Jamaica: Tainos Push for Recognition as Indigenous Group

April 12, 2024 Hour: 4:53 pm

On Friday, a group of people who identify themselves as the Taino of Jamaica are pressing the government to legitimize their status as an indigenous community and also want dialogue on respect for their rights.

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In statements reproduced by The Gleaner, the leader of the Yamaye Guani Council, Robert Pairman, insisted on formal recognition for both them and the Maroons, denouncing that the process on this issue began in 2022, but has stalled.

He said the National Heritage Fund is responsible for taking the process forward and lamented the lack of plans by the state to help indigenous communities situate themselves within Jamaica’s history, as it hinders the full practice of their culture and self-determination.

He called for recognition in line with the American and UN declarations on the rights of indigenous peoples, as well as open dialogue to achieve reconciliation, land resolution and a legislative framework that grants them greater protection.

A group of people who have identified themselves as Jamaican Taínos are calling on the Government to legitimise their status as indigenous people amid concerns that plans that began in 2022 to do so have stalled.

Read more: https://t.co/A4N8toyzUk #GLNRToday pic.twitter.com/DuBnptiPfx

— Jamaica Gleaner (@JamaicaGleaner)
April 12, 2024

In June 2019 Pairman received the attributes as chief of the Jamaican Hummingbird (Yukayeke Yamaye Guani) tribe and the event was seen as an expression of a renaissance of indigenous consciousness in the Caribbean.

It was the first proclamation of a Taino chieftain since they were considered disappeared in this country.