The U.S. Government’s Cultural Genocide on Puerto Rican Taíno Heritage Sites is a Grotesque Violation of Human Rights: It’s time to Take Action
Long before historical villain Christopher Columbus landed on the islands of Boriken and re-named it, “Puerto Rico” the First Nations people called Boricuas inhabited the archipelago for centuries. Christopher Columbus also re-named Boricuas, “Taínos” despite Taíno being a greeting, it is now how U.S. citizens describe Indigenous Puerto Ricans. 61% of Puerto Ricans have Indigenous DNA; that connects us to our archipelago. Ever since the U.S. invaded and purchased Puerto Rico from Spain; the U.S. government has committed a laundry list of human rights violations against Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is the oldest colony in the world. One of the first countries to be colonized and 530 years later; we are still denied liberation. Now our Puerto Rican Native American heritage sites are at risk of erasure!
The legacies of slavery are so strong that Puerto Ricans can not vote for the President of the United States, have no voting representation in Congress, and our politicians are funded by racist white men in the Republican Party who work to exploit Puerto Rican labor and resources. Puerto Ricans have endured forced sterilization by the U.S. Government and big Pharma, the U.S. arrested and unlawfully incarcerated children as young as eight years old for ten years without a trial for having a Puerto Rican flag in their bed rooms, today Puerto Ricans pay the highest taxes on their own food that they produce in house, are facing gentrification by AirBnb and Crypto-Bros, and now the both the U.S. Government and the Puerto Rican government are committing cultural genocide on our Native American heritage; yet news outlets refuse to tell this story.
What is Cultural Genocide?
According to the Salem Encyclopedia, “Cultural Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of a culture. It is not ethical to destroy the culture of another group of human beings or change it without their consent. Each culture should be judged by its own standards of excellence and morality, unless its cultural practices threaten to harm others physically or mentally.”
Let’s just start with the fact that both of United States and Spain have long worked to erase Boricua Taíno culture or white-wash it to appeal to European Americans. The United Nations specifically sanctioned the Right to Culture as Article 27 in the Declaration of Human Rights, which states:
The right to take part or participate in cultural life, which is widely recognized in human rights instruments, and in particular in article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 15, paragraph 1 (a), of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in general comment No. 21 further clarified the scope and content of this right.
The right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications, enshrined in article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 15, paragraph 1 (b), of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which a person is the author, enshrined in article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 15, paragraph 1 (c), of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In 2005, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted its general comment No. 17 on this right.
The freedom indispensable for scientific research and creative activity, set out in article 15, paragraph 3, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Article 19, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights must also be mentioned as it recognizes that the right to freedom of expression shall include the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of one’s choice.
The right to education, enshrined in numerous international instruments, in particular articles 13 and 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and articles 28 and 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As stressed in the World Declaration on Education for All (1990), people develop their own particular but ever-evolving world visions and capacities through a lifelong process of education; and it is education in its wider meaning that allows access to and the creation of knowledge, values and cultural heritage.
Many references to cultural rights are to be found in provisions and instruments relating to minorities (in particular in article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and in the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities and indigenous peoples (in particular the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Convention concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, 1989 (No. 169) of the International Labour Organization.
The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families also contains provisions relating to cultural rights, including article 43, paragraph 1 (g), and article 45, paragraph 1 (d), on access to and participation in cultural life. Article 31 relates to the respect for the cultural identity of migrant workers.
The non-discrimination principle, enshrined in a large number of international legal instruments, constitutes an important legal basis for the mandate. The Independent expert noted that it is generally agreed that the enjoyment of rights and freedoms on an equal footing “does not mean identical treatment in every instance”, which enables the accommodation required to respect and facilitate the expression of various cultural identities.
The right of everyone to rest and leisure, as set out in article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is closely linked to cultural rights.
How is the United States committing Cultural Genocide, a grotesque human rights violation on Puerto Ricans?
Most Puerto Ricans do not realize that we have a right to protect our indigenous heritage which makes up much of our daily life. Whether it be pasteles or alcapurria that we eat, maracas and bomba that we dance to or petroglyphs that we see throughout the rainforest our indigenous heritage even shows up in our language. We speak the most tribal Spanish dialect in the Western Hemisphere. Despite being colonized the longest; we hold on to our Native American heritage tightly. We even call each other Boricua, our Native American name and we rebuke being called Hispanic. This is even seen throughout our military history where our grandfathers refused to be called Hispanics and renamed the 65th regiment the Borinqueneers. The fight to persevere our culture is a constant battle against white European Americans who want to enforce white supremacy in Puerto Rico and turn it in to a tropical version of white America.
The United States took control of Puerto Rico’s finances without a vote under Barack Obama. The U.S. Oversight board then privatized many sectors in order to restructure Puerto Rico’s debt. This debt was due to J.P.Morgan and other North American bank’s exploitation of Puerto Rico’s resources through their triple tax-free bonds which economically enslaved Puerto Ricans without investing any equity shares or reinvestment into Puerto Rican communities. This debt was completely created by wealthy white Americans.
As a result the privatization of the electricity grid and sacred Boriken Taíno historical sites are damaging the quality of life to Puerto Ricans. According to a Petition started on Change.org by the Taíno Library Founder Stephanie Bailey,
“The human rights atrocities of Columbus and his men, survive US colonization, and have navigated and fought through centuries of forced imperialism, colonialism, and exploitation. of our natural resources;
Because of this, many of our sacred artifacts, sacred sites, burial sites, and ceremonial centers have been desecrated, destroyed, and stolen.
Now, the government is turning a blind eye to the devaluation, privatization, and exploitation of our island, Taino sacred sites, and natural resources.
Cueva del Indio, an archaeological and sacred site for the indigenous people of Puerto Rico (Boriken), located in Arecibo, has been blocked with gates by a neighboring private owner; they have also marketed this sacred space as an attraction charging per person to enter the site, which creates bigger problems such as overcrowding of unsupervised visitors, damage to our petroglyphs, environmental concerns such as littering, impact on wildlife that inhabits it , and the general desecration of an integral spiritual space, for the Tainos to practice their spirituality.
Watch a 20-minute documentary on the privatization of Cueva del Indio:
Earlier this year, the Caguana Ceremonial Center, another integral archaeological site of Taíno spirituality and culture, which houses 13 ceremonial and ball bateyes, along with petroglyphs, was at risk of being removed from the care of the Institute of Culture in Puerto Rich and placed in the hands of the municipality of Utuado, leaving the site open to privatization.
Click on the link below to read an article about Caguana:
Cities and lands like Dorado, where investors and developers have been creating luxurious Caribbean getaways and, in turn, creating private beaches, have been the focus of many protests because, by law, all beaches in Puerto Rico must be open and accessible. to the public.
Click below for an article on the Dorado Beach protests:
The Camuy cave park has also been in the news recently with rumors that they were going to be sold or privatized, however a statement was made to acknowledge that the Authority for Public-Private Partnerships (AAPP) was conducting an evaluation of the cave system. caves to determine the next steps to take.
Click on this link for additional information on Camuy:
The Boriken Indians, the natural citizens of Puerto Rico and the descendants of these lands deserve to be respected as natural stewards and caretakers of these sites and now we need your help.
Take Action by Signing & Sharing the Petition to Stop the Privatization of Boriken Taíno Sacred Historical Sites:
- Sign & Share this petition on social media.
2. Share this medium article to educate other people who want to help share this petition and need more information to learn about this human right attack on Puerto Rican Native American Heritage.
3. Check out this tiktok from the Taíno Library to learn about the U.S. and Puerto Rican Government’s history of erasing Puerto Rican Native American archeological sites:
4. Follow the Taíno Library Tiktok to learn about Puerto Rican Native American History and Culture:
5. To file a United Nations Human Rights Complaint (anyone can file, although it’s recommended to be in Puerto Rico and the ability to take photos of these sites or FOIA government documents not made public yet as this is a requirement to file a complaint):
https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/complaint-procedure/hrc-complaint-procedure-index
6. To learn about how to Defend Human Rights follow me on my human rights tiktok:
References:
https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-cultural-rights
