December 18, 2025
Indigenous Stories as Medicine: Space, Place, and History in Yamaye (Jamaica)
A lecture by Kasike (Chief) Kalaan Nibonrix Kaiman
Posted in: Lectures
Chief Kalaan addressed Indigenous stories and how they offer healing to Indigenous people and root them in ancestral spaces. We learn how knowledge of place and knowledge of history are both integral to generational healing, as is the need to share and record stories about the natural world and its significance. Kalaan linked his people’s Indigenous identity to their ancestral and archaeological heritage of Yamaye.
Watch the December 9, 2025 Zoom Lecture
Bio:
Kalaan Nibonrix Kaiman is Kasike (Chief) of the Yamaye Gunaí Taíno Peoples (Jamaican Hummingbird Taíno People). He is also the Caribbean Region Organizer for Peace and Dignity Journeys (an inter-tribal prayer run) and holds memberships in the Council of Indigenous Traditional Healers of the Americas, Yamaye Council of Indigenous Healers (YCOIL), and the Caribbean Organization of Indigenous Peoples. Chief Kalaan is an Indigenous rights activist and promotes recognition of his people in Jamaica as well as the rights of Indigenous peoples across the West Indies and globally. He is the custodian of Yamaye/Jamaican Taíno traditions and represents YCOIL at the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an entity of the Organization of American States.