Caribbean Indigenous Resistance / Resistencia indígena del Caribe ¡Taíno Vive!

This exhibition, organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, presents the history and contemporary life of the Taínos, the Indigenous peoples of the northern Caribbean islands. In 1492, the Taíno discovered Christopher Columbus. The encounter set in motion an invasion by Spanish soldiers, priests, and colonists that devastated the Taíno civilization and decimated its population. By the 1550s, colonial officials deemed the Taíno extinct. In reality, the Taíno and their culture resisted, survived, and continue to make an impact around the world today. This exhibition—presented in both English and Spanish, with some texts translated to Hiwatahia, the reconstructed Taíno language—explores the history and contemporary life of the Taíno and reaffirms their culture and identity today. It features stories, contemporary crafts, musical instruments, and utilitarian objects to explore the rich and enduring cultural legacies of the region and the impact of Caribbean Indigenous knowledge throughout the world. It investigates complicated questions around heritage, ancestry, and race that emerge from Taíno identities today.

Caribbean Indigenous Resistance / Resistencia indígena del Caribe ¡Taíno Vive! is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of the American Latino.

This exhibition received federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the National Museum of the American Latino.

The exhibition is co-presented by the Mattatuck Museum and the Afro Caribbean Cultural Center. The Mattatuck thanks the Yale Peabody Museum and cultural consultants Stephanie Bailey (Indigenous Caribbean descent from Boriken) and Sanakori (Taíno from Boriken) for lending additional expertise and objects to our presentation.