On May 19th, the Taíno Nation of the Antilles hosted a dinner, panel discussion and a cultural presentation by the children of the nation for the delegation members of the forth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at the UN. The children played music, danced, sang and recited the following poetry;

We're Here to Stay!

By: Erica Karayaru Velez,
14 year old High School Student

A nation believed to be extinct and never coming back
Now rising to the surface and slipping through the cracks
Coming together to celebrate life Columbus could not take away
Because he thought he could invade our lands and stay
But we fought back and let Mother Earth be our guide
And listened to the voice that we heard inside
The voice telling us that they're greedy and what they're doing is
wrong
And instead of fighting we should be coming together to sing a song
But that was the past and this is now
And we are bringing our nation to life the best way we know how
We have a lot of elders who are wise and mature
And a lot of young ones who will carry the nation to the future
So if anyone tries to tell you we don't exist
You'll look back and remember this
We are the Taíno Nation and we're here to stay
So no matter what you do we won't go away


Dáka Kuyaya
(Kuyaya is my name)

By: Alejandro Kuyaya Pastrano, 10 years old

I speak the language of Columbus,
I wear European style clothes.
My shoes are from China
And my socks are from Japan.
I like pizza and I play basketball,
But there are things about me that you don't know.
You see I'm a Taíno,
My ancestors left me a culture that is still alive today.
My people sailed in big canoes,
And played the scared drums
And if you would listen to my heart,
You would hear how it sounds.
So even if you see a change in what I wear today.
My heart, my mind and my spirit are Taíno,
Kuyaya is my name!

The future of the Taíno Nationof the Antilles will firmly rest in the hands of our children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, brothers and sisters. After all the hard work and sacrifices throughout these last 12 years, since the resurgence and restoration of our nation. It will ultimately lie in the hands of our children, who will inherit what we've worked so hard to restore and take us into the coming
Millenniums. It is up to you to immerse your children into our culture. So they can learn the language, we have restored, so that they can learn the customs, traditions and culture that will prepare them to take their rightful place in the future of the Taino Nation of the Antilles. The Wanakán Cultural Center is now sponsoring classes in language, dance, music and all aspects of our culture, in order to better prepare both you and the children to continue the work we have initiated. After 500 years of silence and the declaration of our ancestor's extinction, we have fought our way back destroying the myth of extinction by our colonizers. It is your duty and responsibility to leave this inheritance to your children, as we are leaving it to ours. So for those of you in registry all you need do is show up for the classes, for those of you who have not requested registry into the Taíno Nation of the Antilles and would like to attend, what are you waiting for? The registry is living proof of our existence as a nation both now and for future generations to look back on and know that we existed, and that we loved and cared enough about them to insure that we never go back into obscurity. The prophecy of our return has been fulfilled; it is now up to you to keep it alive for future generations to come.