#xaragua

[royal-diaries-podcast]

In 1503, the governor of the island Nicolás de Ovando sent word to Anacaona that he was going to Jaragua for a friendly visit. This visit had the pretext of improving the relations between the conquerors and the Indians. Before this visit, Anacaona gathered numerous caciques from the area and offered Ovando and his companions a great reception with dances and parties, the same one he had done years before with Bartholomew Columbus.

Despite the demonstrations of friendship offered to the governor, he believed the chiefs were planning a conspiracy. For that reason, Ovando pretended to reciprocate the honors with which he was received and invited Anacaona and the other caciques to witness a military drill in his honour. They assembled in a large main house of wood and thatched roof, built to house Ovando and his companions. Those on horseback and those on foot began to surround them and when more enthusiastic were the lords, at a agreed signal, all the cavalry with spears and swords attacked violently against them, setting fire to the house and killing many of them. Diego Méndez, one of the protagonists of the fourth voyage of Columbus, lived in Jaragua at that time. He stated in his testament that 84 caciques died.

Anacaona was transferred to Santo Domingo, and three months later she was tried and sentenced to death hanged, punishment that was applied at that time to the accused of conspiracy. Ovando's performance in this act is one of the most inexplicable and cruel acts of his rule. The impact of this punishment quickly reached Queen Isabella I of Castile, who promptly dismissed him from her deathbed upon hearing of his actions.

[royal-diaries-podcast]

We have complied traditional songs and songs composed in honour of Anacaona, her people and their land.

[royal-diaries-podcast]

Anacaona's role in the intertwining histories of Haiti and the Dominican Republic has resulted in the use of her name for various places in both countries. Many in Haiti claim her as a significant icon in early Haitian history and a primordial founder Haiti history.

She is immortalized in music by Haitian folk singers Ansy and Yole Dérose in "Anacaona", as well as by Puerto Rican salsa composer Tite Curet Alonso in his song "Anacaona" and in Irka Mateo's "Anacaona". Cheo Feliciano's first track of his first solo album, "Cheo", is "Anacaona".

At a ceremony which took place On March 5, 2015, President Martelly unveiled the statue of Anacaona at the Place d’armes de Leogane.

[royal-diaries-podcast]

The Taíno played a ceremonial ball game called batey. Opposing teams had 10 to 30 players per team and used a solid rubber ball. Normally, the teams were composed of men, but occasionally women played the game as well. The Classic Taíno played in the village's center plaza or on especially designed rectangular ball courts called batey. Games on the batey are believed to have been used for conflict resolution between communities. The most elaborate ball courts are found at chiefdom boundaries. Often, chiefs made wagers on the possible outcome of a game.

Image: Caguana Ceremonial ball court (batey), outlined with stones

[royal-diaries-podcast]

The chiefdoms of Hispaniola (cacicazgo in Spanish) were the primary political units employed by the Taíno inhabitants of Hispaniola (Taíno: Ayiti, Quisqueya, or Bohio) in the early historical era. At the time of European contact in 1492, the island was divided into five chiefdoms or cacicazgos, each headed by a cacique or paramount chief. Below him were lesser caciques presiding over villages or districts and nitaínos, an elite class in Taíno society.

The cacicazgo of Jaragua spanned the entire south-west of the island of Hispaniola. It was bordered on the north by the cacicazgo of Marién, south by the Caribbean Sea, east by the cacicazgo of Maguana, and west by the Strait of Jamaica. It was ruled by the cacique Bohechio (Beehechio) and was the largest of the cacicazgos. Its center was located in a place called Guava, present-day Léogâne in Haiti. It was divided into 26 nitaínos.

Bohechío was the brother of Anacaona, who was married to the cacique of Maguana; Caonabo. As such, Jaragua and Maguana had a strong alliance and would partner to ward off and attack rival cacicazgos.

The mother goddess of the cacicazgo was Zuimaco.

Image 1: The five cacicazgos (chiefdoms) of Hispaniola at the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival

[jerrylad19]

MY MASTER'S THESIS :)

WELCOME TO MY RESEARCH OF ANACAONA ( THE GOLDEN FLOWER)

[royal-diaries-podcast]

Book used for research: The Caribbean before Columbus by William F. Keegan and Corinne L. Hofman

The Caribbean before Columbus is a new synthesis of the region’s insular history on multiple scales: temporal, spatial, local, regional, environmental, social, and political. It combines the results of the authors’ 55 years of archaeological research with that of their colleagues. For the first time the complete histories of the major islands and island groups are elucidated, and new insights are gained through inter-island comparisons. The concepts of series and ages provide structure, but historical names, such as Taíno and Lucayan, are avoided.

The authors challenge the conventional wisdom concerning island colonization, societal organization, interaction and transculturation, and other basic elements of cultural development and change. The emphasis is on elements that unite the Bahamas, Lesser Antilles, and Greater Antilles as a culture area, and also on their divergent pathways. Colonization is presented as a multifaceted wave-like process. Continuing ties to the surrounding mainland are highlighted. Interactions between residents and new colonists are recognized.

New solutions are offered to the “Huecoid problem,” the “Carib problem,” the “Taíno problem,” and the evolution of social complexity, especially in Puerto Rico. These solutions required a rethinking of social organization and its expression on the landscape.

[royal-diaries-podcast]

The word “barbecue” is a word of Taíno origins. The taínos are Caribbean natives, most of them located in Puerto Rico. In this episode, pit master José Lucca from La Manada Ribs V8 established in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, and the Guatu-Ma-cu A Boriken Taino Council will help us travel back in time to understand how barbecue was made and its impact in the modern barbecue arts.