Urracá or Ubarragá Maniá Tigrí (d. 1531) was an

Ngäbe The Ngäbe are an indigenous people within the territories of present-day Panama and Costa Rica in Central America. The Ngäbe mostly live within the Ngäbe-Buglé comarca in the Western Panamanian provinces of Veraguas, Chiriquí and Bocas del ...

Amerindian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

chieftain or

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 Spa ...

in the region of present-day Panama who fought effectively against the Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

s. The Spaniards captured Urracá when he met them to discuss a peace treaty, caged him, and sent him to the Caribbean port of Nombre de Dios, intending to send him to Spain. He escaped to his mountain village and died a free man. He is remembered as ''el caudillo amerindio de Veragua'' (the Amerind leader of Veragua) and adversary of the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

, the great resistance leader of Panama. He has been honored by his image on the ''centesimo'', the smallest-denomination coin of

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

History

Shortly after the foundation of

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

in 1519, the Spanish Governor-Captain Pedrarias Dávila began moving into the country, hoping to find a gold-rich village. The Spanish conquered the Veragua province, which is particularly rich in gold mining. Urracá's territory was in the vicinity of the present town of Nata de los Caballeros, founded on 20 May 1520 to serve as a basis for exploration of the rest of

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. Urracá and his forces bravely faced the Spanish expedition for almost nine years, and repeatedly defeated the conquistadors, led by

Gaspar de Espinosa Gaspar de Espinosa y Luna (Medina de Rioseco, Spain, c. 1484 - Cuzco, Peru, 14 February 1537) was a Spanish explorer, conquistador and politician. He participated in the expedition of Pedro Arias Dávila to Darién and was appointed mayor of Sant ...

. When Espinosa was called back to

by Pedrarias Dávila, Francisco de Compañón was commissioned to his post. Urracá attacked the Spanish warriors, but Compañón sent a messenger to report to Panama City to seek aid, and Pedrarias sent a relief battalion led by Hernán Ponce de León. Urracá succeeded in making alliances with tribes that had been traditional enemies, in order to unite to defeat the Spaniards. 18649121 Caciques such as Ponca, Dures, Duraria, Bulaba, Guisia, Guaniaga, Tabor, Guracona, Guaniagos and other great masters of

Veragua {{unreferenced, date=January 2015 Veragua or Veraguas was the name of five Spanish colonial territorial entities in Central America, beginning in the 16th century during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term was based on a Central Amer ...

united under his command. Ponce de León succeeded in breaking the siege of Nata, and he was followed by Pedrarias commanding new forces that reinforced the Spanish at Nata. Bloody clashes continued, without any of the parties achieving complete victory. In a subsequent battle, Urracá's forces managed to defeat Captain Diego de Albitres, who escaped and reported to the governor of

Castilla del Oro Castilla de Oro or del Oro () was the name given by the Spanish settlers at the beginning of the 16th century to the Central American territories from the Gulf of Urabá, near today's Colombian-Panamanian border, to the Belén River. Beyond that ...

Capture of Urracá

Led by Compañón, the Spanish attempted to capture Urracá with a trick. They sent emissaries to his territory to propose peace negotiations in Nata de los Caballeros. Urracá accepted the invitation and attended the site along with two of his men, but Compañón captured him, sending the chief to Nombre de Dios for transport to Spain. Urracá escaped and reunited with his people, maintaining his resistance against the Spanish forces for several years.

Recognition

Opposite the facade of Escuela Normal in the city of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, capital of the province of Veraguas, stands a statue of Urracá with a warrior expression as if willing to attack the Spanish conquistadors. In his honor, the Asociación Nacional de Scouts de Panamá calls Scout Urracá the highest rank awarded to those who have made outstanding community service.

Notes

References

;Attribution *''This article is based on the translation of the corresponding article of the Spanish Wikipedia. A list of contributors can be found there at the'
History
''section.''

External links