves and spoke about our people and struggles, I realized that the only thing that minutely sets us apart, is the shade of our skin and the accents of our languages. The struggles are the same. I usually call myself “a banana from a different bunch”, considering my family and culture. I speak about what others think but don’t dare verbalize for whatever their reasons. Through Project Access, I found myself with other “bananas from different bunches”! I am not alone! I saw all of us as fragments of the same spirit, spread throughout the world. Yet, this was only a fractional glimpse for what I was to see beginning May 7^th, 2012.

I have fought the Doctrine of Discovery since I was eleven years old, unbeknownst to me, when I stood up in my 7^th grade History of Puerto Rico class to state to my teacher that not all Taíno were dead because my family was alive. Of course at the time I was ridiculed, but that became a pivotal and iconic moment in my life, and by age seventeen, I decided to begin my own research and look for the answers to all the contradictions of what I was being taught. I was doing it for me, never thinking I’d ever be sharing my findings. All I remembered was the many times my maternal greatgrandmother whispered to me: “We are indians!” That she called me, “India”. My greatgrandfather was also one, hence my beautiful grandmother and my mother.

No one in my beautiful island of Borikén (Puerto Rico), would shy away from saying that a boricua is the mixture of the Taíno, “The Spaniard” (big mistake, a more appropriate and accurate statement would be “European”) and the African. If you happen to fit the stereotype of a Taíno, there will be no problem in calling you “Taína” or “India”, as was my case, of course that is as long as you don’t claim to be one! That is when we hear the colonized mind speak: “All Taíno are extinct!”

My biggest issue is Education. I think we have had enough with the romanticized versions of a “Discovery” of an entire continent populated by PEOPLE (not sub-human creatures, heithens, savages). We, as Taíno, are seldom mentioned in the books used to teach our children, particularly during the first 13 years of their schooling. We are lucky if we are mentioned in one paragraph in American schools! The myth of extinction has been engrained in the minds of our people and we are perceived as “archaelogical artifacts”, when in fact there are many of us. Some scholars have mocked Oral History and when Science has proven else, the information has been swept under the rug. However, when we look at the struggles of the people, for example, in my island of Borikén, our people are being subjected to all the things that other Indigenous Peoples from around the world are facing. Multi-million dollar contracts were signed prior to any announcement to the people, for a gaspipe that will be approximately 94 miles long going right through the middle of our island, with total disregard to sacred and archaelogical sites. Flora and Fauna would be affected, people would be displaced. Promises of great savings and the propaganda of geological studies done that in reality comprised 1/27^th of the terrain involved, for an island that has a lot of seismic activity and is less than 100 x 35 miles!

The economic conditions in the island are collapsing. Incidences of NCD’s (Non-Contagious Diseases) such as Diabetes, CardioVascular, Obesity and Lung Diseases are rampant, and an enormous amount of amputations. Domestic Violence seems to be a pandemia.

Our people need to learn the truth. The United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, should be presented to them, particularly, the right of self-determination and Free Prior Informed Consent.

My unique greatgrandmother whispered to me often we were indians. She just did not know, I would turn out to be “a banana from a different bunch”, and I would never hush it. I am Taíno and I am here!

Tai Pelli