Enriquillo

Early life

Enriquillo was born around 1500 on the shores of Lake Jaragua, now Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic, and belonged to the Taíno people. The Taíno had advanced government, cultural traditions, and agricultural practices, but good relations with Christopher Columbus and the Spanish quickly deteriorated. The Taínos were forced into terrible conditions as laborers in gold mining, poorly housed in the mountains, poorly fed, and overworked, while the removal of men from villages disrupted food production and caused malnutrition, which increased vulnerability to new diseases introduced by the foreigners.

After Columbus tortured and killed many in his quest for gold, he turned to slavery and sugar cane plantations. Enriquillo's father, his aunt Anacaona, and eighty other regional chieftains were killed by Nicolás de Ovando during supposed peace talks in Jaragua, where Spanish soldiers ambushed the caciques, set the meeting house on fire, and killed those who fled. Orphaned, Enriquillo was raised in a Santo Domingo monastery and given the name Enrico. One of his mentors was Bartolomé de las Casas, a Spanish Roman Catholic priest focused on the rights of Native Americans.

Enriquillo owned a steed, could read and write Castilian, and was recognized as a chief or nitaíno by other indigenous people, serving as a foreman for the encomendero. His wife Mencía, later given the noble title Doña due to Enriquillo's high standing, was raped by a Spaniard named Valenzuela. When Enriquillo tried to take the issue to Spanish courts, nothing could be done because it was Mencía's word against the Spaniard's, which some writers consider the tipping point leading to his revolt.

Rebellion

Several revolts occurred in the first half of the 16th century, the most famous beginning in 1519. Enriquillo, one of the few remaining caciques, started the revolt with a large number of Taínos from the Bahoruco mountain range. The Taínos sustained the rebellion through their better knowledge of the region.

The Spaniards could not control the rebellion, and a treaty was signed granting the Native population rights of freedom and possession, but it had little effect as the Native population was rapidly declining due to European diseases. The thirteen-year insurrection cost the Spanish monarchy more than 40,000 gold pesos, and included assaults, fires, raids, and deaths of Spaniards, as well as setting a dangerous example for the slaves, who by the end of the 1520s numbered thousands in the southern part of the island dedicated to sugar cane production. Enriquillo's style of fighting involved irregular warfare, cunning, patience, and prudence, along with an efficient information and supply service organized in the high mountains of the Sierra, making him feared by the Spaniards.

His resistance forced the King of Spain to commission Francisco de Barrionuevo to end the conflict by negotiation or force. Enriquillo, originally known as Enrique del Bahoruco, received Barrionuevo in a first interview bearing a letter from Carlos on Cabritos Island. The agreements were never fully executed, but the cacique assumed a peaceful attitude from that moment on and never came down from the mountains. By the success of his negotiations, he became the Liberator of the Quisqueyanos.

Enriquillo settled in the area that is today Monte Plata province and lived in the town of Boya, now Sabana Grande de Boya, where he died. The Spaniards built the church of Agua Santa in Boya over his tomb to dislocate the true place of the sanctuary. He died around 1536 at about 40 years of age.

Guarocuya

Historians largely identify Enriquillo with the cacique Guarocuya, placing him in the ruling family of the Jaragua chiefdom. Guarocuya was the nephew of Anacaona, sister of the Jaragua chief Bohechío, whom he succeeded after Bohechío was killed. Anacaona was married to Caonabo, chief of the neighboring Maguana territory.

A few historians argue Guarocuya was captured and hanged while Enriquillo led a successful revolt, but most consider them the same person, noting that stories of Guarocuya’s death match verified accounts of Anacaona’s execution. Enriquillo married Mencía, Anacaona’s mestiza granddaughter. His name came from his Catholic baptism; Enriquillo, meaning “little Enrique,” likely reflected his youth at that time.

Did You Know?

• The highest rank of the Asociación de Scouts Dominicanos was formerly named after Enriquillo.
• A new genus of lizard, Guarocuyus, was described in 2022 from Jaragua National Park and named in honor of Enriquillo's likely Taíno name, Guarocuya.