- Anacaona
Anacaona, (date of birth unknown - died about 1504,
Hispaniola ), also called the Golden Flower, was aTaíno queen, sister of Behechio and wife of Caonabo, two of the five highestcacique s who possessed the island of Hispaniola when theSpaniard s settled there in 1492. She was celebrated as a composer of ballads and narrative poems, called "areytos".Life
During
Bartolomé Colón 's visit to the cacicazgo of Xaragua in the southwest of Hispaniola (modern dayHaiti ) in late 1496, Anacaona and her brother Behechio appeared as equal negotiators. On that occasion, described byBartolomé de las Casas in "Historia de las Indias", Colón successfully negotiated fortribute consisting of food and cotton for the struggling Spanish settlers under his command. The visit is described as having taken place in a friendly atmosphere. Several months later, Colón arrived with a caravel to collect a part of the tribute. Anacaona and Behechio had sailed briefly aboard the caravel, near today'sPort-au-Prince in theGulf of Gonâve .Anacaona's high status was probably strengthened by elements of
matrilineal descent in the Taíno society, as described byPeter Martyr d'Anghiera . Taíno caciques usually passed inheritance to the eldest children of their sisters. When there were no children of their sisters, they chose amongst those of their brothers, and failing these, they fell back upon their own.Arrest
Anacaona became queen of Xaragua after her brother's death. Her husband Caonabo, suspected of having organised the attack on
La Navidad (northern Haiti), was captured byAlonso de Ojeda and shipped to Spain, dying in a shipwreck during the journey. The Taínos, being ill-treated by the conquerors, revolted, and made a long war against them. During a feast organized by eight regional chieftains to honor the queen of Xaragua, who was friendly to the Spaniards, Spanish GovernorNicolás de Ovando ordered the meeting house set on fire. He arrested Anacaona and her Taíno noblemen, all of whom, being accused of conspiracy, were executed. While others were shot, Anacaona was instead hanged at the age of 29.Legacy
Anacaona is very much revered in
Haiti , with many claiming her to be a significant icon in early Haitian history and consequently a primordial founder of their country. Immortalized in the intertwining histories of both Haiti and the Dominican Republic have resulted in various places in both countries bearing her name. RenownedHaitian American author Edwidge Danticat wrote an award-winning novel in dedication to the befallen queen.References
*
Bartolomé de las Casas :A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies .
*Peter Martyr d'Anghiera : De Orbe Novo.
* Samuel M. Wilson: Hispaniola - Caribbean Chiefdoms in the Age of Columbus. The University of Alabama Press, 1990. ISBN 0817304622.External links
* The Louverture Project: [http://thelouvertureproject.org/index.php?title=Anacaona Anacaona]
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