Customer Reviews

The Indian Chronicles

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Barreiro has done the History lover a favor by making this work possible for those of us who would like to look at the past in a more realistic sense. Of course, traditional History is important, but consider the untold stories that would be missed, like the Indian Chronicles, if all we concentrated on were eurocentric views of a non-euro world. Diego, a character as much modern as historical, finds himself caught between two worlds, the one of his Taino heritage, and the one of the new European world that came with Columbus. What is rather interesting about this book comes from the personalization of the disease, the evil, the corruptness, and the filth that came with civilization, referring to Europe's conquest of the "uncivilized" world. In our modern age, we may look at the past in a nostalgic yearning, but perhaps we should look back farther, as Diego said of his people, where the attitude of humanity was to see the seeds in rotten fruit, not just rotten fruit, or a view more nature oriented than gold oriented, or in our day and age, stocks and bonds oriented. In the Indian Chronicles, we see man's last effort, or one of them, at resistence towards mass assimilation and dehumanation through the eyes of Indian guerillas fighting a lost cause against the growing number of Castillas or incoming Spaniards, different kinds of animals, the type that would have slaves carry back-breaking quanitities of water to a sugar cane field and ignore the irrigation ditches that the natives, "uncivilized" natives, had built long ago, beating the slave for collapsing, while the answer is at his feet. Good book, good read, one of the best quite possibly.

as i first opened the book and read the basis of where the data was aquired i was awestruck and knew that i was not only going to read this book but live it through the eyes of my parents and of their parents before them . you cannot help but feel the agony as diego recalls the events that he has witnessed throughout his life both those of curiousity for these strange men and the terror the and destruction they leave in their wake . but human beings from all races have in them an indomitable will to survive , and in this book you will witness that and say a prayer to whatever power you happen to believe in . Thank GOD .

I'm reading the book for the 2nd time. It's been years since I read it, too. I don't know, I guess I want to try to gain a better sense of it the second time around. So far, I still find the book to be a good read as it provides another point of view on the subject of the colonization of the islands by the Europians. I'm also getting a clearer sense of Christopher Columbus and the mentality of their world at the time. Frankly, we really haven't changed in this regard since that time. Many may think we have but the negative aspects introduced by the European culture still lives on in a healthy way. No, I don't believe we've moved an inch from that way of thinking. I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in imagining the carribean of old. Ciao!

For the first time, the author reveals actual historical facts based on track records. The so called "novel of discovery" is probably the most comprehensive collection of the Indigenous populations ever compiled.
José Barreiro is an excellent narrator leaving the reader enriched with a new anchored spirituality overflowing with a thirst to find the more peaceful and meaningful way of life of our ancestors before the European invasion of the Americas.
I have been to Cuba several times (not the tourist areas) and visited the caves around Baracoa; I am happy the report that the Tainos are still with us. They meet in that general area around the 1st of January every year for about one week, sort of like a Pow Wow in my North American Indian style. Some come from as far away as New York City.
The cruelty of the Spaniards with their war dogs, armour and their Christian Roman Catholic religion was not 100% effective in ridding this planet of the Taino population.
I thank the Creator......MEGWICH!!!

needed this book for a class at my university on indigenous people of north america; can't tell you how many times i wanted to cry and laugh and scream at the same time. it is a side of history that many do not see. we only hear one side of the story; columbus'. this puts that 'HIS-story' to the test and unfortunately, columbus fails. diego colon's story tells us what really went on when those ships landed.