Exploring Caizcimu, or Higüey Chiefdoms

Eastern part of Hispaniola (including Caizcimu and Higuey) from the 1517 Morales Map.

Higüey, or Caizcimu, the eastern part of Hispaniola, represents another region which hosted a major cacicazgo in the time of Columbus. But when one examines surviving documentary evidence, the theory of a paramount chiefdom in eastern Hispaniola becomes much weaker or ambiguous. Instead, as Alice Sampson has hinted, the peoples of Caizcimu, the face of the island of Haiti or Quisqueya, may have been part of a shifting network of chiefdoms which were not necessarily dominated by a single one for long.[1] This model is perhaps more appropriate for understanding how the societies in eastern Hispaniola were organized before colonialism. Alternatively, the area may have once been under the rule of a paramount cacique. But, at some point early in their conflicts with the Spanish, this paramount chief, Cayacoa, died. Succeeded by a wife, who later converted to Christianity, the area may have reverted to a shifting network of alliances without one single cacique paramount. In order to explore these theories, what follows will be our attempt to trace the history of Higüey (or Caizcimu) over time using documentary sources.

Spanish Colonial-Era Sources

            Naturally, one must begin with the sources from the early colonial encounter, conquest, and the rest of the sixteenth century. Beginning with Columbus, early Spanish sources provide important glimpses of various aspects of indigenous societies on the island. While few answer the types of questions we have today about the origins and political organization of the indigenous peoples of the island, the standard chronicles usually imply a powerful, paramount chiefdom existed in the eastern part of the island. Some sources name it as Higüey, yet others, like Oviedo, center it on Cayacoa, also called Agueibana.[2] The discrepancy on which cacique in the east occupied a dominant position is not clear.

Furthermore, another limitation is that our most detailed sources on the eastern tip of the island are often centered on the two wars to “pacify” the region in the time of Ovando. This means that they rarely provide historical context or background of the region’s political landscape before the wars. Except for emphasizing the leadership of Cotubanamá in these military campaigns, they cannot easily be used to claim Cotubanamá was a paramount cacique of this region. In addition, the later sources associated with the encomienda system in the 1514 Repartimiento name many caciques of the east. Depending on which chronicler one prefers, Higuanamá, Higüey, or Cayacoa each appear on the list with large numbers of indigenous followers assigned to different encomenderos in Santo Domingo, Higüey, or other towns. But from this alone, one cannot easily presume which cacique was once the most powerful before 1492.

Nonetheless, the 16^th century sources do provide some clues. One important chronicler, who never went to the Americas but was well-positioned to read the works and speak with travelers who did cross the Atlantic, was Peter Martyr d’Anghiera. Through him, readers discover that the districts of Caizcimu, the eastern “face” of Hispaniola, included Higüey, Guanama, Reyre, Xagua, Aramana, Arabo, Hazoa (Azua), Macorix, Caicoa, Guiagua, Baguanimabo, and the mountains of Haiti (Haitises). Springs of an exceptional character were in Iguanamá, Caiacoa and Quatiaqua. Further, Caizcimu extended from the eastern point of the island to the Ozama river.[3] This information, derived in part from Andrés de Morales, whose excellent map of the island drew from indigenous toponyms and references, establishes the boundaries of Caizcimu. Within this much larger space, Higüey was just one district or section of the island’s “face.”

Additional cronistas in the 1500s wrote about Higüey. For Oviedo, perhaps one of the more racist and Hispanocentric writers of this period, Cayacoa was the paramount cacique. Ruling from the Santo Domingo area to Hayna River, and to the Yuma, Cayacoa died soon after the Christians warred with him. Succeeded by his wife, Inés de Cayacoa who converted to Christianity, Oviedo unfortunately did not elucidate further.[4] Nevertheless, Oviedo, who came to the island several years after the “pacification” of the east, believed Cayacoa was once the most powerful cacique in the region. With Higüey, his area of influence extended to the mouth of the Yuma, this included Cotubanamá and Higüey under his authority.

On the other hand, the testimony of Las Casas, who arrived in the Indies earlier than Oviedo, contradicts Oviedo’s understanding of the east. In his Historia de las Indias, Las Casas specified that Cotubanamá’s settlement was near La Saona island (although the indigenous pueblos were often located in the montes). He also believed that Higuanamá was the king or cacique of Higüey, although he expressed uncertainty regarding his memory.[5] Moreover, Las Casas provided an overview of the 2 campaigns against Higüey, led by Juan de Esquivel. Despite the first one ending with a guatiao between Esquivel (who later led the conquest of Jamaica) and Cotubanamá, the second one ended with the demise of the latter. Interestingly, the Spanish forces were accompanied by indigenous auxiliaries from Ycayagua in the second campaign. This is yet another instance in which political divisions and conflict between competing chiefdoms in the eastern part of the island were implied. To what extent Ycayagua was opposed to Cotubanamá or Higüey in precolonial times is unsure, but they clearly believed it was in their interests to align with the Spanish against Cotubanamá.[6] Even more intriguing is the long-distance ties to indigenous peoples in Puerto Rico, since they enjoyed constant contact through canoes across the Mona Channel.[7] As the aforementioned name of Agueybaná for Cayacoa makes clear, there may have been alliances with indigenous peoples in Puerto Rico that shaped how different groups within Caizcimu related to each other.

After the cronistas, some Spanish sources in the form of letters or records generated by or affiliated with the encomienda system provide some clues. For instance, one letter by Pedro de Cordoba, perhaps written in 1516, alluded to Higüey. Its importance as a source of casabe for Santo Domingo was highlighted. This correspondence also blamed Salamanca’s dog for the attack on a cacique which triggered one of the wars with Higüey. Likewise, the letters also allude to 1500 indios allegedly killed whilst 17 caciques hung in Higüey.[8] If true, then many caciques of the eastern part of Hispaniola were eliminated or removed in the early 1500s. This makes it even more arduous to attempt any reconstruction of Caizcimu’s political landscape based on the 1514 Repartimiento of Albuquerque. It nonetheless hints at an alliance of at least 17 caciques who joined forces with Cotubanamá against the Spanish in the second war of Higüey. Meanwhile, the 1517 Hieronymite Interrogatory clearly establishes a link between caciques in Higüey and those of Puerto Rico who had revolted against the Spanish in the 1510s. There a cacique named Andrés celebrated the victory of indigenous people in Borinquen whilst plotting to spread a revolt against the Spanish in Hispaniola.[9] This suggests, once again, the relevance of Puerto Rico to Higüey’s indigenous leadership in the past. With exchange, migration, and alliances being relevant factors in the area before 1492.

Map of eastern Hispaniola from 1566, showing Aguiebana near Santo Domingo (Gallica).

As for the 1514 Repartimiento, multiple caciques with names linked to paramount status appear. Some even led hundreds of followers, often split to serve different encomenderos in Santo Domingo, Salvaleón de Higüey and other towns established by the Spanish. In Salvaleón de Higüey itself, Arranz Márquez’s tabulation of the figures points to about 922 indios assigned to encomenderos in the area. The following caciques were listed: Carolina de Agara, Juan Bravo, Catalina del Habacoa, Maria Higüey, and Isabel de Iguanamá. Apart from Catalina del Habacoa, who likely came from the western tip of the island, these others were apparently from Caizcimu (or near it?). Note the appearance of cacicas with Higüey and Iguanamá in their names. Based on the names alone, one may presume some continuity with preconquest chiefly lineages or territorial divisions. Yet the occupation of the office of cacique by two women in Higüey and Iguanamá may be a sign of the role of the Spanish wars in decimating the previous leadership.[10] Either way, these two women oversaw about 85% of the indigenous population enumerated in the repartimiento, a remarkable figure.[11] Besides these two women, other caciques whose names indicate some kind of relationship with major cantons of Caizcimu also led substantial numbers of indigenous people. Take (Gonzalo Fernandez) Cayacoa, whose 405 subjects were allotted to encomenderos in Santo Domingo. Besides Cayacoa, 241 people were affiliated with Diego Leal de Aramana. Moreover, another 284 were associated with Catabano del Higüey and 211 with Agueybaná de la Saona.

Naturally, using demographic data from 1514, many years after the “pacification” and the encomienda system had drastically impacted the indigenous population, can lead to misleading results. In addition, Santo Domingo as the colonial capital with encomenderos sometimes associated with the Spanish king, colonial officials, and the upper echelons of society, undoubtedly drew upon indigenous communities from various parts of the island. One wonders how the dislocation, indigenous flight from colonial centers, and deaths caused by the “pacification” campaigns of Ovando affected the population of Caizcimu, especially those close to Santo Domingo. Despite the problems with this demographic information, it suggests Maria Higüey (and her at least 2 nitaínos) led the largest number of indigenous people in the East, 443. After her, Cayacoa, closer to Santo Domingo, led 405. Catabano del Higüey, a cacica we highly suspect led the remnants of Cotubanamá’s area of  Higüey only led 284.[12] The admittedly problematic demographic evidence points to Maria Higüey, Isabel Iguanamá and Cayacoa as leading larger communities than Catabano. If this pattern was true in precolonial times, and each of these cacicazgos included similarly large numbers of people, one can speculate that Cayacoa, Iguanamá, Higüey, and Catabano were the dominant chiefdoms in the region, perhaps without one achieving permanent superiority.

Considering the limited evidence from documentary sources and the plethora of unanswered questions and contradictions, sources from the 1500s only provide glimpses of Higüey, or Caizcimu’s indigenous sociopolitical organization. That Higüey was perceived as one of the larger kingdoms or confederations of the island, and associated with both Cayacoa and Iguanamá, may be proof of the lack of a singular paramount cacique. Perhaps the region was briefly dominated by Cayacoa to the west, then Iguanamá or Higüey achieved temporary success as most powerful cacicazgos in Caizcimu?

Analyzing Later Histories of Higüey

Moving forward to the 1700s, scholarship on the topic has not progressed much. While archaeology would later become especially important in the 20^th century, in the 1700s and 1800s, most writers usually repeated the earlier accounts by cronistas. Fortunately, ethnohistorians and archaeologists with all the advantages of new methods and perspectives in these respective fields, will raise deeper questions and challenge the narratives. This section shall briefly review writings on Higüey’s indigenous past from the 1700s and 1800s. Then, a swift reading of some of the more important studies of the island’s indigenous past will follow, focusing on modern historians writing in the late 1900s and early 2000s.

First, the 1700s. Here one often comes to Charlevoix, the Jesuit priest whose history of Saint Domingue was quite good for its time. To Charlevoix, Higüey’s population were distinct for using arrows. Like Oviedo, he named the cacique as Cayacoa, who allegedly died soon after the arrival of the Spanish. For Charlevoix, Cotubanamá then succeeded the widow of Cayacoa, Agnez Cayacoa, after her death. The familiar narrative of the 2 wars between Higüey and the Spanish then followed, with Juan de Esquivel and Cotubanamá’s guatiao relationship.[13]

Besides Charlevoix, Luis Joseph Peguero, whose history of the Spanish conquest of Hispaniola was published in the 1760s, stands out. Peguero sometimes deviated from the chronicles of prior centuries, occasionally making mistakes in his analysis. However, like Charlevoix, Peguero also viewed Cayacoa as one of the principal “kings” of the island (Guarionex, Caonabo, Behechio, Cayacoa, and Guacanagari). For him, Cayacoa “dominava toda la tierra oriental.” This encompassed the cabo de Samana to San Rafael, and from Rio Hayna to Rio Yuma. Further deviating from the standard narrative, Peguero wrote that Cayacoa’s court “se llamo Acayagua.”[14] Although Las Casas wrote of the people of Ycayagua collaborating with the Spanish in the campaign against Higüey, there is no hint of Cayacoa’s capital at Acayagua or Ycayagua. To contribute further to the confusion on the part of Peguero, he later wrote that Cotubanamá was killed alongside Cayacoa in the second war of Higüey. Nevertheless, Peguero did emphasize the significance of the montes for the indigenous people of the area: Tenían los indios de Higüey las más poblaciones dentro de las Montañas.”[15]

Next, the 19^th century witnessed the appearance of Haitian writer Émile Nau’s magisterial history of the caciques of the island. Even before Nau, Beaubrun Ardouin, in his Geographie, repeated the common claim of Cayacoa as the ruler of Higüey.[16] Nau, on the other hand, wrote extensively on the indigenous peoples and their conquest by the Spanish. Like Peguero, Nau preferred a sequence in which Cayacoa, then his widow, and finally, Cotubanamá, were the rulers of Higüey. He expanded further by speculating on “Carib” ancestry in Higüey and the allegedly colossal stature of Cotubanamá. Nau also wrote about the use of smoke signals by the Indians of Higüey during their war with the Spanish. In terms of the provinces of Higüey, he broke it down in the following list: Azoa, Maniel, Cayacoa, Bonao, Cayemi, Macao, and the capital was at the town of Higüey.[17] Nau’s focus understandably centers on Higüey’s two wars with the Spanish, but his speculations about “Carib” admixture in this part of Hispaniola may be related to the use of the bow and arrow in this region. It may be a sign of Ciguayo influence or Macorix presence.[18]  But in the main, Nau follows the standard narrative of the early chronicles with an emphasis on Cayacoa as the original “king” of Higüey.

An area of Alonso de Santa Cruz's map of Hispaniola seems to read Cotubane or Cotubano in the area of Higuey. 

In the following century, one can begin to trace the advances in the field of indigenous Caribbean archaeology, history, and linguistics. Unsurprisingly, one of the early major figures in this was Sven Loven, whose Origins of the Tainan Culture represented a major contribution. Nonetheless, he too repeated the Cayacoa narrative, in which Cayacoa and then his wife, Inés, were the rulers of Higüey.[19] Dominican historian Casimiro N. de Moya followed this, except Higuanamá succeeded Cayacoa before Cotubanamá. Moya also claimed that the people of Higüey sold captives to the Caribs and Juan de Esquivel allegedly ordered the hanging of Higuanamá.[20] Later, the Haitian academic, Michel Aubourg, in Haïti préhistorique, emphasized the bellicose nature of the Higüey Indians was due to their fighting with the Caribs. They were ruled by Cayacoa, succeeded by Cotubanamá.[21]

Subsequent authors of the last century, particularly in its second half, contributed greatly to a more nuanced reading of the various cacicazgos of Hispaniola. Anderson-Córdova’s Surviving Spanish Conquest noted the uniqueness of Higüey in the 1514 Repartimiento. Indeed, Salvaleón de Higüey was the only town that had a high average number of Indians per community (172.60 in her reading of the numbers). Although about 28% of Higüey’s remaining indigenous population was expected to provide labor for encomenderos in Santo Domingo, Anderson-Córdova was correct to note the special demographics of this part of the island.[22] Stone’s Captives of Conquest: Slavery in the Early Modern Spanish Caribbean was similarly important for stressing the enslavement of many Higüeyanos in the wars of “pacification.” She also viewed Cotubanamá as a lesser cacique of the region who, despite his lower status, was the first to rise against Ovando’s labor policies. In all, the Spanish may have brought a minimum of 4000 slaves from Higüey in those two wars, suggestive of the scale of enslavement and the dislocation experienced by communities in the early 1500s. Notarial records even indicate that dozens of Taíno slaves were in Sevilla in 1503, many likely the product of the war in Higüey.[23]

Besides these aforementioned authors, several other academics or writers have addressed the issue of Higüey’s precolonial past. Gilbert Valmé, for instance, drew from archaeological and historical literature to approach the topic. According to Valmé, Higüey, the site of El Atajdizo, of 0.47 hectares and built 1000-1300 CE, may have been at least one of the centers of the region. Caizcimu supposedly contained about 11 of what Valmé considers to be simple caciquats. Yet once again, Cayacoa (considered to have been located around Los Llanos) was presumed to have been the greatest caciquat of Caizcimu.[24] In fact, archaeological evidence does support the importance of El Atajadizo and La Aleta as ceremonial centers of the region in the past.[25] Indeed, Samuel M. Wilson has referred to El Atajadizo as a large ceremonial center, meeting the expectations of a possible center of a major cacicazgo.[26]

Last but certainly not least, more recent scholarship has produced some of the most useful works on tentatively determining the confines of Higüey. Bernardo Vega, for example, drew from various maps, the chronicles, and other sources. According to Vega, Higüey, or Higuei, was centered on the zone of the Yuma. Guaygua was located at an affluent of the Soco river. Guanama may have been an area east of La Romana. Cayacoa was in today’s Los Llanos. Aramana, by his reckoning, was to the east of Hato Mayor. Arabo was likely between La Romana and Cumayasa. Vega even proposed an etymology for the name Higuei, linking it to jaguey. This may be true since the region was full of jagueyes or springs.[27] Indeed, Peter Martyr d’Anghiera reported the presence of exceptional springs in Iguanamá, Caiacoa (Cayacoa), and Quatiaqua, perhaps support for Vega’s theory. Vega’s theory also shifts our attention to Caizcimu as a larger region encompassing Higüey and other centers, presumably based on Andrés de Morales.

Besides Vega, Jose Oliver has also investigated Higüey’s history. Whilst also reporting the general narrative of Spanish-indigenous conflicts that triggered two wars, Oliver also raises more interesting questions of the area’s precolonial antiquity. Thus, the shared material culture in cemis, stone collars, and other artifacts suggest potent ties between caciques of Puerto Rico and eastern Hispaniola, stretching back to 600 CE. Oliver contextualizes this within a larger period of 450-800 years of sustained relationships connecting Higüey to Puerto Rico.[28] Consequently, Higüey’s cultural similarities with Puerto Rico’s indigenous groups point to some inter-island or broader Caribbean exchange and relations. Moreover, one could suggest these ties may have been a factor in the appearance of common names like Agueybaná on both islands. If Cayacoa, or Agueybaná and Agueybaná in Saona were bound by kinship with what may have been the leading chiefdom in Puerto Rico, the story of Caizcimu’s competing polities or perhaps peer polities may have been related to the international dimensions of its relations.

Conclusion

Upon consideration of many of the available sources on Higüey from the 1500s to the present, its status as a paramount chiefdom remains in doubt. From sources in the 1500s, one hears of either Higuanamá or Cayacoa as the dominant cacique. While this contradiction may have been related to the different wars between the Spanish and indigenous peoples in eastern Hispaniola leading to the capture or execution of some caciques, Higüey is remarkable for the persistence of indigenous cacique names or toponyms tied to the precolonial past. Led by women, Maria Higüey and Isabel de Iguanamá, Higüey was unique for one of the only regions of the island where two women still led substantial communities comprising most of the indigenous people assigned to encomenderos in a town. Since one cannot use demographic data from 1514 to fully reconstruct what the situation was like in 1492, the data tentatively supports the existence of at least a handful of substantial chiefdoms in the “face” of Hispaniola. Later data often inherited the same confusion or contradictions in the early colonial sources, but often emphasizing Cayacoa, Cotubanamá, or Iguanamá as the paramount leaders of Higüey. This conflicting data best fits the model proposed by Alice Samson. Essentially, Higüey was not a singular or unified chiefdom but more of a network of intricately connected chiefdoms. Occasionally, one may have achieved dominance, but the available sources do not allow for a clear identification. Unlike, say, Xaragua, where sources concur with Behechio and, after him, Anacaona, as paramount chiefs, Higüey may have lacked a singular leader or matunheri chief.

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[1] Alice Sampson, Renewing the House: Trajectories of social life in the yucayeque (community) of El Cabo, Higüey, Dominican Republic, AD 800 to 1504, 95.

[2] The appearance of the name Agueybaná in Cayacoa (near the site of Santo Domingo), Saona, and Puerto Rico is hardly a coincidence. Given the longstanding ties between eastern Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, and the fact that at least one cacique in Higüey claimed to be related to caciques in the neighboring island, one can assume the name was part of the system of guatiao fictive and biological kinship relations.

[3] Peter Martyr d’Anghiera, Francis Augustus MacNutt (trans.), De orbe novo, the eight Decades of Peter Martyr d'Anghera, 366-367, 379.

[4] Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, Historia general y natural de las Indias, Primera Parte (1851), 65.

[5] In his Apologética historia sumaria, 244. Las Casas wrote of Higuanamá as an old woman who ruled Higüey in his time (presumably referring to when Las Casas participated in the second Higüey War of 1504-1505?). Cayacoa or Agueibana was to the west of Higüey, but he clearly viewed Higüey, under Higuanamá, as the paramount cacique of this region. The reference to an old woman named Higuanamá raises questions. Was she the widow of Cayacoa? And what does one make of Macao, supposedly a large pueblo of the Indians in the region (Apologetica historia sumaria, 116)? One is inclined to view large settlements or villages as more likely capitals of paramount chiefs.

[6] Bartolomé de las Casas, Historia de las Indias Vol. 3, 41-42, 46-47, 85.

[7] Ibid., 235. For a speculative theory which traces the origin of the three-pointer cemi in Puerto Rico to eastern Hispaniola, see Marcio Veloz Maggiolo, Arqueología prehistórica de Santo Domingo, 251. There the author offers a fascinating theory for cultural influences from Hispaniola to Puerto Rico, which undoubtedly made Higüey an important part of this relationship.

[8] Medina, P. M. A. “CARTAS de Pedro de Córdoba y de La Comunidad Dominica, Algunas Refrendadas Por Los Franciscanos.” Guaraguao 21, no. 54 (2017): 182-183, 206.

[9] “Interrogatorio jeronimiano, 1517” in Emilio Rodriguez Demorizi, Los domínicos y las encomiendas de indios de la Isla Española, 346-347.

[10] Women leaders, or cacicas, were not necessarily a result of Spanish conquest and wars. However, the predominance of women cacicas, Catabano del Higüey, Higüey, Iguanamá and Aramana, may be partly a consequence of the brutal Spanish wars killing off or enslaving males.

[11] See Luiz Arranz Márquez, Repartimientos y encomiendas en la Isla Española: el repartimiento de Albuquerque de 1514, 560-564 for numbers of indigenous people associated with caciques assigned to encomenderos in Higüey and Santo Domingo.

[12] The map of Alonso de Santa Cruz in Islario general de todas las islas del mundo depicts a region called Cotubano or Cotubane across the sea from Saona. We highly suspect this part of Higüey was ruled by Cotubanamá given his proximity to Saona.

[13] Charlevoix, Histoire de l'Isle espagnole ou de S. Domingue. Tome 1 (1730), 63, 222.

[14] Luis Joseph Peguero, Historia de la Conquista, de la Isla Española de Santo Domingo trasumptada el año de 1762: traducida de la Historia general de las Indias escrita por Antonio de Herrera coronista mayor de Su Magestad, y de las Indias, y de Castilla, y de otros autores que han escrito sobre el particular, Volume 1, 79, 110.

[15] Ibid., 147, 149.

[16] Beaubrun Ardouin, Géographie de l'ile d'Haïti: précédée du précis et de la date des événemens les plus remarquables de son histoire, 3. Haitian historian Thomas Madiou had little to say on this, although he did note that Higüey and Seybe contained a population of mixed Spanish-Indian ancestry. See Histoire d’Haiti, 1492-1807, 452.

[17] Émile Nau, Histoire des caciques d'Haïti (1894), 51, 62, 235, 242, 248, 318.

[18] The use of the bow and arrow by indigenous people in Samana was noted by Columbus in the 1490s.

[19] Sven Loven, Origins of the Tainan Culture, West Indies, 504, 526.

[20] Casimiro N. de Moya, Bosquejo histórico del descubrimiento y conquista de la isla de Santo Domingo y narración de los principales sucesos ocurridos en la parte española de ella desde la sumisión de su último cacique hasta nuestros días. Epoca de la conquista y gobierno de los españoles hasta la sumisión de los últimos indios. Libro primero, 30, 114. This notion of the Higüey Indians selling captives to the Caribs is interesting but appears nowhere else (to our knowledge) in the sources.

[21] Michel Aubourg, Haïti préhistorique: mémoire sur les cultures précolombiennes, Ciboney et Taino, 48.

[22] Karen F. Anderson-Córdova, Surviving Spanish Conquest: Indian Fight, Flight, and Cultural Transformation in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, 100-101.

[23] Erin Woodruff Stone, Captives of Conquest: Slavery in the Early Modern Spanish Caribbean, 44-45.

[24] Gilbert Valmé, Atabey, Yucayequey, Caney: 6000 ans d'amenagement territorial prehispanique sur l'ile d'Ayiti / Haiti/ Republique Dominicaine, 180, 200, 214-215.

[25] Kathleen Deagan, En Bas Saline: A Taíno Town before and after Columbus, 40.

[26] Samuel M. Wilson, Hispaniola: Caribbean Chiefdoms in the Age of Columbus, 21. In terms of Higüey’s leadership, Wilson also repeats the narrative of Higuanamá as the major cacique, based on Las Casas.

[27] Bernardo Vega, Los cacicazgos de la Hispaniola, 23-24, 77.

[28] Jose Oliver, Caciques and Cemi Idols: The Web Spun by Taino Rulers Between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, 203-204.

Cacique Enrique's 1534 Letter

 

Whilst perusing PARES again, we came across the 1534 letter by Cacique Enrique online. Entitled Carta del [cacique] Enrique, indio, informando sobre la agrupación en pueblos de los indios y cimarrones de la provincia de Tierra Firme por parte del gobernador Francisco de Barrionuevo. It has been translated by Lynne A. Guitar in Cultural Genesis: Relationships among Indians, Africans, and Spaniards in Rural Hispaniola. To Guitar, it was essentially a letter of capitulation by Enrique and perhaps the only known document authored by a "Taino" person. Since the letter expresses Enrique's recognition of the imperial majesty of the Spanish king and its author promises peace and calm on the island, Guitar's description of it is apt. Whether or not Cacique Enrique actually wrote this is another question. As a literate person, however, he could have dictated it and read it to ensure it expressed his perspective. As such, it is one of the few written sources by an indigenous "Taino"from their perspective. It's unfortunate that more documents have not been uncovered yet. With the education that some caciques received (both in the Caribbean and Spain), one would think more documents might exist in Sevilla or other archives...

Caonabo Tribute

Another beautiful music tribute to our caciques. This one, by Yoyito Cabrera, features some amazing percussion and a catchy chorus. 

Xaragua Cacicazgo

Samuel M. Wilson's map of the area of Xaragua in Hispaniola: Caribbean Chiefdoms in the Age of Columbus. 

The history of Xaragua, perhaps meaning Country of the Lakes, remains elusive. Despite its recognition by authorities such as Las Casas as the zenith of the Taino chiefdoms on Hispaniola, and perhaps in the entire Caribbean, we know little about it besides what the Spanish chronicles have described. Indeed, with the exception of Behechio and Anacaona, we know nothing about its previous rulers. Furthermore, archaeological research in Haiti has been less rich than other parts of the Greater Antilles, so who knows what may be buried 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, perhaps uniquely practiced irrigation, produced the best cotton and batatas, and included the largest number of nobility or nitaino, one cannot help but think of what the sources on Xaragua reveal about the nature of Taino cacicazgos or polities. Despite the paucity of our sourcs, a perusal of Xaragua may reveal greater dynamics and accomplishments of Taino civilization.

First, Xaragua's demographics and resources. 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. 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. In addition, the Taino villages in proximity to sources of water, like Lake Azuei and other bodies of water, facilitated the use of ditches for the irrigation of their conucos. The proximity of seafood protein, bodies of water, and irrigation increased the density of population. This, 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, trade, and redistribution through areytos and other communal services. This large, densely populated cacicazgo could support a large class of nitaino, too, perhaps over 100 or 200, if Las Casas is to be trusted. 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. 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, a sign of relative wealth and abundance with sufficient resources. 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. The nitainos could have been subordinates who also measured property of estates or cacicazos, 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, must 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. 

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 pottery. The finely crafted duhos she gifted to Bartolome Colon were supposedly produced in La Gonave, by women specialists. Considering the amount of time and skill that went into producing the finest duhos, often of guayacan and featuring gold incrustations and intricate patterns and animal or human features, Xaragua was capable of producing one of the most highly valued objects in the Taino sociopolitical system, duhos. 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, items for everyday use, and for trade with other cacicazgos, on the island and perhaps in Cuba and beyond. 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. One could see Xaragua's salt, cotton, surplus casabe, and fine duhos as items of trade and gifts for guanin 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 particular 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 a refined elite 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. This is the only way Xaragua could have possibly reached over 200 nitainos. One, perhaps, sees a glimpse of this in the lavish pomp, ceremony, areytos and feasting for the Adelantado and Ovando when they visited Xaragua's royal capital. 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 Guamiquina of the Christians, then they were clearly able to draw from vast resources. 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 women, a sign they could afford to lose the labor of women so vital in the production of casabe. 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, cemis, and clothing. The Taino likewise had sufficient leisure time for the construction of plazas for the batey, which in Xaragua, could have likely included more than one plaza. Alas, any evidence of batyes in Xaragua may be lost under Port-au-Prince or Leogane.

The nitainos 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. 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 killed by the Spanish conquerors. 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 a 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. 

Hence, marriage alliances must have played a great role in cementing alliances and increasing the investment of lesser caciques and nitainos in the success of a matunheri 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 nitainos from these western provinces, who would also have been drawn into Xaragua's cultural orbit through its elegant court, lavish 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 part of Xaragua's sphere of influence. In fact, aligning with Xaragua may have given lesser caciques and nitainos 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 dependents. 

Clearly, Xaragua's control of its resources, its ability to cultivate dependents, and the highly refined nature of its court must have 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 must have 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 Fray Ramon 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 cemis 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 behiques. 

Unfortunately, the finest cacicazgo was defeated with little (overt) resistance. After Caonabo's heroic decision to destroy the Europeans left at La Navidad, he was later trapped 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. After all, Anacaona's husband had been killed by the invaders and her homeland's autonomy was next on the chopping block. We are inclined to believe that Anacaona was perhaps plotting something against the Spanish, although it seems unlikely that Roldan and his band of robbers would have been the allies to use against the official colonial government. Either way, Behechio and Anacaona agreed to pay tribute in cotton and casava bread. This happened even as Behechio and Anacaona could have likely murdered the entirety of the Spanish company of the Adelantado. 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 a fatalism spreading due to the prophecy given by a cemis 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 in which, as recalled by Las Casas, at Vera Paz, 60 or 70 European males were said to be married to women from the elite.

Works Consulted

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