A part of northeastern Hispaniola in Alonzo de Santa Cruz's Islario general.
What was Maguá? Often described in the early Spanish sources and later works drawing from those texts as one of the 5 major “kingdoms” or polities on the island, it was ruled by a cacique named Guarionex. To some extent, much is known about Guarionex through his initial alliance and later conflicts with the Spanish. Through the short account of Ramón Pané, even more is known about some of the central beliefs of the “Taíno” in that part of the island. Indeed, Guarionex initially supported the evangelization efforts of Pané. Through Las Casas and other sources, it is also clear that Guaricano, the town or settlement of Guarionex, was located near the initial site of Concepción de la Vega. Guarionex, who allegedly succeeded his father as cacique of Maguá, was also said to have controlled the plain of La Vega and ruled about 70 leagues of the interior or middle part of the island. Since this region included the Cibao and parts of the gold-producing centers so vital to Spanish interests, the region’s population was incorporated into the exploitative tribute system and expected to provide gold for the Europeans.
Yet Maguá and Guarionex remain an enigma for those interested in uncovering more about this part of the island’s indigenous geopolitical features before 1492. To what extent was Guarionex truly a paramount chief? Were his domains, however loosely held together, the better portion of Cayabo based on the Morales map of the island? Was succession in Maguá actually patrilineal? And what happened to the sister of Guarionex married to Diego Colón, the Indian interpreter from the Lucayan islands? To what extent can the c. 1514 repartimiento records illuminate aspects of Maguá’s history prior to 1492? This brief article will suggest that Guarionex’s chiefdom was perhaps better understood as a confederacy of aligned vassal chiefs participating in a partly ritualized network. This will become evident through a cursory examination of the various chronicles and relevant archival documents pertaining to the early colonial period. Though tentative, it shall be seen that Wilson’s view of Guarionex as a “first among equals” within his greater cacicazgo is the most appropriate model.
Let us begin with the nature of Maguá as the center of a paramount chief in the colonial sources. The earliest written attestation of Guarionex derives from Columbus’s journal of the first voyage in 1492. Mistakenly believing the locals referred to Guarionex as a separate island where gold could be found, he believed Guarionex was an island to the east.[1] This established quite early for Columbus that the territory of Guarionex must be explored and exploited. When Columbus next wrote of Guarionex, he knew better. According to his October 14, 1495 letter, “Guarionex, el cual (es) uno de los tres caçiques mayores de la isla porque él me avía enbiado muchas vezes presentes e a dezir que le plazía de fazer todo lo que yo horderase, y era enemigo d’este Cahonaboa y (a) esto también, porque no se conformase (ny) con otros caçiques para (ir) contra nosotros.” By the end of the letter, Columbus also referred to Guarionex’s sister marrying the Indian interpreter, Diego Colón.[2] Clearly, by 1495, Columbus understood that Guarionex was the name of a powerful cacique who was also interested in an alliance with the Spanish. Moreover, by stressing his enmity toward Caonabó and his marriage alliance with the interpreter of Columbus, a man who would have been central in all negotiations between Columbus and the cacique, Columbus saw in him a powerful and essential ally.
As one can expect, sending Pané to Guarionex’s region was therefore a critical strategic move on the part of Columbus. By endeavoring to evangelize his region and have missionaries learn the universal language of the island, Taíno, instead of the Macorix tongue, the Spanish could begin to increase their influence. To what extent Guarionex was one of the most powerful caciques of the island is still an unanswered question, but control of gold-producing areas and his influence on other caciques may have convinced the Admiral and Adelantado that they had to work through him. Moreover, through Pané’s short account of Indian “antiquities” and their notions of religion or spirituality, one has a glimpse of the role of the cacique and cemís in establishing the chief’s authority. For instance, Pané’s account includes references to what seems to have been the father of Guarionex (“Guarionel”), specifically linking him to the cemí known as Baraguabel. Moreover, Guarionex’s father allegedly told the prophecy from Yucahuguama in which clothed strangers were predicted to come to seize the land.[3] Undoubtedly, caciqual authority was tied to the veneration and communion with cemí figures. Moreover, the prophecy in which Guarionex’s father was involved highlights one of the roles of the cacique as an intermediary between his subjects and powerful cemís. Of course, if the prophecy was already discussed in 1494 when Pané was endeavoring to spread the gospel in Guarionex’s territory, then some of the locals harbored negative views of the Christians. Yet when a coalition of caciques attacked the Spanish in 1495, Guarionex did not join. Indeed, even after abandoning Christian prayer and becoming hostile to them, he did not directly join the coalition. Intriguingly, Pané also referenced Guarionex’s mother, referring to her as “the worst woman I have known in these parts” without explanation.[4]
In addition to Pané and Columbus, an allusion to Guarionex from 1495 may be found in a report on the tribute received in gold and jewels by the Admiral. The list of tribute included gold brought in La Concepción and Santo Tomás by some caciques.[5] Since La Concepción was built near Guarionex’s settlement and he was expected to provide a large amount of gold in tribute to the Christians, one can surmise that Guarionex was part of this group of caciques who presented gold. As the cacique with a degree of influence over several other caciques, this presumably meant naborías or commoners were expected to pan for gold in streams and provide it to the caciques to pass on to the Spanish. Due to insatiable Spanish demand and the unfamiliarity of the Taíno with gold mining on a scale Europeans would have liked, one can imagine these tribute demands were perceived as onerous by subjects of Guarionex and his vassal chiefs. Consequently, he attempted to change the tribute to one of agricultural products, to no avail. Nonetheless, it illustrates one way caciques exerted their authority over their subjects: labor tribute for gold, yucca or other products.
Besides these early allusions to Guarionex by Columbus and Pané, other sources on him were composed later and relied heavily on oral reports or the writings of Columbus and others. Thus, Peter Martyr d’Anghiera, in De Orbe Novo, referred to a “Guarionexius” valley beyond the Cibao, falling under the remit of caciques called Guarionexius through patrilineal succession. This valley was allegedly 190 miles long east to west, and 30 to 50 miles broad at its widest. Beginning at Canabocoa, it crossed Huhabo and Cahibo, ending in Bainoa at the district of Mariena.[6] Supposedly, Cibao, Cahonao, and Cazabucana bordered it. If one can make sense of this description, the name Guarionex may have been a title used for the ruler of this valley, which may have been a hereditary position. If it ended at Mariena, or Marien, Guacanagarí was in Guarionex’s sphere of influence or very close to it. Cacacubana was said to have been at least partly inhabited by Macoris speakers. If Guarionex’s domains really did border upon those of Guacanagarí of Marien, one can see why the latter may have been so interested in forging an alliance with Columbus.
Las Casas and Oviedo are also very important later chronicle authors who touch upon Guarionex’s chiefdom. Oviedo, who did not arrive on the island until over a decade after Guarionex’s death, relied on the testimony of earlier settlers and perhaps written sources. According to Oviedo, Guarionex ruled all the plain and more than 70 leagues of land in the middle of the island. Furthermore, Guarionex and 14 (other sources claim 15) other caciques battled the Spanish near the site where Bonao was built. Although they were defeated, Oviedo believed that Guarionex only made peace after his wife was seized by the Spanish. He also claimed Mayobanex was a captain general of Guarionex, perhaps illustrating Oviedo’s reliance on oral sources that conflated different moments of Guarionex’s career.[7]
Las Casas, on the other hand, provided a more detailed account and benefitted from his earlier arrival on the island. For example, he is one of the few chroniclers to name Guarionex’s settlement (Guaricano). He also identified one of the vassals of Guarionex who was “lord” of the Cibao, said to have mustered 16,000 men for war when called upon by Guarionex.[8] This could be an allusion to the alleged 15,000 Indians raised by Guarionex and Indian allies against Bartolomé Colón.[9] If so, then the Cibao cacique was probably not capable of solely raising 16,000 men. It nonetheless speaks to the great resources in people of this part of the island. Indeed, later sources estimate that the Cibao may have had a population of 90,000 inhabitants in c. 1492.[10] With access to such an ample supply of labor, Guarionex could easily appear to the Christians as one of the most powerful caciques on the island.
Besides the chronicles, a few additional insights into the nature of Maguá and its nearby regions may be found from the 16th century. The 1514 Repartimiento records demonstrate that La Concepción de la Vega’s vecinos continued to enjoy the fruits of the labor of a large part of Hispaniola’s remaining indigenous population. Several caciques whose communities were assigned to encomenderos in La Concepción included names such as Almirantico, Ayraguay, Lucas de Cotuy, Guacoquex, Macote, Manicaotex and others. Among these caciques was Diego Colón, the translator of Columbus who had learned the Spanish language and traveled to Europe.[11] Diego Colón’s group only included 15 Indians assigned to Pero Lope de Mesa, yet one cannot help but wonder if Diego Colón’s claims here were reinforced by his marriage to Guarionex’s sister. Despite Guarionex’s death in 1502, and his earlier flight to the lands of Mayobanex which may have ended any influence of his family in Maguá, perhaps Guarionex’s sister was still alive. Lingering claims to authority or status among the indigenous peoples near La Concepción may have been associated with her as the sister of the last cacique. Regardless, by 1517, Diego Colón was considered a failure in terms of leading an indigenous group freely, despite his education.[12] Further, the distribution of the indigenous population assigned to encomenderos here may have been significantly reshaped by 1514, particularly by population losses, displacement, and the demands of the encomienda system.
Subsequent sources during the colonial era add little. The biographer of Columbus, Fernando Colón, attributed Guarionex’s joining of a plot against the Spanish to a Christian seducing or assaulting his wife.[13] If true, this shows how much it took for Guarionex to finally sever his initial alliance with the Spanish. Moving into the 1700s, Luis Joseph Peguero merely described a large plaza near the “palace” of Guarionex in his settlement. Supposedly the population reached 10,000 houses, but one must interpret these figures carefully given the exaggerated numbers in the chronicles upon which Peguero based his work.[14] Émile Nau, the 19th century Haitian historian, mistook the relative of Guarionex married to Diego Colón for the cacique’s daughter. But little else is reported besides the fanciful theory of Nau that the Ciguayos were relatives of the Caribs based on their bellicose nature.[15] Little is reported here that can be used to ascertain the nature of the Maguá cacicazgo’s political organization.
Fortunately, the picture improves with more recent scholarship on the indigenous peoples of the island. Sven Loven emphasized the densely populated nature of Maguá, suggesting it surpassed all other parts of the island.[16] Ricardo Alegría, in his MA thesis, endeavored to define the borders of Maguá, which may have encompassed lands from the Cape of San Rafael to Macorix on the north coast, including the central, lower and best parts of the Cibao valley. In addition, Guarionex supposedly had 21 nitaínos serving under him, with villages at Batey, Sabanacoa, Corojay, Cotuy, Cabao, Ciguayo, Tuna, Guayhamaca, Goacoa, Janique, Marien, Maymon, Majagua, Macorix de Arriba, Majonix, Maguey, Manicu, Samana, Yaguax, and Yaguahayucu.[17] Alegría likely overextended the domains of Maguá’s cacique, although the chronicles suggest at least 14 or 15 caciques were aligned with Guarionex in some fashion.
In the second half of the 20th century, newer studies raised novel questions or approaches to interrogate the chronicles on the nature of Taíno sociopolitical organization and the geopolitical configuration of Hispaniola in 1492. Scholars such as Bernardo Vega sought to analyze the map of Morales, the chronicles, and other sources to address the borders of the cacicazgos and how indigenous peoples divided the island. Based on the map of Morales, we know that the Caihabo section included Maguá, Cocacubana, Cubana, Dahaboon, Cybaho, Manabaho, Cotoy and Baiohaigua. Guarionex’s territory, based on Martyr d’Anghiera, may have stretched from Moca to Fort Liberté and definitely included the area where the Spanish built Concepción de la Vega.[18] Vega has also suggested that the Ciguayos occupied the area from Cubao to Macao, from La Vega to Higüey. Maguá itself may have meant valley in the Taíno language. Ultimately, the value of Vega’s intervention here is to question the simple 5 paramount chiefdom model for the island.
On the other hand, some scholars accept the other divisions of the island from the Morales map and Martyr d’Anghiera whilst retaining the paramount chieftaincies model. Gilbert Valmé wrote of the grand village of Guarionex on the Rio Verde as having a population of more than 5,000 people. Maguá, perhaps encompassing the valleys of the Yuna and Camu rivers, was the complex cacicazgo dominating a much larger region. Indeed, Valmé even claims the batey of Guarionex’s village was 15,972 square meters.[19] With its large population and access to river systems and exchange with the coast, Maguá would have been the center of a densely packed region. The spiritual cemí powers and connections of Maguá’s chieftains may have also played a role in their influence on other caciques in the Cibao and nearby locations. For instance, the belief in the cave site of Cacibajagua as an origin for humans on the island could have encompassed ritual pilgrimages and larger networks of kinship that connected Maguá’s rulers with other caciques. In fact, Oliver has suggested the gifting of an areito by Guarionex to the non-Taíno Mayobanex may have been so powerful because it tied that cacique to the cemífied ancestors of Guarionex and Maguá’s leadership.[20]
Undoubtedly, the most sophisticated analysis of Guarionex and the Maguá chiefdom can be found in Wilson’s important study of the chiefdoms of the island. For Wilson, the existence of several large villages by the Rio Verde attests to the region’s large population on the eve of European contact. But in the eastern Vega Real, higher levels of rainfall would explain the greater density of population.[21] This would have made Guarionex especially powerful if successful in leading the complex chiefdom’s network of vassal chiefs, as their laborers could be expected through tribute to supply many resources. However, in some respects Guarionex’s position was more of a primus inter pares among the region’s chiefs. He had to use persuasion, kinship, gifts, or displays to ensure other caciques obeyed.[22] Thus, the nature of Guarionex’s authority was hardly despotic and required skillful and dynamic leadership to meet new challenges and maintain the allegiance of the various vassals. This can be seen in his involvement in the 1497 attack against the Christians, which Guarionex may have only joined after the attack on his wife. Certainly, in 1495, Guarionex preferred to maintain peaceful relations with Columbus while some of his subjects desired to use violence. Later, by the time Guarionex fled to the land of Mayobanex, he may have already lost the fragile coalition he once dominated in 1492.
Unable to meet the challenge posed by onerous gold tributes to the Christians or maintain peace, Guarionex fled his lands and later died after years of imprisonment. The story of his capture recalls the ignominious fall of the Haitian, Charlemagne Péralte, during the US Occupation.[23] Nonetheless, Guarionex’s case and the Maguá cacicazgo appear to have been a confederacy exerting great influence over much of the northeastern and parts of central Hispaniola. Control of or influence over regions which held much mythological or symbolic importance, as well as the cemí spirits tied to his lineage and their oracular powers, likely increased Maguá’s power over large swathes of Cayabo. Nonetheless, the nature of this power or authority was likely not very centralized and may have required persuasion, kinship links, ritual feasting displays, gifts, and astute political leadership to maintain. Due to the relatively large population concentrated in this part of Hispaniola in precolonial times, one may assume this access to the labor of the commoners increased Maguá’s power. And even though gold was not mined in a highly productive manner, access to gold deposits as well as other resources likely increased Maguá’s influence on the island of Hispaniola. It would be interesting to compare more closely Maguá and Xaragua as the two polities of the island which appear to have been more effective confederations dominated by chiefly families. In the case of Xaragua, the lack of adequate rain was met through irrigation ditches. The absence of gold was compensated for by Xaragua’s excellent woodcarving and cotton, which could have been items of exchange with Maguá for gold. One also wonders if the marriage of Anacaona to Caonabó was perhaps intended to support a buffer chiefdom against Maguá’s influence in the northeast.
[1] Cristóbal Colón, Consuelo Varela Bueno and Juan Gil Fernández (editors), Textos y documentos completos, 182.
[2] Ibid., 316.
[3] Fray Ramón Pané, Susan C. Griswold (trans.), An Account of the Antiquities of the Indians, 30-31.
[4] Ibid., 37. Was she sexually promiscuous or possessed too much political power?
[5] “Relación del oro y joyas que recibió el Almirante después que el Receptor Sebastián de Olano partió de la Isla Española para Castilla , desde 10 de marzo de 1495” in Colección de documentos inéditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organización de las antiguas posesiones españolas en América y Oceanía, sacados de los Archivos del Reino, y muy especialmente del de India, Tomo X, 7.
[6] Probably Marien.
[7] Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, Historia general y natural de las Indias, primera parte, 61.
[8] Bartolomé de las Casas, Apologética historia sumaria, 2654.
[9] Bartolomé de las Casas, Historia de las Indias, Vol. 2, 145.
[10] Alfredo Bueno Jiménez, Virginia Flores Sasso, y Esteban Prieto Vicioso. 2026. «Las Resistencias Tempranas En Cibao y La cuestión Del Santo Cerro, 1494-1497». Fronteras De La Historia 31 (2), 82-83.
[11] Arranz Márquez, Repartimientos y encomiendas en la Isla Española: El repartimiento de Albuquerque de 1514, 555. For more caciques in this area, 555-558, 569, 589. Caciques attached to encomenderos in Santiago, La Concepción and perhaps Puerto Plata may have once been part of the confederacy-like chiefdom of Guarionex. In terms of caciques with the largest number of Indians, Ayala, Barahona, and Diego Enrique each led over 100 Indians. Another, Ynamoca de Casambanas can join this list. In Bonao, a cacique named Francisco, one of the more Westernized indigenous leaders, led many people split between 3 different encomenderos: 94. Meanwhile, Santiago had Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon, served by 191 Indians under a cacique named Escobar.
[12] Hieronymite Interrogatory in Emilio Rodríguez Demorizi, Los domínicos y las encomiendas de indios de la Isla Española, 318. A few other educated or acculturated caciques were considered also incapable of living without the tutelage of the Christians, such as cacique el Dotor in Santiago and don Francisco in Bonao.
[13] Fernando Colón, A. Fournier (trans.), Histoire de la vie et des voyages de l’amiral Christophe Colombe, 387. The violence and outrages committed by the Europeans against indigenous women were a frequent cause of unrest.
[14] Luis Joseph Peguero, Historia de la Conquista de la isla Española, Tomo Primero, 67-68.
[15] Émile Nau, Histoire des caciques d'Haïti, 127, 186.
[16] Sven Loven, Origins of the Tainan Culture, 76, 529. He also claimed Mayobanex had given one of his wives to Guarionex, a claim we have not seen in the sources.
[17] Ricardo Alegría, “Cacicazgo Among the Aborigines of the West Indies,” 76.
[18] Bernardo Vega, Los Cacicazgos de la Hispaniola, 17, 26.
[19] Gilbert Valmé, Atabey, Yacayequey, Caney: 6000 ans d'aménagement territorial préhispanique sur l'île d'Ayiti: Haïti/République Dominicaine: une approche holistique du patrimoine aux Antilles: les paysages culturels, 178, 181, 225.
[20] José R. Oliver, Caciques and Cemi Idols: The Web Spun by Taino Rulers Between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, 107-108. One can see this perhaps being used by Guarionex’s predecessors to consolidate their chiefdom’s hegemonic position in La Vega and Cibao, extending or contracting based on the skills of the caciques in politics. When Guarionex failed to successfully eradicate the destructive impact of the Spanish tribute system, he appears to have lost support in the coalition Maguá once dominated. In fact, when he fled to the territory of Mayobanex, 3000 Indians joined the Spanish against him and his allies there. Even Mayobanex’s people wanted Guarionex to be surrendered to the Spanish to end the Christian attacks on their communities. See Anderson-Córdova, Surviving Spanish Conquest: Indian Fight, Flight, and Cultural Transformation in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, 190.
[21] Samuel Wilson, Hispaniola: Caribbean Chiefdoms in the Age of Columbus, 80-81.
[22] Ibid., 102.
[23] Ibid., 107. The 12 Christians who captured Guarionex and Mayobanex used bixa to change their skin color to black and red, then sneaked into the area where Mayobanex and Guarionex were hiding. Blackface was also used by the US Marine who captured Charlemagne Péralte.
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