Boricuas Beauty

We, the people of Trinidad and Tobago associate our nationality with with our shared cultural identity, and not our diverse ethnicities or religious beliefs. We call ourselves, simply Trinis.

One of the curious things I learnt while in Puerto Rico, was that the people call themselves Boricuas. According to the story, the original inhabitants of Puerto Rico, the Taínos, called the island Borikén (land of the great lords). And to this today, natives of Puerto Rico call themselves Boricuas.

Boricuas, like Trinis are the result of a multicultural heritage that began over 500 years ago when the Spaniards arrived on the island, that was inhabited by the Taínos, who called the island, Ka-iri or land of the hummingbird.

Columbus discovered Trinidad and Tobago in 1498, and the Spanish colonized it, bringing African slaves to work in tobacco and cacao plantations. During the 17th and 18th centuries the islands changed hands intermittently between the English, Dutch and the French, before being ceded to the UK.

When slavery was abolished in Britain in 1833, plantation owners brought thousands of indentured workers from India and China, and Middle East laborers.

Puerto Rico's story varies but is similar. The Spaniards also brought African slaves to this island to work on the plantations, and African influences were introduced. This was followed by the influx of immigrants from other European countries, including Italians, French and Germans, and the arrival of a few Chinese and Syrians to the island. Slavery was abolished in 1873.

The result is a Puerto Rican bloodline and culture evolved through a fusion of those races, and is the face the modern-day Puerto Rican, the Boricua, a people with a sense of rootedness in a distinct and rich cultural tradition that is tied to their island.

They are warm and fun-loving people whose creativity and passion for life are visible in their wonderfully rich culture and its expressions in their food, art, music and traditions. When they celebrate, they do it big. And that reminded me very much of the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

The people of Puerto Rico are a diversely beautiful race, of great passion, optimism and empathy, and my heart is grateful to them for making this Trini feel so at home.