A group of seven Taíno leaders were arrested yesterday for their 19-day occupation of the state-run archeological Caguana Ceremonial Center in Utuado, Puerto Rico, according to a recent email from Roberto Mucaro Borrero, the President and Chairman of the United Confederation of Taíno People US Regional Coordinating Office. The leaders protested at Caguana, a focal point for Taíno resurgence, to bring attention to the wide desecration of Taíno sacred sites.
The Taíno protest recent construction and renovation projects at Caguana that have closed access to the site where Taíno conduct ceremonies. Protesters are concerned with rampant grave robbing and disturbance on the island as housing and industrial development expand. They also accuse the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of removing remains from a burial field in recent months, according to Indian Country Today.
Naniki Reyes Ocasio, one of the protesters, has been on a hunger-strike, pledging not to eat until Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila agreed to meet with the Taíno leaders. Organizations represented in the protest include the Caney Quinto Mundo, the Consejo General de Taínos Boricanos, and the United Confederation of Taíno People, according to Indian Country Today. Taíno leaders want the US Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act enforced for Taíno ancestral burial and ceremonial grounds in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
