The Afterlife of Marien

 

Whilst perusing the very helpful tables of Arranz Marquez in Repartimientos y encomiendas en la Isla Española: el repartimiento de Albuquerque de 1514, we came across 5 caciques with "del Marien" in their names. None of them were linked to encomenderos in Puerto Real, the Spanish colonial city founded near the likely site of Marien's capital. Thus, within about 22 years of first meeting Columbus, the population of Marien was severely displaced and likely experienced high amounts of death through disease, forced relocation, disrupted food supply, and forced labor. Guacanagari's people were now spread around in La Concepcion and Bonao. In the latter town, a surprisingly high number of Indians tied to the Marien caciques Torres del Marien (170 indios) and Velazquez del Marien (70) were laboring for Juan de Ampies. In La Concepcion, 3 caciques from Marien were listed: Antonio Escobar del Marien, Barahona del Marien and Cristobal del Marien. The indios linked to them numbered 117. This suggests that by 1514, Marien (presumably its "core" had about 317 indigenous people who had been relocated through the encomienda system. Over half of this group ended up in Bonao. In Puerto Real itself, where it is probably safe to assume much of the indigenous population was from the old cacicazgo of Marien due to the absence of gold mining, it is difficult to trace where the caciques and their communities came from. 

In one case, that of Francisquillo de Bayaha, we can presume he was from the area of modern-day Fort Liberte. The cacique called Mayordomo de Hatiel may have come from a region that appears in the Morales map to be south of the Artibonite and east of its mouth. This area may not have been part of the Marien cacicazgo. According to Bernardo Vega, it likely covered the territory from Borgne to Monte Cristi.It is unlikely for the area south of the Artibonite to have been part of Guacanagari's spheres of influence. In the case of Diego Aynaguana, however, it is somewhat ambiguous. The cacique Diego Aynaguana in Azua may have been relocated there via the encomienda system. Once again, the Morales map provides a clue since it appears to identify a river called Aynagua northeast of Puerto Real. If so, that means at least 349 Indians were forced to relocate from the environs of Marien. 

And of the caciques in Puerto Plata and other regions, a few may have been linked to the period of Guacanagari's rule in the 1490s. One cacique from Marien went by the name Cristobal. Was this possibly in reference to Columbus? Another cacique, Juan de Manuy, was assigned to an encomendero married to a native woman, Gonzalo de Arevalo. We were unable to find out when he came to the island, but if his wife was from this part of the island, he may have used her kinship ties and connections that may have preceded 1492 and the calamities of the colonial conquest. Furthermore, the one cacique assigned to a Puerto Real encomendero with more than 100 Indians was a man named Fernando Guanabax. We know from Peguero and Oviedo that a relative of Guacanagari traveled to Spain with Columbus on his first voyage. He was baptized there and took the name Fernando de Aragon. Is there any chance Fernando Guanabax was the same man? We admit this is pure speculation and quite unlikely, but he was the only cacique with more than 100 followers in the Puerto Real area.

As for the area around Lares de Guahaba and Haiti's northwest, we are unsure. Las Casas seemed to exclude Guahaba and Amaguey (near modern Gros Morne?) from Guacanagari's Marien. Charlevoix, writing in the 18th century, believed Marien covered all of the north coast from Cap St. Nicolas (Mole St. Nicolas) to Monte Cristi, as well as a part of the northern Vegal Real. Moreau de Saint-Mery echoed that sentiment, including Port de Paix as once in the domain of Guacanagari. Indeed, he even believed the Artibonite was the southern border for Marien, implying Guahaba would have fallen under Guacanagari's control or influence. In the next century, Haitian historian Emile Nau also wrote of Marien including Guahaba and the western limits of the Artibonite (Nau, 36). Perhaps even more boldly, the Haitian author Gilbert Valme added Tortuga to Guacanagari's territor (Valme, 229). Interestingly, the remaining indigenes of Tortuga were assigned to an encomendero based at Puerto Plata in c.1514. In terms of other modern scholars, Deagan, the archaeologist who has presented the best case for identifying En Bas Saline as Guacanagari's capital, similarly included Guahaba in his land (Deagan, 240). 

Until scholars uncover new sources, the mystery of Marien's end will continue. Scholars have different theories on the death of Guacanagari, for example. It would appear that he was likely dead within 10 years after meeting Columbus. And while his capital was likely occupied until the 1520s, it too was eventually abandoned. With about 317 Indians from Marien serving encomienda holders on the other side of the island in 1514, one can imagine high mortality rates and labor exploitation wiped out much of the remaining population. Even Puerto Real itself was later disbanded. But if 317 Indians from Marien were enumerated in 1514, scholars might be able to reach more accurate population estimates of the region's population in 1492. To what extent Guacanagari was able to control other provinces is up for debate, but the large plaza and public architecture at his capital suggest he was not such a minor or subordinate cacique after all. Indeed, Las Casas personally claimed to have met several of Guacanagari's vassals who were of high standing, presumably meaning caciques and nitainos who occupied more than the region near En Bas Saline. 

Caonao and Cacibajagua

A section of northern Haiti/Dominican Republic depicting the likely site of Caonao, where the mountain of Cauta supposedly included the caves of Cacibajagua and Amayauna, in the famous map of Morales.

Whilst revisiting various sources on the indigenous polities or societies of the island, we came across some inconsistencies in Bernardo Vega's otherwise great Los cacicazgos de la Hispaniola. At one point he tries to concoct a theory that the island of Cayemite may have been the site where, according to indigenous legend, their ancestors first appeared on the island. However, his reasoning here assumes that Peter Martry and Morales, the cartographer of one of the most detailed maps of the island, mistook the Bajabonico for another river possibly located in the Sud of modern-day Haiti. His reasoning here is not convincing, and in fact, by the book's conclusion, Vega seems to have returned to the original proposition on the site of the early origins of Haiti. Thus, by pages 69-70, Vega seems to place Caonao, the province where the caves of Cacibajagua and Amayauna were located, near the Bajabonico River in the Dominican Republic. As Martyr's account of Indian legends of origin was based on the relation of Ramón Pané, taking a second look at Arrom's translation and proposed etymologies for (mythic) places and landscapes is necessary. Arrom, who translated Caonao (the Cahonao of Martyr) as "place where there is gold," one should look to parts of Hispaniola where gold was found in abundance.

That would suggest somewhere in the Cibao or Vega Real is a good contender. In addition, Pané apparently collected most of his information in this part of the island subject to Guarionex, a powerful cacique whose sister married Diego Colon, the indigenous translator of the Admiral. Guarionex, according to Pané, was the son of a cacique named Cacibaquel. Arrom suggests this name could mean "shelter" or "refuge" and "descendant of" the "cave" (caciba). If this cacique was the father of Guarionex, and much of Pané's recorded traditions came from this cacicazgo or its environs, then the myth of Cacibajagua as a cave of origin near Caonao (or Cahonao) likely refers to this area near the Bajabonico. According to Peter Martyr, Guarionex's domains bordered the mountains of Cibao, Cahonao, and Cazacubana. It is thus very likely that the mythical site of Cacibajagua and Amayauna were located somewhere near Cahonao, which remains to this day the name of a river or affluent of the Bajabonico west of the pueblo of Imbert. 

A map in Deagan's En Bas Saline showing coastal Chicoid pottery sites in northern Hispaniola.

As for another important cave of indigenous myth, the cave from which emerged the Sun and the Moon, Pané is less clear. Supposedly, the cave was located in the land of a cacique named Mautiatihuel. Arrom has suggested a possible translation for this (mythical?) cacique's name: "Son-of-the-Dawn." If so, and the sun rises in the east, one might assume this (mythical) cave was located somewhere in the east. This contradicts Moreau de Saint-Mery's unverifiable theory that the cave site of Voûte-à-Minguet in the parish of Dondon was the site in question. A more eastern location would fit the possible sites for Cacibajagua and Amayauna, too, especially if this tradition is largely derived from the cacicazgo of Guarionex or its neighbors. It may also have been important for this cave, a site of pilgrimage, to be close to the cave of origin for the island's population. According to Martyr, the site of Camoteia, where humans first settled the island of Hispaniola at Cahonao, was also a revered site to which gifts were given. Martyr adds details here not explicit in Pané, perhaps drawing from Morales and other sources. Nonetheless, it is not unfeasible for the site of Cacibajagua to have been located in the same region as the cave of Iguanaboina.

This question of Cacibajagua and Cahonao may also have some bearing on the origins of Marien, a powerful cacicazgo in the northern part of Haiti. According to archaeological findings, the probable site for Guacanagaric's capital, En Bas Saline, was likely a Chicoid site in a region (northern Haiti) where Meillacoid ceramics were usually found. If En Bas Saline began as a Chicoid settlement in an area whose immediate vicinity was devoid of Meillacoid settlements, it is possible that the early people came from the east. They may have shared in this wider mythology of origin that traced the human presence on the island to Cacibajagua and the cave site in which the Sun and Moon emerged likely somewhere in the same region. We are assuming here that ceramic styles reflected some deeper cultural orientation or identification, but Guacanagaric's cacicazgo could have brought those traditions or legends of origin to the northern part of Haiti when a Chicoid settlement emerged at En Bas Saline by the 13th century. Of course, by the time of Columbus's arrival, the people of Marien may have developed a very distinct identity and new traditions of origin. But their cacicazgo wa said to have stretched as far east as Monte Cristi and parts of Vega Real, meaning some degree of contact with the indigenous centers there was feasible. 

Taino En Bas Saline

Kathleen Deagan's En Bas Saline: A Taino Town Before and After Columbus is a dry study of an important Taino town on the northern coast of Hispaniola. Possibly the site of La Navidad as well as the main settlement of cacique Guacanagaric, En Bas Saline's indigenous population appears to have been a Chican culture occupying an area of Meillacoid populations. Of course, due to the lack of adequate excavations across northern Haiti, the degree to which the Meillacoid and Chican ceramic styles really indicate cultural identity is unknown. Indeed, despite research at the site of En Bas Saline conducted since the 1980s, we still lack enough information about the nature of the site and if it really was the capital of Guacanagaric. However, analysis of ceramic remains, evidence of structures and the central mound and plaza, faunal remains, ornaments, tools, and postcontact artifacts collectively suggest the site was the settlement of a cacique. Lamentably, the exact nature of Taino sociality and the degree to which Taino cacicazgos were corporate chiefdoms or centered in an individual remains a debate. It is too early to say definitively what exactly was the basis for chiefly authority and to what extent they controlled or redistributed goods and the economy. It was also strange that Deagan did not find evidence of cemis or other artifacts associated with caciques. While evidence for some degree of stratification can be traced in the elite residences and an elite infant burial, it would seem that Guacangaric was a minor cacique compared to the well-known figures of Caonabo or Beheccio.