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Historical Anecdote



It is often not known that Quisqueya modern day Dominican Republic and Haiti was the first colony formally occupied by Columbus and his henchmen. What must not be forgotten is that our Island's history doesn't start in 1492 but goes back thousands of years, perhaps even as much as 9,000 years. It is said we have the first University an the first Church but what must be specified is we have the first European Catholic Church and the first European University as our natives had educational and religious institutions. 

The pre-columbian era is still full of mystery but certainly was a time in which multiple waves of native-americans both thrived and suffered conquest. From what is known today there where at least 3 distinct waves that reached our island before the arrival of Colombus and this diversity of peoples is reflected in the descriptions of the different chiefdoms and in our DNA.

Past 1492 is when we fully become who we are today because of the many mixes that occurred in the next 500+ years to come. Multiple waves of Free and Enslaved Africans, Rich capitalist as well as poor farmer Iberians amongst other Europeans and a myriad of events that is as unpredictable as the rain. 

This translates into some of us having some ancestors who came here as Free Africans early as 1492! or perhaps having African ancestors who where still enslaved in the early 1800s. To having ancestry from not only the native's on the island but from any of the multiple native peoples sold to Quisqueya from the United States, Colombia, Brazil, Curazao, Mexico, etc. To having European ancestry not just from Iberians and Galeo pepoles but perhaps from a random Polish person who passed through the Canary islands and ended up in our island. Or perhaps you may have ancestors who where enslaved east  Asian or east Indian peoples who although very few could be in your blood line. The combinations, and the possibilities are endless, and become more and more unpredictable as we go back in time.

This mix is by no means homogeneous nor is it in everyone, we all have our own stories and hopefully we can all find as much information as possible via genealogy, genetics and oral history in order to learn more about ourselves. 


Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 12, 2017 at 9:53 AM

    Excellent opening hermano.... The diversity of the island is a cornucopia of flavors adding spices / sazon 'al sancocho' called DR / Haiti. I'm excited at the possibilities of your project.. Bendiciones.

    ReplyDelete

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