Meet Kacian Calderon: Elder, Potter, Knowledge Keeper

Kacian has spent more than four decades walking alongside the Taíno movement. Like a tree rooted steady, observing all of the people, places, and things coming in and out of this movement since its conception. He has been here long enough to have known nearly every leader in every organization before they became who they are today. He has been, in his own words, all through and over and under the movement itself. Today, he serves as an elder for the Borikua Taíno Foundation as a council member, offering the kind of counsel that only comes from having lived through the movement's ups and downs from the very beginning.

He is also a gifted potter, and he shares that gift generously, offering pottery classes to anyone in the community who wants to learn. For Kacian, art and advocacy aren't separate paths, they're two expressions of the same commitment, building something lasting for the people who come after us.

》A Well of Knowledge

Ask Kacian about his role with the foundation, and he doesn't reach for a title. He describes himself simply as someone who has been in the movement since the 80's. Someone who has watched it take shape, organization by organization, leader by leader. That history is exactly what he brings to the table now; perspective, memory, and the hard-won wisdom of having seen what's worked and what hasn't.

》A Vision for What Comes Next

When asked what he hopes the foundation accomplishes, Kacian doesn't stop at short-term goals. He's thinking generations ahead.

"Long term I want a responsible community and something that is good to pass down to our children."

His vision centers around our people owning our own land as the foundation for everything else the community needs to become self-sufficient, such as growing traditional crops like tobacco, building cotton materials and hammocks, woodworking of cemi'no, and pottery. A return to practices that don't depend on outside institutions.

"The land is waiting for us to return to her!"

He himself is an example to look up to as a member of the diaspora who returned home to our motherland a few decades ago, and stayed home. 

Kacian is quick to point out that the community already has more than it sometimes gives itself credit for, including some things many other tribes have lost entirely.

"We need to appreciate what we do have instead of focusing on what we don't have! Some tribes don't know anything about their ancestral traditions, but we do! Some don't have an ancestral language at all, but we have a load of traditional language! The problem is we are not all coming together to organize the language as a unit."

He even floats practical, forward-looking ideas like growing native tabonuco trees on our collective owned land instead of the difficulty we Taíno have sourcing them elsewhere, and exploring modern tools like 3D printing to support traditional craftsmanship. It's a reminder that honoring tradition and embracing innovation aren't in conflict for Kacian, they're part of the same project.

》Where Art Meets Mission

As a potter, Kacian sees a direct line between his craft and the foundation's larger goals. When asked how his art ties into the mission, his answer was hopeful and specific. 

"With land and a cultural center, pottery and traditional crafts could become not just a cultural practice but a real foundation for community life."

》His Message to the Community

For anyone reading this who isn't yet involved with the foundation, Kacian wants them to understand what kind of movement this is.

"We are a modern group of Taíno people who want to bring our traditions up to speed with modern times and to focus on building up our people for recognition. We are creating a real modern thing here. We are actively developing ourselves as indigenous people."

That's the spirit Kacian brings as an elder, not a keeper of the past for its own sake, but someone actively building a future rooted in tradition, land, and community, one generation at a time.

》Want to learn pottery from Kacian, or connect with him directly? 

Follow him on IG @taller_cipey