Anacaona

Anacaona
Anacaona
Cacica of Xaragua
Reign?–1503
PredecessorBohechío (cacique) [es]
Born1474
Yaguana, Jaragua (present-day Léogâne, Haiti)[1]
Diedc. 1504 (aged c. 30)
Hispaniola
Cause of deathHanging
SpouseCaonabo

Anacaona (1474?–1504), or Golden Flower, was a Taíno cacica, or female cacique (chief), religious expert, poet[citation needed] and composer[citation needed] born in Xaragua.[2] Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Ayiti or Quisqueya to the Taínos (the Spaniards named it La Española, i.e., Hispaniola — now known as the Dominican Republic and Haiti) was divided into five kingdoms, i.e., Xaragua, Maguana, Higüey, Maguá, and Marién. Anacaona was born into a family of caciques. She was the sister of Bohechío, the ruler of Xaragua.[3]

She succeeded Bohechío as cacica after his death.[4]

In 1503, Nicolás Ovando, the governor of the island, visited Xaragua. He suspected an insurrection was brewing among the Taíno chiefs, including Anacaona, presently in the kingdom.[4] Ovando gave the order for the caciques to be captured and burned. Anacaona was hanged.[4][5]

  1. ^ "MUSEO ANACAONA - Taino Museum ~ the History of the Queen Anacaona".
  2. ^ Shriver, Cameron (2017). "Native American Almanac: More Than 5,000 Years of the Cultures and Histories of Indigenous People Yvonne Wakim Dennis, Arlene Hirschfelder, and Shannon Rothenberger Flynnby". Great Plains Quarterly. 37 (3): 242–243. doi:10.1353/gpq.2017.0044. ISSN 2333-5092. S2CID 164720748.
  3. ^ Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American biography. Knight, Franklin W., and Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. Oxford. 2016. ISBN 978-0-19-993580-2. OCLC 952785428.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ a b c Las Casas, Bartolome (1552). A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies.
  5. ^ "Anacaona, la cacica aborigen que desafió a Cristóbal Colón y fue condenada a una trágica muerte". BBC News Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-11-30.