NEW BOOK! INDIGENOUS RESURGENCE IN THE CONTEMPORARY CARIBBEAN

Announcing the publication of:

Indigenous Resurgence in the Contemporary Caribbean:
Amerindian Survival and Revival

Edited by Maximilian C. Forte

Published by Peter Lang, 2006
New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, Oxford, Wien, 2006. 312 pp. ISBN 0-8204-7488-6 pb.

Please click on the link above (or here: http://www.centrelink.org/resurgence/index.html) to access the companion website for this new book. The companion website provides details on how to order the book, as well as special pages of materials to supplement the book, such as: photo galleries by most of the contributors; maps; pages about each of the country case studies; also, information about the contributors and their chapters.

In addition, you will find a table of contents for the book, advance reviews, and free chapter from the book (the Introduction).

More about the book:

Views of the modern Caribbean have been constructed by a fiction of the absent aboriginal. Yet, all across the Caribbean Basin, individuals and communities are reasserting their identities as indigenous peoples, from Carib communities in the Lesser Antilles, the Garifuna of Central America, the Taíno of the Greater Antilles, to members of the Caribbean diaspora. Far from extinction, or permanent marginality, the region is witnessing a resurgence of native identification and organization. This is the only volume to date that focuses concerted attention on a phenomenon that can no longer be ignored. Territories covered include Belize, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Guyana, St. Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Puerto Rican diaspora. Writing from a range of contemporary perspectives on indigenous presence, identities, the struggle for rights, relations with the nation-state, and globalization, fourteen scholars, including four indigenous representatives, contribute to this unique testament to cultural survival. This book will be indispensable to students of Caribbean history and anthropology, indigenous studies, ethnicity, and globalization.

Native Education

The 29th Annual California Conference on American Indian Education, to be held April 13-15, 2006 at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center in Fresno, California.

The conference theme this year is "Full Circle: Embracing Our Traditions and Values in Education” and will honor the knowledge that Indian traditions are once again being made a priority in Indian communities. The conference will also showcase 30 years of the success and growth of American Indian education, and acknowledge the impact education has made from a cultural standpoint on American Indian communities in California.

The entire conference packet is available in pdf form at the following link:

http://www.ncidc.org/

André Cramblit: andre.p.cramblit.86@alum.dartmouth.org is the Operations Director Northern California Indian Development Council NCIDC (http://www.ncidc.org) is a non-profit organization that meets the development needs of American Indians.

To subscribe to a newsletter of interest to Native peoples send an email to: IndigenousNewsNetwork-subscribe@topica.com or go to: http://www.topica.com/lists/IndigenousNewsNetwork/subscribe/?location=listinfo

Indigenous Languages of the Caribbean

CARIBLANGUAGE.ORG
Indigenous Languages of the Caribbean:

an exciting new resource that was researched and prepared by Keisha Marie Josephs. This website contains noun and verb lists, in some cases accompanied by sound files to aid learners in acquiring the proper pronunciation, as well as samples of how to conjugate verbs and construct sentences. For each of the languages covered by this website, there are links to useful resources at the bottom of each language's page. Languages included in this website are: Arawak, Galibi, Taino, Karifuna, Garifuna, Warao, and "ghost languages" (languages for which we can find few remaining traces). This impressively designed and well organized website was launched only recently, and I warmly recommend it to visitors. Hopefully, such sites will spawn greater collaboration and aid local efforts toward language revival.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE CAC REVIEW BLOG BY EMAIL

We have now launched a new way for you to receive immediate updates of new entries posted to this blog. Simply go to the bottom of the page, enter your email address, click on the subscribe button, and then complete the three easy steps on the page that comes up. Any day that a new entry is posted, you will receive a daily digest by email.

Trinidadian Web Logs

There are many wonderful Trinidadian and Tobagonian web logs online, some of which would be of interest to those concerned not specifically with indigenous peoples of the Caribbean as such, but with issues of self-sufficiency, local creativity, respect for the natural environment, and with visions of an autonomous Caribbean psyche, polity and economy. These would, I think, resonate with many of us who are closest to indigenous Caribbean peoples, either as students or as actual participants. Let me list some of the these notable blogs below, some of which have also adopted Amerindian themes:

1. GUANAGUANARE: The Laughing Gull--at http://guanaguanaresingsat.blogspot.com/--"The laughing gull collects poems, including lyrics from songs, about the islands of Trinidad and Tobago." For those who love poetry, especially Caribbean poetry, this is one of the key sites to visit. One of the amusing features of the site is that it is presented as if written by the gull, the bird, itself. (The author is otherwise anonymous, or is actually a gull with advanced keyboard skills.)

2. NOW IS WOW--at http://nowiswow.blogspot.com/--by multimedia artist Elspeth Duncan, a Trinidadian of Vincentian heritage. There is almost too much to this site to define it neatly: you can see videos of the artist dancing, hear audio of her musical compositions, see photos of her unique use of windows in art work, read her essays and interviews with everyday Trinidadians, it really is a fascinating piece of work.

3. THE BOOKMANN--at http://thebookmann.blogspot.com/ --another stunning creation, this one by Richard Bolai, aka the Bookbinder and the author of thebookmann. He lives and works in Trinidad, West Indies. The blog's aim is to focus on Art in Trinidad and Tobago, and around the world in a context to engage the viewer to visual art.

4. TTLTT: Through the Lens, Trinidad and Tobago--at http://www.ttltt.com/--provides some marvellous photographic depictions of some very down to earth and yet nonetheless compelling scenes in Trinidad, from old homes to signs to flowers and landscapes. After viewing this blog, the question that would seem to naturally force itself on one's mind is: why isn't the whole world rushing to live in Trinidad and Tobago?

RECLAMANDO NUESTRA HERENCIA TAINA

From: Carlalynne Melendez, LIGA TAINA-KE:

20 de febrero de 2006

Estimados colegas y compañeros,

Es un verdadero placer volver a saludarlos. Los vuelvo a contactar para anunciar la creación de la organización Liga Taina-ke, Inc (Tierra Taina), fundada el 6 de enero de 2006. Adjunto le envío la visión y misión de la organización. El principal objetivo de la Liga es llevar a cabo estudios que apoyen la protección, conservación y manejo de los recursos culturales, históricos, biológicos, y naturales de Puerto Rico. La Liga lograra estos objetivos a través de investigaciones multidisciplinarias en los campos de la etnografía, geografía y estudios ambientales. La Liga también fomentara actividades educativas y culturales enfocadas en la temática etno-histórica-cultural Taína.

Les invito a que se unan a La Liga Taina-ke para que juntos, trabajemos por esa Boriquén que soñamos. Una Boriquén llena de confianza, propósito, y esperanza. Y a ti joven boricua te hago un llamado para que te integres a La Liga para construir tu futuro–un futuro lleno de confianza, propósito y esperanza–recuerda que tu eres Boriquén y solo tu puedes transformarla.

Agradezco infinitamente su interés, consideración y cooperación en esta iniciativa. Si tienes alguna duda o necesitas cualquier información adicional favor de contactarme al 787-671-0455 (celular), 787-764-0000 / Ext. 2479 / 3626 (Departamento), o a la siguiente dirección de correo electrónico (lynemelendez@yahoo.com).

Los invito a que visten el nuevo sitio de La Liga Taina-ke:
http://www.tainakepr.blogspot.com/
http://anthro.binghamton.edu/graduates/
cmelendez/BoricuaCibao.htm

Adjunto les envío la misión y visión de Taina-ke.

Carlalynne Melendez, PhD
Catedrática Auxiliar
Universidad de Puerto Rico
Recinto de Rio Piedras