Let's Talk Taíno 99 - Taíno Symbols (Part 2)

[@landback1491]

Thank you for all the great work here. The paper trail of my family dead ends in the late 1700s in Toa Alta. Generations of my ancestors were ethnocided into Christians in that town. I'm glad our ancestors were able to leave us some clues in the names of these colonizer founded towns. They were brutally stripped of our heritage, with a colonizer church being the first major structure built in Toa Alta. This church was main center of ethnocide in all of these town. Actively working to erase the Taino. Does Toa also refer to water from mountain lakes and rivers? Fresh water collecting in the mountains (breast like) and flowing down to give us live giving water for crops, cooking and drinking. Toa Alta being a mountain town near such fresh water.

[@scorpionic3303]

Hi! May I ask how you found information so far back? I’m reconnecting but it’s hard to find documents I’m not sure where to start. Especially since one of my grandparents names are unknown.

[@landback1491]

@@scorpionic3303 The shortest answer I can give is by searching: births, deaths, baptisms and marriages in church documents. I use familysearch for free, (although I don't support the colonizer owners of the site). Although I started with the pay site, ancestry. I found dozens of names no-one in my family knew. If you find the birth, death, marriage or baptism of someone with a known name, many times the names of the parents are included. Especially in old church documents. Additionally there are archives on the island you can visit in person. The Toa Alta archive happens to be in Bayamon.

[@bigvapefkawriteous]

🌊☀🐸

[@CasaAreyto]

Jan-jan (yes)! 🙌