Guamá (died c. 1532) was a
Taíno
The Taíno were a historic indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the pri ...
rebel chief who led a rebellion against Spanish rule in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
in the 1530s. Legend states that Guamá was first warned about the Spanish
conquistador by
Hatuey
Hatuey (), also Hatüey (; died 2 February 1512) was a Taíno ''Cacique'' (chief) of the Hispaniola province of Guahaba (present-day La Gonave, Haiti). He lived from the late 15th until the early 16th century. One day Chief Hatuey and many of ...
, a Taíno
cacique from the island of Hispaniola.
Biography
After the death of Spanish governor Diego de Velázquez (circa 1460-1524), Guamá led a series of bloody indigenous uprisings against the Spanish that lasted for roughly 10 years. By 1530 Guamá had about fifty warriors and continued to recruit more pacified ''yndios''. The rebellion mainly occurred in the extensive forests of the area of Çagua, near
Baracoa
Baracoa, whose full original name is: ''Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Baracoa'' (“Our Lady of the Assumption of Baracoa”), is a municipality and city in Guantánamo Province near the eastern tip of Cuba. It was visited by Admiral Christop ...
in the easternmost area of Cuba, but also farther south and west in the
Sierra Maestra
The Sierra Maestra is a mountain range that runs westward across the south of the old Oriente Province in southeast Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. The range falls mainly within the Santiago de Cuba and in Granma Provinces. Some view it a ...
.
Archaeologists and forensic pathologists believe that a body found in the Cuban mountains in February 2003 is indeed that of the legendary rebel chief Guamá.
According to the testimony of a captive Indian taken by the Spanish during the rebellion, Guamá was murdered by his brother Oliguama, who buried an axe in his forehead while he slept, in 1532. According to oral tradition Oliguama, also spelled Holguoma, killed Guamá because of a sexual relationship between Guamá and Oliguama's wife.
"El Cacique Guamá," Consejo Unitario de Trabajadores Cubanos
The death of Guamá and the capture and execution of his warrior wife Casiguaya, plus the killing or dispersal of most of the group by a ''cuadrilla'', a war party of Spanish, Indians and Blacks under the orders of Spanish governor Manuel de Rojas, ended major resistance to the Spanish by 1533. Brizuela of Baitiquirí (Zayas, 1914) fought on until about 1540, when he was captured and imprisoned.
See also
* List of Taínos
References
Sources
* Duarte Oropesa, José 1989 ''Historiología Cubana''. Ediciones Universal Miami Vol 1. , All volumes
* Maso, Calixto C. 1998 ''Historia De Cuba''. Ediciones Universal. 3rd Edition Miami
* Rousset, Ricardo V. 1918. ''Historial de Cuba''. Libreria Cervantes, Havana, Vol. 3 pp. 137–153.
* Zayas y Alfonso, Alfredo 1914. ''Lexografía Antillana'' El Siglo XX Press, Havana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guama
Cuban people of Taíno descent
Indigenous Caribbean people
1532 deaths
Cuban rebels
Year of birth unknown
Taíno people
Tribal chiefs of the Caribbean