Taino Workshops: Reclaiming Ancestral Identity, Culture, and Connection

Honoring the First Peoples of the Caribbean

At the Westchester Institute for Transformative Support (WITS), we recognize and honor the wisdom, healing practices, and lived experiences of Indigenous peoples from around the world. We approach our work with deep respect for the diversity of Indigenous traditions, recognizing that each Indigenous nation, community, and lineage carries its own unique history, values, teachings, and ways of being.

While WITS incorporates culturally responsive Indigenous-informed approaches throughout our programming, our Taino Workshops specifically focus on the history, resilience, traditions, and living legacy of the Taino people—the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean.

These workshops create space for education, reflection, cultural reconnection, and healing by exploring Taino ancestry, the impacts of colonization, the experience of identity erasure, and the importance of reclaiming Indigenous connection within the Caribbean diaspora.

Through storytelling, ancestral education, art, music, movement, reflection, and community connection, participants are invited to explore the question:

“What happens when we reconnect with the parts of ourselves and our ancestors that history attempted to erase?”

At WITS, we believe that identity is a powerful source of healing. Reclaiming ancestral connection can support individuals and communities in restoring belonging, strengthening cultural pride, and honoring the resilience of those who came before us.

These workshops are rooted in the understanding that cultural reclamation is not about returning to the past—it is about restoring connection, carrying wisdom forward, and creating a future where Indigenous identities are recognized, respected, and celebrated.

Who Are the Taino?

The Taino are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean who inhabited many islands throughout the region for thousands of years before European colonization. The Taino developed thriving societies with sophisticated systems of agriculture, fishing, medicine, governance, trade, spirituality, art, and environmental stewardship.

The Taino homeland extended throughout the Greater Antilles, the Lucayan Archipelago, and parts of the Lesser Antilles, including many islands that today are known by colonial names.

The Taino people lived throughout:

Borikén (Puerto Rico)

Borikén was one of the major centers of Taino life and culture. The Taino communities of Borikén developed strong agricultural systems, villages known as yucayeques, spiritual traditions, artistic practices, and deep relationships with the natural world. Today, many Puerto Ricans continue to reconnect with Taino ancestry and cultural traditions.

Ayiti / Quisqueya (Haiti and the Dominican Republic – the island of Hispaniola)

The island of Hispaniola was one of the largest centers of Taino civilization. The Taino maintained extensive communities throughout the island, with traditions in farming, fishing, trade, spirituality, and community governance. Many Indigenous place names and cultural influences remain throughout Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Cuba

Cuba was home to numerous Taino communities, especially in the eastern regions of the island. Taino influence continues through archaeological sites, agricultural practices, language influences, and cultural traditions.

Xaymaca (Jamaica)

The Taino people of Xaymaca developed communities connected to fishing, farming, and trade. Indigenous influence remains present through place names, archaeological findings, and cultural memory.

The Lucayan Islands (The Bahamas)

The Bahamas were home to the Lucayan Taino, a branch of the broader Taino people. The Lucayan communities lived throughout the islands and maintained connections through fishing, farming, trade, and navigation.

Turks and Caicos Islands

The Turks and Caicos Islands were part of the wider Lucayan-Taino world. Indigenous communities lived throughout these islands before European colonization.

Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands were connected to the larger Indigenous Caribbean network, with Taino and related Indigenous peoples traveling and trading throughout the region.

U.S. Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands were part of the broader Taino Caribbean sphere. Indigenous communities lived throughout these islands before European colonization, contributing to the cultural and ancestral history of the Caribbean.

Parts of the Lesser Antilles

Taino influence and migration extended into parts of the northern Lesser Antilles, including islands such as:

  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Saint Kitts and Nevis
  • Montserrat
  • Guadeloupe
  • Dominica
  • Martinique

The Caribbean was not a collection of isolated islands—it was a connected Indigenous region where peoples traveled by canoe, exchanged goods, shared knowledge, and maintained relationships across the sea.

The Taino story is therefore not limited to one island or one modern nation. It is a shared Indigenous Caribbean history that continues through descendants, cultural practices, traditions, and the ongoing reclamation of identity.