Taino

A Novel

by Jose Barreiro

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Pub Date Apr 04 2023 | Archive Date Jan 31 2023

Independent Publishers Group | Fulcrum Publishing

Historical Fiction

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Description

“José [Barreiro] writes the true story in Taíno—the Native view of what Columbus brought. Across the Americas, invasion, and resistance, the Taíno story repeated many times over.” – Chief Oren Lyons (Joagquisho), Turtle Clan, Onondaga Nation The story of what really happened when Columbus arrived in the “New World,” as told by the Taíno people who were impacted In 1532, an elderly Taíno man named Guaikán sits down to write his story—an in-depth account of what happened when Columbus landed on Caribbean shores in 1492. As a boy, Guaikán was adopted by Columbus, uniquely positioning him to tell the story of Columbus’s “discovery,” directing our gaze where it rightfully belongs—on the Indigenous people for whom this land had long been home. Revised and updated by author José Barreiro (himself a descendant of the Taíno people) with new information and a new introduction, this richly imagined novel updates Guaikán’s carefully crafted narrative, chronicling what happened to the Taíno people when Columbus arrived and how their lives and culture were ruptured. Through Guaikán’s story, Barreiro penetrates the veil that still clouds the “discovery” of the Americas and in turn gives

Advance Praise

"Jose Barreiro's novel, Taino, tells the first story of conquest through Native eyes. Painfully and painstakingly, Barreiro opens the Taino Caribbean world, with a clear view of the early invasion led by Columbus, and of Caribbean Indigenous struggles to survive."

– Winona LaDuke, Executive Director of Honor the Earth

“Taíno captured my imagination strongly; I was mesmerized. The landscape where the story unfolds is familiar, and the characters spoke directly to me. Friends and family have shared similar sentiments. Some have believed it was an actual historical account and not one of fiction! Hatuey, as Barreiro is known among TaÍno, skillfully draws you in. You leave only unwillingly when the story eventually ends.”

– Jorge Estevez, (Baracutei) Taino Cacique

“Jose [Barreiro] writes the true story in Taíno—the Native view of what Columbus brought. Across the Americas, invasion, and resistance, the Taíno story repeated many times over.”

– Chief Oren Lyons (Joagquisho), Turtle Clan, Onondaga Nation

“Jose Barreiro’s masterfully written historical novel recounts the Indians' discovery of the ways of the Europeans, as seen by Christopher Columbus's young adopted Indian son both during their first encounters as well as in Spain. While vividly re-creating the often violent clashes of cultures and expectations that eventually disaffected and decimated the Indigenous populations, Barreiro has maintained total accuracy in his exploration of the Taíno cultures. This forgotten chapter of history makes for fascinating reading by providing an alternative view of the so frequently mythologized encounter and the men who brought it about.”

– Kirkus Reviews

Praise for the Author

“Cornell scholar Barreiro's first novel focuses on the early history of Spanish conquest in the Caribbean, as told by a Native serving as interpreter and intermediary during those years—a witness to the genocide against his people.”

– Kirkus Reviews

“As an interpreter, Guaikán serves as a bridge between two worlds. Similarly, this novel links to a culture that has mostly been ignored by mainstream historical literature, and Barreiro masterfully weaves in the Taíno language, traditions, foods, and cultural bond with the sea and other natural elements. The book also bridges realities during a time and place that is almost always viewed through the lens of the conquerors.”

– Michelle Tirado, “José Barreiro Bridges Two Realities and Two Worlds with Taíno: A Novel,” Indian Country Today, Sept.. 13, 2018

Sharply and lovingly written, and filled with philosophical insights and emotional musings from a life in a world turned upside down, Taíno is an engrossing, illuminating, and heartbreaking look at the world of the conquered, a world that all but disappeared in the space of a single lifetime. “The wounds of these forty years,” the author’s narrator sighs in his journal, “cut deep into my heart and so will mostly these pages.”

– Foreword Reviews, Reviewed by Mark McLaughlin

https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/taino/

"Jose Barreiro's novel, Taino, tells the first story of conquest through Native eyes. Painfully and painstakingly, Barreiro opens the Taino Caribbean world, with a clear view of the early invasion...