Taíno Symposium - Session 1 - Abuela Valeriana Shashira Rodríguez

The National Museum of the American Indian and the Smithsonian Latino Center presented Taíno: A Symposium in Conversation with the Movement on September 8, 2018 to celebrate the exhibition Taíno: Native Heritage and Identity in the Caribbean. Experts representing Indigenous studies, genetic science, anthropology, linguistics, and other academic disciplines examined exhibition themes in dialogue with Taíno/Indigenous Caribbean community leaders and cultural workers.
This session titled Looking Back: Contextualizing the Taíno Movement is a conversation among veteran Taíno organizers and community leaders. This segment features Abuela Valeriana Shashira Rodríguez, leader of the Consejo de Ancianos de Borikén (Council of Elders of Borikén).
Abuela Valeriana Shashira RODRÍGUEZ heads the Consejo de Ancianos de Borikén (Council of Elders of Borikén), in affiliation with the Consejo General de Taínos Borincanos. Grandmother Shashira is a highly-respected elder within her community. She has resisted environmental degradation, connected Puerto Ricans of Native descent on the island and in the United States, and worked to preserve and protect access to Taíno ceremonial centers in Puerto Rico.
This symposium was webcast and recorded live in at the National Museum of the American Indian New York, George Gustav Heye Center on September 8, 2018.