We visit an Arawak indian settlement and speak with some women; tribal chief Daniel Gomez!

[donald1111111]

thank god they are still alive. i thought they were extinct

[paradisecrescent2]

I am a jamaican and my maternal grandmother is an obvious stereotypical native indian. I've always questioned my heritage.My father's family is from Scotland. Started with the Moors. When I look at these people I see the same exact features and mannerisms as my father,uncles,aunts,cousins and so forth.Provides a lot to some unanswered questions.Puts tears to my eyes. There truly is no denial.

[venessa32]

We Jamaican is mixed with our Arawak Indian.

[TheTainoWarrior]

@Thetainojim1 its already has 20,000 taino identities in census2010 no sweat i m member of guatu ma cu a boriken Taino council, and much love to arawak ppl our relatives

[choclatemellons]

ida bina numada/nidujenu mi gente/love u to death carib/arawaka ancestors!!!!

piece and love your garifuna cousin in the san francisco usa

[choclatemellons]

I'm a black carib=west african/carib/arawakan mix originally from St. Vincent/yurumein. in st. vincent we were successful in keeping the english from colonizing our southern islands but eventually we lost the fight and we were exiled to Central America and after hundreds of years leaving in exile we maintain our arawakan language and culture

[nerdroyalcjb]

so the Arawak in Guyana and Venezuela Tainos since the countries share a border and they used to move back and forth between them ?

[disnigga2nice]

its nice to see these idegenous people with their Caribbean accents ..

[BryanMacHDTV]

isnt Guyanese Ancestors from india and Africia? not spanish right ?

[DestinysVictor]

@BryanMacHDTV There are still Amerindian in Tribes in Guyana now.A great majority of Guyanese are of African and East Indian decent, but there are also some Amerindians and whites in the country,

[krnpowr]

@BryanMacHDTV East Indian, African, Indigenous, and mixtures.

[harlemsoldier83]

Can someone please explain to me why do they sound like they have a Caribbean Accent? i never knew that..wow!!!

[HAYDENMUSICTV]

@harlemsoldier83 these Arawak Indians are living in Venezuela but are from Guyana which shares its border with Venezuela. Guyana is the only English speaking country in South America and has more of a Caribbean culture and accent compared to every where else in South America.

[MissPennyLane891]

I am 1/16 Arawak. I love Guyana.

[DTGRed]

The REAL people of the Caribbean Arawaks all respect to them

[sugerrayrobinson]

my father is half arawak from surinam

[TheTainojim1]

My problem is that we are now being called Latinos. Before that, we were called Hispanic from the Carribeans to Mexico. This so called politically corectiveness has to be stopped. What will we be called next year? So on the next census, write yourself down as other and put in TAINO and be proud. We didn't come this far to allow sociaety put another lable on us. Why is the supreme judge from the Bronx called Latino Justice. It should have been called Taino Justice.

[Dudeluv27]

@TheTainojim1 you guys are "latinos" considering that the vast amount of latin americans have european ancestry. you guys interbreeded with Spainiards, africans and amerinds to make yourselves what you PR's are today.

[TheTainojim1]

Arawak is the language of the TAINOS. The Arawak language is spoken from Tampa Florida to Peru. There is such a thing as Arawak speaking people but Arawak is not a people, it's the language of the Tainos. For example, the Arawak Indians of Jamaica are actually Tainos that speak Arawak. The rest is all about subcultures of Tainos that speak the language.  I say this within the findings of studying Taino History.

[maria610421]

I never knew there was any Arawak Indians left I thought the British had wiped the, all out.

[TheTainoWarrior]

Lone I wasn't talk about south america I m mention much love from us tainos from Puerto Rico >> and yes I know they r from Venezuela arawak known as Lokono of the 6 clans the eagle clan .....Bec most us members of Taino nation n other went there reunited and danced, spoken language and more;)

[fransou19]

Haiti also pople said its more black heritage but i be honest not one time before anything we do cultural deep indian come first.we have deep respect for Annacaona.

[TheTainoWarrior]

Tainos in Puerto Rico

[TheTainoWarrior]

Much respect n love from

[morenia20]

Trilingual!!! 

[mykole84]

its the same way in belize and to an extent on the coast of nicaragua where u have indigenous looking sounding like jamaicans. it weird in belize u see a person that is dressed and looks like a person from guatemala or mexico but sounds jamaicans. in nicaragua the indigenous look like a dark skin indian or indian mixed with blacks but they still sound jamaican.

[shadowgirl9891]

I've heard that all of the native people in the Carribean disappeared hundreds of years ago. I guess the peple I heard it from were wrong. I'm glad the Taino chief is such a kind and forgiving man. And, God bless him and his people.

[ReadBelowHere]

mashaAllah that lady is pretty

[TheMohanroache]

they sound like Guyanese and Jamaicans!

[jovialduke]

They sound like Guyanese people, not like Spanish is their language... strange.

[HAYDENMUSICTV]

@jovialduke they are guyanese but they have settled in Venezuela near the Guyana border as the land was originally there land many years back.

[sharingideas]

It is a pleasure to listen to this tribal chief talking about love for those who killed and slaughtered his people. I tell you, if all Indians get together in the world, they are a people to reckon with, as long as they are not contaminated with the Western culture, but keep their ancestor's culture alive. The Indian ancestors sacrificed their land and lives for remaining posterity and future generations should keep their culture alive in a world of turmoil. Fight to keep the jungle!

[hotchoccolate23]

solidarity with our arawak /taino bros n sisters! i only came to to what they went through in the howard zinns book "peoples history of US" , absolutley disgusting what europeans did there , love n peace!"

[WWEDIVASROX]

Its cool to see Arawak people. One of my grandmother is half Arawak and my other is half carib. This is very cool to see.

[HereisyourMother]

May God bless you for your kindness. Those who are last shall be first. Blessed are the poor, the kingdom of heaven is yours.

[Strictlydibes]

Jamaica (Xaymaca to Arawak/Taino) somehow managed to keep the original name of the island. This is a part of who I am, I'm so happy to have found this documentary. The Carribean on a whole is so rich and beautiful in culture, I'm so proud to be a part of this!

[papoopse100]

most blacks in the carribean are mixed with arwak and african blood and carib like my father

[tuffythetiger]

True story, but thy are still making this mistakes in the U.S. allowing foreigners to take their territory and business.

[BLUELIONFILMS]

I am Taino and these people are our ancestors. I'm from the now called Dominican republic. Our people as the chief said were mistreated and butchered. To those who think we were all vanished i say go look to the mountains of cibao in Santo Domingo and witness living taino tribes. We were robbed of our women, lands and gold. We embraced Columbus and his fleet and welcomed them only to be robbed. But we are still here and our presence will be felt.

[1NX9]

@BLUELIONFILMS

How is the Taino population now? Has it grown in numbers?

It would be awful if Taino people disapear.

[pablo1079]

Hey!! it is great to see my cousins in all different countries..... I love the spirit and grace, and of course the accent!! Love to the Arwak world wide!!

[BlankUSJAm]

they sound Guyanese

[TheMannu007]

@BlankUSJAm ...Guyana for sure!!! :)

[rtruth228]

i cant believed how similar arawak is still to garifuna, for whats your name she said kama biri?, in garifuna we say ka biri?

[Slupel]

I'd like to do the DNA test to see how much Arawak blood I have my family is from Grenada and my Dad's Mum is how we trace back, nice to see so many keeping the culture alive.

[realmackoy88]

Nice to see some Arawak indians out there. In Aruba we can also trace our ancsestors to the arawakan tribe.

[1400deadwood]

How did these tribesmen all learn to speak in English? Do they view Spanish as the language of conquest and reject it in favor of English?

[TheKathygarcia3534]

Arawak where all over the caribbean.. the tainos & caribs are all arawaks

[cherri7]

@TheKathygarcia3534 huh i heard that the tainos ,caribs and arawaks are different native tribes

[DeadlyInertia]

@TheKathygarcia3534 The Tainos is just a different name for Arawak. The Caribs are a different ribe of indians different beliefs. Another name for Caribs are Kalinagos.

[Bladeboy05]

@TheKathygarcia3534 even the most southern tip of Florida.

[lokonong]

ale kotjako hang dajonong( how are you my people)

[lokonong]

Ale ko tja kohang dajonong( how are you my people)

I am arawak indian from Surinam(in between Guyana and French Guyana).Nowadays there are still about 3000 arwaks living in Surinam, in small tribes spread over the country. Whe call ourself: lokonong

[jhoso891]

ethnic minorities must be saved from extinction! this case we speak about Native America (Native American, Apache, Cheyenne, Mapuche .....)

Governments must foster development. Only in this way, the original breed may have a chance to survive! We can not allow this noble breed

extinguished! W Red Power movement, W NOBLE native people, I love red leather. all tribes from the north to the south of the continent all together. against extinction

[RASAlexander]

im from ARUBA in the caribbean my granma looks indian and i have indian eyes too.

[bellisma1927]

oh beautiful... im yellow carib from the west indies... and the older lady moves similar to my granma

[02arowakke02]

i'm proud to be one of them!

[EimeonUoir]

My father is half Arawak, from West Indies ( Martinique ). I would like to learn more about Arawak's culture !

[happyJenny12345]

It is wonderful to see that their are still Arawak people still alive. We learn about them in school in Jamaica. We know that they were

[BeautifulDances]

@happyJenny12345 Some survived and mixed with the Maroons in Jamaica. That is why it is mixed into our Patois

[Killayut]

@BeautifulDances lol

[firstpower100]

My father is half Arawak and is from Venezuela. Seeing the dignity that they have in my environment makes me proud of where I come from.

[pgbk87]

The Arawak language sounds VERY similar to Garifuna in Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras because Arawak is literally the mother language to Garifuna

[gamepredator1]

i am between arawak and caribs.

[Andi1985467]

i am part arawak too (w. indies)

[retrostunna1000]

im part arawak as well arawak rulez

[AMERINDIAN1STNATIONS]

Hello chief Daniel Gomez, first let me say how very proud i am of you standing up for you heritage and your 1st nations amerindian

peoples, seeing my grand father and his teachings was a true act of love for his people too,Stephen Campbell love you people so much that he wanted me to become the 2nd representative or speaker to govern and protect our Amerindian peoples but there were a lack of money provided by the Guyana government to supply our people with the resources to accomplish

[AMERINDIAN1STNATIONS]

Hello my Arawak first nations brothers and sisters its a pleasure for us to meet like this the power of the internet, for our future we should campaign and get other first nations leaders involve for a new self government system both for guyana and Venezuela's Amerindian peoples, my grand father stephen Campbell] fought for your freedom of rights and i was the to be reinstated as your future speaker , warrior and representative to the Amerindian 1st nations peoples but my day of fighting ..

[twiceblood]

thats not true my grandma is a full blood arawak indian from surinam she still lives in an arawak village my mom and me grew up there now i live in holland

[puertoricoindepencia]

I love being arawak

[puertoricoindepencia]

Im arawak but of the sub group that is arawak the tainos

[sophias11]

i love my people,, im part arawak...

[txus4sho]

i am arawak/carib garifuna tribe! my people are truely beautiful

[cherri7]

it is good to see that the arawaks are alive because the caribs killed the arawak and ciboney men and took their women.I'm mixed with carib but there is a possiblity that i'm mixed with ciboney and arawak=).I had no idea that arawaks were still angry at the caribs.

[scoresby33]

I doubt you're authenic Arawak. Nobody has more than 25% Arawak blood in them. It is truly unfortunate.

[arrowakano]

there was a recent study done and im not exact on the numbers but it was found that about 70something percent of puerto ricans have as much as like 85% arawak madriocondal dna

[kmj2000]

@scoresby33 That's not true. And what makes someone an authentic Arawak? That's just nonsense.

[afertyus1000]

@scoresby33 but then again what do the original arawaks blood contain??? in unrecorded history the tribes probably had different names

[muptahu24]

@afertyus1000 this lady sounds ant talks like us, now i do have hare texture not that tightly curled, but in jamaica they are called carrib indians, looking t the ta ino artifacts dolls and names and discrptions of the arawak were not strate haired, now there was a big mixture with the yangzhe hsu shen asiatics from 444ad and the mongolians chased hre from gengis khan.. so we find this mixture, but best to believe the origionals are same as the mande of alkebulan

[cannoir]

@afertyus1000 from the look of things its "holy" blood , then 90% of jaimaicans are not mixed with anything but just african and again african. it just sux to be just black lol!

[puertoricoindepencia]

arawak native americannnsssss