your Ancestors called
The Puerto Rico Senate is preparing to vote on a joint resolution that threatens to privatize sacred Indigenous lands in Puerto Rico
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PRIVATIZATION OF CAGUANA IS A VIOLATION OF OUR INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY. We can't let this happen.
Naniki Reyes Ocasio, Bohio Grandmothers Circle
Our language, spirituality, & culture are place-based. “Spaces like Caguana nurture our culture just as we nurture the land. This sacred reciprocity is something we have done for centuries. European Colonial violence interrupted our relationship with the land and with our culture.
Desiree (Anakoniwa) Vargas, Councilwoman of Higuayagua
April 2022
URGENT: Votes are cast Tuesday April 19th!
The Puerto Rico Senate is preparing to vote on a joint resolution that threatens to privatize sacred Indigenous lands in Puerto Rico, according to a group of activists and Indigenous leaders. RCS 45 seeks to transfer control of the Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts Site, home to 10 Taíno ceremonial ball courts, known as bateyes, from the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture to the municipality of Utuado itself, leaving the site open to privatization.
The resolution would transfer the “administration and maintenance” of the site over to the municipality for the purpose of carrying out “all the actions that it deems necessary and agreeable to reach its maximum potential use for the sake of the economic development of the region and its municipality,” the resolution reads. Opponents say that the Senate vote is scheduled to occur in a closed session on Tuesday, April 19. “Senators don’t work until Monday,” they write, “so Tainos have [organized and] are becoming merciless to reach their email boxes by Sunday 17 and Monday 18!”
“Our culture and our heritage belong to our children, not to investors or corporations,”
Kacike Jorge Baracutay Estevez
only a few hours left
About Caguana
About Caguana
About Caguana
The Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts Site dates from Puerto Rico's late prehistoric and early contact era. The Taino Indians constructed the stone-lined ball courts, called bateyes, between 1200 and 1500 AD, and they used the site throughout the Spanish contact period. The first written description of the game, played with two teams and a rubber ball, appeared after Columbus' first voyage. More than just a sport, the game had ceremonial significance, for the game's outcome influenced important Taino decisions. It is believed that the game of batey originated in Mesoamerica, and was played in Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands. The Caguana site, the largest site of its type in the West Indies, is located in the rainy west central mountains on the east side of the Tanama River, in Barrio Caguana. In 1955, the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture acquired the site and began a program of stabilization and restoration. Cobbled walkways border 10 bateyes and stone monoliths, many decorated with petroglyphs, rim some of the court.
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About Caguana
About Caguana
The Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts Site, a National Historic Landmark, is located on Rte. 111, Km. 12.3, west of Utuado, Puerto Rico. The park is open 9:00am to 4:00pm, Wednesday-Sunday.
Because of its rich archaeological significance, Caguana became a National Historic Landmark in 1993.
Information
About Caguana
Information
To support the Taíno, write letters to the senators and governor of Puerto Rico requesting attention to the management of Caguana. Please encourage them to issue an executive order recognizing the Taíno and guaranteeing their constitutional, human and international rights to, inter alia, the repatriation of ancestral remains and sacred objects and to the protection, preservation, conservation, administration, management and access to their sacred ceremonial and burial sites.
Contacts
Spanish letter
Information
jldalmau@senado.pr.gov agarcia@senado.pr.gov altorres@senado.pr.gov
japonte@senado.pr.gov jzaragoza@senado.pr.gov magonzalez@senado.pr.gov rruiz@senado.pr.gov
gmatias@senado.pr.gov hneumann@senado.pr.gov klcabrera@senado.pr.gov majimenez@senado.pr.gov mpadilla@senado.pr.gov nmoran@senado.pr.gov riveraschatz51@senado.pr.gov wsoto@senado.pr.gov wvillafane@senado.pr.gov
Spanish letter
Spanish letter
Spanish letter
TEMA: Vote NO ante RCS45
Estimado/a Hon. [NOMBRE COMPLETO DEL SENADOR]
Un cordial saludo. Le escribe [su nombre completo], miembro de la comunidad puertorriqueña. Me dirijo a usted hoy para exhortarle que vote en contra de la Resolución Conjunta del Senado #45 (RCS45), la cual busca transferir control sobre el Centro Ceremonial Indígena Caguana (CCIC) al municipio de Utuado. Siendo sede de las ceremonias culturales y espirituales de nuestros ancestros Indígenas, el CCIC es uno de los epicentros del patrimonio Taíno más significativos de todo el Caribe. Mientras RCS45 promete continuar el acceso público al CCIC, la transferencia de su manejo desde el Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP) al municipio de Utuado pondrá al CCIC en grave peligro de privatización, interferencia de parte del tercer sector, y consecuentemente, profanación. Como boricua, estoy firmemente en contra de la mercantilización de la tierra ancestral sagrada en Puerto Rico. Considero la privatización de tales terrenos un fracaso moral en contra del pueblo puertorriqueño y de todo individuo de ascendencia Taína. Como oficial electo por el pueblo puertorriqueño, usted tiene la responsabilidad cívica de proteger la integridad de nuestros recursos culturales y de nuestro patrimonio. Nuevamente, le exhorto que vote NO ante la Resolución Conjunta del Senado 45 para evitar que esta sede de valor histórico y cultural se vea expuesto a terceras influencias.
Respetuosamente,
[su nombre completo]
English letter
Spanish letter
Spanish letter
FOR BORIKENO/PUERTO RICANS SUBJECT LINE: Vote NO on RCS45
Esteemed Senator [Senator's full name]
Warm regards. My name is [your full name] and I am a member of the Puerto Rican community. I'm writing to urge you to vote against the Puerto Rico Senate's joint resolution RCS45, which seeks to transfer control over Centro Ceremonial Indígena Caguana (CCIC) to the municipality of Utuado. As the site of our Indigenous ancestors' cultural and spiritual ceremonies, CCIC is one of the most significant epicenters of Taíno heritage in the Caribbean. While RCS45 promises continued public access to CCIC, the transfer of its management from Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP) to the municipality of Utuado puts the CCIC in grave danger of privatization, interference from third parties, and ultimately desecration. As a boricua, I stand firmly against the commodification of the sacred ancestral lands of Puerto Rico. I consider the privatization of such lands to be a moral failing against the people of Puerto Rico and every person of Taíno heritage. As a government official elected by the people of Puerto Rico, you have the civic responsibility to protect the integrity of our cultural resources and heritage. Once more, I urge you to vote NO on RCS45 to prevent this site of historic and cultural significance from being exposed to third party influence. Respectfully, [your full name]
FOR OUR ALLIES
SUBJECT LINE: Vote NO on RCS45
Esteemed Senator [Senator's full name]
Warm regards. My name is [your full name] and I am an ally of the Puerto Rican Taíno community. I'm writing to urge you to vote against the Puerto Rico Senate's joint resolution RCS45, which seeks to transfer control over Centro Ceremonial Indígena Caguana (CCIC) to the municipality of Utuado. As the site of our Boricuas' Indigenous ancestors' cultural and spiritual ceremonies, CCIC is one of the most significant epicenters of Taíno heritage in the Caribbean. While RCS45 promises continued public access to CCIC, the transfer of its management from Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP) to the municipality of Utuado puts the CCIC in grave danger of privatization, interference from third parties, and ultimately desecration. As an ally of the boricua Taíno community, I stand firmly against the commodification of the sacred ancestral lands of Puerto Rico. I fully support the Taíno community, which considers the privatization of such lands to be a moral failing against the people of Puerto Rico and every person of Taíno heritage. As a government official elected by the people of Puerto Rico, you have the civic responsibility to protect the integrity of Puerto Ricans' cultural resources and heritage.
Once more, I urge you to vote NO on RCS45 to prevent this site of historic and cultural significance from being exposed to third party influence.
Respectfully,
[your full name]
Press & Mentions
Coverage
NotiCentro / WAPA
Jay Fonseca