Puerto Rico: From Tainos to Today with Laura Ortiz

Unveiling Puerto Rico: A Deep Dive into Culture, History, and Identity

In this episode of The Moreish Podcast, Hema chats with Laura Ortiz, an historian and tour operator from Sofrito Tours, for an enlightening discussion on Puerto Rico's rich history and vibrant culture.

In this episode they dive into the Taino people's matrilineal society and their tragic decline due to Spanish colonization, the introduction of enslaved African people, the encomienda system, and the drastic transitions under U.S. control. It highlights the mixed reactions to U.S. colonization, the significance of the Spanish-American War, the abolition of slavery, and the implications of the Jones Act of 1917 granting U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans.

The episode also explores the enduring impact of African, Spanish, and Taino influences on Puerto Rican culture, grappling with identity amidst American influence, and addressing contemporary issues such as hair discrimination. The narrative underscores Puerto Rico’s deep cultural heritage, its demographically diverse identity, and its welcoming nature.

Connect with Laura on:
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Laura's book recommendations:
Puerto Rico: A National History, Jorell Melendez-Badillo
Economic History of Puerto Rico: Institutional Change and Capitalist Development, James L. Dietz

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Transcript

Laura Ortiz: We don't have any Tainos left anymore, uh, due to the conquest and colonization of the Spanish in the island. Uh, but the Tainos are actually not as described as the, Spanish historians because they kind of described them like very primitive people. These people actually had a whole society that was matrilineal.

The Moreish Podcast: This is The Moreish Podcast, where Caribbean history meets culture and cuisine.

Hema: Welcome back to The Moreish Podcast, this is Hema. In today’s episode I’m talking to Laura Ortiz an historian as well as a food and culture tour operator in Puerto Rico through her company Sofrito Tours.

She is currently a doctoral student getting her PhD in the history of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. I can’t think of a better person to talk to about the history, food, and culture of Puerto Rico. This is the first of two episodes so listen in and then don’t forget to subscribe or follow so you know when the next episode drops.

Laura, thank you so much for joining me today on The Moreish Podcast.

Laura Ortiz: Thank you for having me.

Hema: I'm really excited for this conversation. I connected with Harry Alvarez from Offbeat Travel. And when I mentioned to him that I was looking for somebody who was an expert in the history and cuisine of Puerto Rico. your name came up, so here we are. 

Laura Ortiz: Yes, so excited.

Hema: Let's set the stage a little bit, and why don't you tell me a little bit about your background as a historian, where you grew up, where you currently live.

Laura Ortiz: So I was born and raised and still live in Carolina, Puerto Rico. I studied tourism as a bachelor's and then kind of ended up making a master's in history of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. And currently I'm a doctoral student for a PhD in history of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean as well. And I also have some certifications in Puerto Rican gastronomy and on a craft that we call Santos de Palos. So yeah, let's specialize in that and also in tourism. 

Hema: I'm so excited to hear from you, and also your company, Sofrito Tours, specializes in food tours around Puerto Rico, is that correct?

Laura Ortiz: So we specialize in food, uh, history and cultural tours, mainly in the center and south of Puerto Rico. So we kind of offer that off San Juan vibe, uh, tours. 

Hema: I was in Puerto Rico for the very first time last year, and I was there for a conference. And I didn't get to spend a ton of time exploring, but it's definitely a place that I enjoyed and would love to go back. So I'm going to take some inspiration from some of the things we talk about at today to plan my next trip.

Laura Ortiz: Yeah Yeah some of you definitely should come back.

Hema: You are the perfect person because of your background, your academic background, to talk about the history of Puerto Rico. Throughout this podcast, the whole point is to look at the history of the different Caribbean countries, because to me, the history of the people and where they came from really speaks to and influences current day culture and cuisine. We're going to go way, way back and look at the original Indigenous inhabitants of Puerto Rico, who I understand are the Taino population?

Laura Ortiz: Exactly Taino, population. So they actually, actually, there's been some studies going on that I was reading um, that Archaeologists are actually questioning where they come from, because many of the archaeological findings date them back to coming from the Orinoco River in Venezuela and settling all over the Caribbean island.

So we don't have any Tainos left anymore, uh, due to the conquest and colonization of the Spanish in the island. Uh, but the Tainos are actually not as described as the, Spanish historians because they kind of described them like very primitive people. These people actually had a whole society that was matrilineal.

So the most important title that was like the Cacique, the Chief, is passed down through the family side. It's really through the mother's side of the family. So it was an important decisions were actually, made by women. Also women were in charge of agriculture. So women played an important role in that Taino community.

And when it is, it is, and right now, uh, because the Spanish basically overworked them and enslaved them, we don't have them, but in our DNA is still left, uh, that Taino DNA, and we still are trying to keep alive all those practices, religious practices and culture of the Tainos.

Hema: Are they an off, I don't know if I'm saying this correctly, an offset or a subset of the Arawak Indigenous population?

Laura Ortiz: Yes, they are actually, they're from the Arawaks that came from the Orinoco River. Actually, in the small island of Vieques, which is off the coast of the east side of Puerto Rico, there is actually a many archaeological findings of the Tainos that, for example, they found pieces of jade in Puerto Rico. We did not have jade that was actually most likely from Peru or that island, those areas of Venezuela.

Hema: Laura, you know, as I do a lot of the research, I'm very cognizant of the fact that some of the research that I'm doing is written from the perspective of one side, which is usually the colonizers. So some of what I've researched may not be correct. I have read that the Indigenous people did not call, had their own name for Puerto Rico.

Laura Ortiz: Yes, actually the island was known as Borique, but eventually changed by Columbus to St. John the Baptist, and eventually by Ponce de Leon to Puerto Rico. But we locals still try to keep that name, Borique, alive, so we refer sometimes to Puerto Rico as Boriquen.

Hema: That is a term that I heard quite a bit when I was there. And so it's interesting to me to understand where that comes from. 

So for many, many years, it was the Indigenous population. And then sometime in and around the 15th century is when Columbus first landed in Puerto Rico?

Laura Ortiz: Yes, Columbus accidentally ended up in this area. Technically he was gonna India, he ended up here. So in 1493 it said that he disembarked in Puerto Rico. And from there, all the Spanish started getting here. So

Hema: So the Spanish, did they create a settlement? Did they, what did they do when they landed?

Laura Ortiz: Ponce de Leon when he got here in 1508, actually made the first settlement that was known as Caparra. If you look at a map of Puerto Rico, it's technically like around Guayanbo and Bayamon those areas. The problem with Caparra was that it did not have a port. It was too far from the nearest port. Also, the whole area was a mangrove. People started getting sick with malaria and dengue due to the mosquitoes, so eventually they moved over to where old San Juan right now, the year 1521.

Hema: When they, when they arrived on the island and they started to settle and build up. What happened? Because I feel like that's a real, a bit, really big turning point or one big turning point in the history of the island.

Laura Ortiz: So technically, when the Spanish got here, Spain was not in the best shape. Spain was actually broke. It was like two, uh, two empires fighting each other, which was Aragon and Castile. Um, but Spain did not have any money. So therefore that kind of reflected on the island, especially Puerto Rico. So, they started doing the encomienda system.

I don't know if you've ever heard of the encomienda, so the encomienda basically was that they assigned a Spanish official, a group of natives, and worked for the Spanish, and the Spanish in return offered protection and religious education. Which actually did not happen. That was the idea, but it never happened that way.

And they started taking over this natives. At the same time, they were trying to get, trying to grow products in Puerto Rico that they could not find in Spain. So Spain needed everything that was growing in Puerto Rico to be sent over there. That kind of changed the social structure in the island because we were losing the natives. We became, we had like Spanish settlers actually living here.

Hema: What, what products were they growing?

Laura Ortiz: So mainly it was sugar, tobacco eventually, and coffee came here in the 18th century. But it mainly was sugar. And once they lost the native workforce, the indigenous workforce, started bringing over the African slaves. That's where all the mixing of race that we have started because they needed workforce, Africans were considered by the church to not have a soul.

So yes, as crazy as that sounds, yes, there was, um, there was a religious figure called Bartolome de las Casas. And he, he was in favor of saving the natives, but to bring over African slaves because they did not have a soul. 

Hema: Within the Caribbean, all the countries, there's such a similar history, but each country has its own unique identity right now, even though so much of our shared history, is the same. 

I want to go back to, when the Spanish first settled and they were, producing the crops. They were, from my understanding, using the Tainos as labor to perform the labor. And that time, when you said that was no more people for labor, what happened? To the Indigenous population, did they get overworked? I've read a couple of things in that they were overworked. I've also read that there were diseases from the Europeans that wiped them out.

Laura Ortiz: So yeah, more or less that's what you just said. Um, the Spanish brought with them a lot of diseases that obviously the natives did not have the immune system to fight them. Um, like for example, a lot of sexually transmitted diseases, unfortunately. Um, also due to the encomienda system, they were overworked because they were put to do tasks that they had never done, or if they had done it, not at the extent that the Spanish wanted them to do.

So, many of the, I was reading a book that I like very much, it's called Juan Bosch is the author, and it's called From Columbus to Fidel Castro, and he was explaining that many of these natives could not conceive the idea of killing people over a piece of metal. That was not how, what their beliefs were, they were actually very community oriented, everybody in the community had a task.

So, in order to like, kill people for these pieces of gold and other metals, it was like, they could not conceive that. So many of them, it is believed that either they left or died in the process.

Hema: How did the US take over from Spain?

Laura Ortiz: Okay, so, Spain, uh, even though they were a strong empire, it was broke and it was constantly fighting with the British and the Dutch that wanted to take control of their possessions in the Caribbean. They were actually British for like a month or two months. So it's a part of history that we don't really refer too much because, you know, it was such short lived.

But, um, the United States started actually Getting, wanting to take control of the islands of the territories that Spain possessed in the Caribbean because they wanted the access to it. Puerto Rico especially was known as the key, the keys to the West Indies. A strategic military location was like necessary for the U. S. because they wanted to take control of the Panama, the Panama Canal, what became the Panama Canal. So, Puerto Rico was really important. 

So, in 1898, we go through the Spanish American War that basically started because the U. S. blamed the Spanish for bombing a boat in the Bay of Havana in 1898. Eventually it was proved that it was the U. S. that bombed the ship, but that's what actually started the whole conflict, the Spanish American War. They first tried to enter Puerto Rico through San Juan, but they were not able to because of the ports and the soldiers there. They were actually able to get through the island, entering Guáhuanica which is a small town in the south of Puerto Rico.

And July 25th, we we don't call it celebrate, but yeah, and it's the American troops entering Puerto Rico to take control. So 125 years of colonialism, as we say.

Hema: When the U. S. took control, was that considered a good thing at the time when the Spanish were ousted and the U. S. took control?

Laura Ortiz: So actually, uh, when I say celebrate, it was because nowadays we don't really celebrate it. It's more like, you know, to, we use it mainly to educate people on what actually happened. But back in the day, it was really interesting because the feeling of the people of Puerto Rico under Spain was of uncertainty and happiness because Spain had the island abandoned.

Like they had to go to, like, resort to contraband in order to survive. Many of the people were very unhappy. So they, they saw the United States as this new opportunity to maybe grow and have the things they didn't have under Spain. So I, when that US invasion, as we call it here, it happened, they actually saw it you know, as a new start. Eventually, well, some, uh, some. Things happen in the political atmosphere that changed that perspective. 

Hema: When the U. S. took over control, the population of Puerto Rico was then mostly people from Spain, so the Spanish, and the enslaved Africans. Would you say that that was sort of the extent of the population?

Laura Ortiz: Yeah, we had a lot of Criollos. Criollos were those Spanish that married Puerto Ricans, so they mainly like worked the land, but we also had a few slaves still left in the island.

Hema: And when you say, the Criollos were Spanish who married Puerto Ricans, when you say Puerto Ricans, who are you referring to? 

Laura Ortiz: So they could have been, they could have gotten married to native women, Indigenous women that were still left in the island, uh, African women that were living in the island. So all that mix became what we would have called it Puerto Rican at the time. So, Criollo. 

Another thing, we actually had a big migration from France, Corsica in the south of Puerto Rico, because the Spanish actually made some acts to bring over people from these places to work the land.

Hema: And were those people then considered indentured laborers or were they considered enslaved?

Laura Ortiz: So, actually, these people were offered pieces of land. Especially in the South of Puerto Rico to work the land. So they were giving land crops in return for like growing everything they needed to survive.

Hema: So very similar to the indentureship of in other Caribbean islands of people from South Asia and India, for instance, they were given something in exchange for the labor to replace the labor of the enslaved, enslaved Africans or enslaved Indigenous Is that a similar concept?

Laura Ortiz: And we actually have a figure. I don't know if you've ever heard about it. El Jíbaro, El Jíbaro became a very important, we can tell her character figure in Puerto Rico. El Jíbaro was the worker of the mountain. And we actually, as Puerto Ricans, represent a lot, like, we identify a lot with the Jíbaro. The Jíbaro, we have a word in Puerto Rico, it's known as joseo.

Joseo means to hustle. It's just like the Puerto Rican version of that word, hustle. So, the Jíbaro would get jobs wherever he could find in order to survive. And the Jíbaro basically took over, you know, those jobs that the slaves used to do. 

The Spanish actually developed a system called the System of La Libreta. Libreta is notebook. So these workers actually had a little notebook with them where they would basically have to like punch in whenever they went to work and the owners or actually the, the, the boss basically would just like fill out a comment on how this person worked. So, and this, Jibaro actually also be developed a dependence on the sugar plantations.

Because they were not paid enough. So the sugar plantations would have these shops, they were called Tiendas de Raya, and they would go to buy whatever they needed in the stores. But the problem was, the stores would overprice stuff. So their money was not enough. So they would owe money. to the owner of the store and kept that dependent system in order to survive. 

Hema: In that scenario, who would be the owners of the store?

Laura Ortiz: The owners would be the owners of the sugar plantation. Those were the wealthy people. So, and when, before becoming part of the U. S., we had a big hurricane in 1899 that basically destroyed all of the crops. These people were left without lands. So, because of this, they had to resort to getting jobs at the sugar plantation.

Under U. S. control, the sugarcane was actually administered by people that were not from here. So we used to call them Corporaciones Absenticas. So basically, they were corporations that worked in Puerto Rico, that had the plantations in Puerto Rico, but they physically were not here. So the money would go up to the States. 

Hema: When did slavery end end or was abolished in Puerto Rico?

Laura Ortiz: In 1873. Mm 

Hema: 1873, we have no longer or very small amount of Tainos left. It's predominantly 

Laura Ortiz: Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm 

Hema: Spanish, people brought over from Africa and then some of the other laborers that you mentioned, which is 

Laura Ortiz: hmm. 

Hema: change from the original inhabitants of the island.

Laura Ortiz: Definitely. 

Hema: Everything completely changed. And then at some point. Puerto Ricans were given U. S. citizenship. When did that happen?

Laura Ortiz: So it happened in the year 1917 under the Jones Act, and among the things that Jones Act did was actually give Puerto Rican citizenship so they could go to war. The whole reason behind it was that they were looking for men to go to war. 

So giving citizenship, yeah, giving citizenship would basically be like, okay, so you have the citizenship, you can go to war.

Hema: You were talking about the Spanish American war and when, Spain essentially just ceded Puerto Rico to the U. S., they also ceded some additional countries. I think it was the Philippines, Cuba, Guam, so that all happened around the same time.

Laura Ortiz: Yes. 

Hema: Just based on what we've talked about, the Indigenous population is gone. There's a whole brand new population of people in Puerto Rico in this timeframe that we're talking about who come from different parts of the world and who have created what seems to me like a whole new culture. 

Laura Ortiz: Yes, definitely. Because each group that got, each group that got Puerto Rico brought with them, their culture, so we kind of got this mix.

Hema: Which What is the population breakdown of Puerto Rico?

Laura Ortiz: So we are basically a mix of, mix of everything. 

Hema: What I was reading, and this is a little bit confusing to me, is that the ethnic groups are breakdown of percent 76 12 percent black, 9 percent what they're classifying as other, and then a small amount of mixed. But then there was a little addendum in this article that said 99 percent of the population is Latino. So I didn't understand what that all means. 

Laura Ortiz: So we identify, so this groups were divided into, we just identify as like either Caribbean or Puerto Rican, because we're a mix of everything. Uh, we do have a large Afro Puerto Rican community in the town of Loiza. Uh, but in the island, you'll find a mix of everything, so we don't Actually do ignore those classifications that we get, um, because we can identify, we can identify as Caribbean people or Latinos or Puerto Ricans. So,

There is some families like the Ayala family that have been living in Loiza for many years and they're the ones that actually keep the Bomba tradition alive.

Hema: What would you say is the biggest cultural influence that's shaped with the current culture of Puerto Rico is?

Laura Ortiz: So, in terms of gastronomy, I would say, well, gastronomy and music, the Africans. The Africans, they left a big impact in our culture. Because we have it in the Bomba, we have it in the Plena, and also in gastronomy. African, uh, African culture has a lot of influence over we eat.

Hema: Does that Spanish culture besides language still remain as a, as an influence?

Laura Ortiz: So we have all the religion, Catholicism is the main religion in the island, brought by the Spanish. We also have, uh, the, the devotion to the Saints. Like if you go to Old San Juan, all the streets have names of Saints, same as municipalities. So, we mainly have that influence over, obviously, what language, the names of the places, um, religion. And the Tainos. Well, many words that we use in Puerto Rico, for example, the word hammock hamaca come from Taino influence.

Hema: The culture changed so much, but yet there, while, while there aren't or if any Taino people left, they've left their mark on the country. 

Laura Ortiz: Yes they have. Mm hmm. We use a lot of, uh, there's many Taino symbols that we still use. 

 So we do use a lot of things from the Taino religion. For example, we have a museum actually shaped like a cemi. Cemi was a little figure that Tainos used to make to represent a God or as an offering. So we have people get tattooed cemis. We have the Taino sun that is a very popular symbol that we still use.

Hema: Does the, did the U. S. occupation and obviously current U. S. affiliation, do you see lot of American influence in the culture? I

Laura Ortiz: Yes, right now I would dare say that we are fighting to keep our culture and identity because the influence from the U. S. has been so strong over every aspect of the Puerto Rican society. So, for example, the language. Our Spanish has been very influenced by English to the point that many people just speak Spanglish.

Also, we are so exposed to everything from the U. S. Styles, TV shows, everything is from the U. S. So, we, I would say that there's this fight towards keeping our identity and not losing it. 

Hema: If you were to describe Puerto Rican identity to somebody who doesn't really know much about Puerto Rico, how would you describe it? Yeah, 

Laura Ortiz: We are going back, I would say we're going back to our roots. Uh, we are trying to, for example, through the, Bomba you go Loiza to and then everything is Bomba, because we, Bomba actually became the way our ancestors, the African ancestors, fought to keep their identity and their culture. So we have gone back to practicing and keeping that Bomba alive as a way of protecting our identity.

So, Also, through gastronomy, I always say that the best way to get to know the identity of a place is through the food. Because everything we eat means something, or was the, the result of the struggle of our ancestors to be able to make that plate that we are having. So I dare say that our identity can be mostly find gastronomy Mm-Hmm.

Hema: You know, it was interesting when I was in Puerto Rico I found a lot of Puerto Ricans, even though it is a part, and technically you all have American citizenship, really don't identify with being a part of America. They really identify with being Puerto Rican.

Laura Ortiz: Mm-Hmm. . We actually call or refer to the United States as allá afuera, so allá afuera translates to over there. Uh, we . I have many people that ask me if I've been to the mainland and we always make that we, we, we told you like our mainland is the big island of Puerto Rico because we're archipiélago but we do not identify as North Americans.

We can't even dare say, like, we're from the Caribbean, we will say. But we will not tell you, I mean, maybe you might find me one person or two saying that they identify as North American, but I think 99 percent of the people will tell you no, we are Puerto Rican.

Hema: And that makes sense to me because the culture is a Caribbean culture. It is not an American culture. It is a Caribbean culture. Would you say that's correct? 

Laura Ortiz: Yes, it is. It is very correct. 

Hema: In some of the research around the different places in the Caribbean that had colonization and, enslaved Africans brought over in some countries, there oftentimes is a divide or, um, not wanting to associate a specific place in the Caribbean, but in some places, there is a divide or, um, not wanting to associate a specific place in the Caribbean, but in some places, there is a divide or, um, not wanting to associate with being an African culture and maybe a little bit of colorism, shadism, racism going on. that exist in Puerto Rico?

Laura Ortiz: I would say that no, uh, we are actually very proud of our mix. In the island, it's very normal as a way of, like, calling somebody you love to call them Negrito, Negro. It's, I don't know, it's something that we use to show love. So, and for us, I We're proud of our mix. So, we don't, we don't really have those racial issues.

Actually, uh, this, just this week, the government passed a law banning, um, racism towards, like, hairstyles regarding, like, the workplace. Because, well, we have women here that have afros and we have women that wear braids or turbans and many workplaces would not allow it, but that's part of our, that's part of our nature. So, uh, yes, recently it was like no, no workplace can tell you what type of hair you should wear. Mm

Hema: I love the community feel and that unity feeling that you're providing of the people of Puerto Rico. Although it's interesting to hear that passed rules or legislation saying there's no discrimination against specific hairstyles, which to me says that there was some sort of discrimination or, um, 

Laura Ortiz: hmm. 

Hema: And why do you think that is?

Laura Ortiz: So mainly, and in my experience, mainly it is, this US chains, uh, like stores and businesses that would not allow people to be wearing their actual hair as it is. So, because among local companies, they don't really care about that. So, yes, there were, there was a little bit of racism towards hair, uh, but it was, yeah, mainly because of the standards that these companies have.

Hema: So not really the Puerto Ricans that were making this distinction, but the rule was put into place for it sounds like foreign companies who brought their own ideals to the country. 

Before we wrap up, what do you want people to know about Puerto Rico beyond it being a vacation spot or beyond it being, you know, a port where the cruise ship docks?

Laura Ortiz: So I would definitely tell people that Puerto Rico, besides being a destination, it's a place where you'll find the richest culture, the most inviting and nicest people that you will ever meet. Puerto Rico is a country that even though we're a territory of the United States, we have our own identity. We, you get to Puerto Rico and you don't feel you're you're not in the United States.

It's such a rich and varied culture that it's definitely worth studying and visiting. 

Hema: I agree. I really enjoyed my time in Puerto Rico. Everybody was so nice. The food was great, which we will talk about in the next episode when we start to talk about the food and the cuisine. And I'm really excited for that because not only do you have the educational background, but through your company, you have Sofrito Tours, so much knowledge to share about food and cuisine of Puerto Rico. Definitely. 

Laura Ortiz: Thank you for having me. 

Hema: Thanks for listening to this episode of The Moreish Podcast. Connect with us on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok at themoreishpodcast. See you for the next episode.