Guainía Taíno Tribe

The Guainía Taíno Tribe (Taíno: iukaieke Guainía) is an Indigenous heritage organization of the Caribbean that has been recognised as a tribe by US Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan Jr. They identify as descendants of the broader Taíno people.

Etymology
The name Guainía comes from the name of the largest Taíno territory on Borikén (Puerto Rico). It covered the southern coastal area of Puerto Rico and into the interior of the island prior to the arrival of Columbus. The word iukaieke means village.

Culture
The leader (kasike) of the Guainía territory was an important Indigenous leader on the island and a skillful orator in the pre-Columbian era.

As of 2022, the kasike of the tribe is Maekiaphan Phillips.

Guainía was the historic Arawakan language of the Guainía Taíno which extended across the Caribbean islands and into South America.

Recognition
The tribe was recognized by Governor Albert Bryan of the US Virgin Islands as an "indigenous American Indian Tribe of the Virigin Islands" on 28 June 2021.

In 2022, the tribe was contacted for consultation by the National Park Service of the US Department of the Interior on a project involving the exchange of land.

In August 2022, the tribe cooperated with the Virgin Islands Children's Museum to create a replica Taíno bohío (house) in the museum to "bolster cultural survival and educate visitors about ancestral Taíno life."

Membership
According to Phillips, the first step of the process for tribal enrollment into the organization is to "have your DNA tested" and that "percentage of Taino DNA" is not relevant as "some people only have oral stories."

Affiliation
Tribal affiliation is open to Taíno Tribal Nation Citizens and persons of Arawak and Carib (Kalinago) ancestry.

The tribe is a member of the United Confederation of Taíno People.