The auctioning of Taíno artifacts at Christie’s in Paris has led to a firestorm on social media, as Puerto Ricans and Taíno descendants call on the auction house to return items they believe were stolen and rightly belong to the people of Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rican activist and educator Constanza Eliana Chinea speaks with Reniel Rodríguez Ramos, professor of anthropology at the University of Puerto Rico, Taíno linguist Priscilla Colon of Casa Areyto, Taíno descendant Jesenia Lee, and activist and educator Dean Huertas on the history and ethics of such sales.
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Constanza Eliana Chinea is a Puerto Rican activist and educator whose work focuses on anti-racism and decolonization. Instagram: @eliana.chinea
This is a case of Grand Theft of protected relics, and it should be taken to the Courts and the Guilty should be in prison!
Head Hunters Indeed, since the indigenous Celtic people who came from all over Europe, including the British Isles… Were well known “Head Hunters!” Who carried enemy heads on their belts, and decorated their houses with those same heads! Shame on those museum managers and PhD scholars for their complete and utter ignorance of their own subject, “SHAME ON YOU!”