My Journey to Here

[Silla]

I am Priscilla Quiñones Ferreira, and I go by Silla (Sí-la). Like your average Puertorrican, I am mixed, but in that mix there’s taíno culture and heritage I’ve inherited. I grew up in a split home as well, so I grew up with two fathers. Both gave me different perspectives and experiences of our Taíno heritage. This post is specific to my blood relation to the Quiñones family (the father I share DNA with and was with part-time in my childhood). I am still actively researching and putting together a deep dive into my relation with the Serrano Family (the father who raised me the other half of the time).

The Quiñones family's oral history

On My paternal side, The Quiñones’ of Utuado, I grew up with an extremely Taíno proud grandfather. He would tell us about the Caguana, the community his mother came from, and he dedicated his life to two things; The Yankees and learning and appreciating Indigenous Tribes of the Caribbean, Central, and South America.

Our family oral history tells us that his mother, my great-grandmother, who I grew up knowing, grew up in a Taíno Community/Yukayuke. Carmen Martinez Martinez throughout my grandfather’s, father’s, and my life would maintain a little bohio-like structure in her backyard. She’d say it was “para albergar entidades visitantes y espíritus”.

According to family oral history, Carmen Martinez Martinez came from a community/family that took care of the Caguana Indigenous Ceremonial site of Utuado before the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña took over with formal protections in 1955. There is a rumor of someone being sent to a Residency school from this family/community, but that is unconfirmed (under documentation, I’ll explain who I think it was based on paperwork and what is known about various family members and in line with PR history).

Carmen married Felíx Quiñones Baerga, the Son of María Quiñones Baerga and Avelino.

Avelino does not have a last name that can be supported by documents, thus there has been a LOT of debate about who he was. We simply know his name was Avelino and he died when Felíx Quiñones Baerga was a teenager/early twenties. Some where in his line we know the is African- the oral history is some sort of tribal heritage but we don’t know what.

Based on my DNA results and documentation, the best-educated guess I have is that he was an afro-taíno, born into slavery in 1865. After PR’s emancipation, slaves where require to work and additional 3 to 5 years, often leased to other plantations. I believe he crossed paths with María while at Felix Marengo y Poggi’s plantation where her mother Maria Baerga y Rivera De Quiñones worked. Since he was a child when slavery ended, I think he stayed on there for a while and was embraced by the Baerga y Rivera De Quiñones family, which is why all of their children have the last name Quiñones Baerga, like their mother. I will show why I came to this conclusion in the Documentation portion.

Documentation

This is Carmen Martinez Martinez’s (my great-grandmother’s) birth certificate/Act de Nacimiento.

Her race is clearly indicated as “Mestiza”. It is important to remember that due to the indigenous suppression act in effect at the time and the Treaty with Spain to write-out indigenous people in favor of “whitening” PR- whether or not “full blood” status is true, all indigenous people where labeled/re-identified on official paperwork as mestiza (if they could not prove any type of black or white, and a family was adamant about their heritage), mulato, negro, or blanco. Mestiza is the closest to confirmation outside of the Carslie Indian School the US got to confirming Taínos.

On the naciemnto form above her mother is cited as “Vincenta/Vincenda”, from/born in Jayuya. There is a note about her grandparents in part 3. “Ambos de raza mestiza”, Ajiubro Martinez and Juana Martinez from Morovis.

Her mother’s name is incredibly reminiscent of Provindentia Martinez, one of the 60 Puertorrican children taken to the Carslie Indian School to “reform”. Vincenta/Vincenda could be derived from Provindentia, and If it was her, she would have been the right age to have a child, settling down in PR after traveling to NY for a few years after her time at the Carlisle School, as recorded in their records. Until better clarification can be obtained, this is just speculation of my best-informed guess.

This is person #9, located on page 3 of the last published Registro Central de Esclavos of 1872 in PR.

Avelino, born in approximately 1865, in Arecibo Puerto Rico, was owned by Do Barbara Balseiro. Do Barbara Balseiro had a working relationship where she leased slaves for profit to Felix Marengo y Poggi.

Better and closer look below, highlighted in yellow is Maria Baerga y Rivera De Quiñones, “la Criada” (housekeeper)

I think it is worth noting that Maria Baerga y Rivera De Quiñones, on this census document, is recorded as mulatto, likely from a similar background as Avelino. It would make sense for her to have taken him in if she was the descendant of/or is a freed enslaved person as well. On the other end of the interpretation, she could have been Taíno and due to her brown appearance labeled Mulatto. Either interpretation supports that her daughter Maria and Avelino would have a son with strong Afro-indigenous cultural and ethnic ties.

Based on this documentation, and the results of my DNA test, reflecting African and Indigenous PR genome markers from the same parent I think it is a valid claim to say Avelino is my 2nd great-grandfather.

This would mean regardless of percentages, children from Felíx and Carmen would also have strong Afro-indigenous cultural and ethnic genes- which are reflected in my DNA results as seen above.

In the context of Me.

I grew up in Sector Corea & Juana Ramos of Barrio Guaraguao, Guaynabo, PR.

I remember when the Jatibonicu Taino tribe would go to educational events across Puerto Rico, running into them multiple times in my youth.

I remember making small-bohios with banana leafs and palm trees with my great-grandmother. Listening to her stories.

When I moved to the States I tried really hard to find a place to fit in and find community. I feel like I’ve been looking and keeping my own little spark alive for myself for a long time on my own. I remember as a teen trying to reach out and ending up having long disputes with Pedro Guanikeyu Torres online, and being ignored by larger presences online because they felt in-person communities held more value.

When I went to college in New Mexico for a while, that is when I feel seen in a way that felt whole and welcoming. I had/have many Dine/Navajo friends who helped me embrace my indigenous features, navigate the sense of missing and lost, and embrace whole I am.

I repaired my relationship with Pedro, we ended up being good internet friends before he passed. It helped me to learn more and read as much as I could. Even though I am not Dine/Navajo, living out west in an active indigenous community helped me love myself and grow as a person. It helped me embrace my own heritage and feel secure in it. 

Recently I’ve been helping a few friends reconnect with their own tribes (non-Taíno) and I realized that while it was wonderful for me to be helping them, I could be doing the same thing for myself. I deserve community as much as the next, and that’s why I joined and am starting to reach out.

And just as I grew I've gotten to see the shift of attitudes online, seeing more people be welcoming rather than rejecting and fighting others. Obviously, I still presented documentation here, because I know if Taínos are to get proper recognition and treatment, there are some legal hurdles that need this type of in-depth analysis. I also know that some people feel burned by others online and thus require more trust and effort with the truth in order to trust others.

I hope to find my place, wherever that is. And now, you know how I got here and why I would love to find a community to call home.