The Myth of Indigenous Caribbean Extinction Continuity and Reclamation in Borikén (Puerto Rico)

One of the greatest myths ever told in Caribbean historiography is that the indigenous peoples who encountered a very lost Christopher Columbus are effectively "extinct." This book debunks that myth through the uncovering of historical, ethnographical, and census data. The author reveals extensive narratives of Jíbaro Indian resistance and cultural continuity on the island of Borikén. Since the epistemological boundaries of the early history and literature had been written through colonial eyes, key fallacies have been passed down for centuries. Many stories have been kept within family histories having gone "underground" as the result of an abusive past. Whole communities of Jíbaro people survive today.

Tony Castanha is a Lecturer of Indigenous and American Indian Studies in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, USA. His current research involves the unraveling of deeply embedded Caribbean mythologies. He is an indigenous rights advocate and has been instrumental in the movement to revoke the 1493 papal bull "Inter Caetera." He is native Boricua or Jíbaro.

1. Still There, Always Have Been
2. Introduction: A New Version of History
3. Mythmaking in the Caribbean
4. Early Resistance and Survival in Borikén
5. Jíbaro Resistance and Continuity 
6. The Modern Jíbaro 
7. Cultural Survival and the Indigenous Movement