Enriquillo

Enriquillo was a Taíno Cacique who rebelled against the Spaniards from 1519 to 1533. His long rebellion is the best known for the early Caribbean period and he is considered a hero of indigenous resistance for those in the modern Dominican Republic. Dominican friar Bartolome de Las Casas, who documented and railed against Spanish abuse of the indigenous, wrote sympathetically of Enriquillo.

His father was killed while attending peace talks with the Spanish, along with eighty other regional chieftains under the direction of his aunt Anacaona in Jaragua. During the talks, Spanish soldiers set the meeting house on fire and proceeded to kill anyone who fled the flames. Enriquillo was then raised in a monastery in Santo Domingo. One of his mentors was Bartolomé de Las Casas.

Good relations between Christopher Columbus and the indigenous Taíno of the large island Columbus called Hispaniola did not last more than a few days; after Columbus had tortured and killed many trying to force them to provide him with gold, he turned to slavery and sugar cane plantations as a way to profit from his voyages.

Several revolts followed in the first half of the 16th century, the most famous of which happened in 1522. Enriquillo started the revolt with a large number of Indians from the mountain range of Bahoruco and the Indians were able to continue the rebellion because of their better knowledge of the region. As the Spaniards were not able to control the rebellion, a treaty was signed granting to the Indian population among others the right of Freedom and of Possession. It had little consequences however, as by this time the Indian population was rapidly declining due to European diseases.

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