Traveller Manifesto
78. Media

Media

Traveller missions are not yet dead.

In the heart of the furore with the shocking accusations against Israel and the USA regarding stolen Transporter technology comes the latest announcement by Transporter Corp of a second Traveller Lottery mission.

Cuba will be the second such Traveller project. It will permit the Caribbean island nation to use the quirky Time Machine at no cost. Unlike the ill-fated mission in the Pacific Island nation of New Zealand, the Cuban mission is planned to take place through the extensive use of UAV’s, for which Traveller projects are now famous.

Professor of History at Cuba’s University of Havana, Professor Migdalia Amarillo, has been named the academic overseeing the project.

“We are honoured to have the opportunity to conduct this most valuable historical research,” she said. “Cuban history has been largely overlooked in view of the colonization by the Spanish in the 15th and 16th Centuries which resulted in the virtual extinction of the native Taino peoples. The Taino were the principal inhabitants of Cuba, Trinidad, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico, so to learn more of these lost peoples is to study more about the ancestors for many of us in the Caribbean.”

“The Taino were historically enemies of the neighbouring Carib nations, after which the Caribbean was named. They originated in South America and lived mainly in the Lesser Antilles,” said Professor Amarillo. “Typical to most native nations of the time, the Spanish conquerors saw Taino women as commodities for Spaniards to trade. The rape of Taino women in Hispaniola was common, resulting in numerous mestizo children. This brought about the decline of the Taino population which was further exacerbated by infectious diseases such as smallpox, warfare, murder and enslavement. By 1548, a mere 500 Taino remained.”

“Unlike the civilisation of the Spanish conquerors, the Taino practiced a matrilineal society. The women were skilled in agriculture and had an extensive understanding of their natural environment. Like the knowledge gleaned from Tatae in the Saxon Traveller mission, we hope to garner more understanding of the use of native plants, many of which might now be extinct,” she said.

Unlike previous Traveller projects, Cuba Traveller will also target the restoration of lost species.

“Cuba and the Caribbean nations have lost much in the waves of colonization that have occurred over the past 500 years,” explained Professor Amarillo. “Not only have we lost any understanding of the spiritual lives and foods of the people who lived here, but many animals and plant species have also become extinct. Mammals and birds will be targeted in what will be an internationally coordinated restorative effort. Cuba Traveller will be unique in that it will host an international Traveller team that will consist of male and female academic and military specialists from up to a dozen Caribbean nations. Together we will share our replaceings and regain some of the cultural significance of what it means to be Caribbean.”