Encounters Unforeseen- 1492 Retold

by Andrew Rowen

  But Caonabó failed to achieve serenity and relaxation as he pondered the reports received from the Cibao. His scouts were tracking a small band of Guacanagarí’s pale men wandering south without a guide and accompanied by concubines—some pregnant—taken of Guacanagarí’s people. He had received a messenger from Guacanagarí, who related these men were intent on meeting him even though Guacanagarí had warned them not to enter Maguana and refused to accompany them. The scouts reported that the pale men straggled into villages, brazenly took food from bewildered and frightened villagers, commanded that bohíos be made available for their accommodation, and disrespected the status of local caciques. They also looted jewelry and forced themselves on women and girls. They had defiled a cemí of Yúcahu, stealing it from a sack and then discarding it as if a rock upon the ground.

  Anacaona had heard most of the reports and understood the cause of her husband’s quandary and discomfort. Neither she nor the other paramount caciques had favored killing the pale men. She rose from the creek, and her attendants offered a cloth and then her nagua. She went to her husband, caressed his shoulders, and sat on a small duho beside him. “You don’t look happy. You’ve enjoyed relaxing in gorges like this for as long as I can remember.”

  He remained silent.

  “What did your scouts report today?”

  “The pale men are approaching. Their conduct continues to defile our people and spirits. Yesterday, they ransacked a village, deposed the cacique from his caney, and ripped the gold from face masks they pillaged, destroying them.”

  “Contemptuous and disgusting.” Anacaona shook her head, gravely appalled, and gazed across the creek into the shade of the forest beyond. “What will you do?”

  “We know your brother and Guarionex would discipline the conduct but not more. What would you do?”

  “I would discipline them and seek a solution that preserves life and harmony.”

  “That’s what one does with friends and strangers, but not with enemies, not on the battlefield.”

  “I agree, Caonabó. But the question is whether they are enemies.”

  “I understand the question. Leave me here to think.”

  Caonabó reached to hold her hand, and she leaned to kiss him. “Maguana is your cacicazgo, I’m your wife, and your decision is mine, as well.”

  Anacaona gathered the entourage to return home, leaving Caonabó at the creek with two attendants at the trailhead to accompany him home when he wished. As the voices of those departing faded into the distance, Caonabó shut his eyes to slumber and permit the mother beast of Haiti to rejuvenate the gorge with the birds and animals that made it home.

  He regained conscious thought some time later but kept his eyes shut to listen more clearly to the birds, which had returned to the trees above. The sun was descending to the west, and shade soon would fall upon the creek, making it easier for the birds to hunt without betrayal by their own shadows.

  Caonabó soon opened his eyes and, without shifting his head, scanned the creek. A duck snatched minnows in the shallows, and many smaller birds fed on insects in the mud of the embankment. A large frog sat on a rock midstream, motionless except for the occasional and barely perceptible lance of its tongue to swipe and devour unsuspecting mosquitoes. A small, young heron stalked slowly in the reeds farther upstream, its head lowered so its bill grazed the water’s surface. The frog watched the heron carefully but was satisfied the bird was hunting fish and was too young and small to attempt preying on it.

  Memories of learning to hunt on Aniyana flickered through Caonabó’s thoughts. He watched the heron pretend to fish and step from the frog’s vision. But the frog remained wary and shifted to keep the bird in sight.

  Caonabó asked Yúcahu what to do with the pale men in Maguana, and Yúcahu didn’t reveal an answer.

  When direct sunlight passed from the creek, the frog lanced a careless moth and the young heron strutted onto a small boulder beyond the frog’s vision and pivoted to face its prey. Caonabó watched the bird slowly stretch its head and bill toward the frog and prepare to leap. The frog feasted on its own prey.

  The heron leaped into flight, and the frog jumped into the creek, belatedly recognizing the peril. But the heron dipped its bill beneath the water’s surface and seized its prey. The young bird struggled to remain aloft and swallow the frog and achieved both, rising to alight high in a tree.

  Caonabó rose and honored the mother beast of Haiti for reminding him of the consequence of failing to recognize the presence of the enemy.

  _______________

  1 Monasterio de la Cartuja de Santa María de las Cuevas.

  2 Pius Fidelium, July 25, 1493.

  3 Bartolomé’s father.

  4 Monasterio de San Jeronimo de la Murta, Badalona.

  PARTICIPANTS, TAÍNO SPIRITS, POPES, AND CONVENTIONS

  PARTICIPANTS INTRODUCED PRIOR TO 1492 AND THEIR STATUS IN 1468 OR EARLIER DEATH

  Haitian Taíno Caciques (Chiefs) (All historic persons with their historic names):

  Anacaona, of Xaraguá’s caciqual family, a younger sister to Behecchio

  Behecchio, of Xaraguá’s caciqual family

  Cacibaquel, cacique of Magua and Guarionex’s father

  Caonabó, Lucayan, of Maguana’s caciqual family

  Cayacoa, of Higüey’s caciqual family

  Guacanagarí, of Marien’s caciqual family

  Guarionex, of Magua’s caciqual family, Cacibaquel’s son

  Mayobanex, of Ciguayo’s caciqual family

  Other Taínos:

  Baisi, Maguan, Guarionex’s first wife, historic person with fictitious name

  Butiyari, Marien, Guacanagarí’s older sister, fictitious person

  Heitiana, Marien, Guacanagarí’s oldest older sister, fictitious person

  Manicoatex, Lucayan, one of Caonabó’s younger brothers, historic person with historic name

  Onaney, Lucayan, Caonabó’s childhood friend, possibly historic person with name accorded in various traditions

  Tuobasu, Ciguayan, Mayobanex’s first wife, historic person with fictitious name

  Castilian Royal Family:

  Alfonso, son of King Juan II and Isabel of Portugal, Isabel’s younger brother, King Enrique IV’s half brother, and claimant to the Castilian throne

  King Enrique IV, son of King Juan II and his first wife, crowned 1454

  Isabel, daughter of King Juan II and Isabel of Portugal, King Enrique IV’s half sister, and an heir to the Castilian throne

  Isabel de Barcelos, of the Portuguese royal family, mother of Isabel of Portugal and grandmother of Isabel and Alfonso

  Isabel of Portugal, Queen Dowager, King Juan II’s second wife and widow, mother of Isabel and Alfonso

  King Juan II, died 1454

  Princess Juana, Queen Juana’s daughter, an heir to the Castilian throne (“La Beltraneja”)

  Queen Juana, King Enrique IV’s second wife and King Afonso V of Portugal’s sister

  Aragonese Royal Family:

  Prince Fernando, King of Sicily and heir to the Aragonese throne

  King Juan II, King of Aragón and Prince Fernando’s father

  Portuguese Royal Family:

  King Afonso V, King of Portugal and Prince João’s father

  Prince Henrique, uncle to King Afonso V (“Henry the Navigator”)

  Prince João, heir to the Portuguese throne

  Leonor, a cousin to Prince João and his future wife

  Nobility, Prelates, and Advisers to European Royal Families:

  Alfonso Carrillo, Archbishop of Toledo (Castilian)

  Enrique de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia (Castilian)

  Hernando de Talavera, Prior of the Monastery of San Leonardo de Alba Torres (near Salamanca) (Castilian)

  Luis de la Cerda, a nobleman (to become Duke of Medinaceli in 1479) (Castilian)

  Luis de Santángel, member of a leading mercantile family and son of Aragonese crown official (Aragonese)

  Pedro González de M
endoza, Bishop of Sigüenza (Castilian)

  Rodrigo Ponce de León, nobleman soon to become Marquis of Cádiz (Castilian)

  Tomás de Torquemada, Prior of the Dominican Convent of Santa Cruz (Castilian)

  Grenadan Royal Family:

  Abū l’Hasan ‘Alī ben Nasr ben Saad, Emir of Grenada

  Al-Zagal, Abū l’Hasan’s brother

  Boabdil, Abū l’Hasan’s son

  Ottoman Sultans:

  Bayezid II, Mehmed II’s son Mehmed II

  Genoese:

  Cristoforo Colombo, Domenico and Susanna’s eldest child—Columbus

  Domenico Colombo, Cristoforo’s father

  Susanna, Cristoforo’s mother

  Giovanni Pellegrino, Bartolomeo, Giacomo, and Bianchinetta, Columbus’s then-surviving younger brothers and sister (in order of birth)

  COLUMBUS’S WIFE AND IN-LAWS, MISTRESS, LOVER, AND CHILDREN

  Bartolomeu Perestrelo, Filipa’s father, Portuguese nobleman, and governor of Porto Santo, died 1458

  Beatriz de Bobadilla, Columbus’s Castilian-Canarian lover

  Beatriz Enríquez de Arana, Columbus’s Córdoban mistress (Castilian)

  Diogo (in Portuguese), Columbus’s first son, born of Filipa

  Fernando, Columbus’s second son, born of Beatriz Enríquez de Arana

  Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, Cristoforo’s wife and daughter of Bartolomeu Perestrelo and Isabel Moniz (Portuguese)

  Isabel Moniz, Filipa’s mother (Portuguese)

  Pêro Correia da Cuhna, a brother-in-law to Columbus

  TAÍNO CAPTIVES AND RELATED PERSONS (ALL NAMES FICTITIOUS)

  Abana, Guanahanían, Bakako’s younger sister, fictitious person

  Abasu, Cuban, historic person

  Bakako, Guanahanían, historic person

  Kamana, Guanahanían, Bakako’s friend, fictitious person

  Xamabo, Marien, Guacanagarí’s relative, historic person

  Yomabo, Maguan, Guarionex’s son, fictitious person

  Yuni, Guanahanían, Bakako’s younger brother, fictitious person

  Yutowa, Guanahanían, historic person

  CREWMEN, ROYAL OFFICIALS, AND CRISTOFORO’S PERSONAL ATTENDANTS ABOARD SANTA MARÍA, PINTA, NIÑA

  Chachu, boatswain of Santa María

  Cristóbal Quintero, owner of and seaman on Pinta

  Diego de Arana, quartermaster of fleet

  Jácome el Rico, Genoese seaman

  Juan de la Cosa, owner and master of Santa María

  Juan Niño, owner and master of Niña

  Juan Portugués, Columbus’s servant

  Juan Rodríguez Bermejo, seaman on Pinta

  Luis de Torres, interpreter

  Martín Alonso Pinzón, captain of Pinta

  Pedro de Terreros, Columbus’s steward

  Pedro Gutiérrez, sovereigns’ observer

  Pedro Salcedo, Columbus’s page

  Pero Alonso Niño, pilot of Santa María

  Rodrigo de Escobedo, secretary of fleet

  Rodrigo Sánchez, comptroller of fleet

  Sancho Ruiz de Gama, pilot of Niña

  Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, captain of Niña

  Four criminals: Alonso Clavijo, Bartolomé de Torres, Juan de Moguer, Pedro Yzquierdo

  CHILDREN TO QUEEN ISABEL AND KING FERNANDO (AND YEAR OF BIRTH)

  Isabel

  1470

  Juan

  1478

  Juana

  1479

  María

  1482

  Catalina

  1485

  OTHER HISTORIC AFRICAN, CANARIAN, AND EUROPEAN PERSONS

  Ansa

  Akan king at Mina (Ghana)

  Budomel

  Wolof chieftain, the Damel (Senegal)

  Diogo d’Azambuja

  Portuguese nobleman who established Mina

  Doramas

  Chieftain of Gran Canaria

  Alonso de Lugo

  Castilian military conqueror, Canary Islands

  Fray Antonio de Marchena

  Friar at La Rábida

  Fray Juan Pérez

  Friar at La Rábida

  Francesco Pinelo

  Genoese merchant in Seville

  Tenesor Semidan

  Chieftain of Gran Canaria

  Pedro de Vera

  Castilian military conqueror, Canary Islands

  TAÍNO SPIRITS AND ANCESTRAL PERSONS

  Yúcahu, the spirit of yuca and male fertility, or more fully Yúcahu Bagua Maórocoti, also being master of the sea, fatherless, and the most important spirit in daily life. The spelling chosen is José Juan Arrom’s, but many modern anthropologists use Yucahú or Yocahu or a longer-form Yocahuguamá. See Arrom’s Mitología y artes prehispánicas de las Antillas.

  Attabeira, Yúcahu’s mother and the provider of water for crops and other nourishment

  Coatrisquie, Guabancex’s male assistant who floods the land

  Deminán Caracaracol, born into adversity but who learns proper Taíno conduct to prosper

  Guabancex, the female spirit of hurricanes and destruction

  Guabonito, an ancestral heroine who is rescued from the sea by Guahayona and cures him

  Guahayona, the ancestral hero who leads the Taíno women from the Cacibajagua (Cave of the Jagua)

  Guataúba, Guabancex’s male herald who orders wind and rain

  Yaya, the supreme spirit

  POPES

  Eugenius IV

  Nicholas V

  Calixtus III

  Pius II

  Paul II

  Sixtus IV

  Innocent VIII

  Alexander VI

  1431–1447

  1447–1455

  1455–1458

  1458–1464

  1464–1471

  1471–1484

  1484–1492

  1492–1503

  CONVENTIONS

  Fictionalization:

  My minimum standard for including an event or thought in a story is that I believe it likely could have occurred. This is a combination of fiction and history and, undoubtedly, many events and thoughts depicted may have occurred differently or not at all.

  Conversations are fictionalized when possible based on primary sources either relating directly to the conversation (e.g., Las Casas’s description of the first meeting between Guacanagarí and Columbus) and/or those discussing or forming the basis of the beliefs and knowledge of the participants (e.g., Pané’s account of Taíno religion or the Bible, Ptolemy’s Geography, and Mandeville’s Travels).

  Names of People:

  Names of Spaniards and Portuguese are in Castilian and Portuguese, respectively. For example, Isabella and Ferdinand have their Castilian names Isabel and Fernando and John and Henry are Juan and Enrique in Spain and João and Henrique in Portugal. Names of other Europeans typically are in English translation. Columbus’s and his family members’ names take a translated form as they move from Genoa to Portugal to Castile.

  Names of the paramount Taíno chieftains have spellings currently used by anthropologists, historians, and others writing in English. I have given the principal Taíno captive known to history as Diego Colón a fictitious birth name of Bakako, although some ascribe him the birth name Guaikán (the Taíno word for the remora fish, which attaches itself to sea life and boats). Other historic Taínos generally known to history by their baptized Christian name (i.e., the other captives seized by Columbus) are also given fictitious names, as are some minor fictitious Taíno characters, each as noted in the list of Taíno Captives and Related Persons.

  Names of Places:

  Names of places are typically the English or Spanish version of the names that would have been used by the persons in the particular passage, usually with the modern spelling. Accordingly, when a narrative is from the Taíno perspective, the Dominican Republic and Haiti frequently are referred to as Haiti (the English and Spanish spelling of a Taíno name). When a narrative is from the European perspective, they are referred to as Españ
ola.

  The Roman “Hispania” refers to the entire peninsula of modern Spain and Portugal, and “Spain” refers to the peninsula excluding Portugal, including the fifteenth-century kingdoms or principalities of Castile, Aragón, and Catalonia.

  Time:

  For uniformity, time is based on Julius Caesar’s calendar used by Europeans until 1582, when nine days were added by Pope Gregory XIII in the century before 1500 (ten in the two centuries thereafter) so that October 12, 1492—the Julian date Columbus recorded for his landfall at Guanahaní (likely San Salvador)—would correspond to Gregorian October 21, 1492.

  Ages of Taíno Chieftains:

  The historical record is unclear or silent as to the birthdates and ages of the Taíno rulers. In the absence of sufficient evidence, I have attributed approximate ages as follows. Caonabó and Guarionex are slightly older than Columbus (born 1451), based on my impression that Columbus or Bartolomé de las Casas perceived they were older, and Guacanagarí is younger than Columbus for the same reason. Anacaona’s daughter Higueymota was probably married (after another relationship) in 1499–1500, possibly at approximately fifteen years old, and Anacaona probably reached puberty some years before her birth (Higueymota may not have been her first child), say, approximately 1480–1482, when Anacaona was possibly thirteen to fifteen years old. Anacaona’s brother Behecchio was a few years her senior. Mayobanex is approximately the same age as his friend Guarionex.

  Distance:

  Taínos and Europeans had and thought in their own measures of distance, but for uniformity and simplicity all distances—both actual and as believed or estimated by Taínos and Europeans—are converted to be presented in modern US statutory miles, with one significant exception. Columbus’s geographical thinking was sometimes in Roman miles and his Journal typically expresses distance in “leagues,” and the text use these measures when appropriate to the story. One league equals four Roman miles, one Roman mile equals about 0.92 modern US statutory miles, and a league thereby equals about 3.68 modern US statutory miles.

  Taínos, Caribes, Lucayans:

  For simplicity, in Taíno passages Taínos sometimes are referred to as Taínos when important to distinguish Taínos (whose civilization was centered in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas) from Caribes (who lived in the Lesser Antilles, i.e., Guadeloupe and the islands south). Taínos who lived in the Bahamas—the islands north of Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, including the Turks and Caicos—are sometimes referred to as Lucayans. It is doubtful the Taínos conceived of themselves as one people or nation or even used the word Taíno to refer to themselves other than to distinguish themselves from Caribes. Instead, they probably referred to themselves in relation to their tribe or the region of their tribe, much as Europeans referred to themselves in relation to their principality.