﻿ABORIGINES 
  OF 
  HISPANIOLA 
  KEEEGEK 
  487 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  natives. 
  Xaragua 
  was 
  considered 
  by 
  the 
  Spanish 
  the 
  richest 
  

   and 
  best-developed 
  native 
  Province 
  of 
  the 
  island. 
  Its 
  cacique 
  at 
  the 
  

   time 
  of 
  the 
  discovery 
  was 
  Behechio, 
  who, 
  with 
  his 
  sister 
  Anacaona, 
  

   offered 
  to 
  pay 
  the 
  tribute 
  exacted 
  in 
  produce 
  instead 
  of 
  gold. 
  Ana- 
  

   caona 
  was 
  the 
  widow 
  of 
  the 
  cacique 
  Caonabo, 
  who 
  died 
  a 
  prisoner 
  of 
  

   the 
  Spanish 
  on 
  board 
  a 
  vessel 
  taking 
  him 
  to 
  Spain 
  for 
  trial 
  for 
  insur- 
  

   rection 
  against 
  Spanish 
  rule, 
  also 
  for 
  instigating 
  the 
  uprising 
  against 
  

   the 
  colony 
  at 
  La 
  Navidad. 
  

  

  After 
  the 
  death 
  of 
  Behechio 
  his 
  sister, 
  Anacaona, 
  inherited 
  the 
  

   right 
  to 
  govern 
  the 
  Province 
  of 
  Xaragua. 
  On 
  one 
  occasion 
  when 
  the 
  

   Lord 
  Lieutenant 
  (Adelantado) 
  Bartholomew, 
  the 
  brother 
  of 
  Columbus, 
  

   visited 
  the 
  town 
  where 
  these 
  caciques 
  resided, 
  he 
  was 
  presented 
  with 
  

   14 
  carved 
  wooden 
  seats 
  (duhos), 
  60 
  earthenware 
  vessels, 
  and 
  4 
  rolls 
  of 
  

   woven 
  cotton. 
  Cassava 
  bread 
  in 
  sufficient 
  quantity 
  to 
  relieve 
  the 
  

   hunger 
  of 
  the 
  Spanish 
  then 
  in 
  tne 
  island 
  was 
  supplied 
  and 
  a 
  small 
  

   vessel 
  was 
  filled 
  with 
  the 
  gifts 
  of 
  these 
  Indian 
  rulers. 
  

  

  The 
  term 
  Guaccairima 
  was 
  sometimes 
  applied 
  to 
  Xaragua 
  and 
  

   referred 
  principally 
  to 
  the 
  southwestern 
  peninsula. 
  Gonave 
  Island, 
  

   situated 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  from 
  the 
  west 
  coast, 
  was 
  noted 
  for 
  the 
  excellence 
  

   of 
  its 
  native 
  wood 
  carving, 
  and 
  the 
  islanders 
  carried 
  on 
  a 
  trade 
  with 
  

   the 
  Indian 
  villages 
  of 
  the 
  Haitian 
  mainland. 
  

  

  The 
  native 
  Province 
  of 
  Higuey 
  in 
  southeastern 
  Santo 
  Domingo 
  

   offers 
  difficulty 
  in 
  the 
  defining 
  of 
  its 
  aboriginal 
  boundaries. 
  It 
  

   probably 
  included 
  all 
  of 
  southeastern 
  Haiti 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Bay 
  of 
  Sam- 
  

   ana, 
  the 
  Yuna 
  River, 
  and 
  the 
  Cordillera 
  Central, 
  and 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  

   Ozama 
  River. 
  In 
  his 
  De 
  Orbe 
  Novo, 
  Peter 
  Martyr 
  names 
  the 
  eastern 
  

   Province 
  of 
  Higuey 
  with 
  the 
  term 
  Caizimu 
  which 
  is 
  supposed 
  to 
  have 
  

   extended 
  from 
  Cape 
  Engano 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  to 
  the 
  capital 
  city, 
  Santo 
  

   Domingo, 
  on 
  the 
  southeast. 
  The 
  northern 
  border 
  of 
  this 
  province 
  

   of 
  Martyr's 
  was 
  marked 
  by 
  precipitous 
  mountains 
  which 
  on 
  account 
  

   of 
  their 
  steepness 
  bore 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  Haiti. 
  An 
  interesting 
  observa- 
  

   tion 
  regarding 
  Martyr's 
  classification 
  of 
  native 
  Provinces 
  is 
  that 
  he 
  

   agrees 
  with 
  other 
  early 
  Spanish 
  chroniclers 
  in 
  placing 
  Xamana 
  

   (Samana) 
  as 
  a 
  subprovince 
  within 
  the 
  Province 
  of 
  Huhabo 
  (Magna) 
  

   and 
  not 
  as 
  a 
  subprovince 
  of 
  Caizimu 
  (Higuey). 
  He 
  also 
  agrees 
  with 
  

   other 
  less 
  verbose 
  writers 
  in 
  saying 
  that 
  the 
  language 
  of 
  Huhabo, 
  

   that 
  is, 
  of 
  Magna 
  which 
  included 
  Samana, 
  differed 
  from 
  that 
  spoken 
  

   elsewhere 
  in 
  the 
  island. 
  

  

  Las 
  Casas 
  speaks 
  of 
  Cotubanama 
  as 
  cacique 
  of 
  Higuey 
  Province. 
  

   Other 
  writers, 
  referring 
  to 
  periods 
  subsequent 
  to 
  the 
  decade 
  of 
  the 
  

   discovery, 
  speak 
  of 
  Cayacoa 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  female 
  cacique 
  Higuanama. 
  

  

  In 
  giving 
  this 
  historical 
  reference 
  to 
  tribal 
  and 
  provincial 
  groupings 
  

   for 
  the 
  period 
  following 
  the 
  discovery, 
  which 
  is 
  drawn 
  from 
  the 
  

   literature 
  of 
  the 
  day, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  assumed 
  that 
  a 
  static 
  condition 
  of 
  

   affairs 
  existed 
  throughout 
  the 
  island. 
  Personal 
  ascendancy 
  of 
  

  

  