The Cacique of Yunque

A legend of the mountain peak, Cacique, quoted in full by Fewkes in The Aborigines of Porto Rico and Neighboring Islands, is said to represent Indian retentions in Puerto Rican folklore. Indeed, according to Fewkes, the folklore of the peasantry in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic was a rich area of research into Indian cultural survival in the region. While the jibaros living in the region of Yunque are not described in any ethnographic detail by Fewkes, the legend, first recorded by "Federico Vall y Spinosa" in a San Juan newspaper, may indeed represent a fragment of Indian belief or traditions. 

In the case of this modern legend, the mountain peak called El Cacique is said to have what is considered a cave. Popular legend or tradition claims this area was once inhabited by King Cacique, who ruled the northern coast of the island in the days when spirits wandered the land. Through a deal from the devil, or El Enemigo, he was later trapped in the cave at the peak of El Cacique, with his wife and daughter. This story includes supernatural events such as the flight of the the cacique and the devil to the mountain peak, where the former is trapped by the latter. The moral of this story seems to be a warning to avoid those who seek to distract one from one's path or labor, which the cacique failed to do this one time. However, trapped in the mountain cave, he at least received the company of his wife and daughter. The daughter, a princess, escaped through a hole in the cave and received honey from a man named Juan. Later, when the devil discovered this, he tried to close the aperture but compromised, allowing the princess to, one day per year, talk to a Juan on the feast day of Saint John. 

The above legend clearly features elements drawn from Catholic and perhaps European folklore. The "Indian" element, however, seems significant due to the ritual importance of caves in Taino mythology and legends. This cacique or King Cacique appears to have lived in some distant past when spirits still wandered the earth, or before historic times. However, his daughter was able to interact with a man named Juan, suggesting the legend probably should be considered to describe conditions in the 16th century. The devil, represented by El Enemigo, and the moral of the story, seems to be rather Christian in nature, too. Nonetheless, the fact that the king is considered a cacique trapped in a cave could be representing, through a Christianized peasant understanding, how the devil (perhaps a cemi) had misguided the Indian leader into a sinful path. Consequently, the chief was trapped in the cave and could not escape. His daughter, however, one day per year, gets to speak and this legend might explain why some heard voices (or what they considered voices) speaking from this cave. 

So, while this legend may reflect Indian traditions, it's probably an example of a Christian interpretation of Taino religion. Since we know caves were important in Taino mythology and sometimes the site of rituals, the fact that King Cacique was led by the El Enemigo is probably an example of a Christian interpretation of the cemis as demonic entities corrupting Indian life. Intriguingly, another traveler who visited Cacique in the 1800s also wrote about a "Cueva de los Indios."In 1870, Jose Maria Gutierrez de Alba's Apuntes de Viaje de San Juan de Puerto Rico a la sierra de Luquillo was published. Although not reporting legends of the jibaros in the area, he described a certain cave of the Indians, possibly the El Cacique peak. On page 25, he wrote, 

Habíanme asegurado con toda la buena fé del mundo, que en aquella cueva encontraría restos muy notables de antigüedades indias, que sus paredes conservaban aun gravadas ciertas figuras alegóricas que 'nadie podia descifrar ; que al rededor de la gruta, había asientos tallados en la roca, donde sin duda los habitantes primitivos debían celebrar sus misteriosas asambleas, y por último, que hasta hallaría restos de sepulcros de aquella época remota, que no podrían menos de darme alguna luz sobre una dé las manifestaciones que mas carácter suelen tener, entre los pueblos salvajes.

However, upon investigation of the cave, he found no evidence of Indian artifacts or human presence. However, knowing what we know of caves as important, sacred places in Taino mythology, and that Taino artifacts were discovered by peasants in caves, the legend of the King Cacique and his daughter may have been inspired by similar cave sites elsewhere in Puerto Rico. Sites with evidence of petroglyphs, seats or duhos, sculptures and other finds. Indeed, according to Fewkes, peasants in Puerto Rico associated Indian cave pictographs with gods or spirits, suggesting that peasants viewed the cave site at El Cacique as a similar abode for spirits. Thus, the actual Taino religion, by this time long gone except for elements that merged with European and African traditions, was an influence on peasant folklore in a way that both maintained and demonized aspects of indigenous belief.