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.

Bittersweet Harvest

The long and brutal journey of the yam.
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.

Indians, Slaves, and Mass Murder: The Hidden History

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

The Lost Mariner

The self-confidence that kept Columbus going was his undoing.
Corn in a basket.
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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.
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.
Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and first lady mark the 10th anniversary of the 2010 earthquake.
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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.

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.

Shaman's Revenge?

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