The The Council of Native Caribbean Heritage initially started as Taino DNA & Genealogy in 2019. We sought to have our voices heard as members of the Descendants of the Taino but later wanted to be more inclusive and involve other indigenous Caribbean communities. We seek to bring awareness to the existence, cultures, and language of these tribes.

The Taino has been thought to have been extinct, but our efforts have since established that is not the case and can trace their roots to the Taino tribe.

Under the Taino DNA & Genealogy Project, we seek to “certify” ancestral trees that demonstrate an individual has evidence of direct descent from the Taino through the review by our panel of genealogy experts. Our organization, a genealogical society, offers our members the opportunity to have their genealogy tree reviewed by our panel to ascertain they have sufficient evidence to prove a connection to the Taino.

Sufficient evidence to demonstrate a connection to the Taino per our group’s rubric follows as such:

• People who have evidence of their ties to the Taino, either through traditional genealogical records (e.g., birth records, marriage records, death records, military records) for which their ancestors are identified as being Taino or as a descendant of the Taino (e.g., Mestizo, Pardo, Trigueño, and/or Indian).
• Individuals who have done genetic testing showing they have a percentage of indigenous Caribbean (e.g., indigenous Cuba, indigenous Hispaniola [Dominican Republic / Haiti], indigenous Puerto Rico, etcetera) with a family tree demonstrating five generations.
• Individuals who have done genetic testing showing a mitochondrial DNA haplogroup that is indigenous to the Caribbean with a documented maternal line tracing back five generations.

Our scope in this project is to “certify” people who have demonstrated sufficient evidence connecting to the Taino. We do not certify people as being Taino, as that is a social construct that is to be determined by each individual tribe.

C.O.N.C.H is an organization that prides itself in fortifying, representing, and serving the Caribbean heritage of the First Nations of the Caribbean. We are a genealogical society, with many of our board members having over 20+ years of experience as genealogists. Through the use of traditional genealogy and modern genetic testing, we seek to raise awareness within our people while fostering a sense of community throughout the various tribal groups in the Caribbean region. We are offering individuals who have a connection to the Native Caribbean peoples to come together and have a conversation about our genealogical ties.

There are over 200 tribes that call the Caribbean home. Our organization serves as an online resource and an educational platform to be used and shared by all individuals. We are committed to preserving the past for future generations by calling on all indigenous peoples in the Caribbean to come together for a dialogue, strategize, and pool resources. We ask people to join our society through our website and submit the proper documentation that is required.