In Memory of a Life Well Lived...

By Roberto Mukaro Borrero

Father Paul Michael Mayer 1931-2013

Life is indeed a wonder… When we are young, new, and experiencing the world around us for the first time, we are amazed with everything... This amazement fades for many of us as we grow, hopefully to renew itself, as we get older and begin to see more family and friends make their final journey. It is at these times that many people start to once again see how amazing and sacred our own earthly journeys are… It is at these times we begin to understand how little time we really have... Like the flash of a firefly in the night…

So, here I sit contemplating what an amazing journey life is, having just returned from the incredible memorial service of an extraordinary man I had the honor to call friend, comrade, spiritual brother, and mentor, Father Paul Michael Mayer…

I cannot help but to smile as I think about Father Paul…  He certainly knew how blessed we all are to be here on Earth and share this sacred moment in time together.

Father Paul Mayer was a young Jewish boy who lived in Germany during the rise of Nazism. Most of his family was killed in the Holocaust. In 1938, he along with his mother, father, and brother were able to escape this horror and come to the U.S. As a teen he converted to Christianity; Paul then became a Benedictine monk and an ordained Priest in the Roman Catholic faith. He always considered himself a Jew, however, often stating Jesus was also a Jew. Paul was relieved of his commitment to the Church by the Vatican when he fell in love with and married a nun, Naomi, he met while traveling to Mexico. He always considered himself a Priest, continuing his spiritual service as an ordained Inter-Faith Minister. During his days as a monk, much to the dismay of the Church hierarchy, he traveled to Selma, Alabama to meet with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1965 voting rights campaign.  

Father Paul also had an immense respect for the World’s Indigenous Peoples. He considered “Black Elk Speaks” a holy book. He worked with indigenous Spiritual leaders around the U.S. and beyond. Father Paul was also a fierce advocate for children, social justice issues, and the environment, especially climate change. He considered himself an Earth Guardian. 

My dear friend Pamela Kraft introduced me to Father Paul in the early 1990s. We became close friends and served together on the board of the organization Pamela founded, Tribal Link Foundation. On a personal level, he offered me much support and council during turbulent times. He helped me to see the connection between political and spiritual understandings, and the importance of teaching and activism. Paul seemed to always have a smile on, except of course when speaking about injustice. Then his face would change, become very serious, and warrior-like.  

During his memorial this evening, his audacity was mentioned. Many of us were very amused with this truth. It was Father Paul, for example, who arranged for me to meet and speak with Fidel Castro during one of his last visits to the U.S.  Paul met Fidel after he and others were arrested for defying the U.S. embargo to bring bibles and humanitarian aid to Cuba.  Fidel was impressed with his passion and commitment.  Father Paul’s commitment to social justice spanned half a century, as he was even active recently climbing a fence and then being arrested with a new generation of youth activists at Occupy Wall Street. As one can imagine, there are so many tales to tell about his life.

Father Paul succumbed to a battle with brain cancer in November 2013 at 82. He is survived by his son Peter, daughter Maria, and his grandchildren. Thank you Peter and family for blessing me with the opportunity to open tonight’s incredible memorial service and share some words and a Taino song for Father Paul.

Father Paul, my friend and spiritual brother, I miss your physical presence, but I know you are with all of us in Spirit. You have touched many lives on your incredible life journey, and I for one am a better human being for knowing you.  Yours was indeed a life well lived. 

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

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

Taino Dancers Commemorate International Day

New York, NY (UCTP Taino News) - Members of the Cacibajagua Taino Cultural Society encourage audience participation during their successful presentation at the American Museum of Natural History on August 9th, 2008. The program was co-sponsored by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Secretariat, NGO Committee on the UN International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, the Tribal Link Foundation, and the United Confederation of Taino People in commemoration of the United Nations International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. (photo credit: John Kwok)

UCTPTN 08.19.2008

Indigenous Training Session Includes Caribbean Indigenous Peoples

United Nations (UCTP Taino News) - Sponsored by the Tribal Link Foundation in partnership with the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, indigenous activists from around the world were selected to participate in the 2007 Project Access training session. The trainees included Mildred Gandia (Taino) and Reginaldo Fredericks (Lokono Arawak) and activities coincided with the preceding the Sixth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York City.

UN ART EXHIBIT "IN CELEBRATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES"

ART EXHIBIT "IN CELEBRATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES" TO OPEN AT UN HEADQUARTERS, 11 MAY

The exhibit "In Celebration of Indigenous People", featuring indigenous art from around the world, will open on Tuesday, 11 May at 6:30 p.m. in the Visitors' Lobby of the United Nations Headquarters.

It showcases "Kickin' Up Dust," a photographic exhibit of Aboriginal sacred rites and ceremonies, co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations and the Australian Consulate-General, as well as photos by National Geographic photographers and artwork from indigenous artists -- sculptures from Easter Island, Bushmen art, works by a Maori artist from New Zealand and indigenous artwork from North and South America and the Caribbean.

With Roberto Mucaro Borrero (Taino) as master of ceremonies, Australian Aboriginal musician Cameron McCarthy will open the event with a piece played on the didgeridoo, an Aboriginal wind instrument. Remarks will be made by Jose Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Peter Tesch, Australia's Deputy Permanent Representative, and Ole-Henrik Magga, Chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum of indigenous Issues.

Ulali, a three-member a cappella group of native women will perform a musical interlude, their singing accompanied by hand drums, followed by a statement by Noeli Pocaterra, Second Vice-President of the National Assembly of Venezuela and a member of the Wayuu nation. Yarina, a women's music and dance group from Ecuador, will offer a dance in hounor of indigenous women, followed by the four-member indigenous Ecuadorian group Salasaca Kuna, which as in previous years will play music at the end of the ceremony for participants to dance.

The exhibit marks the third session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which is meeting at United Nations Headquarters (Conference room 2) from 10 to 27 May focusing on the theme "Indigenous Women".

The event is sponsored by the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the NGO Committee on the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, the Tribal Link Foundation and the Ingrid Washinawatok Flying Eagle Women's Fund for Peace, Justice and Sovereignty.