biblical truth. indigenous voice. courageous leadership.
a bit more about
Chief Joseph RiverWind
War Chief. Veteran. Minister. Language Preservationist. Historian. Author...
(Page under renovation... Pardon the dust!)
Chief Joseph RiverWind serves as War Chief of the Arawak Taíno Tribe of Puerto Rico and is an honorably discharged U.S. Army veteran. During his military service, he worked on the Force XXI weapons design program, contributing to radar technologies later utilized in Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.
As a survival instructor certified through Sigma 3, he integrates traditional heritage skills with modern resilience training.
saving a dying language
Chief Joseph RiverWind serves as one of the leading Island Arawak (Taíno) language restoration specialists at a critical time in history. With only a handful of fluent speakers remaining, the Island Arawak language faces the danger of extinction. Chief Joseph is his tribe's most fluent speaker and he leads the "Taino Word of the Day" initiative, a tri-lingual program (Island Arawak, English, Spanish). In collaboration with Chief Richard Porrata, he plays a central role in the revitalization, documentation, and intergenerational transmission of this ancestral language — safeguarding not only vocabulary, but worldview, identity, and cultural memory. He is fluent in Spanish and possesses foundational knowledge of German, strengthening his ability to engage across linguistic and cultural contexts.
Chief Joseph found Yeshua (Jesus) whom he calls Chief CornerStone as a young adult and immediately threw himself into Biblical learning. He holds a Master’s Degree in Biblical Studies and is currently pursuing a second Master’s Degree in Emergency Management. For nearly two decades, he has served in various offices of ministry: as a pastor, itinerant teacher, evangelist, and ministry leader. His teaching emphasizes scriptural integrity, covenant faithfulness, cultural restoration, and disciplined leadership. When ministering alongside Dr. Laralyn, he brings theological depth, pastoral leadership, engaging storytelling, and the brightness of indigenous humor to each engagement.
Chief Joseph is widely respected for his depth of scholarship, passionate advocacy, cultural insight, and prophetic clarity. His teaching combines Scriptural fidelity with historical awareness, presented through dignified yet engaging storytelling. His ability to integrate wisdom, reconciliation, and appropriate humor enables audiences to absorb complex truths with both understanding and grace.
He carries a richly blended heritage. Through both his mother’s and father’s lines, he is Taíno. Following his father’s passing in 2012, previously unknown aspects of his ancestry came to light through inherited family photographs and generations-old Hebrew literature. These discoveries revealed that his Spanish lineage was, in fact, Sephardic. The Ladino and Hebrew songs heard in childhood were given new meaning. Further confirmation was obtained during a fact-finding visit in 2017 to the B'nai Anusim Center in Netanya.