Dominicans like Puerto Ricans (of which I am 1/16? not so good at math) have a tripartite identity: Spanish, African and…Taino but most people think the Tainos died off (er, raped, ravaged and killed by the Spaniards), not these people.
Dominicans like Puerto Ricans (of which I am 1/16? not so good at math) have a tripartite identity: Spanish, African and…Taino but most people think the Tainos died off (er, raped, ravaged and killed by the Spaniards), not these people.
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 
If you are 1/16 Puerto Rican, than one of your great-grandparents were Puerto Rican. Or two of your great-great-grandparents were 😀
But Puerto Rican are an incredibly mixed bunch “racially”. Arrgh…this is where I get ticked off with the concept of “race”. It is such a false premise to begin with!
LikeLike
Well, yes, which is why probably anyone Puerto Rican or Dominican (who can trace back their ancestry mostly to there) should put down “mixed race,” I suppose. Yes, one of my great-great grandparents was from Puerto Rico, two were Dominican and one was a Spaniard.
LikeLike
I did read on a Taino webpage that there are a couple of tribally presitigious Boriquan families that made a point to keep the Taino blood and culture alive for a number of generations. I'll have to look it up again. All it takes is a few individuals to keep a culture alive.
LikeLike
If you are in fact Taino, then that means you are my cousin. I'm Afro-Caribbean and part Amerindian – Arawak tribe. Have you thought about doing DNA testing to find out?
LikeLike
Emm, some day. It's on a long list of things I'd like to do in that area. I'd love to find out what, if any, Taino ancestry I have. I'd love to find out where my African ancestors were from if a DNA test can do that. I'd love to find out where my maternal great-great grandmother was from in Spain and if she had any Jewish ancestry. And that's just the little bit I'd share of my to do list.
LikeLike
Getting DNA testing is on list of things I plan on doing by March, 2009. I too wonder if my Portuguese ancestors are Sefard, but I need to get other family members to do the testing with me, 'cause I think it may be paternal.
LikeLike