Manicato Taíno Cultural Center Inc.

Taino Cultural Center in Bristol, PA

Taíno Tuesday

Taíno Full Moon Schedule:
Saturday, September 2
Saturday, September 30
Saturday, October 28

342 Beaver Street Lancaster PA. 17602

Additional Parking behind Carter McRae Elementary School

Taíno Tuesday

2023 Taino Full Moon Ceremony

Taíno Tuesday

This past Saturday, we had visitors from throughout Pennsylvania share with us at our Full Moon Ceremony. Our relatives and friends came from Cuba, Boriken, Kiskeya and Malaysia. 🥰👏💪🇨🇺🇩🇴🇵🇷

So grateful to have Miguel Sague finishibg ip tge mural. Thank you Raffael for always helping out. Much appreciated.

Work done this weekend in the ceremonial room at the center. Representing cacibahagua. Thank you to my brothwr Lekrosse.

THE ZEMÍ-RELIQUARY MADE IN COTTON FIBER: living representation of the Quisqueyan people.

When European anthropologists and ethnologists began to document the public ceremonies of the indigenous people of the Caribbean, they quickly realized that these ceremonies were a kind of 'dramatic spectacle' with a very specific purpose: to highlight collective cultural memory. They also understood that the rituals carried out during these ceremonies served to represent indigenous history through images, myths, tales, and genealogy. With a similar objective in mind, a new craft project in the Dominican Republic was presented to the public, with a replica inspired by one of the most important ritual objects of the ancient Caribbean —the Taino reliquary cemí made of cotton fiber more than five centuries ago, which is a unique example of the representation of ancestral spirits & deities among the Quisqueyan people (figure 2a).

The new animated version of the cemí, which stands some six feet tall (185 cm), allows us an unprecedented look into the complex ritual ceremonies of the ancient Caribbean, and provides us with a new way of understanding the reality of our ancestors, and of our current ethnic cultural existence. The new handmade artifact tells us who we are as Caribbean, defines us and reminds us that we have a millenary history.

The original reliquary zemí, made more than five hundred years ago on the northern part of San Cristobal, corresponds to a dead ancestor who offered advice to the living, identifying them as descendants through oracles, and for this reason it was an important relic of the community. Found around 1821 in a cave in the area of San José de Ocoa (called “El Maniel” at the time), it was in the hands of the Cambiazo family, of Italian origin, who lived in the Dominican Republic, and since 1928 it has been in the custody of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the University of Turin, in Italy. Barely 30 inches tall (75 cm), it is admired by everyone in the Caribbean for carrying a particular significant charge, as a symbol of a collective existence —a cultural heritage— and a history shared by all who consider themselves Caribbean nationals.

The project credits
The body of the new handmade object was made with cotton thread woven using the crochet technique; the interior of the mask was made in papier-mâché with beef teeth, and other details in recycled cotton fiber, hand painted under the direction of artist, craftsman and fashion designer Juan Francisco Puello. Another artist, Marisol Santiago, from Haina, collaborated in the project with the crochet weaving technique; Félix Manuel Morel Rojas, from Santo Domingo, with the papier-maché technique, and artists Ramón Mesa and Esteban Lachapell, in the painting of the replica. The piece was animated by Misael Rodríguez Mateo (figure 2b), a member and organizer of carnival masquerades in the city of San Cristobal. The project also contemplated the production of various products with the aim of highlighting at national and international level the importance of this artifact, as another historical and cultural heritage of the Dominican Republic.

Manicato Taíno Cultural Center Inc. of Lancaster, Pennsylvania is a

Support Us With Your Contributions

Manicato Taíno Cultural Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, community-based center for the reclamation, restoration and preservation of the Taíno people's heritage.

The center features a museum exhibit of artifacts, art and a library room to support our education efforts. 💪

Your contributions help us to continue to offer free admission.

Your gifts will be greatly appreciated! 🥰

Taíno Tuesday

DUE TO SCHEDULING CONFLICT THE CEREMONY HAS BEEN CANCELLED

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

The Taíno Full Moon ceremony is performed to recognize and celebrate the sacred 28-day lunar cycle of fertility of the Cosmic Matriarch AtaBey, and the link between that fertility cycle and the 28-day menstrual cycle of human women.

On January 7th, a ceremony was conducted at Manicato Taíno Cultural Center in Lancaster Pennsylvania.

Our next ceremony will be Saturday, February 4 at 4 P.M.

Our schedule for 2023 Taíno Full Moon Ceremonies will be on Saturdays:
March 5th
April 8th
May 6th
June 3rd
July 1st
Aug 5th
Aug 30th
Sept 29th
Oct 28th
Nov 27th

Coming soon, t shirts with the mural at the taino cultural center by Miguel Sague

TAINO FULL MOON CEREMONY
Saturday, December 10, 2022
Ceremony begins at 5 p.m.

WHERE: Manicato Taíno Cultural Center
342 Beaver Street Lancaster, Pa. 17602

Parking is available behind Carter & McCrae Elementary School one block from the center

Seneca Kakona Miguel! Thank you for your visit!
Our smallest visitor today loves sharks. 🦈
He was all smiles when he saw our Kahaya (shark) 🥰😀

Yukayeke Manicato of Lancaster PA Events Calendar:

October 30 - "Day of the Dead" and "Atabey 360"
Manicato Taíno Cultural Center
342 Beaver Street Lancaster PA 17602
3PM - 5PM

November 20 - "Taíno Full Moon Ceremony" and "Atabey 360"
Manicato Taíno Cultural Center
342 Beaver Street Lancaster PA 17602
3PM - 5PM

December 18 - "Winter Solstice Ceremony"
Manicato Taíno Cultural Center
342 Beaver Street Lancaster PA 17602
3PM
ADDITIONAL PARKING AVAILABLE at Carter & McCrae Elementary School

Renovations at the center

Taíno Tuesday

Leonard Peltier Freedom Ride 2021 (Riding for mother Earth and all humankind!) visited the Manicato Taíno Cultural Center in Lancaster Pennsylvania on July 2, 2021

Jajom to our Taína sister Karaya Guali for facilitating the tour to our relatives. Seneka Kakona

Who are they?

As freedom Riders, their 2021 mission is to ride from the Winnebago nation in Nebraska to Washington DC with stops in eight major cities to bring awareness and education regarding the struggle for freedom of Leonard Peltier, environmental rights, and human rights!

This Anishinabe and Dakota man has been incarcerated for over 45 years for defending his family and friends on the Jumping Bull Ranch on June 26, 1975.

As First peoples, along with our allies of all colors, they are committed to this journey across mother earth, not only for Leonard‘s freedom, but for the respect due to all of the two-legged, four-legged, and winged beings that exist here, and for their protection and for future generations.

https://freedomride2021.com/

Leonard Peltier Freedom Ride 2021 – Riding for mother Earth and all humankind! Leonard Peltier Freedom Ride 2021, Riding for Mother Earth and all humankind! With the world in its current state, the time has come to ride again! And as before, we come to you, our freedom family, for support on a three week cross-country ride to bring awareness to political prisoner, Leonard Pelt...

We had a visitor yesterday at the center, retired STEM professor Joy Tien from Millersville University and Lancaster HACC.
She donated Native American books for our library. She's going to share with colleagues, pictures about her visit to the center. 😃