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Originally Posted by A.Hidalgo
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Hola Hidalgo,
As you can see I had to change my name due to the fact that I couldnt remember my password! I have not been on here in a while.
As for the article, I thought it was great. As you know I have been involved in this DNA project for a while, mostly offering logistics. I would like to stress that the study was conducted in a random fashion. Because of this, many peoples from other Caribbean islands, notably Haiti, Barbados and even St, Thomas made their way into the study, this of course tainted somewhat the actual percenatges of African lineage. But NO one is denying that there is African lineage on the island. That would be absurd.
That said I want to remind all who view this thread that we nor the core team of researchers were out to prove that all Dominicans descend from Taino, nor am I trying to imply that there should be a special privilage for those of us who do have Taino ancestry, after all we are all Dominican.
The study indicates that not only do a high percenatge of Dominicans have Taino ancestry but also that it appears that the Native ancestry in the Cibao region was relatively "un-mixed" up to recent times. This is deduced by the fact that in many areas in the Cibao the mitochondrial DNA was at an astonoshing 90%.
Of course for many people this is un-welcome news. Remember the rhetoric at one time was that there is not a single drop of Indian blood on the island. And even if there was it HAD to be minimal.
Now that we know that this is simply and scientifically not true, you will see a cadre of people who truly have an anti-Indian agenda and will no doubt claim that the study was biased, etc etc. I call it "blotting out the sun with a fingertip"!
I have to also state that just because an individual has mtdna that is Taino that does not make him or her Indian. For that matter just because someone has mtdna that is African that should not make him African either. It is when we take a close inspection of Dominican material culture especially that found in the campo where one can see just how much Taino influence there really is.
Another test that needs to be conducted is an Autosomal DNA test which gives an individual bio-geographical percentages. In these tests Dominicans regardless of what the mtDNA tests reveal indicate that most dominicans have some Native ancestry.
I am not trying to turn Dominicans into Indians! What I want people to understand that if and when a Dominican claims Native Ancestry, he is not denying his negritude or is anti-haitian, racist or delusional. We have a right to an identity just as anyone else. Until now this portion of Dominicaness has only been acepted as long as it is in the realm of the past. This is why in the DR we speak of "nuestros aborigenes (as though we owned them) instead of our Taino ancestors.
Pero el tiempo esta cambiando
All the best
Baracutei
