VIRTUAL Barcelona

Abstract

This paper explores the contentious discourse on erasing indigenous Taino culture and history in the Dominican Republic (DR), debated in archaeology, social and community history, and policy theory. Scholars like Dr. Jennifer Baez and Dr. Erica Neeganagwedgin argue that while Taino culture and traditions was deliberately erased in the DR, they endured through oral traditions, material culture, spirituality, and language. Yet, these perspectives inadequately consider globalization’s impact on the global perception of the DR’s history, including the proposition of UNESCO-designated sites. Focusing on the deliberate erasure of Taino culture and history since 1787, this paper examines the global recognition of the DR’s history and its problematic engagement with race and colorism. It scrutinizes proposed UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the DR, highlighting their omission of Taino significance and failure to acknowledge cultural importance, particularly the villainization of indigenous people in public artworks. Contrasting these with State and Taino narratives, the paper aims to juxtapose them against the history as told by the State and as told by Taino tradition, revealing the previously misunderstood and internalized erasure and elimination of all Tainos in the Caribbean perpetuated by the State. My argument stresses the necessity of recognizing this cultural history in UNESCO designations shaping social, cultural, and urban studies in the DR. In conclusion, this project illuminates the rarely acknowledged issue of indigenous culture in the Dominican Republic, and other Spanish-speaking islands in the Caribbean, by examining the historical and systematic erasure of Taino culture.