About us
Welcome to The Barranquitas Project!
I am a Barranquiteña myself and have been researching my family for a couple of years now. Throughout the years I have determine we are all definitely related and our roots are deep to the beginning of colonization in Borinken (the land of the great lords) as the Tainos used called the island.
This small mountainous town from the cordillera central in Puerto Rico, was founded in 1803 by my 5x great grandfather Antonio Aponte Ramos. It is known as the "Cuna de Próceres" for the many intellectual bright minds that have prosper from there such as the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico, Jose Luis Alberto Muñoz Marin, regarded as the "Father of Modern Puerto Rico" and the "Architect of the Commonwealth". It is also the town of the Ferias de Artesanias. This art festival is the oldest in the Americas and have been displaying local artwork for hundreds of artist from the island for decades. It is also known for is fresh and cool weather, and it is one of two towns that share the Puerto Rican version of the grand canyon, Canyon de San Cristobal.
Barranquitas was originally part of the crowned village of Coamo (San Blas de Illescas; founded in 1570) which is one of the oldest towns in the island after San Juan and San German; and which had already 20 families living there by 1582. In the very beginning, the only way to cross the island was through treacherous mountainous terrains where the only stops where Taino "veredas". The establishment of the Coamo area allowed the route to not only be shorter but to have actual stops where people could rest, eat, and stay. In 1616, there is a document from 40 'head of households' requesting payment from the crown to the parish church and in it we find one of the well known surnames in this area through Melchor de Aponte. As time passed, this area split between different modern towns to include the area now known as Barranquitas and this is where this project begins.
The town of Barranquitas, has several wards: Barranquitas (Pueblo), Barrancas, Cañabon, Helechal, Honduras, Palo Hincado, Quebrada Grande, and Quebradillas. It is surrounded by the towns of Aibonito, Cidra, Coamo, Comerio, Corozal, Naranjito y Orocovis whose municipalities at one point or another also belong to Coamo and or even Barranquitas itself before splitting to how we know them in modern times. For this reason, it is common that our family trees share people that were born in any of these and more municipalities. Also to add to our complicated mixed DNA, this area was the home of the Jatibonicu Taino tribe (Great people of the sacred high waters) whose cacike was named Orocobix and whose land was composed of one large mountainous territory. This territory was later divided into three Yucayeques (villages) by the regional Spaniard governor Don Diego Colon, and later then into four now known as Aibonito, Barranquitas, Orocobis, and Morovis. This is actually where our neighboring town of Orocovis, known to the Tainos as Barros, gets its name in honor of the cacike Orocobix.
Our history is indeed complicated and a mix of all the good and bad. Our DNAs are a testament to that. I myself am a mix of European, African, Native American, and Asian. My MtDNA tracks back as CB1 which can only be found in Native Americans to include Tainos, so at one point or another my Barranquitas DNA links me back to what I suspect will be the Jatibonicu tribe. As I am, surely you yourself, are a mix of history and legends whose ancestry links back to this beautiful garden in the mountains. I created this project with the idea of creating a community of Barranquiteños where we can share our stories and history. I also intend to ask all members to contribute their data to this project so that we can start tracing our ancestors locations and dna haplogroups found uniquely in Barranquitas. Therefore, it is required that you or one of your family members that you are sharing the info of is from Barranquitas. I have already set up the privacy settings so only members can see this data and as expected the project will follow FamilyTree DNA policies and group administrator guidelines. I hope you join me in exploring our ancestry together and help us discover our Barranquitas history.
Sincerely,
Karina Dones
The Barranquitas Project
Group Creator / Administrator
I am a Barranquiteña myself and have been researching my family for a couple of years now. Throughout the years I have determine we are all definitely related and our roots are deep to the beginning of colonization in Borinken (the land of the great lords) as the Tainos used called the island.
This small mountainous town from the cordillera central in Puerto Rico, was founded in 1803 by my 5x great grandfather Antonio Aponte Ramos. It is known as the "Cuna de Próceres" for the many intellectual bright minds that have prosper from there such as the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico, Jose Luis Alberto Muñoz Marin, regarded as the "Father of Modern Puerto Rico" and the "Architect of the Commonwealth". It is also the town of the Ferias de Artesanias. This art festival is the oldest in the Americas and have been displaying local artwork for hundreds of artist from the island for decades. It is also known for is fresh and cool weather, and it is one of two towns that share the Puerto Rican version of the grand canyon, Canyon de San Cristobal.
Barranquitas was originally part of the crowned village of Coamo (San Blas de Illescas; founded in 1570) which is one of the oldest towns in the island after San Juan and San German; and which had already 20 families living there by 1582. In the very beginning, the only way to cross the island was through treacherous mountainous terrains where the only stops where Taino "veredas". The establishment of the Coamo area allowed the route to not only be shorter but to have actual stops where people could rest, eat, and stay. In 1616, there is a document from 40 'head of households' requesting payment from the crown to the parish church and in it we find one of the well known surnames in this area through Melchor de Aponte. As time passed, this area split between different modern towns to include the area now known as Barranquitas and this is where this project begins.
The town of Barranquitas, has several wards: Barranquitas (Pueblo), Barrancas, Cañabon, Helechal, Honduras, Palo Hincado, Quebrada Grande, and Quebradillas. It is surrounded by the towns of Aibonito, Cidra, Coamo, Comerio, Corozal, Naranjito y Orocovis whose municipalities at one point or another also belong to Coamo and or even Barranquitas itself before splitting to how we know them in modern times. For this reason, it is common that our family trees share people that were born in any of these and more municipalities. Also to add to our complicated mixed DNA, this area was the home of the Jatibonicu Taino tribe (Great people of the sacred high waters) whose cacike was named Orocobix and whose land was composed of one large mountainous territory. This territory was later divided into three Yucayeques (villages) by the regional Spaniard governor Don Diego Colon, and later then into four now known as Aibonito, Barranquitas, Orocobis, and Morovis. This is actually where our neighboring town of Orocovis, known to the Tainos as Barros, gets its name in honor of the cacike Orocobix.
Our history is indeed complicated and a mix of all the good and bad. Our DNAs are a testament to that. I myself am a mix of European, African, Native American, and Asian. My MtDNA tracks back as CB1 which can only be found in Native Americans to include Tainos, so at one point or another my Barranquitas DNA links me back to what I suspect will be the Jatibonicu tribe. As I am, surely you yourself, are a mix of history and legends whose ancestry links back to this beautiful garden in the mountains. I created this project with the idea of creating a community of Barranquiteños where we can share our stories and history. I also intend to ask all members to contribute their data to this project so that we can start tracing our ancestors locations and dna haplogroups found uniquely in Barranquitas. Therefore, it is required that you or one of your family members that you are sharing the info of is from Barranquitas. I have already set up the privacy settings so only members can see this data and as expected the project will follow FamilyTree DNA policies and group administrator guidelines. I hope you join me in exploring our ancestry together and help us discover our Barranquitas history.
Sincerely,
Karina Dones
The Barranquitas Project
Group Creator / Administrator