Taino Ambassador in Cuba

Idalis Rojas, Taino, of Caridad de los Indios and Ambassador Miguel Sague, Taino

Baracoa, Kuba (UCTP Taino News) - The United Confederation of Taino People's ambassador to Cuba, Miguel Sobaoko Koromo Sague, visited the island from 11-17 June to meet with several local Taino community representatives. On a diplomatic mission for the Confederation in support of the 2016 Peace and Dignity Journeys, Sague meet with  Idalis Rojas a representative of the Caridad de los Indios community and daughter of Kasike (chief) Francisco Ramirez Rojas in the town of Baracoa and members of the organization "Grupo Kaweiro" in Havana. In 2014, Grupo Kaweiro became an allied treaty partner with the Confederation.

Ambassador Sague returned to the United States with a specially cut piece of wood for sacred "matuko" (staff) that will become a prayer staff eventually to join others staffs that will be held by runners during the Peace and Dignity run this year. The wood was blessed by the local Cuban Taino leaders. The Peace and Dignity Journeys are continental ceremonial runs that connect all participants to Indigenous  Communities rich in ancient wisdom and traditions.
UCTPTN 06.18.2016

See more on the 2016 Peace and Dignity Run here.

9th Taino Gathering in Jayuya, Boriken (Puerto Rico)

Investiture Ceremony for Guainía Kasike

New York (UCTP Taíno News) - On Sunday June 24 2012, the President of the United Confederation of Taíno People (UCTP), Roberto "Mukaro Agueibaná" Borrero's title of Kasike (chief) was blessed by elders and medicine people of the Guainía Taíno Tribe and other Taíno communities from Borikén (Puerto Rico) and the diaspora.

The ceremony took place at the chief's home in New York and follows a previous, private blessing ceremony that took place in Borikén. Kasike Borrero was presented and accepted the title of Kasike by a group of elder community women in 2006 under the condition that community members would reaffirm the position via election at a later date.

A main impetus for the investiture ceremony was the presentation of a new gold guanin (chief medallion) to Kasike Borrero, which bears the official symbol of the Taíno iukaieke (community)  Guainía. Community members gathered the resources required and commissioned the making of the guainin for this historic presentation. 

After presentations by several bibino (grandmothers) such as Vanessa Pastrano and Mildred Karaira Gandia, Behike (ceremonial leader) Miguel Sobaoko Koromo Sague conducted part of the closing ceremonies in cooperation with Caney Indigenous Spiritual Circle Beike and Guainía member Domingo Turey Hernandez.  

A number of other prominent figures of the contemporary Taino Resurgence movement were also in attendance, including Kasike Roman Guaraguaorix of Yukayeke Maisiti and Guainía member Nani Morales, first runner-up for Miss Indian World. Supporting the ceremony were a number of Northern Native American dignitaries including Chief Osceola Townsend of the Matinecock Nation of New York, among others. 

UCTPTN 06/25/2012

New York Peace and Dignity Run

Flushing, Queens (UCTP Taino News) - This Earth Day weekend, a spiritual run will take place in Flushing Meadow Park on Sunday, April 24th. An Indigenous Peoples initiative, the New York Peace and Dignity Run is being held in honor of Mother Earth and in preparation for the upcoming continental Peace and Dignity Journey beginning in May of 2012.

Organized by Raphael Landron and Vanessa Inarunikia Pastrana, the day will begin with a sunrise ceremony at the Unisphere (large globe) at 6am -7:30am. Miguel Sague, a Siboney Taino from Cuba will lead the opening ceremony and blessing of the sacred staffs the runners will carrying. Native Elders and community leaders are invited to share words and blessings during the opening ceremony.

Following the sunrise ceremony at 8am, a community walk led by elders and community leaders will begin to the lake. At 9am, designated runners will then run the sacred community staffs for approximately 6 miles around the lake.

Mexica (Aztec) dance and native drumming will close the run beginning at 12noon. Organizers are requesting that persons interested in supporting the run, please bring food to share for a communal meal. This is an alcohol, drug, and weapon free event.

For more information contact Raphael Landron at 646-730-5940 or visit http://boriken2010peaceanddignityjourney.blogspot.com/ .

UCTPTN 04.19.2011

Mayan, Taino traditions celebrated in Verona

Pittsburgh, PA - People driving on Verona Road Sunday night could little know, though if they did they would likely wonder, about the Mayan and Taino ceremonies that were taking place in Miguel Sague's yard.

There was fire, incense, a sweat lodge, and afterward, a feast, as Mr. Sague introduced or re-introduced a small group of people to a Mayan fire ceremony, followed by a Taino sweat lodge experience.

It's a tradition he tries to observe on a monthly basis, said Mr. Sague, 59, a retired Roosevelt Elementary School art teacher.

"It's what keeps us going," said his wife, Lenia Sague. Both she and her husband moved to the United States from Cuba when they were young, but have continued to observe their Taino culture.

"It's what keeps us grounded to our Taino beliefs," she said.

The Tainos are an indigenous people of the Caribbean. Mr. Sague is a member of the Caney Indigenous Spiritual Circle, which celebrates Taino and other indigenous cultures, and since his retirement, he has spent much of his time traveling around the United States taking part in similar native ceremonies to the one he hosted at his house.

He sent out e-mails through the Caney group and other groups he is a member of here to invite people to participate in the traditional ceremonies, and about 10 people with varying degrees of experience with indigenous ceremonies took him up on the offer.

At around 5 p.m., people began gathering in the Sagues' Verona home. In the front yard, a fire pit burned, filled with wood and large stones that had been heating up since 2 p.m., Mr. Sague said. Next to the fire pit was a small wooden hut, slightly more than waist-high and with room for 10 to 15 people.

Before he began the sweat lodge ceremony, Mr. Sague's friend, Antonio Ah Ik, led a small group of people through a Mayan ceremony on the patio behind the house.

Mr. Ah Ik lives in Verona now but is originally from Guatemala, where his father taught him the traditions of their Mayan ancestors.

The sound of passing cars occasionally entered the background while Mr. Ah Ik performed a ceremony that far predates engines or tires. He poured sugar into a circle formation, then divided the circle with more lines of sugar, to symbolize the four cardinal directions. Facing each direction in turn, he spoke Mayan words, praying for wisdom and knowledge for the people standing around the circle.

Mr. Sague placed small pieces of wood into the circle, and they lit a small fire, feeding it with cut flowers, more sugar and incense. Then each participant said a silent or spoken prayer, and tossed incense into the fire.

The ceremony lasted about 20 minutes, and then Mr. Sague led the group back into his house, where they changed into lighter clothing for the sweat lodge ceremony.

The fire ceremony, Mr. Sague said, symbolizes life, while the sweat lodge ceremony -- with people crowding into a small, dark, warm space, to emerge 45 minutes to an hour later -- represents birth.

"It's a very powerful way for us humans, whether indigenous or not, to relate to our Earth mother," he said.

Seven people crawled into the sweat lodge, then Mr. Sague took a shovel and began to pull the stones, glowing with heat and covered with embers, out of the fire pit. He brushed off the embers with a tree branch, then transferred them into a pit in the middle of the dark sweat lodge.

Over the course of the purification ceremony, he said they would use 24 stones as he led the small group in traditional Taino chants.

Outside the temperature was in the 40s. Inside, the participants, who had been instructed to fast for at least four hours, would get the sensation of being in a sauna.

"I've never put a thermometer in there," Mr. Sague said. "It just gets hot enough for people to sweat."

Author: Kaitlynn Riely
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Puerto Rican food adds zest to Taino solstice celebration

Youngstown, Ohio - To the untrained eye, a Puerto Rican pastelillo looks like a close relative of the Mexican chimichanga, but make no mistake — Mexican and Puerto Rican food are not the same.

Nancy Crespo knows. Half Puerto Rican and half Mexican, the Columbus woman gets to have it all — though she confesses liking Puerto Rican food best for its authenticity.

“When you get food from people like this,” she added.

Around Crespo and her family, including her parents, Tony and Maria Crespo of Youngstown, people at the Taino Summer Solstice and Puerto Rican Food Fest munched on arroz con gandules, or red rice with pigeon peas, arroz blanco y habichuelas, or white rice and beans, and pernil, or pork.

The event, at the OCCHA Hall on Shirley Road on Saturday, was paired with the Hispanic social-service agency’s celebration of a new wing on the building. The wing, which used to be an old warehouse, was remodeled with $142,500 that U.S. Rep Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, helped secure. It will be a senior and youth center, with 65 children starting a summer program there Monday, said Mary Isa Garayua, OCCHA’s executive director.

It’s all about education, said Ryan, who attended the ribbon-cutting.

“That’s what this room is all about,” he said.

Garayua said the room will be used for after-school tutoring, as well as the summer program, and also for senior citizens’ meetings.

People who attended the celebration were educated, too, about a part of their heritage — the Taino Indians.

They are indigenous to the Carribean, and it’s estimated that half of the Hispanic community in the Youngstown area are Taino, said David Jorge of Austintown. Jorge, a member of the United Confederation of Taino People, participated in a Taino ceremony to honor the summer solstice, led by Miguel Sague of Pittsburgh.

“We want to raise awareness that this is their indigenous soul,” said Sague, who is a Beike, or medicine man, affiliated with the Cane Indigenous Spiritual Circle.

Also participating in the ceremony was Inarunika Pastrana of New York, N.Y., who is the head of a women’s group, Bohio Atabei.

“The first people Christopher Columbus met were our people, because he landed in the Caribbean,” said Sague.

The ceremony included a dance that began outside and continued inside when it began to rain, with Pastrana leading the way.

“Every time you touch the earth, you are giving Mother Earth love,” she told the circle of dancers as they stomped their feet to the beat of Jorge’s drum.

Pastrana also established a chapter of her women’s group at the celebration.

Author: Jeanne Starmack, starmack@vindy.com
Source: YOUNGSTOWN VINDICATOR

Available now: THE VOICE OF THE TAINO PEOPLE NEWS JOURNAL, April – June 2010

The Voice of the Taíno People is the Official News Journal of the United Confederation of Taíno People (UCTP) and is distributed by the UCTP Office of International Relations and Regional Coordination. Volume 13, Issue 2, April – June 2010, All Rights Reserved ; ISSN 1553-9350. In this issue: Census 2010 Celebrates Taino Heritage in Borikén ; Taino Prepare for Sacred Run ; Caribbean Indigenous Peoples at UN Forum ; Community News Flash ; Thousands call for Nuclear Disarmament ; Announcements and Events.

Review and download this edition at the NEWS section of the UCTP Web Portal at www.uctp.org or you can visit here: http://www.uctp.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=46&&Itemid=38 (Scroll down page).

The Voice of the Taino People News Journal is designed to be and functions as a different entity than our online news services located at www.uctp.org and beyond. There are stories and features included in the print edition that are not always included online. Likewise, there are features online that are not always included in the print editions. The United Confederation of Taino People strives to provide many media options that will serve the different needs of our diverse community. We hope that our readers find utility in several of our products, and we appreciate your continued support.

Taino Recognize Their Own In NYC

Roberto Borrero and members of Iukaieke Guainia at the Taino Awards

New York, New York (UCTP Taino News) - A diverse group of Taino community members gathered on Saturday, 24 April to support the second annual “Taino awards.” The event was held at the Nuyorican Poets Café and it was presented by the KuKarey Spiritual Circle and Yamocuno Tanama Yucayeke Taino organizations.

Hosted by Caridad "Kachianao" de la Luz, the awards celebrated individuals “who unselfishly give of themselves everyday to the Taino community.” The awards recognized educators, artists, humanitarians, youth, elders and other community members.

The 2010 award recipients included Vanessa Inarunikia Pastrana, Roman Perez, Carlos Rivera, Jose Munoz Vazquez, Mildred Cruz, Miguel Sobaoko Koromo Sague, Enrique Correa, Casa Atabex Ache, Edwin Cedeno, Taino Almestica, Francisco Baerga, Luis Ramos, Joe Kaonabo Garcia, Dalia Viera, and Roberto Mukaro Agueibana Borrero.

UCTPTN 04.27.2010

American Indians share their culture through Pow Wow

By Sandra Fischione Donovan
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Miguel Sague of Verona is a member of the Taino tribe, the Caribbean Indians who greeted Christopher Columbus in 1492. So he has a ready joke about Columbus' arrival in the Bahamas, where he landed while searching for India.

"He was lost, and we found him," says Sague, a native of Santo Domingo, Cuba, and member of the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center since 1977.

While Columbus' voyages are known worldwide, information about the Taino tribe is not as readily available. But Sague will help familiarize people with his tribe Saturday and Sunday at the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center's 30th annual Pow Wow in Indiana Township.

Sague will tell stories that are traditional to the Taino and other tribes. He will wear different costumes for each tribe, including the Senecas, who settled in this area, he says. Sague, medicine man for the council, will invoke the male spirit of life and energy, and the female spirit of Mother Earth and nurturing.

Sague's extended family also will participate in the Pow Wow, or celebration. His sister, Rosa John, and her husband, Melvin John, of Alberta, Canada, will act as masters of ceremony. The Johns and members of their family will perform various dances as part of the Kehewin Native Performance Troupe of Canada.

Russell Simms, executive director of the center, says the Pow Wow is important for a variety of reasons.

"It's a place where Native American people gather in fellowship, make new friends, share our culture and have fun," Simms says. "Because of who we are and how we do things and view life, we do not have a problem with sharing portions of our life. We invite the public to take part. We're trying to encourage the general public to participate so they can learn."

The Pow Wow will open each day with a grand entry featuring all native dancers. Among the entertainment will be drumming, Aztec dancers, a hoop dancer, and men's and women's fancy dances. Native American crafts will be featured, and vendors will sell Native American foods such as buffalo burgers, native chili, fry bread and corn on the cob. American fare like hot dogs and traditional hamburgers also will be available.

Proceeds from the Pow Wow will go toward the Council of Three Rivers center, a United Way agency that promotes the socio-economic development of 8,000 to 10,000 American Indians in the Pittsburgh area.

The center operates a Head Start program, a child learning center, a foster and adoption program, an elder program and employment centers in three states and the District of Columbia, among others. Some of its programs are open to people from non-Indian backgrounds.