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Spanish Field Trip Enhances Research on Taíno People
On Thursday, April 30, students taking Spanish 4 with Elena Pellus Perez and Evelyn Montanez took a field trip into New Haven to enrich their study of Caribbean cultures by viewing rare artifacts in person. The group’s first stop was the Peabody Museum to explore the temporary exhibit Caribbean Indigenous Resistance, a bilingual exhibition about the Taíno people. Once labeled as "extinct," the Taíno have a rich cultural history with roots in Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and other ancestral homes throughout the Caribbean.
Their next stop was Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library to see the only existing copy of a manuscript written by Spanish humanist Hernán Pérez de Oliva. The students were able to read from Historia de la invención de las Indias (History of the Invention of the Indies), including a section written in 1496–1498: the first-hand account of Hieronymite friar Ramón Pané regarding his experience living among the Taíno people for two years.
In addition to reading the manuscript, they also learned about Taíno artifacts and customs.
Hopkins is a private middle school and high school for grades 7-12. Located on a campus overlooking New Haven, CT, the School takes pride in its intellectually curious students as well as its dedicated faculty and staff.
Hopkins School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.