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Morovis.- Arriving at artisan Alice Daisy Chéveres-Chéveres’ workshop is as if you were coming in contact with the native Taíno inhabitants of the Borinquen archipelago, witnessing the pottery works that honor our ancestors.

It is there that the objects Taínos would use to pour their food in or perform their rituals with are molded from clay. The exact same place where they had lived for hundreds of years, next to Las Cabachuelas Nature Reserve in Barrio Barahona, Morovis.

Alice is a direct descendant of the indigenous population, according to a DNA test administered to her mother, Evarista Chéveres-Díaz, by archaeologist Roberto Martínez during an expedition through the site.

According to the artist from Morovis, genetic information from her mother’s test showed over a 60% compatibility.

“We have always lived in this territory. An archaeologist was going to work in the caves to look at the existence of Taíno descendants and, when he passed by our property, he saw my mom and was surprised: she had all the characteristics of an indigenous Taíno,” the 52-year-old revealed.

She explained that her mother had long black hair, coppery skin, protruding cheekbones and a short stature, just like her. “The test to know how much Taíno ancestry she had came out to over 60%,” she said.

In fact, her mother told her that she had a great-grandmother named María “who was Taíno. Mom told me. Her mother had told her that her grandmother was Taíno. But during that time it was forbidden to say that you were descended from Taínos. All to protect her. She lived in the caves and remained living there most of her life. Then they made her a little straw house,” she said.

One of the things she remembers is that her mother would prepare one of the caves that make up Cabachuelas to take refuge in “when the hurricane season came. Then when they mentioned that a hurricane was coming, she would gather us up and take us over there. You don’t feel the wind there, you can’t even hear the water unless you go to the mouth of the cave,” she said, mentioning that the last time they took refuge in that cave was during Hurricane Georges in 1998.

“After that, we stopped going because Mom got sick and couldn’t walk anymore. We couldn’t reach it. You have to walk for more than an hour to get to the cave,” said the artisan after mentioning that her ancestors “were engaged in agriculture.”

On the other hand, she stressed that the archaeologist’s discovery proved that “Taínos still existed. Then, he kept talking to her and got to know her. He asked to take some pictures of her to put on display, without revealing where she lived. That was at the Museo Casa Alonso [in Vega Baja]. When people saw the photos they asked him, well, where did he take them,” said Alice, daughter to Pablo Chéveres.

“From there, we started working the clay with master craftsman Daniel Silva-Pagán, who was rescuing this clay technique on how Taínos made their utensils. He would go to all the excavations to look at the pieces of pottery they found to get ideas on how to prepare the clay,” she added.

However, meeting the master craftsman changed Alice’s life who, at first, refused to learn how to work with clay. “Mom gave him a place to stay in a little house she had. Since he had no transportation, it would be easier for him to go work [at the excavations] this way. At night, he would get to work with the clay and we would watch him while he did so,” she said.

“One day he tells me: ‘Alice, come on, come here and learn.’ I told him I wasn’t interested. However, he told me that I would be the only one left working with the clay. I said he was crazy,” she recalled.

However, her history teacher had assigned her to make a utensil or an object that had to do with the Taínos. So, she went to the craftsman to help her out.

“That’s when I started working with the clay. At first, I only made a tiny pottery piece that I brought to the teacher. Eventually, I kept working with the clay. Him and my mom would help me make the pottery pieces, because Mom said she had a memory of making Taíno pottery herself,” said the certified artisan.

Then, out of her 10 siblings, only Alice was left with the task of not only making indigenous pottery, but to teach and educate others about folk art to preserve Taíno history through Taller Cabachuelas, which just turned 35 years old last year.

Among the pieces she makes are “potiza (bottles that were used to pour water), cauldrons and ceremonial pieces that people use to burn incense, among other utensils that we make.”

It should be noted that the artisan gets clay from the Morovis area. “I used to go to Vega Baja, but we mostly use local clay. I prepare it: I place it and liquefy it, beat it and gird it, taking out the stones. Another way is to take out the biggest roots and use them by pouring river sand over them. Since [the clay] is fired on a pit, all we use is natural firewood,” said the mother of two.

“Sometimes I give workshops and some of the kids don’t want to touch the clay. But you get your hands dirty and then wash them again. That’s how you get the most beautiful pieces. I keep learning, every day I learn something new. And I educate to keep Taíno culture alive,” she concluded.

For more information, you can contact 939-203-9193.