This issue started with a basic theme- remembering our indigenous roots. I was fortunate to get an authority on the subject, considered an expert in Taíno history, the President of the Taínos. Read the interview with Taíno President Roberto Múcaro Borrero where he explains the Taíno movement as “an affirmation of culture”.


Then I interviewed La Señora Gramita to get the 411 on Taínos because who would know better than an 80 year old from Puerto Rico? Surprisingly she insisted that she knew nothing about the Taínos. She was a Taína still in hiding! Finally she says, “No me recuerdo. Si quieres pregúntale a mi hermano.” Read La Señora Gramita’s interview with its surreal ending.


The Taíno search doesn’t end there. With help from la Señora’s grandson, I call her brother in Puerto Rico. Not only does Don Tío know about the Taínos, he goes on to tell a story about his grandmother, “que era Taína. Yo me recuerdo de ella. Yo tenia 4 años.” Don Tio recounts a vivid story of his antepasado Taíno relative. Read Don Tío's interview and its surprising ending.


Also read Curandera Doña Predicanda. After 60 years as a curandera, she still does not charge- as is the traditional way. As an elder to the Kalpulli Izkalli, a community of families organized on Mexican indigenous principles, she helped establish a free community clinic and is the resident curandera that medical doctors refer patients to. Written by Patricia Gonzales from Column of the Americas, read Curandera for some old school healing.