La Fémina Poderosa

A children's story exploring the role of Anacaona in securing indigenous rights throughout the colonization of the Taíno community. As students within the US education system, we are unaware of her importance, or the development of the Indigenous people communities within the United States. More importantly, the education system remains ignorant to indigenous history and its intersection with women’s rights. Through shedding light on Anacaona, I hope to redefine the role of women in correspondence to refusal to accept colonial and euro-centric and European standards, while upholding the strong and diligent roles of the indigenous communities. As a representation of the gold flower, Anacaona [in westernized contemporaneous history] is described and illustrated as a sensual, delicate, and beautiful princess. However, I would like to shift the narrative [for children] by exploring her active nature [resistant to imperialism and colonization] while expressing her power through femininity, strategic-skills, and political knowledge. In summation, I hope to explore who has a voice and who does not in relation to food and territorial egalitarianism.