S5E8: Casa Areyto Taino Language & Culture Live

In this episode, we welcome Priscilla Colón, a writer, artist, and educator with over 20 years of experience in language programs. She has trained and empowered diverse learners, from government personnel to public school students, shaping the way Indigenous languages are taught and preserved.

Casa Areyto: A Mission to Reclaim the Taíno Identity

Priscilla’s work is deeply rooted in her own search for Indigenous heritage. She founded Casa Areyto with a mission to ensure that every Taíno descendant knows who they are and where they come from.

This episode dives into Indigenous language revitalization, cultural identity, and the role of education in preserving history. Don’t miss this powerful conversation with Priscilla Colón.

Contact Norah :
fluencyconsulting@gmail.com

Website: https://fluency.consulting
Your journey to discover the richness of language starts here. Join us on the website and embark on a learning adventure like never before!

Social Media Platforms :
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FluencyConsultingLLC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fluency_consulting/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NorahLulicJones
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fluency-norah-jones

Transcript

[music]

0:00:10.4 Norah Jones: And it is a pleasure to welcome you, my dear new friend, Priscilla Colon, to Its About Language.

0:00:16.8 Priscilla Colon: Oh, it's a pleasure to be here. Thank you so much for having me, Norah.

0:00:20.3 Norah Jones: I'm looking forward, dear Priscilla, to share with those that are listening around the world this very important work that you are doing, that helps here during this decade of the indigenous languages to be able to promote the joy and the growth of indigenous speakers, and specifically, those to do with Taino. Would you tell us what it is that you have been establishing, doing and what's behind it?

0:00:53.2 Priscilla Colon: So thank you for that. To start off, I think it's good to just allow people to know what Taino is. So Taino is the indigenous language of what we know today as the Americas, called Abya Yala by a lot of the indigenous people here, which means the mature continent. And Taino was the first indigenous language of contact on that fateful day in 1492. So, many of us know that Columbus and his men sailed and landed somewhere in the Bahamas on that day. But most people don't know that, who greeted him and who met him and who took them in, were the Taino people. And those are my ancestors. Like many descendants, I actually grew up hearing the Taino extinction myth that the Taino people had disappeared. This was something that was fed to us not just through the generations and historical documents, but also textbooks published and that children read growing up. And so many of us descendants just assumed that that was true, even though we could see it in our faces, in the foods that we ate, our traditions and so on. Even the language that we speak on the various islands, is so heavily influenced by our Taino ancestral language.

0:02:20.9 Priscilla Colon: And when I turned 40 years old, I think it was 2019, I just had this urge to research more about my roots. I'd spent 20 years or so in developing language programs through educational publishing, and I thought maybe there's some vestige of the language that I could find, because that was my avenue to reconnecting with those ancestral roots. That's really where my path started. And little did I know, within a year, I was so enamored by what I was finding, and I'm so passionate about sharing what I find with others. And then that quickly became, okay, I need to share this with other people. I'm sure there are those out there who want to know the same thing and who need to reconnect. And so, I use language as that avenue. And that's really where my advocacy work started.

0:03:21.8 Norah Jones: What a wonderful story to just begin that movement. There's so much more coming here in this overflow, finally, of the work that you have been doing. So you discovered appropriately so that indeed, the Taino language and the peoples of the heritage have not at all extinct. As a matter of fact, one of the things that you mentioned to me before our conversation began, was about that we actually do all speak Taino a little bit anyway. And so how is it that you have approached this understanding of the language, the helping the people to experience the language and they themselves to rediscover their roots and linguistically their roots, if they wish?

0:04:12.4 Priscilla Colon: Yeah, absolutely. So one fun fact is that we all speak Taino in some way or another, because as this first language of contact, Taino not just, didn't just have influence on European languages, but the things that Europeans were first encountering were brand new. So they started borrowing the items, the foods, the things like hammock and canoe. All those objects were Taino, and so the words went along with them. And so, I've spoken with folks as far away as Japan and Iran, and they say, "Oh, yeah, we have those words too." So Taino has traveled the entire globe, and it's now part of this amazing phenomenon that every single person out there has some sort of connection to Taino. Which gives me the shivers also, because I love the fact that we are all somehow connected. And this just is a real example of it happening linguistically. So that's the first thing. And I always talk about that because I think it allows us to connect as human beings. The second part is that, even though a lot of descendants, we know that Taino is in our language, we know that it's part of a lot of Spanish and French and English and so on.

0:05:41.3 Priscilla Colon: It takes a little bit though, to really start pointing it out. To really get to know it. And it's not just saying, "Okay, hammock, sure, that's Taino and canoe." And it's not just those words, but it's the words you use in your everyday vocabulary with your family. And now, you start realizing, hold on, this connection is a lot deeper than what I thought. I'll give you a quick example. In my household, so I'm Boricua. That is a Taino from Boriken, which we now know as Puerto Rico. So in my family, we used to use words such as butaka to talk about a sofa. We didn't use the Spanish word sofa. Well, butaka is a Taino word, and so that's normal for us. And we didn't realize it, or you could... There are sayings like, there's a word for really, really, really far away that we use. It's hurutungo. And everyone's like, we just make that up. And it's just Puerto Ricans who say that. It's not, it's Taino. That's actually what it is. And so, there's kind of this deeper connection that is just under the surface, and most of us descendants don't really realize it.

0:07:06.6 Priscilla Colon: There's another subtle thing that has happened, or maybe not so subtle. It's the layers of colonization. So our language was colonized. So we all began speaking either Spanish or French, later on English. And so, there's this big divide among descendants who live in the continental US and maybe only speak English. So there's almost like a further disconnect. And then those who live on the islands and speak Spanish, for example, there's a little closer connection to things like the primary sources of information, which are all in Spanish. So that disconnect, for me, it's almost tangible, I feel it. Just to speak a little bit about my background, my parents are first generation migrants, I guess you could call them. They moved from the island to the continental US in the 1960s and '70s. So I was raised, because they're a little bit older, I was raised with Spanish as my first language. So I have that connection to them and to the island, while other generations may not. So now they've lost that linguistic connection that brought them closer to their indigenous roots. And so, when I started this advocacy work, I realized there must be so many people who feel disconnected, who don't even know where to begin to look for information.

0:08:43.2 Priscilla Colon: And what a privilege I have to be able to have that connection, to be a bridge of sorts between this language that they're trying to reconnect to, and maybe the language that they speak now. So that's a little bit about that. However, I don't know if I've actually answered your question?

0:09:01.8 Norah Jones: Absolutely. And so many things came from what you just said. For example, there's this disconnection story. And it's just interesting to listen to your voice as you're speaking about the disconnection, because the tone becomes softer and sadder. There are stories that are embedded in there as you use that word and as you visualize with your history what has happened. Similarly, your voice gained energy and pitch as you talked about the realizations and astonishment, really. What I would love for you to do is to, tap on that a little bit. Tell us some more stories of those that you have then been able to touch through the work that you're doing, and what their realizations have been, and what they have to say about their own disconnection and now connection.

0:09:56.4 Priscilla Colon: Right. So I'd love to step back just a little bit because this kind of realization. These Aha moments aren't just happening in isolation or because of my work. It's almost like an awakening that's happening among the entire community. And I'll tell you a little bit about what brought this forward. In 2010, there was a research results done by Dr. Carlos Martinez-Cruzado. He's a professor of genetics, and he had done a study, population study on Puerto Ricans to find out how much indigenous ancestry there might be. Because, based on the extinction myth, Tainos were long dead. And therefore, it was presumed that the modern population of Puerto Ricans were basically a mixture of African and European descent. In 2010, he revealed his results, and astonishingly, 61% of the Puerto Rican population, has mitochondrial DNA. That is from our indigenous mothers. Literally, our mothers were passing on this DNA. So 61% is nothing to sneeze at. So how do we go from official statement saying that our Tainos were extinct, to now realizing wait, hold on, we're still alive? [laughter] So this kind of awakening moment started happening in 2010. And of course, with the advent of home DNA kits, people started buying DNA kits to kind of prove what they knew all along.

0:11:35.4 Priscilla Colon: It's like, yes look, I have evidence now. So this is something that had started on a larger scale. And folks who had been working on language advocacy saw this shift. Suddenly, people became interested in learning more about the culture and more about the language. So honestly, I'm just building on that work that was already started. I happen to also be a great advocate for revitalizing languages through technology. And I love technology. I can see that it can be used for good. So my work started with posting YouTube videos. I said, I have really have to share what I'm learning. So I started posting YouTube videos, language lessons, cultural lessons, agricultural lessons, on how our ancestors grew potatoes and all kinds of things. And the feedback that I started getting. I love to share this story, and I can't promise that I won't cry, because remembering it always makes me cry. I had been posting for maybe a month on YouTube. I had maybe 17 subscribers on YouTube. And one day I open up and I have a notification with somebody who commented on a video.

0:12:52.7 Priscilla Colon: And he said, my name is David, I'm 15 years old. I'm learning Taino. I'm gonna teach my kids, and I hope that they will teach their kids. And I remember just sitting there on the couch and realizing that I had done what I'm supposed to be doing. That with one little video, I had touched three generations. It always gets me so emotional, because that's really the work that I wanted to do. It wasn't just about the lessons. I find that fun. I enjoy doing the kind of research on language. It wasn't just about the culture and it wasn't just about helping me reconnect, but it was about helping generations of people reconnect. And the kinds of comments I get nowadays are amazing. I had someone who wrote through Facebook and said that he, his daughter and his grandchildren are watching the lessons and that they text to each other in Taino now. And I thought, 530 years ago, would our ancestors ever imagined that we'd be texting each other on these modern devices, trying to reconnect to them? 'Cause that's really about the work. It's reconnecting to our ancestors to that part of us that we lost.

0:14:35.9 Norah Jones: I can imagine the ancestors celebrating.

[laughter]

0:14:40.3 Priscilla Colon: I do imagine that quite a lot.

0:14:42.6 Norah Jones: I'm sure you do. That multigenerational healing that was happening right there. Thank you for sharing it. And I can see why and how it touches you deeply to hear that. That affirmation of what your big picture was designed to do. Congratulations on that and ongoing. Your work actually, are part of an ad hoc group. Co-chair of an ad hoc group, aren't you? Which is part of the Decade of International Languages, the UNESCO. Can you tell us about what it is that you do, which group you're in, how it fits into the big picture that you are sharing with us here today?

0:15:29.8 Priscilla Colon: Yes, absolutely. So the International Decade of Indigenous languages started in 2022 and it runs through 2032. Now, it is meant not just as a celebration of indigenous languages, but also, we've put in place objectives. So there's more than just celebration. What are the objectives of this decade? What do we aim to achieve? How are we going to preserve these languages for future generations? And so, in May of this last year, four ad hoc groups were established. Each group has an area of interest. So I'm co-chairing ad hoc group one, which is focused on provisions of education and educational domains for indigenous languages. And then groups two, three and four are focused on different areas. Group four, for example is on technology. Group three is an advocacy of policies. Group two is intergenerational transmission of language and culture. As co-chair of Ad Hoc group one, our goal really for that group, it's pretty big and audacious. We're supposed to be coming up with policy recommendations to ensure that 194 different UNESCO member states implement these policies so that indigenous languages are preserved through educational systems, are recognized, teachers are given the appropriate support and training materials are available, and so on.

0:17:08.2 Priscilla Colon: So this is our goal for the next three years, is to start those recommendations. Over the last year, we had to step back and we came up with a plan in order to do that. So in order to figure out what needs to happen, we need to know what the current status is. So in March of this year, the four groups have gathered together and we're putting out a joint survey to figure out what is the status of indigenous languages when it comes to education, technology access, intergenerational transmission of knowledge, and so on. And so based on that, we're going to be able to get a baseline of the current status. And we're launching this survey in March of this year, so that policymakers, indigenous communities, allies, those who are working fervently in the revitalization and preservation of languages, can participate and give us a clear understanding of what are some of the challenges, areas of successes, partnerships, all of that information. Once we do a full analysis based on that survey, then we can come up with recommendations. This is a way in which we're getting the pulse from the folks who are on the front lines of language preservation.

0:18:21.9 Priscilla Colon: Then year two, we're gonna be creating that list of recommendations based on what we find. In year three, we're going to be advocating. Hopefully we can team up with the policymakers, the indigenous communities, private organizations, form those public and private partnerships to ensure that we can advocate for these policy implementations and then have them hopefully hand this off to another group, the following three years and make sure that those are actually implemented. Luckily, we've seen so far that many member states, a good portion of them, such as the United States, have actually started putting together national plans or policies that they will begin implementing. So it's not like we're starting from scratch and we're gonna be using some of those national plans that are currently in place to also help us, help guide us in the right direction. Maybe for example, Zimbabwe, that recognizes 16 different indigenous languages, has something to offer versus another country who may not recognize any of them. So those are the types of things that we're working toward.

0:19:34.8 Priscilla Colon: And then as far as the connection with the work that I'm doing, I saw I had to jump on this and work with it because, I'm doing my work through Casa Areyto, my organization for Taino. But to be able to do this type of work on the international level to ensure that all of our languages are preserved, that to me is huge. It is an honor to be a participant in this kind of work. And it takes these kinds of people who are passionate about it, to keep moving the needle forward. And I just have to contribute.

0:20:10.8 Norah Jones: And I'm so excited and grateful that you are contributing because with the passion that you bring and the clarity that you bring, your being there and co-chairing is going to be of a significant importance as this project continues to work forward. And because you're bringing such a personalized background, which I assume quite a few of the folks are. But how does your... What you're experiencing from your Taino work, discoveries, feelings, reactions, specifically, how does it relate with some of the work that is being done internationally? Are people experiencing many of the same things that you have experienced? And in what ways are they different, if at all?

0:21:01.3 Priscilla Colon: Awesome question, actually Taino has a very strange distinction of being labeled an extinct language. [laughter] So historically, we're still an extinct people. So I thought going into this work that somehow we would be at more of a disadvantage than other languages. And yes, sure, there are some disadvantages to being declared extinct. For example, when I first partnered with UNESCO's International Decade, I received the email that we were officially a partner. My organization is a partner. We are official contributors. I was able to start uploading all my resources. And then I hit my first brick wall. Taino as an extinct language wasn't part of the list, so I couldn't upload anything. [laughter] So the first order of business was, can we please add that to the list so I can begin uploading? So these little things, these little hurdles, that you say, oh yeah, there's that other thing that I have to contend with. So it was an interesting thing to have to do. But on a wider scale, there are folks that I talk to, my colleagues, for example, who are in the southern part of Australia, who are working with aboriginal languages there.

0:22:28.4 Priscilla Colon: They're indigenous folks who are in, for example, Sami people, they're indigenous folks in Canada, and they all face similar situations. Whether it's maybe the language does exist, but they can't get a keyboard created, or they're always these little hurdles that kind of jump out at you and you have to contend with. It's been interesting because I realized that, even if my challenges aren't the same as theirs, they're still challenges. And maybe they can provide some feedback because they faced them before, for example. So you don't feel like you're alone. That's one of the things. And you may see some aspects of what has been tried, and you can try it as well. There's also been something really interesting happening. So for the Taino community, the process of revitalizing a language is almost foreign. And I understand 'cause I've actually been working in languages for so long that I take some things for granted. The process of revitalization is almost seen like, that can't happen because the language is extinct. So it's gone. We shouldn't even try. Yeah, and some of the newer efforts to revitalize have been met with a lot of resistance from the very people who would benefit from working with it.

0:24:03.5 Priscilla Colon: There's this weird feeling. It's a feeling 'cause it's not true. This is weird feeling that if a language is dead, you can't bring it back because anything that is considered new is considered fake. And so one of the things that I always bring up is the fact that, number one, languages evolve. The language that we're speaking with each other today English has changed quite dramatically since the Victorian era, since Shakespeare. [laughter] The language that our ancestors, the Castilian Spanish, that our ancestors heard is absolutely not the same as it is now. So I have to speak to them about things like, the process of revitalizing a language includes three parts. It includes gathering information about the remnants of a language, borrowing from sister languages that are still around with many, many speakers, and creating new words that did not exist in the 1500s and so on. And as I've spoken, for example, there was a colleague of the southern part of Australia who says they're doing the same thing to revitalize their aboriginal language. They've got groups that are relatively close, neighboring groups, many of which have lost parts of their language, and so they're borrowing from sister languages.

0:25:33.0 Priscilla Colon: Same thing has happened up here in the Northeast with the Wampanoag language. It was the same process that modern Hebrew went through to create this modern Hebrew. They had to borrow, they had to reuse, and they had to create. Being part of this international endeavor has also allowed me to gather this information and then point it out to a community and say, no, we're actually doing what we're supposed to be doing to revitalize our language. This isn't an abnormal process. This is what is done.

0:26:08.4 Norah Jones: This is how it happens. And in the midst of that, help me to understand if I'm speaking incorrectly about it or not. I think that sometimes folks that are not necessarily grappling with the loss of language and the work to revitalize it, may be thinking about this language work as somehow kind of an experience outside themselves, a bit of a task to do. But you keep bringing back the concept of, "This is who I am." Even more elemental, frankly. I exist. I have not disappeared. I exist, I'm here. And this is a big part of who I am. So there's a vitality that comes from that, that language is a living phenomenon. And grasping that, and bringing it to one's heart, turns it into something that is a living experience and less of a linguistic project, if I may put it that way. Do you think that I have spoken about that in a way that makes sense in what you're doing?

0:27:29.4 Priscilla Colon: Oh, absolutely. It is not a linguistic exercise. So just to put it into context, I listen to a lot of different topics, and I love things like neuroscience and what we're learning now. And I love to learn about genetics and what we're really understanding now. And so when I think about language and the work that I'm doing, I'm actually integrating all of these disciplines to do one thing, and it comes down to one thing, to heal ancestral trauma. That's what's happening here. What does genetics now tell us? It tells us, that we have inherited trauma from our ancestors. It's literally coded in our DNA, and we don't even realize it. I can only imagine 530 years ago, the genocide that occurred, the onslaught, the forced assimilation, all of that has been accumulating in our genes, literally in our genes. I did a DNA study, and I can tell you who the mother of our mothers, of our mothers, of our mothers are. I know my haplogroup. I know that that woman existed. And so, if that woman still exists in me, can you imagine all the people that exist in me?

0:28:53.8 Norah Jones: Yes.

0:28:55.1 Priscilla Colon: So the work that I'm doing through language is it's almost a way of embodying the language. When I speak the words, even if they're not exactly pronounced the way that my ancestors pronounced it, there is a vibration. There is something that is happening within me. And when I talk to people in the community who are doing the same thing, maybe they're not learning with me, maybe they're learning a different variant. But they tell me the same thing. They say, I feel like I'm changing. When I speak the words, and I say them out loud, I feel it in my body. And so it's a somatic experience as well. That this is happening. So that's one of the things. So as a person living in this body, I'm embodying this change that is occurring. But then I also deeply believe, and this is something that I've changed as a person, as I've started doing this work, is that our ancestors speak through us. They must, if we are carrying their genes and they're guiding us to do this work, whatever that work may be, then I'm literally am channeling them and I'm helping in some way or another, have their voices be heard, almost like trying to undo a terrible harm.

0:30:18.5 Priscilla Colon: And so for so many generations, they're voices were quieted. They couldn't speak. And now, living in this century, having this technology, having the advantages that I have, now they can speak through me. And I can't divest this work that I do with languages from spirituality. I can't divest it from the work that we're now learning through genetics and psychoanalysis and neuroscience. It's all mixed and it's all in us. And so, I know that probably took some another turn, but this is who I am now. And I feel it, even as I speak. I'm sure your listeners won't be able to see this, but I'm using my hands and I'm pointing to my body. [laughter] It's like I'm literally feeling it. When I do this work, I feel it. [chuckle] That's one of my, one of the little things I try to say every time I enter, whether I'm going to give a presentation or speak with you, for example, I say a little prayer and one thing that I say is, let me be a channel. What is it that you want me to say? What is the message that you want me to tell someone? Because there's someone out there who needs to hear this. It's not about me trying to pick the right words, it's just letting them come to me. So thank you. And I think that's an honor to be able to listen.

0:32:13.2 Norah Jones: And you are doing it beautifully and you are teaching others how to do it too. And you already, and early on, thank goodness, were able to have someone that was able to point it out to you in a way that deeply touches you for good reason. You have named your work Casa Areyto. And with your care, with languages, and words, and meanings, and channeling the heritage and it's deeper psychological and even somatic work, why did you choose that title?

0:32:54.3 Priscilla Colon: Yes, it means so much to me. There was something about trying to show maybe people or myself that connection through language. So Casa, obviously comes from Spanish, the word for home. And Areyto has an incredible meaning to our people. And Areyto would be what I guess our North American siblings would call a powwow. But it's a little bit more than that. It is a word that is used for a communal celebration, a gathering, a dance. If I may, I'll set the scene for you. This is what is described in the Spanish chronicles when they first attended. When the Spaniards first attended these gatherings. These Areyto, or gatherings would have hundreds of dancers, all wearing beautiful, beautifully adorned regalia, shells on their arms and their legs, with a Tekina, a teacher or a leader. And this Tekina would lead the dance. And it was a sort of, imagine the Greek theater where there is dancing, there is call, there's response, there is a play, an entire musical being put on.

0:34:11.3 Norah Jones: Wow.

0:34:11.9 Priscilla Colon: And during these Areyto, they would speak about our ancestral stories, they would speak about great feats, about a great chief or cacique, a family, all of these beautiful ways of remembering. And that's literally for me, the deeper meaning of Areyto is remembrance. So when I came up with this name, Casa Areyto, it's really the home of remembrance. I want our people to remember. It was a way for me to remember and for helping others to remember as well, through these lessons and the projects that I do.

0:34:49.6 Norah Jones: You provided me a beautiful image as you spoke. And I thank you for it. And what a powerful concept and how well it fits of course, in with everything that you've said as far as honoring ancestors throughout all of the ages. Thank you for that. You have come across many people that again, they're finding out who they are, taking a stand on existing through this language, through finding their background. What stories can you share that have especially touched you? You already have shared one specific to responding to what you're doing, as you go around and work with folks globally, what other stories can you provide that can continue to give hope to my listeners, with they discern, maybe it's time for them to take a look at what they might be hearing from their ancestors?

0:35:51.0 Priscilla Colon: Some of the stories that I've heard, I guess some are practical, have more of a practical sort of sense or. And some are more like deeply connected to healing. So some of the more practical stories that I heard was, for example a Taino, who is best descendant who is living in Japan and is teaching Japanese students English. And so, was trying, I was actually able to make the connection between Taino English and Japanese.

0:36:21.4 Norah Jones: Wow.

0:36:22.1 Priscilla Colon: And so he's using this work in such a different way to help his career basically. [laughter] And help connect with these students at a deeper level. And then, of course, there are people who are going through their own healing journeys. There are folks for example, there was a woman who wrote, and I could tell she was going through something major, and she said, "I just lost my mother. And listening and watching your videos is helping me reconnect with her. It's almost as if she's here and she would have wanted me to continue this work." So it's helping her heal with her own, the loss of her mother, something that is happening to her. I would say, one for those folks who have completely cut off, because I think for a while I may have been. Someone described me recently as very left brain. Very likes to connect the dots and which is really interesting, 'cause I was like, I thought it was a little bit of both. It's just like, you're very calculating. [laughter] I was like, I think I've lived in my left brain state so long. And so, years ago, I would have never sat down to meditate.

0:37:40.4 Priscilla Colon: I would have never thought that I would be the person I am today. And so being open, maybe you don't even realize that you're connected with the language, but maybe just being a little bit more open and to the universe. To things that maybe are inexplicable. I've always been a curious person. So things like quantum mechanics and neuroscience have fascinated me. And so that was kind of my avenue. And I was like, wait a second. Quantum mechanics can tell us XYZ about the universe. [laughter] Shouldn't I be a little bit more open about, just being a little bit more open? And so that's kind of like that was my pathway into it. And then, I think one also seeing it as an experience that you don't have to have been born in. So I'd love to address this. Many indigenous people nowadays feel very much like, if I wasn't raised speaking the language, if I wasn't raised doing the rituals, then I'm not really indigenous. There's a feeling like a fraud. Like it doesn't belong to you. Like you have no right to claim it. And, Yeah.

0:39:02.1 Norah Jones: Interesting.

0:39:02.3 Priscilla Colon: And it's not just happening in the Taino community. It happens a lot in our community, but it also, I'm seeing it happen in other indigenous people of Canada and so on, because we're so disconnected. And so, number one, my message is, no, it belongs to you. You have a right to claim it. No one can tell you, that you are not Indigenous. If you use a cell phone and you drive a car, it doesn't matter. Our people would have evolved to drive cell phone, to drive cars and use cell phones. That doesn't make you not indigenous. So that's one thing. So I would say, you have a right to claim this and you have a right to follow your own path. There's no one path. Because in the end, what are we here on Earth to do? We're here to learn, we're here to heal. You're here to connect as human beings. And so, we each have our own ways of doing that. So that's my little spiel on it.

[laughter]

0:40:08.0 Norah Jones: It's interesting.

0:40:08.7 Priscilla Colon: I hope that helped.

0:40:09.7 Norah Jones: Absolutely. And I'm thinking I have a visual of both the vertical and horizontal aspects of what you're talking about. The vertical, if I can put it that way is chronologically, taking a look at the ancestors and bringing it into the present and pointing out that very important part, that we're not talking about historical peoples that would populate something like an amusement park. We're talking about human beings that continue to grow and be who they are and would be using cell phone. Are using cell phones. Not even would be, are, because they right now. And it's looking into the future. And then that horizontal, again, the word connect, connect, connect. And not feel disconnected, but connected across the world. Where do you think, that this experience of the decade of indigenous languages, of the work of Casa Areyto, can help people that are not necessarily engaged with indigenous heritage of their own, who they're watching this process? What do you hope that the whole world can learn from what it is that you are experiencing, doing and realizing and sharing right now?

0:41:34.1 Priscilla Colon: That is a beautiful question, because going back to what you said, it's about the disconnection that we all feel as human beings. One of the weird ideas that we have is that, if I may use a term that people... I personally don't like to use this term because it has such a weird connotation. People use the term white people, to describe someone of Anglo-Saxon heritage. They have this idea that they, and I would include myself 'cause I have European heritage too. Are this homogenous people. But what I wanna say is, we are all indigenous from somewhere. We have all been colonized in some way or another. So when I look to Ireland and I see that the Irish language is being revitalized and that there are three different dialects, hooray, yes, this is amazing. And the Irish people are rediscovering their indigenous heritage. Or in Scotland, the Gaelic language that is being revitalized. One of our group members, our rapporteur, Dr. Ingeborg Birnie, who's part of our leadership on Ad-Hoc group one, is an amazing advocate and ally for the Gaelic revitalization movement. And so, when I look around the world, I see this as something that is global.

0:43:04.3 Priscilla Colon: All of us are indigenous from somewhere. And if we can start looking at that heritage that we lost, we might be able to start getting rid of that feeling of disconnect. And one of the goals that I'm doing this year. So we're actually, if I may speak a little bit about our conference, we started the first international Taino language conference in 2023. We had our first session, and this is going to be our second iteration. And our theme for this year is, we are connected. And we're inviting folks who are working on these cross collaborations, folks who are maybe Hawaiian and Taino who are learning both languages and working to revitalize them both. Tainos who are working with Maori people or Lokono speakers. Lokono Arawak speakers. I'm inviting allies from around the world to come and participate, because the sense is that we are connected and together, we're going to be able to have this wonderful future where all of our languages are revitalized and preserved. The other day, I was speaking to a colleague, and she goes, "You're Moana, what's happening?" [laughter] And I realized and I said, no Moana copied me because this has been in the works for a while.

[laughter]

0:44:25.2 Norah Jones: Somebody's been eavesdropping in your head before they decide that movie, right?

[laughter]

0:44:29.2 Priscilla Colon: Exactly. I literally went to watch it a few months ago, and I said, oh, my God, she's literally bringing people together. That's what I'm doing with this conference. But I really feel that this is the path forward, that as indigenous peoples, we need to see, hey, I'm facing those challenges, too. Oh, this is what you did? Oh, my gosh, look, what you're doing is successful, and that means that I will be able to do it too. Brainstorming, sharing ideas, coming up with ways to make all of our lives easier. That is the path forward. And during these bleak times where we seem more divided than ever, the path forward is together. Not along party lines, not along any other. It's together. And that is not just indigenous people, allies. We need folks in every part of government, we need folks on the ground, we need folks internationally. Because the more people we have speaking on our behalf, the better we all will be. A rising tide and all of that.

0:45:37.5 Norah Jones: Small boats. Absolutely right. The listeners can find that @tainoconference.org, correct? As far as the information that you are speaking about that conference specifically, and this casaareyto.com to double check and find all those pathways to all the different things that you are doing, what else would you like to make sure that before we end today, that you have had my listeners hear from you, that you invite them to do, exhort them to do, remind them to do, or something new that we haven't covered that you had wanted to say?

0:46:17.7 Priscilla Colon: Oh, thank you. Yes. So I always urge people, that if they heard something that was interesting, to share it with someone else. So for example, did they know that manatee is a Taino word, or maze, or hammock or hurricane? So if you found that fascinating, share with someone else. If you learned some other tidbit that was interesting, share it. Because you share it with one person, and the other shares it with someone else, and so on and so forth. And before you know, millions more people will know that Taino people are still here, that the Taino language is still here, that it's impacted. I dare say, almost every other language in the world. And if that's what's interesting to you, just let someone know. Because really, it's about raising awareness. And the more we learn something that is helpful to us, and the more we share that, someone else will benefit. So I really appreciate it if people just help us raise awareness because we really can't do it alone.

0:47:23.8 Norah Jones: We can't. And telling the story of what has happened in these various wonderful rays that are coming out of the central sunshine of the Taino work that you're doing, also in encourages those of other language groups or those that had never thought about such things, encourages them to be able to say, this work of connection can be mine also. Priscilla Colon, thank you so much for sharing today about your work, about your passion and the work that you're doing with Casa Areyto and with the UNESCO initiatives. Thanks again for sharing and connecting us all.

0:48:02.9 Priscilla Colon: Thank you so much.

0:48:04.4 Norah Jones: Thank you for listening to this conversation with my guest, Priscilla Colon. Take a look at my website, fluency.consulting, to learn more about Priscilla, Casa Areyto, and about the movement to make us all visible and heard. Until next time.

[music]