Power & Limits of Language: Linguistic Reclamation as a Driver of Taíno Identity in Borikén

Abstract

The story of the Taíno people has been historically told from the narrative perspective of the dominant colonial viewpoint, which has been continuously employed as a tool to reinforce the idea of the Taíno community’s “extinction” or nonexistence. This paper outlines the role of the Taíno people as a key element within Caribbean indigeneity and demonstrates the central ways in which Taíno culture has been reinterpreted and carried forward in modernity. To this end, it assesses the lasting impact of language within the cultural landscape of Taíno nationhood.