WATERBURY, CONN.- Mattatuck Museum and the Afro Caribbean Cultural Center present “Caribbean Indigenous Resistance / Resistencia indígena del Caribe ¡Taíno Vive!” July 11 through October 4, 2026. The exhibition from the Smithsonian presents the history of the Taínos, the Indigenous peoples of the northern Caribbean islands, and how their descendants are reaffirming their culture and identity today. The trilingual (English/Spanish/ Hiwatahia) exhibition was organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of the American Latino.

The exhibition explores the Taíno heritage of today and how their descendants are participating in a growing movement to reaffirm their Caribbean Indigenous identity and culture. The term Taíno refers to the diverse Arawak-speaking peoples of the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico) and their descendants within and outside of the Caribbean. In 1492, the Taíno discovered Christopher Columbus, an encounter that set-in motion a Spanish invasion that devastated the Taíno civilization and decimated their population. However, the exhibition reveals that in places like Puerto Rico, Cuba and Jamaica, historical records and regional traditions point to Indigenous survival and rich cultural legacies within and outside the Caribbean.

Visitors will learn about the Taíno survival journey through stories, contemporary crafts, musical instruments, and utilitarian objects associated with aspects of Native day-to-day life. The exhibition includes a short video that showcases the impacts of colonial encounters in the Caribbean and the nexus of the first interactions between the new and the old world.





Audiences will discover examples of Indigenous musical instruments such as the maracas and the güiro, traditionally made from the dritas fruit of the Higuera tree, native to parts of Central America and Puerto Rico. Contemporary objects such as jícara bowls show the traditional eating and drinking utensils first used by the Taínos that were made from the fruit of the gourd tree.

The exhibition received federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the National Museum of the American Latino. The exhibition is co-presented by the Mattatuck Museum and the Afro Caribbean Cultural Center. The Mattatuck thanks the Yale Peabody Museum and cultural consultants Stephanie Bailey (Indigenous Caribbean descent from Boriken) and Sanakori (Taíno from Boriken) for lending additional expertise and objects to our presentation.