Pedro Guanikeyu Torres

Pedro Guanikeyu Torres, also known as Peter Guanikeyu Torres,[2] is a Taino Native American[3] civil rights activist, tribal leader, educator, language teacher, tribal historian, actor and a Taino Indian Nationalist of Puerto Rico.

Chief

Pedro Guanikeyu Torres
Ciba Guanikeyu
Born1951 (age 69–70)[1]
NationalityTaino
Other namesNoble Bird of the White Earth
CitizenshipAmerican
OrganizationJatibonicu Taino Tribal Nation of Boriken
MovementEl Movimiento Indio Taino de Boriken (Puerto Rico)

Academic preparation

Torres's academic background includes studies in Cultural Anthropology, Puerto Rican studies, Art and Latin American studies. Torres graduated from Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey at Livingston College in June 1977.[4]

Cultural activism
Flag of the Jatibonicu Taíno Tribal Nation of Borikén (Puerto Rico)

In the late 1960s and early 1970s Torres did research aimed at documenting Taino artifacts and history through the CPI Comite Pro Indigenismo. In the mid 1970s Torres had translated the very first theater script from the Spanish language to the Taino language as a former Actor and member of El Grupo Guazabara (The Guazabara Theater Group). In 1993 he founded the Taino Inter-Tribal Council (TITC, Inc.), a not-for-profit Taino cultural-educational organization. He worked at various archaeological sites, including Puerto De Tierra in the 1970s. For over five (5) decades and many years, Torres has advocated the reclaiming and repatriation of artifacts pertaining to the past Pre-Columbian historical territory of the principal regional Chief Orocobix of the Jatibonicu Taino tribe, a tribe located in the central mountain region of Puerto Rico.[5] It should be mentioned that Torres is credited and recognized as being a Taino Native Civil Rights activist and one of the original founding Fathers of the 1968 Taino Indian Movement of Puerto Rico.

He is an activist for the official government recognition of the Taino American Indian people and his Jatibonicu Taino tribal community of Puerto Rico and in New Jersey. As tribal leader, Torres is politically active in Taino tribal council government, national and international political affairs.[6]

Often known as Don Pedro or Chief Guanikeyu, in 1996 Torres called for the "Taino national unity of all the Taino Indian people.[7] In 2000, Torres represented the Jatibonicu Taino Tribal Nation before the U.S. Census Bureau.[8] As part of his Taino tribal activism he has written various papers and articles on the relevancy of Taino culture and the history of Tainos in Puerto Rico, Florida and adjacent areas.[9]

Torres also performed as a Taino language teacher and researcher. As a tribal leader, he conducted the traditional Taino Guatiao (naming ceremony) and has bestowed the Taino name on many modern Taino people today. He also promoted the Taino language when he was chosen to name a crater on planet Venus that he named Nanichi "My Love or My Heart" in the year 2000.[10][11]

Resignation and subsequent return

Due to failing health, in 2001, Guanikeyu Torres withdrew from the leading role of his Taino tribal community and assumed the post of tribal elder.[12]

References
  1. The Cacique Pedro Guanikeyu
  2. Déborah Berman Santana (2006). "Indigenous Identity and the Struggle for Independence in Puerto Rico". In Barker, Joanne (ed.). Sovereignty Matters: Locations of Contestation and Possibility in Indigenous Struggles for Self-Determination. University of Nebraska Press. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-8032-6251-5. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  3. Roman, Ivan; Bureau, San Juan (October 16, 2000). "TAINOS RECOVER IDENTITY". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  4. A Taino Indian Graduates From Rutgers University, The Newark Star Ledger Newspaper: "A Cap Of A Different Color" Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  5. 1973 Pre-Columbian Taino Art Exhibit "Our Profound Taino Roots." Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  6. Tribal Government of the Jatibonicu Taino People of Puerto Rico. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  7. A call for Taino national unity: from the great grandson of Chief Orocobix, and tribal Elder of the District of Jatibonicu. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  8. A Taino Tribal Leader Meets With Heads of US Census. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  9. PUERTO RICO HISTORY THE TAINO PEOPLE. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  10. The Naming of Crater "Nanichi" that was approved and adopted by the International body of the IAU in 2000. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  11. "Planetary Names: Crater, craters: Nanichi on Venus". Planetary Names. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  12. My Fairwell Letter To The Taino People in the Year 2001. World History archives: The contemporary political history of the Taino in general. 1 January 2001. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
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