Taino Harvest Gathering & Casabe Making Workshop
About the event
Taino Harvest Gathering 2026 Casabe Workshop & Ceremony with Yukayeke Yara Cu Free & Open to the Public BRING YOUR MARACA & BEACH CHAIR! Join Yukayeke Yara Cu for an afternoon of Casabe making, Areyto dancing, Batu playing, and community as we celebrate the Yuca Harvest in the tradition of our Taíno Ancestors. For the Taíno people of Borikén (Puerto Rico), Yuca was sacred. It was our principal food crop, a gift that sustained our communities through times of abundance and hardship alike. When properly prepared into Casabe, a traditional flatbread, Yuca could be preserved for many months, helping a Yukayeke endure after hurricanes and during difficult seasons. The harvest was therefore much more than the gathering of food. It was a time of gratitude — an opportunity to give thanks for the rains, the fertility of the Earth, the labor of the community, and the blessings that sustained life. In the spirit of our Ancestors, our gathering will open in ceremony led by Kacike Tekina-eirú. Learn how to play the 1,000-year-old ceremonial ballgame of Batu, then continue with hands-on Casabe making, joyful Areyto (ceremonial song and dance), and fellowship beneath the pecan trees of our Batey. Together we will honor the Yuca harvest, remember those who came before us, and celebrate the enduring traditions that continue to unite our community today. WHO ARE WE? YUKAYEKE YARA CU (Tribe of the Sacred Place) is a community of Taíno blood descendants and Guaytiao (friends) proudly serving Central Texas. Since 2008, through the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, we have shared and preserved living Taíno traditions, culture, and heritage with our community. Live in Central Texas? We welcome you to become involved. THANK YOU SPONSORS! Austin's Puerto Rican Cultural Center is sponsored in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts, the City of Austin Office of Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment (ACME), and the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture. Since 2005, our Puerto Rican Cultural Center is proudly affiliated with the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture.
