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The Demographic Tragedy of the Tainos
por Luis R. Negrón Hernández, jr.
Translated by Ann Shevlin
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Ilustración antigua:
indios falleciendo
contaminados
con enfermedades
importadas
por los europeos.
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 T THE BEGINNING OF THE 16TH CENTURY, the colonists of Puerto Rico, without concern
for the demographic tragedy that others had
caused in Santo Domingo with unfortunate
results for the Indians, committed the same
abuses and produced equally tragic results
on the island of Puerto Rico.
Our Taíno Indians began to die in alarming
numbers, victims of mistreatment in the mines
and of diseases brought from Europe, to which
they lacked immunity. [See the illustration at left].
Lacking a work force, the colonists obtained
the approval of the friars of the Gerónimo
and Dominican orders to replace the indigenous
slaves with ones from Africa.
Later, repentant for having also given his
endorsement, Fray Bartolomé de las Casas
lamented:
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...not taking notice of the unjust way in which
the Portuguese took them and made them slaves;
which, once he became aware of it, he wouldn't
have allowed it for anything in the world,
because he always felt that they were unjustly
and tyrannically made into slaves, and that
the same reasoning that applied to them should
apply to the Indians...".
-- Las Casas, Historia,
libro III
[See the cover of his book in the illustration
to the right].
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These documents do not state that all the
Indians were exterminated. In fact, other
ecclesiastic documents indicate that there
were marriages between Indian women and Spaniards.
It is a historical fact that, unlike the
other Europeans (English, French, Dutch)
the Spanish intermixed racially with the
“Indians”. The children of these marriages
are considered ‘Mestizos’ - not Spanish or
Taíno, or “pure” Indian. One only has to
look at the racial makeup of people from
Mexico to South America, where in some peoples
the indigenous features not only are common,
but actually predominate, in contrast to
the experience of the Indians with the English
and the North Americans in the United States.
In Puerto Rico, even though disapproved of
by the government, racial intermarriages
were common. For example, when Sabana Grande
separated from San Germán and was founded,
the White and economically comfortable nucleus
which made up the town council looked with
disapproval on the ethnic process which was
taking place on a large scale in the region,
and went as far as to question the right
of those Spanish citizens to marry women
of color. On November 4, 1822, Mayor Francisco
Antonio Nazario complained to the Governor
of Puerto Rico:
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It has been observed that the parochial as
well as the electoral
councils have been
joined by men who
are
themselves White
and from good families,
but who are married
to women who are
noticeably Colored,
and that the Supreme
Government should
rule on whether such
persons who have
disqualified
themselves
by their bad marriages
are properly to be
considered citizens
with full rights...
[Cited in the book "Sabana Grande: Notas
para su historia",
by Luis R. Negrón
Hernández].
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The Governor never replied to Mayor Nazario’s
letter.
It must be pointed out
in this regard that
there is confusion among
some Puerto Ricans
born in the United States
who adopt the North
American racial and cultural
concept that
“if you have one drop of
Indian blood, you
are an Indian”. Over the
centuries, the people
of Puerto Rico have markedly
continued the
interaction between couples
of different
races. It should not be
overlooked that Chinese
immigrants were admitted
to the Island for
the construction of a military
highway, so
that not only were there
immigrants from
a long list of nations
and regions of the
globe, but there was also
an intermixing
of these peoples with the
Creole men and
women. Some racial characteristics
are more
notable than others, depending
on the zone
of the island that you
visit. While giving
talks in neighborhoods
in the interior of
the island, I frequently
find students with
naturally blond hair and
blue or green eyes.
Recently I was surprised
to meet, in a neighborhood
in Barranquitas, an adolescent
with a complexion,
eyes and facial features
similar to those
of Nordic people. Along
the coasts and in
what were the sugar-producing
zones, the
Black and Mulatto types
are common, while
you will find in the west
not only the features
of European ancestors but
also those of the
“Pardos”, or bronze-skinned
people with almond-shaped
eyes.
We have found documents that make mention
of "Indians" from the vast San
Germán region (which does not only include the town) at the end of the 18th
Century and the beginning of the 19th Century.
These documents do not, however, specify
whether these were Indians imported from
Central America for farm labor, as some historians
suggest, or those who were introduced from
other Caribbean islands during the colonization.
After a few years, these "Indians"
are no longer mentioned in the registers
of San German, without any explanation at
all. Nor do we know the factors that led
the pastor, priest or parish official to
identify them as "Indians" in their
racial descriptions. It is typical, in Puerto
Rican popular speech, to describe people
with bronze-colored skin as "Indian-colored"
or "Trigueño". The Spaniards in
the 17th through 19th centuries commonly
used the term "Pardo" (of dark
skin, between white and black). [Photo: Indian women of the forest.]
New contributions to the theme are being made
by the "Y" chromosome studies conducted
by Dr. Juan Martínez Cruzado at the university campus at Mayagüez.
This genetic specialist began to investigate,
with a grant of $270,000 from the National
Science Foundation of the United States,
the Indigenous genetic presence in Puerto
Ricans. Professor Martínez has been studying
the DNA of mitocondria which is inherited
solely along maternal lines.
His most recent results, catagorized as “preliminary”,
have revealed that 62% of Puerto Ricans have
indigenous ancestry through maternal lines,
27% African, and 11% White (Caucasian). These
findings, even with a small sample of the
ppopulation, will have to be compared with
the studies of anthropologists, historians,
and othere specialties in the field, and
will possibly make necessary a revision of
our history. These studies would confirm
that the Spaniards did not exterminate the
Indigenous people in the way they are accused
of and that the intermixing of Iberians and
natives was greater than was believed. And
from these, with the African presence, the
modern Puerto Rican began to emerge.
Professor Martínez’ study would have to distinguish
between “indigenous” in general and the “Taínos”
who lived in Puerto Rico at the time of the
Spanish colonization in the 16th Century
in particular. Not all of the Indigenous
people of the region of the Greater and Lesser
Antilles were “Taínos” or had a common culture,
beliefs and language, according the documents
of the era. “Here we are looking at only
one side of the story and we have to look
at the chromosome and at that which is inherited
through the father”, added the biologist.
It wouldn't surprise me that similar studies
of DNA should be taking place in Santo Domingo,
and these also should reveal the presence of Indigenous
blood, although with a marked Africa presence,
given the invasion and presence of Haitians
in Santo Domingo in the past. Another nation
to study would be Cuba. I recall the photos
that the esteemed Jesuit missionary Antonio
Santa Ana [may he rest in peace] was to show
me, and which appear in his book Frontier
Mission. In the book there are illustrations
of campesinos in the interior of the Santo
Domingo (the Dominican Republic) at the beginning
of the 20th century. In these, the "Spanish"
and "Black" racial features can
be distinguished, as well as a third type,
very similar to that of the Indians of the
region described by the colonists of the
16th century. In recent decades, while personally
visiting the so-called "frontier region"
(on the border between Santo Domingo and
Haiti), I found these physiological distinctions
to be less pronounced, with Black and Mulatto
features more pronounced, and these people
still living in bohíos and eating casabe.
In a recent meeting, Dr. Ricardo Alegría indicated
to me that the great number of Taíno names
for towns and neighborhoods on the island
had always seemed significant to him. We
spoke about the prominent front teeth of
some Puerto Ricans which are compatible with
the cranial-facial features of indigenous
peoples, and about the physical features
of many of the inhabitants of the area of
Sabana Grande and neighboring towns. [See the detail about prominent front teeth,
common in the mountain zone in the southwest
of the island.]
The cultural institutions of Puerto Rico,
including those of the government of the
Commonwealth, have never denied the heritage
of the three races, White, Black, and Indian,
which have in one way or another contributed
to the culture and the physical characteristics
of Puerto Ricans. The seal of the Institute
of Puerto Rican Culture (I.C.P.R.) clearly
illustrates this. If I remember correctly,
it was designed by the artist Lorenzo Homar,
with whom I had the pleasure of working one
summer in the old Fine Arts studio which
was located in the rear building of the General
Archives of Puerto Rico. [Seal of the I.C.P.R. ]
We will be updating these notes as we receive
new results of historic, anthropological,
archeological or biological research. If
you perform research or have scientifically
and historically based writings regarding
this topic, write to us at Borinquen@PReb.com.
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