Embedded Files
STCC Library has many resources, both physical and digital, to help you build knowledge about the Taino.
Browse this page for resources to learn more.
Books available at STCC Library!
Taíno Indian Myth and Practice: The Arrival of the Stranger by King by William F. Keegan
Applying the legend of the "stranger king" to Caonabo, the mythologized Taino chief of the Hispaniola settlement Columbus invaded in 1492, Keegan examines how myths come to resonate as history--created by the chaotic interactions of the individuals who lived the events of the past as well as those who write and read about them. The "stranger king" story told in many cultures is that of a foreigner who comes from across the water, marries the king's daughter, and deposes the king. In this story, Caonabo, the most important Taíno chief at the time of European conquest, claimed to be imbued with Taino divinity, while Columbus, determined to establish a settlement called La Navidad, described himself as the "Christbearer."
Keegan's ambitious historical analysis--knitting evidence from Spanish colonial documents together with data gathered from the archaeological record--provides a new perspective on the encounters between the two men as they vied for control of the settlement, a survey of the early interactions of the Tainos and Spanish people, and a complex view of the interpretive role played by historians and archaeologists. Presenting a new theoretical framework based on chaos and complexity theories, this book argues for a more comprehensive philosophy of archaeology in which oral myths, primary source texts, and archaeological studies can work together to reconstruct a particularly rich view of the past.
Catalog Entry: Taíno Indian Myth and Practice: The Arrival of the Stranger (Click on the Link to find the location of this book in the STCC Library Stacks).
How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr
A pathbreaking history of the United States’ overseas possessions and the true meaning of its empire
We are familiar with maps that outline all fifty states. And we are also familiar with the idea that the United States is an “empire,” exercising power around the world. But what about the actual territories―the islands, atolls, and archipelagos―this country has governed and inhabited?
In How to Hide an Empire, Daniel Immerwahr tells the fascinating story of the United States outside the United States. In crackling, fast-paced prose, he reveals forgotten episodes that cast American history in a new light. We travel to the Guano Islands, where prospectors collected one of the nineteenth century’s most valuable commodities, and the Philippines, site of the most destructive event on U.S. soil. In Puerto Rico, Immerwahr shows how U.S. doctors conducted grisly experiments they would never have conducted on the mainland and charts the emergence of independence fighters who would shoot up the U.S. Congress.
In the years after World War II, Immerwahr notes, the United States moved away from colonialism. Instead, it put innovations in electronics, transportation, and culture to use, devising a new sort of influence that did not require the control of colonies. Rich with absorbing vignettes, full of surprises, and driven by an original conception of what empire and globalization mean today, How to Hide an Empire is a major and compulsively readable work of history.
Catalog Entry: How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States (Click on the Link to find the location of this book in the STCC Library Stacks).
A Contested Caribbean Indigeneity: Language, Social Practice and Identity within Puerto Rican Taíno Activism by Sherina Feliciano-Santos
A Contested Caribbean Indigeneity is an in-depth analysis of the debates surrounding Taíno/Boricua activism in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean diaspora in New York City.
Drawing on in-depth ethnographic research, media analysis, and historical documents, the book explores the varied experiences and motivations of Taíno/Boricua activists as well as the alternative fonts of authority they draw on to claim what is commonly thought to be an extinct ethnic category. It explores the historical and interactional challenges involved in claiming membership in, what for many Puerto Ricans, is an impossible affiliation. In focusing on Taíno/Boricua activism, the books aims to identify a critical space from which to analyze and decolonize ethnoracial ideologies of Puerto Ricanness, issues of class and education, Puerto Rican nationalisms and colonialisms, as well as important questions regarding narrative, historical memory, and belonging.
Catalog Entry: A Contested Caribbean Indigeneity: Language, Social Practice and Identity within Puerto Rican Taíno Activism (Click on the Link to find the location of this book in the STCC Library Stacks).
If you're looking to explore more information, whether on your own or with the help of an STCC Librarian, the following databases can help!
Articles from JSTOR
Articles from JSTOR
Through STCC Library's access to the JSTOR database, students can access writings and articles on the Taino and Post-colonial perspectives!
Link to access JSTOR: https://www.jstor.org/
To Log in off campus: Use your 7 Digit Student ID number & the password is your last name in all caps.
High Quality Images from ARTSTOR
High Quality Images from ARTSTOR
Students can also access high-quality images of Taíno cultural artifacts and modern-day traditions curated from museums and archives through ARTSTOR.
Link to access ARTSTOR: https://www.jstor.org/site/artstor/
To Log in off campus: Use your 7 Digit Student ID number & the password is your last name in all caps.
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