Nanichi Roots: Every Branch Tells a Story of Resilience and Love
In the Taíno language, Nanichi means "My Love, My Heart". I am Maritza Arroyo Pérez and I specialize in Puerto Rican genealogy, helping to uncover the powerful stories of resilience, love, and survival that are woven into our DNA. I guide you on a journey into the heart of your legado - legacy. Let's find the ancestors who live on in you.
Their Survival Was the Resistance. Your Story is the Proof.
Welcome to Nanichi Roots.
For so many of us, the story of our Boricua heritage is a puzzle—a collection of cherished family tales, faded photographs, and a deep, calling connection to an island we may call home, or the home our parents and grandparents were forced to leave behind. We feel its pulse, but we long to know the names, faces, and stories that created it.
I chose the name Nanichi Roots with deep intention. In the Taíno language, Nanichi means "My Heart" and "My Love." This work begins with love—for the family we know, for the ancestors we seek, and for the island that holds their memories. It is a journey inward, to the very heart of who you are.
While honoring our indigenous foundation, my research embraces the full, complex tapestry of our raíces. I trace the threads that lead from Spain, West Africa and many other countries, specializing in the unique challenges of Puerto Rican records to find the voices silenced by history.
This is how we do more than build family trees. It is how we unearth your legado—the living legacy passed down through generations. Together, we piece together the lives of the jornaleros, libertos, artesanos, madres, y padres who survived, adapted, and forged a culture of unbreakable strength.
Your story is waiting.
Let me help you find the path home—to the heart of your legacy, and to the giants whose shoulders you stand on.
English and Español.
Claim Your Boricua Legacy - Genealogy is an Act of Resistance!
A story is being told about Puerto Rico. It’s a story written by outside investors, by luxury developers, and by the forces of disaster capitalism. It’s a story of tax havens and tourist playgrounds, a story that paves over local neighborhoods with concrete and renames them in English. With every new high-rise and every displaced family, this new story tries to erase the ones that came before. This is the modern face of colonization. It’s a gentrification so aggressive that it seeks to sever the connection between the Puerto Rican people and the island itself. It tells us that our presence is temporary, that our culture is a commodity, and that our history can be bought and sold. But they cannot buy our legacy. They cannot gentrify our bloodline. This is why, now more than ever, the work of genealogy has become an act of profound resistance. It is the most personal and powerful tool we have to fight back against erasure. When you invest in discovering your family's history, you are not just building a family tree. You are doing something more: 1. You Are Reclaiming Place. 2. You Are Preserving Memory. 3. You Are Protecting our Identity for Future Generations. To invest in your genealogy is to declare that your family’s story matters. It is an investment in the collective memory of our people. This is why I created Nanichi Roots. SERVICES
Personalized Ancestral Research
Customized Family Tree Creation
Historical Document Retrieval
Genealogy Workshops and Seminars
Enhance your knowledge through engaging workshops.
Testimonials
El Latido de Nanichi: See the Breakthrough Journeys
Be inspired by the powerful legacies they have reclaimed!
Is Their Resistance Your Inheritance?
YES!!! To trace your lineage is to honor every act of survival. It is a defiant declaration that you are the legacy of a people who would not be broken. Let me stand with you in this work - welcome to Nanichi Roots.