A Native American man from Boyds, Maryland is making it his mission to keep the contributions of America’s Indigenous people alive as both the United States and Montgomery County move into their 250th year of existence.
Denyzio Laboy is Native American resident of Boyds with Taíno Arawak heritage. He moved to Montgomery County from New York City to pursue a career as a special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. When the mass government federal workforce reductions occurred earlier this year, Laboy was one of the 25,000 Marylanders who lost a job.
For him, it was an opportunity to lean into an advocacy project he had been doing as volunteer work aside from his full-time work.
Denyzio Laboy credits his grandmother with instilling in him a strong connection to his Taino American heritage.
“I’ve been struggling with the idea of wanting to start my organization to try to celebrate and pay homage and educate — revitalize the history,” said Laboy.
Shortly after he lost his federal job, a colleague urged him to get started. “He said, ‘You have to do it and you have to do it now. You would be the first and only current representation of your tribal people in the state of Maryland.’ And so that kind of gave me the fire to go ahead and the courage to go ahead,” he explained.
This year, Laboy committed to building out his advocacy work through the Taíno American Indigenous National Organization or T.A.I.N.O., an organization he founded. His first major accomplishment came in May when he got the Montgomery County Council to recognize his tribe with an official proclamation. Laboy was also successful at partnering with the The Charles Koiner Conservancy for Urban Farming to utilize its downtown Silver Spring farmland, which was once a part of the Piscataway Indian Nation, for Native American gatherings, something their leadership strongly supports.
The land is the former property of the late renowned urban farmer Charles Koiner who also owned the land that is now the Pike & Rose shopping development. But Koiner held a special place for his Silver Spring farm in the writing of his legacy.
“And, before he past, we had his land in trust under the Charles Koiner Conservancy so that it would always remain for the public benefit a working farm and available for people like Denyzio and his tribal community who have been stripped of their land, stripped of their sense of belonging. If we can do something to right the wrongs of history and make space… We’re here for it,” said Hannah Sholder, deputy executive of Koiner Farm.
The Piscataway tribe indigenous to Maryland is officially recognized by the state, but not by the federal government.
Laboy said his long-term goal is to see greater recognition for Indigenous communities nationwide, including expanded federal recognition for tribes that remain unrecognized.
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