AraYeke Yukayek Welcomes You
Ara Yeke; The Noble People Rise
Who We Are
AraYeke Yukayek is a Caribbean, Indigenous, Sovereign Taino nation that is located in New York and was founded in 2020.
Rooted in the traditions of the behike, AraYeke Yukayek is based on the traditional teachings of our Taino medicine people. Through the education of their teachings, we have managed to grow a community of people that’s allowed us to expand our goals and opened the door for us to focus more on community building and cultural continuity. In doing so, we’ve drafted plans and ideas on various ways that we could provide resources to our community while educating and engaging them in preserving a culture that was once thought to be lost, in turn building a model for creating a sovereign nation for the Taino people both in the diaspora and in the homelands. Unlike many of the other Taino yukayeks that have been created, AraYeke Yukayek is not a 501(c)3 agency, in turn solidifying its claim as a nation rooted in its desired sovereignty and direct member/community support and welcomes all Taino people as supporters regardless of tribal their affiliations.
As a yukayek, our man focus is rooted in community, we desire to create a sustainable, self-sufficient community in our ancestral lands (within the greater and lesser Antilles) with ties to the diaspora that will allow us to provide representation and service to our people, while educating and supporting our enrolled members and the surrounding communities. We feel that it is important that we provide cultural preservation, resources for education and greatly focused on ways to transition the world view of the stereotypical idea of who the Taino was into who a modern Taino is while paying homage to our ancestors and their history. We’ve since began to work on projects such as land acquisition, language resurgence, traditional medicine training, the communal and medicine traditions of Naguake, as well as practicing traditional ceremonies while bridging connections amongst all of the Taino homelands.
Currently AraYeke has enrolled tribal members who share ethnicity with Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba, and hopes to continue bridging the islands and their people together through the preservation of our Taino culture.
Tribal Mission Statement
Arayeke seeks to honor and foster the spiritual traditions and the communal needs of its members both in the homelands and the diaspora. AraYeke is an inclusive Yukayeke providing a safe place for Indigenous cultural continuity, preservation, education, and community outreach.
Ways We Help
Providing Resources
Creating Cultural Continuity
Building Community
Creating Safe Spaces
For some people, Taino culture was instilled in them while growing up... for others, Taino culture didn't exist. AraYeke is building a safe space for connected and reconnecting Taino descendants to learn accurate information about their culture, providing resources and education, and connecting relatives in an attempt to reverse generational trauma and build happy, healthy family bonds and relationships.
Seed Banking
Planting for the Future
Seed banks help solve food shortages and malnutrition, and boost food system resilience to climate and cultural challenges, however for indigenous people seed banks also help preserve culture and tradition. Our goal is to build a seed bank that will preserve our native and indigenous medicine plants and traditional foods that are spread throughout the Caribbean, ensuring that our descendants have access to the knowledge and traditions of our ancestors left for them
Raising Awareness
Social Justice & Advocacy
Colonization has taken a toll on communities and countries all across the globe; part of our mission is to bring awareness and aide to our people, indigenous relatives, and communities that have long been taken advantage of as a result of colonization. By addressing these issues we hope to give voices to the voiceless and amplify the voices forced into silence. It's time to start holding people accountable, and it's time for change.
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”