Taíno Culture and History Panel Discussion, 1997
Subject
Graciela Quiñones-Rodriguez
(Puerto Rican)
Subject
José Juan Arróm
Subject
Luis A. Figueroa-Martínez
(Puerto Rican)
Subject
José Rodriguez Sellas
Subject
Melanio Gonzalez
(born 1951)
Subject
Roberto Múcaro Borrero
(Taíno)
Date1997 October 25
Mediumreformatted digital files from audio cassette
DimensionsDuration (tape 1, side 1): 44 Minutes, 48 Seconds
Duration (tape 1, side 2): 46 Minutes, 38 Seconds
Duration (tape 2, side 1): 45 Minutes, 32 Seconds
Duration (tape 2, side 2): 20 Minutes, 28 Seconds
Duration (total runtime): 2 Hours, 37 Minutes, 41 Seconds
ClassificationsInformation Artifacts
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.697.1-.2
DescriptionTwo audio cassette tapes of a panel discussion about Taíno culture and history. The event was held at the Institute for Community Research in Hartford, Connecticut on October 25, 1997. Graciela Quiñones-Rodriguez was the moderator. The panelists included: José Juan Arróm, Luis Figueroa, José Rodriguez Sellas, Melanio Gonzalez, and Roberto Borrero.
The presentation was recorded in conjunction with the "Herencia Taina: Legacy and Life" exhibit.
2015.196.697.1a-d: (tape 1) two digital files, J-card, and cassette tape
2015.196.697.2a-d: (tape 2) two digital files, J-card, and cassette tape
NotesBiographical Note: Graciela Quiñones-Rodriguez is a Puerto Rican educator, social worker, artist, and luthier who apprenticed with William Cumpiano (Easthampton, MA) and has built cuatros, tiples, and bordonuas. Graciela is also a cuatrista and higüera (gourd) and santos carver. She served as an advisory committee and exhibiting artist and workshop leader for CCHAP’s three Puerto Rican projects, starting as a community scholar with Herencia Taina, CCHAP’s 1998 Taino exhibit project, researching the techniques of higüera preparation and decoration for use as household utensils, ornaments with Taino or political iconography, or musical instruments. She also worked as an artist-presenter for the Massachusetts Cultural Council summer institute on Puerto Rican cultural heritage for Springfield, Massachusetts teachers. Graciela is a highly respected arts educator, woodcarver, and singer with the Connecticut Latin music group Tierra Mestiza. She is a Connecticut Commission on the Arts Master Teaching Artist and Artists Fellowship winner. As part of the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program in Year 3 (2000-2001), she worked with master luthier Bill Cumpiano. Together they built cuatros, tiples, and bordonuas, older forms of Puerto Rican stringed instruments. As part of the apprenticeship they built a cuatro on the basis of a photograph of an unusual form from the early 1900's, which has a bent wood body rather than a hollowed-out base. They demonstrated their partnership work at the Lowell Folk Festival in 2000.The presentation was recorded in conjunction with the "Herencia Taina: Legacy and Life" exhibit.
2015.196.697.1a-d: (tape 1) two digital files, J-card, and cassette tape
2015.196.697.2a-d: (tape 2) two digital files, J-card, and cassette tape
Biographical Note: José J. Arróm received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Yale University, teaching in its Department of Anthropology until his retirement in 1979. Living and writing in North Haven, Connecticut at the time of the exhibit project in 1997, Dr. Arróm was one of the foremost scholars of the Taino Indians. His twelve books discussed various aspects of the Taino legacy including archaeological reconstructions of Taino culture, Taino language, and analyses of contemporary Spanish descriptions of Taino culture. His 1974 book "Relaciones acerca de las antigüedades de los indios" was in its eighth printing, and was translated into Catalan, and published in the U.S. in English by Duke University Press. Dr. Arróm enthusiastically agreed to be a consultant to the project, offering to lend Taino artifacts from his personal collection and to participate in the panel discussion held in October 1997.
Biographical Note: José E. Rodríguez Sellas, an instructor in Puerto Rican Studies at Gateway Community Technical College in New Haven, has researched Taino history starting in the 1980s compiling bibliographies and resource materials. He worked at American Indians for Development in Meriden, where he met and collaborated with Melanio Gonzalez on Taino art and resesarch. During the planning process for the Herencia Taina project he assisted Ruth Glasser with project research as well as advising the curatorial team on modes and themes of interpretation for the exhibit and programming. He continued to serve as a project advisor for the project’s implementation.
Subject Note: "Herencia Taina: Legacy and Life" was an exhibit and related programs examining the history of Puerto Rico's indigenous people, the Taino through contemporary art expressions and interpretations, on view May 3-November 30, 1997 at the Institute for Community Research.
ICR's Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program, in conjunction with project scholar Ruth Glasser and designer Ricardo Mulero, planned an exhibit, workshops, and concert to present a wide range of arts practiced by musicians and visual artists who are inspired by Taino heritage. Participating artists included Imna Arroyo (Eastern Connecticut State University), Graciela Quiñones-Rodriguez (West Hartford), Mel Gonzalez (Meriden), and Robert Borrero (New York), who created contemporary interpretations and folk art works illustrating Taino heritage, such as musical instruments, gourd carvings, paintings, and textile art, as well as interpretive information for these. Their works were juxtaposed with Taino artifacts from archaeological collections, along with photographs and posters from the continuing indigenous festival held in Jayuya, Puerto Rico, to show the strong influence that Taino culture still holds for Puerto Ricans. The exhibit project also presented several public events including a concert, a workshop for teachers, and a roundtable discussion. An illustrated brochure in both English and Spanish was produced. The project was supported by the Connecticut Humanities Council, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation, the Greater Hartford Arts Council, and the Institute for Community Research.
The heritage of the Taino Indians is often proudly proclaimed by Puerto Ricans as one of the three strands of their multi-racial society. What that heritage consists of, how much of it has survived, and its relative importance in the overall culture of the island has been a hotly debated topic for centuries. The Tainos, indigenous people living in Puerto Rico when colonists arrived in the late 15th century, provide an example of the politics and complexities of interpreting a culture which has only a small present-day community and no living language, but is both remembered from the recent past and still represented in blood lines, place names, some everyday practices, and spiritual and political inspiration.
Recreated musical instruments made by members of the group Cacibajagua showed how contemporary Puerto Ricans have been both adopting Taino heritage and basing their work on serious study of archaeology and indigenous materials. Cacibajagua demonstrated their music at a concert on May 1, 1997, at Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford.
Additional materials exist in the CCHAP archive for these participants and this event.
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
2000 May 10
