Guacanagarix (alternate
transcriptions: Guacanacaríc, Guacanagarí) was one of five
Taíno cacique
A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a Sp ...
s of the Caribbean island henceforth known as
Hispaniola at the arrival of the Europeans in 1492. This was contemporaneous with the first of the
voyages of Christopher Columbus.
He was the chief of the
cacicazgo
''Cacicazgo'' is a phonetic Spanish transliteration (or a derivative) of the Taíno word for the lands ruled by a ''cacique''. The Spanish colonial system recognized indigenous elites as nobles in Mexico and Peru, and other areas. Nobles could en ...
of
Marién, which occupied the northwest of the island.
Guacanagarix received
Christopher Columbus after the
Santa María was wrecked during his first voyage to the
New World. He allowed Columbus to establish the settlement of
La Navidad
La Navidad ("The Nativity", i.e. Christmas) was a settlement that Christopher Columbus and his men established on the northeast coast of Haiti (near what is now Caracol, Nord-Est Department, Haiti) in 1492 from the remains of the Spanish ship t ...
near his village. The colonists that remained there were killed by a rival tribe before Columbus returned on his second voyage.
Guacanagarix refused to ally himself with other caciques, who were trying to expel the Spaniards from the
Captaincy General of Santo Domingo
The Captaincy General of Santo Domingo ( es, Capitanía General de Santo Domingo ) was the first colony in the New World, established by Spain in 1492 on the island of Hispaniola. The colony, under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Santo ...
, and many times served as an informant and spy for the European settlers.
Guacanagarix complex
In the
Dominican Republic, the term "Guacanagarix complex" has been used to describe a Dominican who is considered more interested in foreign culture than in his own country.
[F.Viala, 2014,The Post-Columbus Syndrome: Identities, Cultural Nationalism, and Commemorations in the Caribbean]
See also
*
Taíno peoples
*
Spanish–Taíno War of San Juan–Borikén
The Spanish and Taíno War of San Juan–Borikén, also known as the Taíno Rebellion of 1511, was the first major conflict to take place in modern-day Puerto Rico after the arrival of the Spaniards on November 19, 1493.
After the death of Agüe ...
*
Colony of Santo Domingo topics
*
Spanish West Indies
*
Chiefdoms of Hispaniola
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 contac ...
References
*See: "El primer virreinato americano" by Roberto Cassá, Raimundo González de Peña, Genaro Rodríguez Morel. Anuario de Estudios Americanos, 63, 2,julio-diciembre, 13-26, Sevilla (España), 2006.
*
Excerpt from ''Typical wedding decoration in Guacanagarix''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guacanagarix
Taíno leaders
15th-century rulers in North America
Haitian people of Taíno descent
Indigenous Caribbean people
History of the Colony of Santo Domingo