Taino Heritage Bio

With roots in the mountains of Puerto Rico, Dr. Ana María Tekina-eirú Maynard is a proud blood descendant of the native Tainos who call the island Boriken. With a PhD in Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon, 20 years of experience in the high-tech industry, and over 15 years of non-profit cultural arts leadership, her expertise spans a wide range of disciplines.

Tekina-eirú is a consecrated Elder of El Concilio Taino Guatu-Ma-cu A Boriken, a Taino pueblo in restoration based in the mountains of Cayey, Puerto Rico. She is mentored in native leadership and traditions by the (Chief) Cacike Caciba Opil Veguilla, and is El Concilio's Tekina Suania -- a Teacher of native Taino traditions in the Americas, and a leader of ceremonial dance. She is Boycia (a spiritual leader) por derecho.

Tekina-eirú enjoys composing and playing Taino ceremonial music on traditional earth clay and bone flutes, and has been recognized for her contributions by the greater Taino community with an Areito Award for Dance and Theatre (2009). Tekina-eirú brings visibility to the restoration efforts of her people through her lecture series, "Taino 101: History, Myth and Reality," that takes the audience through Taino history of Boriken, as documented by the Chronicles of Pane, Las Casas, and others, and supplements with oral history. Results of NSF Research in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that is rewriting Taino history is shared, and traditions being rescued, restored, and preserved by her pueblo of Guatu Ma-cu A Boriken are presented. Lectures feature original compositions on Taino bone and earth clay flutes.

Professional CV & Biography