Enriquillo (chieftain)

Enriquillo was a Taino chieftain who rebelled against the Spanish from 1519 until 1533. His father died in a raid during a peaceful protest against the Spanish, he was an orphan raised in a monastery in Santo Domingo. One of his mentors was Bartolome de Las Casas.

Most historians agree that the chief and Enriquillo Guarocuya were the same person. In this case, Enriquillo belongs to the high aristocracy of the chiefdom of the Jaragua. Guarocuya was the nephew of Anacaona, sister of the cacique of Jaragua Bohechio and his eventual successor Bohechio, when he was killed. Caonabo Anacaona was married to the chief of the neighboring kingdom of Maguana.  A minority of historians argue that Guarocuya was captured and hanged, while Enriquillo won the uprising.

Most historians believe that two rebels were the same person and that reports of the death of Guarocuya are identical to the versions on the Death of verifiable Anacaona. This provides the possibility that history had been confused. It has also been documented that Enriquillo was married to Mestizo Mencia, granddaughter of Anacaona.

Enriquillo and the Spanish

Poor relations between Columbus and the Taino natives of the Spanish did not last long, and soon the Indians were made slaves in sugar plantations.  In the first half of the sixteenth century there were several riots, the most famous of these in 1522.

Enriquillo uprising
Despite being under the encomienda system (semi-slavery) in which the Taino naborias were subject to the authority of a Spanish skipper, Enriquillo was well treated by their encomendero.   Enriquillo owned a horse and could read and write Castilian.  He was aware of their rights as a citizen of Cologne and was still recognized as chief nitaino by other Indians.  He served as foreman for encomendero and at this time the Taino were known as “tame” as the Spaniards were not rebellious.
However, when the old encomendero died, his son Enriquillo was treated as a mere possession.  He tried to frighten him, mock him and dispossess him of his steed, which was recognition of their Taino nobility.  In trying to appeal to local courts he did not receive justice and was flogged in front of all other Taino to make it clear who was who the master was and who the slave was.

He tried once again to appeal to another court of the highest level, but his request was rejected and he was even threatened with death.   According to legend, Enriquillo took his shirt, representing his life in the world of the Spaniards and took his wife, Mencia with others and fled to the mountains where he had served on the recreation ground.
Enriquillo’s uprising began with a large group of Tainos in the Sierra and the Taino Bahoruco continued with the rebellion through their knowledge of the region.

They defeated every expedition sent to subjugate. The Spanish hoped that would end the Taino as it had done so before. But now there was no fear of the unknown, to live among the Spaniards, know their strategies. Unlike them, instead of frontal attacks, they could attack at any time and any place.   Many Tainos fled to seek freedom in the Sierra del Bahoruco.  Freed African slaves joined his army.

Because the Spaniards could not control the rebellion, and the colony was already in a panic, a treaty was signed giving the Taino, among other concessions, the right to liberty and property.  However, this brought a few immediate consequences, because until this point, the pure Taino population was declining rapidly because of European diseases.   Enriquillo tragically succumbed to tuberculosis years later, but his wife Mencia continued with the vision and the struggle for freedom.