Following eye-opening genetic testing, Rosa Vargas-Cronin began a journey researching her African and Indigenous ancestry. Yearning to acquire accurate information about the Taino indigenous people of the Caribbean and the enslaved Africans shipped to the “Americas” motivated her six-year investigation.

At this event, Rosa will introduce you to her ancestors, the Taino people, and how they continue to honor their culture today. The Taíno are the indigenous people of the Caribbean islands. They inhabited what are now Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti (Hispaniola), Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Florida. Once the most numerous indigenous people of the Caribbean; the Taino numbered up to five million in Hispaniola alone at the time of the Spanish colonization in the late 15th century.

Attendees will also create a Taíno Sun petroglyph (pictured here). The Sun petroglyph represents everything from the sun and sky to the Taino cosmology.

If you need ASL (American Sign Language) Interpreting, please check the box on our registration form. Given 48 hours notice, we are able to provide ASL interpreting services for our programs. Please contact Sarah Dennison (sarah.dennison@libraryweb.org) for further information.