Taíno — Bunk History

What Became of the Taíno?

The Indians who greeted Columbus were believed to have died out. But a search for their descendants yielded surprising results.

by Robert M. Poole via Smithsonian on October 1, 2011

Bittersweet Harvest

The long and brutal journey of the yam.

by Rosa Colón via The Nib on June 27, 2022

School room in rural Cidra, Puerto Rico

On Language and Colony

A linguistic trajectory of Puerto Rico's identity as the world’s oldest colony.

by Bianca P. Napoleoni Gregory via Library of Congress on September 21, 2020

Indians, Slaves, and Mass Murder: The Hidden History

Two historians shed light on the atrocities of Native American enslavement and genocide.

by Peter Nabokov via New York Review of Books on November 24, 2016

Caricature of Christopher Columbus

The Lost Mariner

The self-confidence that kept Columbus going was his undoing.

by Elizabeth Kolbert via The New Yorker on October 6, 2002

Corn in a basket.

Translating Corn

To most of the world, “corn” is “maize,” a word that comes from the Taíno mahizwas. Not for British colonists in North America, though.

by Matthew Wills, Betty Fussell via JSTOR Daily on November 22, 2023

Yams under concrete with the leaves growing out of a crack in the sidewalk

The Deep and Twisted Roots of the American Yam

The American yam is not the food it says it is. How that came to be is a story of robbery, reinvention, and identity.

by Lex Pryor via The Ringer on November 24, 2021

Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and first lady mark the 10th anniversary of the 2010 earthquake.

Stereotypes About Haiti Erase the Long History of U.S.-Haiti Ties

After the assassination of the Haitian president, the U.S. should avoid old patterns of interference.

by Robert Taber via Made By History on July 8, 2021

The Shortages May Be Worse Than the Disease

Over the centuries, societies have shown a long history of making the effects of epidemics worse and furthering their own destruction.

by Elise A. Mitchell via The Atlantic on March 11, 2020

Shaman's Revenge?

The birth, death and afterlife of our romance with tobacco.

by Mike Jay via mikejay.net on January 1, 2019

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