Lokono Arawak Leader Releases 4th Book Focusing on Legendary Creatures of Eagle Clan Oral tradition

Bridgetown, Barbados (UCTP Taíno News) - Chief Damon Corrie, a hereditary leader of the Eagle Clan Lokono Arawaks has released his 4th publication this year entitled "Amazonia's Mythical and Legendary Creatures in the Eagle Clan Lokono-Arawak Oral Tradition of Guyana." A well-known, radical, international advocate for the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Corrie now takes on the role of prolific writer sharing accounts drawn from his personal involvement in tribal life, as well as his long-time interactions with tribal elders. Additional books by Corrie include "The Amazon is Burning - The Flames of 21st Century Resistance Inspired by Indigenous Women," "Understanding Spirituality, Anomalous Phenomena as life lessons," and "Understanding Spirituality, Dreams, Insights, Exorcisms, Visitations and Shamanic Healing." Damon Corrie is also a co-founder of the Caribbean Amerindian Development Organization and a governing board member of the United Confederation of Taíno People. He currently resides in Barbados with his wife Shirling and their 4 children, Hatuey Francis, Tecumseh Shawandase, Sabantho Aderi and Laliwa Hadali. 

UCTPTN 10/21/2019

Passing of a Lokono Arawak Matriarch

Barbados (UCTP Taino News) – Eagle Clan Lokono-Arawak matriarch Hannah Mariah Corbin crossed over into the Spirit World on Saturday, May 4, 2013. She was 99 year old. Grandmother Hannah Corbin was the sole surviving child of Guyana born, Eagle Clan Lokono-Arawak Princess Marian, daughter of hereditary Chief Amorotahe Haubariria (Flying Harpy Eagle) of Guyana.  Among her surviving relatives are children Daphne, Cecil, Audrey, Judith, and Cheryl, as well 22 grandchildren, including renowned Caribbean Indigenous Rights advocate Damon Gerard Corrie. 

UCTPTTN 05.05.2013

Arawak Art Work Presented to Tribal Link Executive Director

Tribal Link Director Pamela Kraft receives a sculpture from the Eagle Clan Arawaks and the United Confederation of Taino People. In photo from left to right: Pamela Kraft, Roberto Borrero, Damon Corrie and Tai AnaYuisa Pellicier

United Nations, NY (UCTP Taino News) – An exquisite work of contemporary Lokono Arawak art was presented to Tribal Link’s Executive Director, Pamela Kraft, during the 11^th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in May. The piece, a wooden sculpture of a female leader, was carved by acclaimed Lokono artist Foster Simon.  The piece was presented to Kraft jointly by the Eagle Clan Arawaks and the United Confederation of Taino People (UCTP). 

“Pamela Kraft has selflessly given of her time and effort to promote the rights of Indigenous Peoples,” stated UCTP President Roberto Mukaro Borrero. “She has continuously worked hard to provide a space for Indigenous Peoples to speak for themselves at the United Nations and other forums, presenting this special gift is a way for us to acknowledge her important work, and to say thank you.” 

The presentation of the sculpture was made during Tribal Link’s Project Access 2012 Training Session.  Project Access supports indigenous peoples’ participation in international meetings and conferences where decisions are being made that affect their rights, cultures and livelihoods.  Project Access is designed to provide support for the effective participation of 15-20 indigenous peoples from around the world at the UNPFII. Their participation begins with a three-day training session prior to the Forum's opening. 

“Simon’s sculpture represents a female leader, a chief,” noted Damon Corrie, the leader of the Eagle Clan Arawaks and the Pan Tribal Confederacy of Indigenous Tribal Nations. “To us Pamela is a leader and a chief of this session, we are very grateful to her, and all the Tribal Link staff for their commitment to Indigenous Peoples and to the Project Access students in particular.” 

Additional sculptures created by Foster Simon are featured in the Presidential collections of Guyana, Bolivia and Venezuela, and have been exhibited at the United Nations

UCTPTN 06.08.2012

UN Indigenous Forum Opens in New York

Damon Corrie, Mildred Karaira Gandia and Pamela Kraft of the Tribal Link Foundation at the United Nations in New York (Tribal Link Photo)

United Nations, NY (UCTP Taino News) - The 9th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues began yesterday with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling on Member States to promote development while respecting the values and traditions of Indigenous Peoples.

"The loss of irreplaceable cultural practices and means of artistic expression makes us all poorer, wherever our roots may lie," Mr. Ban told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York. This year's theme at the forum is "Development with Culture and Identity."

In a surprise proclamation, the government of New Zealand announced that it has decided to reverse its 2007 decision and support the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples. New Zealand was one of four countries - the others being Australia, Canada and the United States - that voted against the Declaration. Australia reversed its decision last year.

The Declaration outlines the rights of the world's estimated 370 million indigenous people and outlaws discrimination against them.

Approximately 2000 participants are expected to take part in the Forum over the next two-weeks, including indigenous representatives, Member States, UN agencies, academic institutions, and civil society groups. Among the many indigenous delegates are Mildred Karaira Gandia a representative for the United Confederation of Taino People and Damon Gerard Corrie of the Eagle Clan Arawaks of Barbados and Guyana.

"We are here to advocate for Caribbean Indigenous Peoples" stated Gandia. "Our communities are often ignored in the larger discussions".

Both Gandia and Corrie are taking part in a special training program organized by the Tribal Link Foundation and the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Indigenous peoples are estimated to make up five per cent of the world's population, but some 33 per cent of the world's poor, according to State of the World's Indigenous Peoples, released in January and the first UN report of its kind.

UCTPTN 04.20.2010

Karaira: Tribal Link’s Taíno Grandmother

I first met Grandmother Karaira (aka 'Millie') in 2008 during my first year of Tribal Link Foundation’s “Project Access Global Capacity Building Training for Indigenous Peoples” in New York. She is fiercely proud of her Boriken Taino heritage and for those who don't know - she'll remind you that Boriken is the true name of the island the Spanish Conquistadors later called 'Puerto Rico' (Rich Port).

I remember how Grandmother Karaira used to bring food for me each day ‘Just to make sure I had something to eat', and this was entirely out of the kindness of her heart and of her own volition.

Concerning the entire group of Tribal Link trainees (both 'freshmen' and 'alumni') – Karaira always has grandmotherly advice and words of wisdom for everyone. She often sat in the background and listened, waiting for the spirit of the ancestors to move her to single out anyone she senses is in dire need of prayer or counsel. On my last night in New York I was in a bit of mental anguish over a lingering issue I was trying to find a way to cope with, grandmother Karaira called me over and said privately to me "I feel I need to talk to you about something, you can tell me if I am wrong, but I sense that...".

She went on to very precisely give the direction I was looking for - to the specific issue I was pondering.

If I had let slip even a hint or single word at any time during my almost 3 weeks in New York about this private matter it would have been easy for someone to make an educated guess, but I never said a word even remotely concerning this topic; so Karaira was genuinely in tuned on a spiritual level to obtain the insight she did.

This however, was by no means the first time, last year during a ceremony she gave me a blue Parrot feather, I had been told in a dream over 20 years ago (when I was still a teenager) by a voice that said "Now you know how to reach me - when you pray, use the feathers".

I had accumulated over the years the other feathers that I traditionally required, and the Blue Parrot feather was the last one I needed. I never told anyone about that dream yet she knew I needed that specific gift.

Among Indigenous Peoples these are normal occurrences, but to many non-indigenous - these are considered to be quite remarkable.

The Taino and Lokono Arawaks are closer blood relations than almost any other two indigenous tribes in the Western Hemisphere, and this historic bond of kinship was fractured by the consequences of the arrival of un-civilized Iberians into our lands over five centuries ago. In modern times my own Bariria Korobahado Lokono (Eagle Clan Arawaks) have cemented an alliance with the United Confederation of Taíno People (UCTP) - to which Grandmother Karaira is a representative officer.

The UCTP was founded by Tainos from Boriken, Kiskeia, and Cuba but it has been Boricuas who have been spearheading the Taino revival in the Greater Antilles and beyond. It is a mammoth effort with the UCTP taking a principle role internationally. I am honored to be a fellow Council member.

Likewise, well-known UCTP supporter and Taino artist Aguilar Marrero was granted a life seat on the Eagle Clan Tribal Council. UCTP President Roberto Mukaro Borrero remains the first and only official advisor to the multi-racial and worldwide Pan-Tribal Confederacy of Indigenous Tribal Nations, which was founded by the Eagle Clan Arawaks.

Before I conclude I just want readers to know that with the strokes of their pens - former Spanish colonial governors in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba re-classified 'Indios' as 'Mestizos' or ‘Mulattos’ - an act which instantly had the effect of Taino people officially ‘disappearing' from the population census records of those islands. So do not succumb to the erroneous and widely held belief that 'the Tainos are extinct'.

Cuba recently revised their official inherited false colonial era curriculum to now admit to the continued existence of Taino people in Eastern Cuba - who have kept many of their traditions and cultures intact, and the recent official DNA tests conducted in Puerto Rico conclusively proves the continued biological existence of Tainos there. That is just in case anyone failed to notice the very highly visible modern day Taino cultural activities that have been increasing publicized.

Still there are people in western societies who are so ignorant that they utter nonsense such as "You guys do not wear loincloths, paint and feathers anymore – so you are not really Arawaks" - to which I often respond by asking them: "Do you still wear the attire your ancestors wore 500 years ago?". Actually I do still own and wear loincloths, paint my body etc. - but when I am among my own people and on our own lands as an outward expression of inward cultural pride.

I do not however do so in an urban context among the imposed and dominant foreign culture there. The old saying "when in Rome do as the Romans" does have some merit I think. In the end, we all know who we are and it matters not the depth of ignorance exhibited by others.

Author: Damon Gerard Corrie
Reporting from the Eighth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, New York City, 18-29 May 2009
e-mail: damoncorrie@yahoo.com

Caribbean Indigenous Peoples to Attend UN Forum

United Nations (UCTP Taino News) – Caribbean Indigenous delegates will join over one thousand Indigenous Peoples representatives from around the world at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) next week. The Forum’s eighth session will take place from 18-29 May, 2009 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Caribbean representatives to the PFII include Damon Corrie of the Eagle Clan Arawaks (Barbados & Guyana), Chief Charles and Margaret Williams of the Kalinago Carib Nation (Dominica) as well as various delegates accredited by the United Confederation of Taino People.

Some of the issues being focused on at the session include the Second UN International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People and the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Permanent Forum is an advisory body to the United Nations Economic and Social Council with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights.

UCTPTN 05.13.2009

Eagle Clan girl wins Local Beauty Pagaent

Guyana, South America (UCTP Taíno News) - A 16 year old member of the Eagle Clan Arawaks, Christella Junor won the 2008 Beauty Pageant in the 2,000 person Pakuri Lokono-Arawak community in Region #4 Guyana; South America.

Miss Junor was "excited and honored" to have won the pageant that took place May 25th 2008. Proud parents - Lolita and Raymond Junor - recalled that her Grandmother Etheldreda Simon remarked when Christella was born that she would be "Beauty Queen of Pakuri one day". The Junor’s have 4 other children - Maradonna 21, Fidel 12, Cassandra 10 and Ray jr. 5.

Christella Junor is a niece of Shirling Normellia Corrie (Simon) - wife of UCTP member and Pantribal Confederacy of Indigenous Tribal Nations founder/President Damon Gerard Corrie.

UCTPTN 08.10.2008

Carib and Taino Nations Sign Historic Treaty

Chief Charles Williams and Roberto Mucaro Borrero
Unite the Carib and Taino Nations in Trinidad. UCTP Photo

Arima, Trinidad (UCTP Taino News) – The Kallinago Carib Nation of Waitikabuli (Dominica) and the United Confederation of Taino People (UCTP) ratified an historic "Declaration of Unity" on October 16, 2007.

Kallinago Chief Charles Williams and Roberto Mucaro Borrero, the President and Chairman of the UCTP’s Office of International Relations and Regional Coordination signed the declaration on behalf of their respective communities during the celebration of Amerindian Heritage Week in Arima, Trinidad.

“Indigenous Peoples need to support each other as there is strength in unity” declared Chief Williams.

The declaration promotes solidarity between the Kallinago and the Taino at the local, national, and international levels.

“Treaties between Indigenous Nations are tangible demonstrations of our sovereignty and our internationally recognized right to self-determination” noted President Borrero. “This declaration makes it clear to all that the Kallinago and the Taino recognize each other as Indigenous Peoples of the region”.

The Kallinago Carib Nation is the only indigenous community in the Caribbean islands who maintain an officially recognized territory via a treaty with the government of Dominica. The UCTP represents Taino People throughout the region and the Diaspora.

The “Declaration of Unity” with the Kallinago Nation follows a series of similarly historic treaty ratifications by the United Confederation of Taino People. Currently, the UCTP maintains treaty relationships with the Santa Rosa Carib Community of Trinidad, the Joboshirima Arawak Community of Venezuela, the Guyanese Organization of Indigenous Peoples (GOIP), and the Eagle Clan Arawaks of Barbados and Guyana.

Lokono Arawak Model in Barbados

Barbados (UCTP Taino News) - “Natural Beauty, Natural Talent” - those are the four words one can most fittingly use to describe Barbados born Ellen Victoria St. John; with no formal training and no previous experience - she wowed a coterie of professional photographers during various photo-shoots across Barbados. Photographs of the 16 year-old beauty and current 5th form student of the prestigious Queen's college Secondary School in Barbados were recently published on pages 22-24 in the MACO Destinations Magazine, Volume 2 Issue 3 of 2006.

Ellen is of diverse ancestry and is a fifth generation maternal descendant of Princess Marian of the Eagle Clan Lokono-Arawaks of Guyana, and at age 15 participated (along with her brother Seth) in the 2006 Arawak and Carib joint reclamation of Culpepper Island off Barbados; pride in their Arawak roots is strong in the family. Ellen’s mother Lisa Elena St. John (nee Corrie) was the first Barbadian to be professionally trained as a high fashion model in Italy in the 1970's - at the Koesia School of High Fashion Modeling in Rome. Ellen recently registered with a well known American Modeling Agency, in the near future do not be surprised if this young lady becomes the 'new look' sensation on the catwalks of North America and Europe!

CLOSING INDIGENOUS CAUCUS STATEMENT AT OAS

CLOSING STATEMENT OF THE CAUCUS OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE AMERICAS AT THE OAS HQ WASHINGTON DC USA.
Dec 8 2006

The following is the closing statement of the Caucus of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas:

"We, the representatives of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, express our concern about the process of prepairing the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We aspire and work for a Declaration that fully reflects our rights. The shortcomings of this process profoundly affect not only us but also our future generations.

We came to this meeting prepared to participate in this process on an equal footing and to contribute to a dignified, constructive dialogue based on mutual respect that will help establish a new relationship between indigenous Peoples and American States.

We are encouraged that some States support efforts to reach consensus and we regret that other States lack political will to do so.

We are also concerned about the use of a method of work that not only slows the process but also delays the completion of the Declaration on our rights. We consider that the method of work at this meeting does not clearly reflect our proposals in these negotiations and that no real progress was made at this meeting..

We are also concerned with what is occurring with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was adopted by the Human Rights Council but is now on hold. We reiterate that we cannot accept anything less than the minimum standards for our rights which are already universally accepted and recognized. Some States are forgetting their commitments and obligations as signatories of conventions and international covenants of the United Nations of which all American States are parties to atleast one. Common Article 1 of the International Covenants stipulates that "All peoples have the right to self-determination". The Treaty Monitoring Body, composed of experts elected by the States themselves have applied this right under the Covenants to Indigenous Peoples. We cannot accept a form of the right to self-determination that does not comply with existing minimum standards recognized by the States themselves. The right to self-determination is a fundamental right that is necessary for the survival, dignity and well-being of our Peoples and our future generations.

We respectfully and energetically call on States to achieve real progress in this process at future megotiations."

Caucus of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas
Washington DC, 8th December 2006


UCTP Taino News Editor's note: Chief Damon Corrie of the Eagle Clan Arawaks (Barbados & Guyana) and Oswald Robinson (Garifuna) of Saint Vincent were in attendence at the meeting representing Caribbean Indigenous Peoples.

OAS: Indigenous Caucus Statement

Caucus of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas

Opening Statement of the Eighth Meeting of Negotiations
(Greetings in an Indigenous Language)

Excellency Ambassador Juan Leon Alvarado,

President of the Working Group on the Drafting of the American Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Vice President of the Working Group, Ms. Ana Pena,

Summit Secretariat

Distinguished Representatives of the [American] States

Indigenous brothers and sisters,

In the name of the Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of the Americas we wish to thank the Summit Secretariat of the Americas for organizing the Eighth Meeting of Negotiations in the Quest for Consensus on the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Likewise, we thank the OAS member States for contributing to the Specific Fund that supports
the participation of the representatives of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas at this important meeting.

We also would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge publicly the work carried out by the Vice President of the Working Group, the Alternate Ambassador, Mrs. Ana Pena. Her support has been essential to the progress made thus far. We invite other representatives of the States to continue in the same spirit that has permitted us to make substantial progress in the meetings of Guatemala and Brazil. We also wish to commend those countries that have demonstrated their good faith and political will to facilitate the mandate of the General Assembly to adopt the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We remind all the American States of the need to carry out national consultations on the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in every country.

We strongly support the text of the UN Declaration adopted by the Human Rights Council. We express our concern over the position taken by some OAS member States in the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly in a vote to delay adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In effect, this decision of the Third Committee denies our status as Peoples according to international law. We deeply regret the actions of some of the American States at the UN who, after so many years of dialogue with us, have denied our fundamental rights as Indigenous Peoples.

We will continue to work in this 8th Session of the Working Group although we are aware that there has been a call to suspend this process until after the final adoption of the UN Declaration is secured.

However, we will not accept human rights standards that are lower than those that have been approved in the UN Declaration. During this week, we will participate with these critical considerations in mind.

We are concerned about the methodology adopted by the States, which appears to define consensus as unanimity. As Indigenous Peoples we will not compromise our human rights for the sake of arriving at a consensus with the States. We stand firm in our commitment to participate in this process, but it cannot have moral integrity if the States do not act with transparency, good faith and political will.

The right to self-determination is an inherent right of Indigenous Peoples. We therefore call upon the members of the OAS to join the UN Human Rights Council in recognizing that Indigenous Peoples, like all peoples under international law, have the right to self-determination.

We, the representatives of Indigenous Peoples with the protection of our Pacha Mama, continue to assert

Never more the Americas without Indigenous Peoples

WASHINGTON, DECEMBER OF 2006

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UCTP Taino News Editor's note: Chief Damon Corrie of the Eagle Clan Arawaks (Barbados & Guyana) and Oswald Robinson (Garifuna) of Saint Vincent are in attendence at the meeting representing Caribbean Indigenous Peoples.

Caribbean Indigenous Peoples Support UN Declaration

UCTP Public Notice: The UCTP has been informed by Chief Ricardo B. Hernandez of the Santa Rosa Carib Community that the Community has also decided to support the Declaration on the on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which is currently being promoted through the United Nations System.

Caribbean Indigenous Peoples Representatives verified in their support of the United Nations Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples now include United Confederation of Taino People (Caribbean & US), Consejo General de Tainos Boricanos (Puerto Rico), Caney Quinto Mundo (Puerto Rico), Joboshirima Arawak Community (Venezuela), Fundacion Luz Cosmica Taina (Dom. Republic), Kalinago Carib Nation (Dominica), Guyanese Organization of Indigenous Peoples (Guyana), Eagle Clan Arawaks (Barbados & Guyana), Amerindian Peoples Association (Guyana), Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana (Guyana), Garifuna American Heritage Foundation United (US & Caribbean), and the Santa Rosa Carib Community (Trinidad).

The UCTP continues to urge our community, either individually or via their organizations, to support this petition initiative of the Grand Council of the Crees and Amnesty International Canada. If your Caribbean Indigenous organization would like to be included in this list of supporters, please inform the UCTP by email at uctp_ny@yahoo.com

*Please review and sign the petition at:
http://www.amnesty.ca/ip_un_petition/UN_indigenous_rights.php

Caribbean Indigenous Peoples Support the Passage of the United Nations Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples

UCTP Public Notice: A petition to support passage of the United Nations Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples has been organized by the Grand Council of the Crees and Amnesty International Canada. The names and organizations collected on this petition will be used to promote adoption of the draft Declaration to governments around the world.

After UCTP Consultation in the Region, Caribbean Indigenous Representatives verified in their support of the United Nations Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples included United Confederation of Taino People (Caribbean & US), Consejo General de Tainos Boricanos (Puerto Rico), Caney Quinto Mundo (Puerto Rico), Joboshirima Arawak Community (Venezuela), Fundacion Luz Cosmica Taina (Dom. Republic), Kalinago Carib Nation (Dominica), Guyanese Organization of Indigenous Peoples (Guyana), Eagle Clan Arawaks (Barbados & Guyana), Amerindian Peoples Association (Guyana), Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana (Guyana), and the Garifuna American Heritage Foundation United (US & Caribbean),

The UCTP urges our community, either individually or via their organizations, to support this petition initiative of the Grand Council of the Crees and Amnesty International Canada.

Sign the petition at http://www.amnesty.ca/ip_un_petition/UN_indigenous_rights.php

Review a related story at http://uctp.blogspot.com/2006/06/un-draft-declaration-on-rights-of.html