It is with great sadness that we receive the news that Cacike Cacibaopil Martín D. Veguilla has moved on to the spiritual world or to the Soraya (paradise).

Cacike Cacibaopil Martín D. Veguilla was the Chief of El Concilio Taíno Guatu-Ma-Cu A Borikén. El Concilio Taíno Guatu-Ma-Cu A Borikén is the Taíno council in charge of bringing Taíno cultural awareness and increase public knowledge throughout the island of Borikén, (Puerto Rico) and abroad, through education, including the revelation of the true Taíno history, and the sharing of customs, language, areytos (ceremonial dance), music, song, and craftwork.

Cacike Cacibaopil passed away on Sunday, February 5th, 2023 at 7 p.m. according to El Concilio Taíno Guatu-Ma-Cu A Borikén.

The inspiring story of how Cacike Cacibaopil founded the first Concilio Taíno in Puerto Rico, began with his grandmother. I didn’t know Cacike Cacibaopil personally, but I first came across his work while doing research on Taíno culture and history. There is a program that I watched called “Eat, Drink, Share Puerto Rico Food” on YouTube. It is an awesome independent project started by a young group of Puerto Ricans who want to educate people about authentic Puerto Rican food and culture. Their first episode called Barbacoa Taína talks about Taíno history and how it is very much connected to Puerto Rican cuisine, particularly the term barbacoa (the Taíno word for barbeque). The show talks about how many words that we use today in Spanish and English are actually Taíno words; words like barbacoa – barbeque, canoa – canoe, huracán – hurricane, hamaca – hammock.

In the show, Cacike Cacibaopil is one of the experts that talks about the Taíno history before the arrival of Spanish colonizers to the island of Borikén. He seemed so knowledgeable and passionate about his Taíno heritage that, of course, I had to know who he was and follow his work.

During the episode, Cacike Cacibaopil talked about how his desire to seek his indigenous roots began with his grandmother. He said, “the first thing that my grandmother taught me about myself was that we were Taínos. That we came from indigenous people. That always stayed with me as a kid and, as I grew older, I always wanted to learn about my Taíno ancestry, but whenever I asked about them in school, they would say that the Taínos were decimated. That they no longer existed. As I began researching about them, I learned of the genocide, rape, and abuse against the Taíno people done by the Spanish colonizers and that’s when I began to seek more about my Taíno heritage.”

According El Concilio Taíno Guatu-Ma-Cu A Borikén’s website, on the history of how the Taíno Council was founded, it says that Cacike Cacibaopil had access for the first time, to the Spanish Chronicles, such as the books by Bartolomé de las Casas, as well as others, who documented the incredible brutality of the Conquistadors against the Taíno. Weeping from shock at the historical details he had never heard before, his personal mission to rescue, preserve, and restore his Taíno heritage was born.

Cacibaopil began a grassroots movement to bring cultural awareness and increase public knowledge of his Taíno heritage through education and public presentations. His untiring work, as lecturer, teacher, and voice of this indigenous population throughout the private and public sector, attracted small groups of Taíno descendants from around the island of Puerto Rico, who were inspired to become part of this restoration movement.

The pueblo of Guatúcu was founded in 1992 as a registered nonprofit corporation in the Department of State of Puerto Rico, and incorporated as The Concilio Guatu Ma-cu A Boriken, Inc. in 2000. El Concilio Taíno received Federal nonprofit recognition (501C3) in 2007, with a mission to bring Taíno cultural awareness and increase public knowledge throughout the island of Puerto Rico and abroad, through education, including the revelation of the true Taíno history, and the sharing of customs, language, areytos (ceremonial dance), music and song, and craftwork. Today, The Concilio’s pueblo includes members across Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, United States, and Europe.

Leader of El Concilio Taíno since before its founding, Cacibaopil was elected Cacike (Chief), in Taíno tradition, by the women of the Pueblo in 2004. Cacibaopil’s Taíno blood was scientifically confirmed by the breakthrough research of Dr. Juan Carlos Martinez Cruzado (University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, Year 2000) that documented for the first time, the Amerindian mtDNA of the Taíno of Borikén. The Cacike’s Taino Mitochondrial DNA is Haplogroup-C, whose origins are the Arawak (Ingneri) ancestors of the Taíno who originated from the border of the Orinoco River in the Amazons of Venezuela.

Cacike Cacibaopil Martin D. Veguilla is an official Taíno consultant for the Puerto Rican government’s Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (I.C.P.). Before becoming Chief, the Cacike devoted much time to the creation of replicas of ancient Taíno pottery and earthenware using traditional open-flame fire methods, a talent that brough him near-annual awards and recognitions, from entities such as the Governor’s Office (Puerto Rico), the National Endowment, the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and others.

Today, Cacibaopil’s prize is knowing that, thanks to the efforts and dedication of his Taíno pueblo, there is a new generation growing who will never know life without their rich Taíno traditions, or the depth of their spirituality.

Thanks to Cacike Cacibaopil’s vision and work many Puerto Ricans who would like to learn more about their indigenous roots will be able to benefit from his work. Not just Puerto Ricans, as I myself who wants to learn more about the Taínos from Puerto Rico has learned a lot from the work of Cacike Cacibaopil. One of my earliest posts when I began my blog Aculturame was about the Taínos, “Where are the Taíno Indians Today?” since then, I have learned a lot more about Taíno’s history and culture, including the work of El Concilio Taíno Guatu-Ma-Cu A Borikén and Cacike Cacibaopil and how they’ve worked to restore the Taíno culture and heritage in Puerto Rico.

Rest in Power Cacike Cacibaopil, your work and legacy will not be forgotten…