Xaragua: Zenith of Taino Chiefdoms (Updated Draft)

Antiquity of the Indians found in the Cul-de-Sac. Sketch included in  Nicolson's Essai sur l'histoire naturelle de Saint-Domingue. Avec figures en taille-douce.

The history of Xaragua, perhaps meaning Country of the Lakes, remains elusive.[1] Despite its recognition by authorities like Las Casas as the zenith of the Taino chiefdoms on Hispaniola, and perhaps in the entire insular Caribbean, little is known about it besides what the Spanish chronicles have described. Indeed, with the exception of Behechio and Anacaona, nothing about its previous rulers is known. Furthermore, archaeological research in Haiti has been less rich than other parts of the Greater Antilles, so questions remain about what may be under Leogane and Port-au-Prince that could shed light on the indigenous past of the region. However, since Xaragua was recognized as having the most refined manners and language, the most beautiful women, served as the "court" of the island, practiced irrigation, produced the best cotton and batatas, and included the largest number of nobility or nitaíno, one cannot help but think of what the sources on Xaragua reveal about the nature of Taino cacicazgos or polities.[2] Despite the paucity of our sources, a perusal of Xaragua may reveal greater dynamics and accomplishments of Taino civilization. This brief paper shall explore this through the resources, demography and aspects of leadership or the “caciqual” state as exemplified in Xaragua at the time of Spanish contact.

First, Xaragua's demographics and resources require scrutiny. According to Oviedo, the area around modern-day Lake Azuei included several villages. Indeed, as late as 1515, when he visited the area, it was still full of large villages along its shores. These villages, according to Oviedo, fed on the marine life that lived in the lake, since this was a major source of protein in the Taino diet[3]. In addition, the Taino villages in proximity to sources of water, like rivers and other bodies of water, facilitated the use of ditches for the irrigation of their conucos.[4] The proximity of seafood protein, bodies of water, and irrigation increased the density of population.

This large concentration of people, in turn, meant the caciques of Xaragua were in a more powerful position since they could draw on the tribute of their subjects for resources, labor, trade, and redistribution through areytos and other communal services. This large, densely populated cacicazgo could support a large class of nitaíno, too, perhaps over 100 or 200, if Las Casas is to be trusted.[5] In fact, according to Oviedo, the main village of the rebel cacique, Enrique, could have held 1500 residents in previous times before the decline of the indigenous population. If that figure is reliable for a Taino village near a lake, then Xaragua's population may have included villages with perhaps several thousands of residents living around and near Lake Xaragua (as well as Lago Enriquillo). This sustained the large population of "lords" (in the Spanish parlance of the time), which could be supported through the labor of the rest of the community.

To what extent can colonial-era repartimiento numbers help with reconstructing Xaragua’s demography? Repartimientos y encomiendas en la Isla Española: El repartimiento de Albuquerque de 1514 permits some speculation on what the population of areas associated with the former cacicazgo of Xaragua may have been before 1514. Obviously, there are severe problems and limitations with the data. However, the data as presented by Arranz Márquez gives a total for Yaquimo, La Sabana (more autonomous due to its distance) and La Vera Paz of 3625 enumerated Indians. The last of these towns was originally founded on or near the site of Xaragua’s old “capital” town or pueblo. This site was likely located on the Cul-de-Sac plain outside of what is today Port-au-Prince.[6] One must also remember that some of the indigenous population in this part of Hispaniola may have been relocated to areas closer to mining operations. While the 1517 Hieronymite Interrogatory found forced relocation to be something severely resisted by the Indians, causing them to rebel, flee to the mountains or threaten to commit suicide, some indigenous peoples were probably forcibly relocated during the initial phases of conquest.[7] Of course, the brutal Spanish conquest of Xaragua under Ovando must have similarly lowered the area's population through slaughter, slave trading of captives and fleeing populations. That raises another issue, too, since some of the population may have fled to other islands and inaccessible areas and were not formally enumerated in repartimiento statistics.

That said, looking at population data for 3 areas associated with the former cacicazgo of Xaragua in 1514 might offer suggestions for its population before 1492. Spanish sources indicate that it was considered the most powerful chiefdom on the island before the Spanish conquest. Xaragua would have been able to support a relatively large population through its use of irrigation canals, too. That would have been necessary to support Xaragua's unusually large nitaíno population. Indeed, the very name Xaragua, according to Granberry and Vescelius, means Lake Country. The "Taino" are known to have relied heavily on seafood as well as some of the fauna that would have also lived in the lakes and rivers. Furthermore, according to Oviedo, Xaragua still had large villages in the 1510s. While Oviedo may have exaggerated the population capacity of Taino villages or aldeas in the precolonial period, there was undoubtedly a large concentration of people in the area of Xaragua. The combination of lakes, rivers, access to the sea, irrigation, large cotton production, and larger than average "elite" population make this seem likely.

So, how does one interpret that demographic past with the sad statistics of 1514? If 3625 is a rather rough estimate of what the Indian population of that part of Hispaniola was in c. 1514, then what would the population in precolonial times have been? Surely, it must have been orders of magnitude greater. While the aDNA evidence of precontact remains by David Reich et al suggest a total population of the island in the tens of thousands, one finds it likely that Xaragua could have supported at least two or three times more (probably even more) people before the Spanish conquest. Indeed, using the number of caciques (plus 1 nitaíno) reported in the 1514 Repartimiento, one finds 85 for the region of what once comprised Xaragua (including Yaquimo as well as Salvatierra de la Sabana).[8] According to Las Casas, writing from memory as an elderly man, Xaragua before Spanish rule had 100-200 nitaínos. Supposedly the Spaniards under Ovando's leadership also massacred around 80 or perhaps 84 nitaínos when they massacred indigenous elites there and hung Anacaona.[9] In addition, 60-70 Spaniards married women from among the elite of Xaragua in Vera Paz, according to Las Casas.[10] Yet, in 1514, Vera Paz only had 24 caciques (25 if you count the nitaíno). Yaquimo had 40 caciques while Sabana had 21. If these numbers are added up, you have a total of 86 "caciques (including 1 nitaíno who functioned as a cacique). Due to the unspecified breakdown of Xaragua's caciques and the caciques to their south and southwest, one can only guess that the core of Xaragua may have had 100+ caciques. The lesser caciques may have been counted as nitaíno by Las Casas, though further exploration is required. Moreover, in 1514, there was an average of about 43 people per cacique in the three areas considered here as part of the chiefdom.

In preconquest times, when Xaragua had more caciques and a higher population, each cacique ruling over an aldea or yucayeque probably included a higher average number in his or her community. Francisco Moscoso, in his detailed study of Taino demographics in Puerto Rico, reached some conclusions which may be worth applying to the Haitian case, too.[11] For example, assuming the figure of Las Casas for an average yucayeque being around 2500 (unlikely to be true in all parts of the Greater Antilles), and each cacique ruled over an aldea, Puerto Rico's population may have reached as high as 110,000 (assuming the number of 44 caciques is accurate). If one assumes that each cacique ruled an aldea of around 2500 for Xaragua in precolonial times, then we can easily reach figures of 25,000 for the core of the chiefdom (with a baseline assumption of 100 caciques). For the other two sections, again assuming each cacique had a community of 2500, we would quickly reach numbers that are contradicted by the genetic data for population estimates.

However, applying the lower range of estimates used by Moscoso might bring us closer to the demographic realities of Xaragua. If the paramount chiefs ruled aldeas of 2500 or more but the regional caciques headed communities of 500-1000, Puerto Rico's "Taino" population may have been around 44,000. Applying those same figures to Xaragua's "core" area with 24 "caciques" (23 times 500, plus 2500 for the paramount cacique's community) gives a figure of 14,000. Of course, one must remember that the Spaniards had killed Anacaona and a large segment of Xaragua's nitaíno. Perhaps the center of the chiefdom had a population greater than this. Nonetheless, a figure of 14,000 for the "core" province of Xaragua with about 24 caciques would mean each cacique ruled an average of 583 people. That is probably still too high. Including Yaquimo's 40 caciques, associating each with a community of about 500 people, leads to an estimate of 20,000, which is also likely far too high. Instead, one must apply different formulas to arrive at a possible estimate. If 43 people per cacique in 1514 is any reliable estimate, we may be safer tripling that number in precolonial times to reach more accurate estimates. If, say, there were around 129 people per cacique before the Spanish conquest, then perhaps the total population of Xaragua would have been around 18207, including about 7500 people living in larger settlements associated with the most powerful caciques in Xaragua (Behechio's settlement), Yaquimo, and the area of La Sabana.[12] 

Ultimately, what the population of Xaragua may have been before its fall remains an enigma. We believe the "core" could have possibly supported a large, extensive population. That area, which presumably lost quite a few of its caciques during the violent conquest, may have had several thousands of people living there. The whole chiefdom, extending it to the southeast and southwest (Haiti's Sud) may have had over 18,000 people although that is a very rough estimate. The author is assuming that the average population in an area per cacique in 1514 can be tripled to reach very tentative lower figures. If one went with a less conservative approach that assumed a population of 5 times as many people per cacique in the precolonial era, Xaragua may have had over 20,000 people, which is not unlikely given its reputation wealth.[13] Unfortunately, the lack of a more detailed breakdown or reliable accounts of Xaragua make all this guesswork. It is also possible that the system of repartimientos elevated the number of caciques in some areas (Yaquimo) or lowered it in others, or perhaps some nitaínos became caciques in the Spanish system. 

If, as d'Anghiera claimed, the caciques assigned occupations to his subjects, such as fishing, hunting, and farming, the caciques of Xaragua must have benefited from a tremendous population to extract labor services or tribute from.[14] The nitaínos could have been subordinate “lords” in the ranked social hierarchy. Among their responsibilities would have been the measuring of determining borders between chiefdoms, since land was likely held by the family unit or village. The surplus production of the chiefdom probably facilitated the rise of more specialized behiques and schooling for elites who learned the history of the chiefdom through songs and poems. This, in turn, could have led to more refinement in language and courtly manners, the organization of areytos, and, perhaps, the cacicazgo's ability to attract dependents, alliances through marriage, or trade. This may explain why Las Casas believed Xaragua was the court of the island, as well as the elevated reputation of the Taino language spoken in Xaragua.[15]

Moreover, d'Anghiera alluded to Anacaona's village near the Xaragua capital which served as a storage center for her treasure or wealth, which consisted of finely made wooden stools or duhos, plus everyday bowls, vases and utensils. The finely crafted duhos she gifted to Bartolomé Colón were supposedly produced in La Gonave, allegedly by women specialists.[16] Considering the amount of time and skill that went into producing the finest duhos, often of guayacán and featuring gold incrustations and intricate patterns and animal or human features, Xaragua was therefore capable of producing one of the most highly valued objects in the Taino sociopolitical system. Indeed, Xaragua's fine cotton, later an item of tribute to the Spanish after Behechio agreed to render tribute to the Adelantado, must have been cultivated in relatively large amounts and used to produce naguas, hamacas, and items for everyday use. Some was likely used for trade or gift exchanges with other cacicazgos, on the island and perhaps in Cuba and beyond.[17] If Careibana, for instance, was a port with a large population, perhaps Xaragua sent and received canoes bringing items of trade. This seems rather likely, since the Spanish remembered the Taino as fond of trade or exchange.

Furthermore, Oviedo mentioned a lake which contained fine salt, probably exploited and exchanged by the Taino from its origin in the Bainoa province before 1492.[18] One could see Bainoa's salt, cotton, surplus casabe, and fine duhos as items of trade and gifts for guanín or other imported goods. This, in turn, enhanced the cacicazgo's position since the finest cotton goods were used for chiefly adornment and naguas, just as the more elegant duhos, an item of ritual and spiritual importance attached to the caciques, could have been gifts or objects of exchange between Xaragua and other chiefdoms. Indeed, the rich resources of the cacicazgos that sustained refined elites could also have served the cacicazgo in its relations as other caciques were taught areytos or the aristocratic manner of Xaragua in exchange for allegiance, tribute, or alliance.[19] This is perhaps the best explanation of why Xaragua could have possibly reached over 200 nitaínos.[20]

One perhaps sees a glimpse of this in the lavish pomp, ceremony, areytos, over 40 names of Behechio and feasting for the Adelantado and Ovando when they visited Xaragua's royal capital.[21] If Xaragua was capable of organizing large festive dances, feasts, and entertainment that even included a mock battle (perhaps meant as a message to the Spanish of their military potential?) for the Christians, then they were clearly able to draw from vast resources.[22] Indeed, if wives of caciques, such as at least one of Behechio's, could be buried with their deceased husband, the Taino society was able to sacrifice the lives of adult women, a sign they could afford to lose the labor of women so vital in the production of casabe.[23] Caciques were also buried by being wrapped in cotton bandages, another sign of the extensive resources of the Taino who used cotton for burial purposes, cemís, and clothing. The Taino likewise had sufficient leisure time for the construction of plazas for the batey, which in Xaragua, probably included more than one plaza. Alas, any evidence of bateyes in Xaragua may be lost under Port-au-Prince or the Cul de Sac Plain.

The nitaínos and lesser caciques would have been included in meals, eating from the fine ware of the Xaragua caciques as well as, through marriage, receiving favor or potential connections as kin of the next heir. Indeed, Behechio was said to have had at least 30 wives. These women, presumably all kin of lesser caciques and allies of Behechio, gave him tremendous power and connections around the island. First, in marriage, lords often had to give stones, shells, and guanin to the fathers, according to Las Casas.[24] Behechio undoubtedly had access to great wealth to be able to marry so many women. His wives' relatives may have felt invested in the cacicazgo through kinship ties sealed by marriage, the sharing of Xaragua areytos, and redistribution of the cacique's goods when he or she died (their property was split between relatives and affiliated visitors).

Besides, through the marriage of his sister to Caonabo in Maguana, a powerful cacique who was perhaps from the Bahamas, Behechio ensured Xaragua's influence extended into the eastern part of the island. For example, when the Adelantado first crossed paths with Behechio, it was on the Rio Neyba. According to some, such as Hermann Corvington, Behechio was actually en route to engage the Spaniards in combat. Others, like chronicler d'Anghiera think Behechio was on a military campaign against recalcitrant rebels or perhaps to pacify a province that was once loyal to Caonabo, already defeated by the European invaders. Either way, Behechio's alliance with Maguana had given it some influence to the east. Further, if succession was matrilineal, a child of Caonabo and Anacaona could have become heir or successor to Behechio. This would have made Caonabo, not native to the island, more secure as the Xaragua chiefdom could potentially have been ruled by his progeny.[25] 

Hence, marriage alliances must have played a great role in cementing alliances and increasing the investment of lesser caciques and nitaínos in the success of a matunherí cacique like Behechio. This was perhaps also done in the west, in Haniguayaba and possibly as far as Cuba. In the west, according to Las Casas, the cacique of Haniguayaba acted as independent lord because of his distance from Xaragua. However, there is an implied fealty or at least semblance of subordination to Behecio even as far west as the "boot" of Haiti. Perhaps some of Behechio's 30 wives' families included caciques and nitaínos from these western provinces, who would also have been drawn into Xaragua's cultural orbit through its elegant court, impressive areytos, and food surplus. Indeed, this seems to have been the case in the modern Sud-Est of Haiti, too, where Yaquimo and other regions were likely part of Xaragua's sphere of influence. In fact, aligning with Xaragua may have given lesser caciques and nitaínos the protection they needed from other communities. If, as claimed by Las Casas, Taino chiefdoms often went to war over land, seafood resources and over failed promises to deliver a bride, a powerful cacique like Xaragua could have supported allied vassal caciques. This was likely through military aid, food supplies, gifts of cotton cloth, fine wooden ware or duhos. Perhaps the sharing of religious ideas, paraphernalia and spirits accompanied this process, an instance of a proto-theocratic basis for the cacique’s power as elucidated by Moscoso.[26] 

Clearly, Xaragua's control of its resources, its ability to cultivate dependents, and the highly refined nature of its court made it a paramount chiefdom of the island. The alliance with Caonabo, albeit rather late in the precolonial period, likely led to it becoming the dominant cacicazgo on the island. Shifting alliances aside, Behechio's court represented the zenith of the island's indigenous civilization. And due to the close association between religion and power and religion and culture, one may speculate that some of the myths and traditions recorded by Pané in the other part of the island reflect at least some of Xaragua's myths and traditions. If the areytos and some of the cemís of Xaragua were influential across the island, then surely Pané's brief account offers some insights into the nature of Xaragua, too. After all, d'Anghiera reported that the areytos were part of the preserved traditions at the houses of the caciques, where behiques trained their sons. Due to its wealth, cultural power, and the probably higher number of behiques who may have been partly freed from everyday labor, one suspects that Xaragua influenced other cacicazgos through its spiritual practices and shamans. 

Unfortunately, the finest cacicazgo was defeated with little (overt) resistance. After Caonabo's bold decision to destroy the Europeans left at La Navidad, he was later tricked and defeated. Why wasn't Behechio involved in Caonabo's battles with the Europeans? As the most powerful cacique, one would think he was certainly aware of the Spanish and their misdeeds and exploitation of indigenous people in other cacicazgos. Did he really think they would never come to Xaragua? The Spanish sources suggest Anacaona was responsible for Xaragua's rapprochement with the Spanish, although one must question their narratives.[27] After all, Anacaona's husband had been killed by the invaders and her homeland's autonomy was next on the chopping block. One can be forgiven for being inclined to believe that Anacaona was perhaps plotting something against the Spanish. Either way, Behechio and Anacaona agreed to pay tribute in cotton and casava bread when the Adelantado first visited.[28] Perhaps Anacaona, after seeing the destruction wrought by the Spanish in other parts of the island, hoped for a situation in which the cacicazgo of Xaragua would survive by paying tribute and, over time, revolting once familiarity with European weapons and technology was achieved. Is this why she was so intrigued by the caravel of the Spaniards? Or, perhaps, was fatalism spreading due to the prophecy given by a cemí that clothed strangers would conquer them? Either way, Xaragua's lamentable end was achieved when Ovando massacred perhaps 80 elites and killed Anacaona, destroying the most powerful cacicazgo of Hispaniola.

With this ignominious massacre and deception, Xaragua's capital was replaced by Spanish towns. Yet memories of Xaragua’s impressive pomp and ceremony, beautiful, dancing maidens, as well as its powerful caciques lingered long afterwards. Spanish sources even testify to the continued population density of indigenous villages along the shores of Lake Jaragua in 1515, over ten years after Anacaona was executed by hanging. The region’s lakes, irrigation ditches, reputation for cotton and woodworking, and plentiful food sources made it an attractive region which culminated in the zenith of indigenous Caribbean civilization. Perhaps originating as a Chicoid enclave in the Cul de Sac plain, its ruling lineage gradually established Xaragua as the political and demographic center of Bainoa. The access to resources, control of the labor of the commoners, and the nature of the caciqual proto-state favored conditions in which larger political alliances or coalitions were feasible. If our early sources are reliable, Xaragua appears to have exemplified this at the highest level.

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[1] See Behique Dunama, “Exploring the Meaning of Xaragua” for a speculative look at the significance of this name, https://thedreamvariation.blogspot.com/2024/09/exploring-meaning-of-xaragua.html. The exact meaning of the name is perhaps unclear, although the association with lakes seems very probable.

[2] According to Troy S. Floyd, “The region of Jaragua, consisting of the lowlands along the south shore of Lake Enriquillo and extending into the Cul-de-Sac around today’s Port-au-Prince, was the basis for the highest Taino culture.” See Troy S. Floyd, The Columbus Dynasty in the Caribbean, 1492-1526. Whilst other regions of the island were said to contain fertile land, Xaragua may have been one of if not the most densely settled part of the island.

[3] An English translation of Oviedo’s Historia general y natural de las Indias can be found at The Oviedo Project at Vassar, https://oviedoproject.vassarspaces.net/home/index. See Book VIII: Chapter 3 for references to Lake Jaragua. The lake’s fish, turtles (hicoteas), and other resources would have easily fed the many villages which still bordered the lake in 1515.

[4] Simone Dreyfus, “Notes sur la chefferie Taino d’Aiti,” 236. Michel Aubourg, citing Jacques Roumain, wrote that traces of irrigation ditches were found. See Aubourg, Haïti préhistorique: mémoire sur les cultures précolombiennes, Ciboney et Taino, 58. According to Las Casas, the river Camín was one of the sources for water used with the irrigation ditches. See Apologética historia sumaria, 796. For an idea of how impressed the early European observers were, Sauer wrote, “This was no casual diversion of water but an extensive system of canals considered equal to those built by the Moors in Spain, and known as of ancient construction.” See Carl O. Sauer, The Early Spanish Main, 53. Sauer speculated too far here, proposing a non-Arawakan group constructed the ancient ditches or canals instead of the Taino indigenes of the region. In fact, the construction of these canals could have been a local development in response to lower levels of average rainfall in parts of western Hispaniola. If the group behind Xaragua’s development into a powerful chiefdom were, perhaps, Chicoid settlers in an area already settled by Meillacoid groups, perhaps they began to construct the ditches in order to the make the land available to them more fertile? See Clark Moore, Settlement Patterns in Pre-Columbian Haiti: An Inventory of Archaeological Sites for references to Chicoid ceramic finds in La Gonave, Croix-des-Bouquets, Leogane, and Île à Cabrit. If the nucleus of Xaragua was Chicoid, they may have been pressured to find ways to increase agricultural yields in parts of today’s Haiti with less rainfall. Then, as their communities increased in population and spread their techniques, more of greater Xaragua began to spread the practice. Alternatively, it may have already been practiced in Maguana and Azua before the establishment of Chicoid centers in Xaragua.

[5] Bartolomé de las Casas, Apologética historia sumaria, 2658.

[6] S. Rouzier, Dictionnaire géographique et administratif d'Haïti, Vol. 1, 283. Despite popular accounts linking Leogane to Anacaona, Leogane (La Yaguana) was probably not the political center of Xaragua. Xaragua’s capital was closer to the Cul-de-Sac plain or Port-au-Prince, and not too far from Lake Jaragua (Étang Saumâtre). Intriguingly, Rouzier also reported what must be Haitian popular lore associating Anacaona with a cave at the top of a morne in the Petit-Boucan section of Leogane. According to him, the cave had served as an asylum for Anacaona. See S. Rouzier, Dictionnaire géographique et administratif d'Haïti, Vol. 3, 180-181).

[7] For example, Xaragua caciques were assigned to work on the construction of the Fortaleza in Santo Domingo in 1506 and 1507, after Ovando’s brutal conquest of the chiefdom. See Esteban Mira Caballos, El indio antillano: repartimiento, encomienda y esclavitud (1492-1542), 37. The names listed included Yaguax, Caysedo, Manicautex, and Leonor de Analiana.

[8] Although Las Casas remembered the ruler of Hanyguayaba (in the Sud of today’s Haiti) as acting like a free king due to the great distance from Xaragua, travel by canoe along the coast may have mitigated the effects of distance as an impediment to Xaragua’s influence in this region. See Las Casas, Apologética historia sumaria, 2655. It would seem that, despite the long distance overland, indigenous peoples, expert in sea travel by canoe, would have been able to travel to Guacayarima via boat.

[9] The sources on the exact number are contradictory. Diego Mendez, who was in Xaragua when Ovando began the massacre, reported 84.  See Sauer, The Early Spanish Main, 149. Oviedo, on the other hand, put the number in the 40s. Another source claimed it was 70 caciques as well as others burned alive in a bohio under the orders of Ovando. See P.M.A. Medina, “Cartas de de Pedro de Córdoba y de la Comunidad Dominica, algunas refrendadas por los Franciscanos,” 185.

[10] Las Casas may have exaggerated the numbers of Spanish vecinos married to Indian women in Vera Paz. Alternatively, he may have included common law unions between indigenous women from the elite and white men as part of his total. On the other hand, Vilma Benzo de Ferrer’s Pasajeros a La Española, 1492-1530, 637-645, lists 6 men married to Indian women in Vera Paz. One of these men, Bernardino de Talavera, was married to an indigenous woman named Luisa Ramirez, who may have been from the Xaragua elite. Pedro Romero, another vecino married to an Indian woman, may have been a godfather to a number of caciques in this part of the island (the name Pedro Romero appears more than once in the 1514 Repartimiento for caciques in La Sabana and once in Vera Paz). See Luis Arranz Márquez, Repartimientos y encomiendas en la Isla Española: el repartimiento de Albuquerque de 1514, 574-575.

[11] See Francisco Moscoso, Caciques, aldeas y población taína de Boriquén (Puerto Rico), 1492-1582 for the relevant information. As one may expect, Las Casas is one of the principal sources for deriving estimates of average village size.

[12] Our methods here are perhaps arbitrary, but starting from a lower base in accordance with the lower population estimates from the ancient DNA data. Caciques assigned with larger numbers of Indians in the repartimiento assigned to vecinos in Vera Paz included Pedro Valera Camanimex, Rodrigo Cicutabey, Vega de Huanaurey, Sancho de Miraguana and Pedro Romero. The largest number of Indians was associated with Pedro Romero, 61. Sancho de Miraguana, likely in the area known today as Miragoane, had 56. See Arranz Márquez, Repartimientos y encomiendas en la Isla Española: el repartimiento de Albuquerque de 1514, 574-575.

[13] Émile Nau, who assumed Yaguana was the capital of Xaragua, claimed there were more than 1000 homes. See Émile Nau, Histoire des Caciques d’Haiti, 110. Nau’s unlikely figure would mean that Xaragua’s capital had several thousands of residents.

[14] See Peter Martyr d’Anghiera, De Orbe Novo for relevant passages on the indigenous peoples of Hispaniola. For a more elaborate theory of Taino chiefs controlling the labor of the commoners as tribute, see Francisco Moscoso, “The Development of Tribal Society in the Caribbean.”

[15] Bartolomé de las Casas, Apologética historia sumaria, 2659-2660.

[16] Among the gifts given to the Adelantado by Anacaona were 14 duhos, or stools. See Sauer, The Early Spanish Main, 60.

[17] That Xaragua was able to supply as “tribute” to Columbus in 1495 gold leaf and a gold-covered figure suggest access to some gold sources. Since Xaragua itself did not possess this resource, perhaps it was acquired through gifts and trade with other parts of the Hispaniola and peoples beyond the island. See “Relación del oro é joyas é otras cosas que el Señor Almirante ha rescibido despues que el receptor Sebastian de Olaño partió desta isla para Castilla, desde 10 de Marzo de 95 años” in D. Luis Torres Mendoza (comp.), Colección de documentos inéditos: relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organización de las antiguas posesiones españolas de América y Oceanía, sacados de los archivos del reino, y muy especialmente del de Indias. Competentemente autorizada, Volumen 10 ineditos, 8. Clearly, Behechio was already giving “tribute” or gifts to the Admiral years before the Adelantado visited Xaragua and established relations. Since some of these gifts included items of religious or ritual importance, indigenous leaders may have had a different definition of the “tribute” they agreed to give to the Europeans.

[18] Baino encompassed more of the island than Xaragua. Included within it were Maguana, Marien, Guarico, Azua, and other parts of central and western Hispaniola. Indeed, most of modern Haiti was in Bainoa. Xaragua was perhaps the most powerful chiefly center in this vast region, perhaps covering about 40 leagues or so of territory within Bainoa. See Bernardo Vega, Los cacicazgos de la Hispaniola, 18. For a perhaps unreliable source on the size of Xaragua, see Las Casas, Historia de las Indias Vol. 5.

[19] The sharing of areytos and other aspects of caciquil statecraft and ideology between caciques could be the basis for powerful political alliances. For a case involving Mayobanex and Guarionex, see Behique Dunama, “Revisiting Guarionex and Maguá,” https://thedreamvariation.blogspot.com/2026/08/revisiting-guarionex-and-magua.html.

[20] That Xaragua was indeed perceived as a center for wealth and power can be seen in a letter describing the appeal of this part of the island to Francisco Roldán. In other words, “…aunque en aquellas partes desta isla no hay oro, empero los indios teman aquella por la más principal parte de la isla, donde habia muchos e grandes caciques, mucho de comer, muchas mujeres fermosas, etc. que eran todas cosas que aquellos fuxitivos habian menester…” P.M.A. Medina, “Cartas de de Pedro de Córdoba y de la Comunidad Dominica, algunas refrendadas por los Franciscanos,” 184. In short, Xaragua was perceived by indigenous people of the island as the principal part of the island, with ample resources, many grand caciques and beautiful women. The resources of the island were an additional factor in attracting Roldán’s followers.

[21] According to Peter Martyr d’Anghiera, Behechio’s town or royal residence was only 6 miles from the coast. However, Las Casas wrote that Behechio’s city was 1 league from the laguna, presumably the Étang Saumâtre (or Trou Caiman?). See Las Casas, Apologética historia sumaria, 81. If the map of de Morales is another possible indicator, then Behechio’s capital was likely in the Cul de Sac plain. Additional evidence based on the map of the island from Alonso de Santa Cruz’s Islario even names one of the lakes Xaragua, placing it east of La Yaguana and west of another lake which appears to be the modern Lago Enriquillo.

[22] The meaning of the mock battle, or what Moscoso has called the Juegos Jaraguanos, remains a mystery. If it was intended to intimidate the Europeans, it appears to have been less successful. Nonetheless, it illustrates the types of resources and authority of the cacique class in planning and deciding the course of events for lavish displays of pomp, ceremony, and power.

[23] Of course, the extent to which noble women were involved in overseeing domestic chores or the production of yuca bread is a topic worthy of real scrutiny. Nonetheless, the fact that Behechio was buried with at least 1 of his wives and married to at least 30 points to a wide-ranging network of alliances, kinship ties, and obligations. Since only lords could have a wive buried with them after death, it was a sign of the special status or rank of higher-level caciques. Successfully managing these alliances and relations by marriage with women from other lineages undoubtedly contributed to the stature of Xaragua as a paramount chiefdom on the island.

[24] Las Casas, Apologética historia sumaria, 2681.

[25] As an outsider who became one of the most powerful political leaders on the island, an alliance between Caonabo and Xaragua probably made the two the dominant political actors in Bainoa.

[26] Las Casas, Apologética historia sumaria, 2677-2678.

[27] Some chroniclers wrote about events decades after the fall of Xaragua. Others were incredibly biased, with writers such as Oviedo accusing Anacaona of being unchaste with European men. Whether or not the cacica truly was plotting against Ovando remains a mystery. It is not implausible that Anacaona was exploring her options after the fall of Francisco Roldán. Remnants of his followers as well as the possibility that Xaragua’s indigenous elites sought to gain European weapons (Bastidas may have sold swords, daggers and shields to indigenous people in this part of Hispaniola) would have been reason enough for Ovando to “pacify” or eradicate the last major indigenous political center on the island. Indeed, some 50 Spaniards died in the Xaragua campaign of Ovando, which persisted for about 7 months according to Diego Mendez’s testament. See Troy S. Floyd, The Columbus Dynasty in the Caribbean, 1492-1526, 62, 80. It is unclear if these Spaniards were part of the 300 brought by Ovando to the west of the island or included Spanish already settled in Xaragua.

[28] See Samuel Wilson, Hispaniola: Caribbean Chiefdoms in the Age of Columbus, 128. It seems less rather unlikely for Behechio to have viewed the Spanish as divine beings by this time, but his decision to pay tribute to the Adelantado in cotton and other goods could have been seen locally as a sign of gift exchange with an equal.