Story Time with Kiki Kokí: Discovering Our Taíno Ancestry

This is our last and fourth installment of our series Discovering Our Taíno Ancestry.   In our recent trip to Puerto Rico we bought a great selection of books in Spanish. Our favorite is Kiki Kokí La Leyenda Encantada del Coquí (Kiki Kokí The Enchanted Legend of the Coquí).  It's fully in Spanish which is a perfect complement to our son's language learning.  This book is also available in English.  

Do It Yourself Petroglyph: Discovering Our Taino Ancestry

During our past summer vacation I really, really wanted to take little man, and my husband to the La Cueva del Indio to see first hand the Taíno petroglyphs. Unfortunately, due to time constraints we weren't able to go. 

This is a picture of a petroglyph in La Cueva del Indio. Photo credit:  Neyda S. 

However, on our return back home we had a lesson on Taíno petroglyphs. Little man even made his own Taíno petroglyphs. 

Petroglyphs (or 'stone symbols') were carved on rocks all over Puerto Rico by the Taíno indians to record their lives, and daily life.  For our lesson,  I printed a sheet with Taíno symbols from here so little man can draw the symbols for  the petroglyph.

He practiced before drawing the petroglyphs on the rocks. 

Taíno petroglyphs found in different places in
Puerto Rico. 

We had lots of fun making the petroglyphs, and we learned the meaning of some of the symbols, too.  We're looking forward to our next installment about our beloved coquí.  

In the meantime take a look at our previous post on Discovering our Taíno ancestry here, and here. How are you celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month?  Please like, comment, pin or share! 

El Cemí y Dujo: Discovering Our Taíno Ancestry

This is the second installment of Discovering Our Taíno Ancestry series.   In our first installment little one learned about his Taíno culture with a sensory "yucayeque" village that we made. Today's post is all about learning more in detail about the cemíes and dujos that were in his yucayeque.  Luckily I was able to purchase small replicas during our visit to Puerto Rico this past summer, and he used those to make his own. 

Discovering Our Taíno Ancestry

I'm very honored to be a member of the Multicultural Kid Blogs. Together with 15 of our member blogs we are hosting the Second Annual Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 through October 15.  See details below for the chance to win prizes, and participate in our celebration. 

Also, through out this month I will have a special series called:  "Discovering Our Taíno Ancestry."   This is the first installment of our series. We will be celebrating our Hispanic heritage, and teaching little one about his Taíno ancestry. 

This past summer we visited Puerto Rico. However, this visit was unlike any other it was our son's first "real" Spanish immersion trip, and  I was also on a quest to teach our son about his Taíno heritage.

We had the opportunity to see "La Cara del Indio" it's a rock sculpture of a Taíno indian located in the entrance of the town of Isabela and El Tunel de Guajataca. This impressive sculpture pays homage to the Cacique Mabodamaca who was a heroic chieftain  from the 16th century who protected his people, and way of life from the European invaders. This sculpture is visible from the main road, and a vivid reminder of every Puerto Rican's  Taíno heritage. 

Taíno rock sculpture of Cacique Mabodamaca. Picture taken during our visit during the summer. 

On This Beautiful Island Children's Book and Bohío Ornament

¿Quieres leer esto en Español? Simplemente baja la página hasta el final. :)

A great way to teach little one about his culture and ancestors is through children's books. I recently purchased this awesome book: On This Beautiful Island by Edwin Fontánez. 

The story is about Guanín a Taíno boy who lives On This Beautiful Island called Borikén. (The Taínos were the first inhabitants of Puerto Rico). Guanín narrates the beauties of the island as he explores it with his pet Tahite the parrot. He listens to the ocean, and goes off to the rain forest where he finds the coquí.

While reading the book little one and I talked about what he saw in the beautiful illustrations of the book: the bohíos, the rainforest, and the coquí.  As we continued to read we made the story interactive, and fun by using shells to listen to the ocean; and we listened to the coquí (thankfully I found an app with the song of the coquí that I downloaded on my cell phone).  I also let little one play with a small coquí (souvenir) that we have. After we finished I gave him a coloring page of Guanín with his parrot Tahite for him to color that I found here. Since it's Christmas season, we decided to make the bohío ornaments for our tree.  

To make the bohío ornaments we used empty rolls of toilet paper*. I cut the rolls in half, and from another empty roll of paper towel I cut out the roof. Then I used raffia to hang it and hot glue to put the roof of the bohío. White glue and glitter for little one to decorate. (*Per the instructions it requires corrugated paper, but I didn't have any, so I used empty rolls of toilet paper). 

Little one wanted to make the bohíos (huts) sparkly since the last ornaments that we made we used glitter (see the top right star). So I let my baby decorate the huts with glitter.

This is by far the best children's book that I have purchased about Puerto Rico, and my son really enjoys it! He had fun coloring, and decorating the bohíos.

What fun cultural book have you read with your child lately? I would love to know! Please share, like or comment! Thank you!

VERSION EN ESPAÑOL 

Una manera chévere de que mi pequeño chico aprenda más de su cultura y ancestros es a través de libros para niños.  Recientemente compré el libro titulado en Inglés:  On This Beautiful Island  (En esta Hermosa Isla)  por Edwin Fontánez.   El libro también está disponible en Español.  

El libro cuenta la historia de Guanín un niño Taíno quien vive En Esta Hermosa Isla llamada Borikén.  (Los Taínos eran los primeros habitantes de Puerto Rico). Guanín narra las bellezas de la isla mientras el la explora con su mascota la cotorra Tahite.  El escucha el océano, y luego va al bosque tropical donde encuentra al coquí.  

Mientras leo el libro con mi chico hablamos sobre las bellas ilustraciones que vemos: los bohíos, el bosque tropical, y el coquí. Para hacer el cuento más interactivo y divertido utilizamos caracoles para escuchar el océano, y escuchamos a un coquí cantar (gracias a que pude bajar a mi celular una aplicación de la canción). También dejé que mi chico jugara con un pequeño coquí (recordatorio o en mi spanglish un "suvenir" jajaja).  

Después que terminamos, mi chico coloreó una página con el dibujo de Guanín y su cotorra Tahite que encontramos aquí. Como estamos en época de Navidad decidimos hacer unos ornamentos de bohíos para nuestro arbolito.   

Para hacer los bohíos utilice rollos vacíos de papel sanitario*, los corte a la mitad. De otro rollo vacío de papel toalla corte los techos de los bohíos. Luego utilice rafia para colgarlos y con pega caliente pegue el techo y la rafia. Brillo y pega blanca para decorar. (*Las instrucciones requiere que utilice papel corrugado, pero como no tenia use los rollos de papel sanitario). 

El nene quería decorar los bohíos con brillo como hicimos con los ornamentos anteriores que hicimos (ver la estrella en la foto superior derecha). Así que dejé que decorara a su gusto con el brillo. 

Este ha sido el mejor libro de niños que he comprado sobre Puerto Rico y los Taínos, y mi hijo realmente lo disfruta. 

This post has also been linked and shared at All Done Monkey's Co-Hosting of December's Culture Swap, Crayon Freckles, Sugar Bee Crafts, Hands on: as we grow,  and at Kid Lit Blog Hop #6. 

Embracing Your Roots and Culture

As I look at my son, and see the beauty within him: that he's a child born out of love, and brought into this world with the richness and greatness of having three cultures: Black, Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian. I reflect upon my own life; my roots and culture. I was born in New York, to a Puerto Rican mom, and an Ecuadorian dad. As far as I can remember I was always proud of roots, my culture; heck I was even more thrilled that I had another culture other than being Puerto Rican. As an adult, I am still proud of my roots, and continue to embrace where I came from. So now that we have a son, I want to instill in him this same pride.

Unfortunately, not everyone embraces their roots and cultures; and most of the time deny it. Puerto Ricans are mixed race of Spaniards, African slaves, and Taíno Indians (native indians). Even my own aunts and uncles (on my Mom's side) denied that there could be any "black" in them; but science came back to prove them wrong.

My Grandmother participated in The Origins of the Mitochondrial DNA of Puerto Rico Project, sponsored by the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez campus. They were conducting a series of DNA study and interviews about issues related to heritage and race in Puerto Rico. The professors Dr. Anayra Santory and Dr. Luis A. Avilés, were leading the investigation and visited my Grandmother at home, and requested her authorization to conduct a DNA testing with a strand of her hair to determine her race.

Every member in the family kept saying that my Grandmother was Spaniard, and my Grandmother herself said she was a Taíno Indian. She has a elongated face, light-caramel skin, straight hair, long nose. The test results came back, and the results were in "drum roll please" she was African. Wow, I was happy that I was Puerto Rican, Ecuadorian and now African! My other family members, not so much (I even mailed them a copy of the report! {giggles}); even my Grandmother wasn't thrilled with the results, oh well! It is what it is, right?

Which brought me to think of phrase that I often heard back in Puerto Rico: "¿y tu abuela aonde 'ta?" Which means "and where is your grandmother?"

This my beautiful Mother with my beloved Grandmother.

These are the DNA results:

In Puerto Rico, there's a lot of racism amongst the Puerto Ricans. The dark-skinned Puerto Ricans will ask "¿Y tu agüela, aonde ejtá?" (where is your grandmother?) to the lighter-skinned Puerto Ricans to remind them of their mixed heritage: African. Especially when they deny their roots, and the color of their skin. At the end of the day, there is no denying your Abuela (therefore, your ancestors).

A good friend of mine shared this poem with me (that I had long forgotten). You can find the Spanish version here.

English translation:

Dinga and Mandinga By Fernando Fortunato Vizcarrondo

And your grandma, where is she?

Yesterday you called me Negro, And today I will respond to thee: My mom sits in the living room, And your grandma, where is she?

My hair is kinky, Yours’ is like silk, Your father’s hair is straight, And your grandma, where is she?

Your color came out white, And your cheeks are pink; Your lips are thin, And your grandma, where is she?

You say that my lips are big And they’re always red? But tell me, in the name of the Virgin, And your grandma, where is she?

Since your girl is white, You take her out a lot… And I feel like yelling to you: And your grandma, where is she?

You like Foxtrot, And I like 'Bruca Manigua', You display yourself as white And your grandma, where is she?

You are white on the outside and got into High Society Fearing that someone may get to know The mother of your own mami. Here, who does not have Dinga has Mandinga ha ha ha haaa! So again, I ask you, And your grandma, where is she?

Yesterday you called me Negro, Wanting to embarrass me. My grandma steps out to the living room, And yours hidden from everybody. The poor woman is dying Seeing herself so abused. Even your dog barks at her If she ever steps out to the living room. And I know her very well! Her name is Mrs. Tata You hide her in the kitchen, Because Negro is really… she.

The English translation was found here.

We're not the only race that has a mix of different races, and sadly enough many deny their race, or where they come from; therefore, not embracing their roots and culture. I encourage you to look deeper into your family roots, you'd be surprise where you really come from.

And your grandmother where is she? "¿Y tu agüela, aonde ejtá?"

Would love to hear about your own experiences and thoughts. Please comment and share!