Anacaona, a concise essay from Anacaona.net:
Excerpt—“The Queen Anacaona was married to the Indian chief
Caonabo, king of the Maguana. Anacaona means ‘Gold Flower.’ She
was also tribal chief Boechio Anacauchoa sister, king of Xaragua
or Jaragua….”
Anacaona, from www.windowsonhaiti.com: a brief page, in
French, on the history of Anacaona: excerpt—“Aux premières pages
de notre histoire apparaît une belle figure de femme d'Haiti:
Anacaona. Indienne, Anacaona est la soeur du cacique du Xaragua
Bohéchio, et l'épouse de Caonabo, cacique de la Maguana”
Anacaona history, from www.haitiwebs.com: a more
detailed page, in French, base don historical sources, on the
life and history of Anacaona. Excerpt: “Femme aux multiples
talents et qui, par les avatars fourbes d'une Histoire, s'est vu
faire le sort injuste d'une renommée de samba irrémédiablement
muette de ses areytos. A quoi, se demandeton admiratif,
tient-elle cette gloire pour ainsi dire unique dans la galerie
réchappée taïno? Au prestige d'un rôle, d'autant plus brillant à
nos yeux qu'il ne laisse, en dépit d'exemples illustres, d'être
intimement associé à un monde ordinairement donné pour l'apanage
des hommes?”
Anacaona, 1474-1503, from Ile en Ile: A brief page, in
French, containing an extract from Femmes des Antilles:
Traces et voix de Gisèle Pineau et Marie Abraham. Paris:
Stock, 1998: 21-22. Excerpt: “Seule la mémoire retient comme
référence féminine la figure symbolique d'Anacaona, emblème des
trahisons et des brutalités qui président à l'installation des
Européens aux Amériques. Martyrisée par les Espagnols sur l'île
de Saint-Domingue, cette princesse offrira sans défiance
l'hospitalité de son caciquat à ses futurs bourreaux.” This page
also contains a list of references to published works in French
and Spanish on the history of Anacaona, as well as a select list
of links to Anacaona websites. A good starting point for some
further scholarly investigation.
A Biography of Anacaona from www.famousamericans.net:
Extracted from Appleton’s Encyclpoedia—excerpt: “ANACAONA, also
called the Golden Flower, was an Indian queen, wife of Caonabo,
one of the five caciques who possessed the island of Santo
Domingo when the Spaniards discovered it and settled there in
1492.”
Caonabo and Anacaona, from www.haitiglobalvillage.com: a
very brief page in French, with an illustration, provides a
short account of Anacaona the historical personage and her death
by hanging at the hands of the Spanish.
Anacaona, on the Famous Haitians list: a concise page,
in English, accompanied by an artistic illustration of Anacaona
painted by Marie-Denise Douyon. A link to more information on
Anacaona is also provided. Excerpt: “….In Xaragua, she soon
asserted her authority over her brother and ruled as a queen
famed for the ballads, ballets, poetry, plays and ornaments of
her court. Xaragua was the only Taino kingdom on the island that
had not succumbed to Spanish conquest when a new Spanish
governor, Nicholas Ovando, arrived with some 2500 troops in
1502….”
Anacaona, on rincondominicano.com: a short biographic
entry, in Spanish, featured on this Dominican Republic portal
site. Its contents mirror those of the Los Padres de la Patria
page.
Cacicazgos (Chiefdoms of Hispaniola), from
www.rincondominicano.net: a very short entry, in
Spanish, listing the main chiefdoms of Hispaniola as encountered
by the early Spanish chroniclers.
Cacique (the meaning of the word), from www.rincondominicano.net:
a short entry in Spanish on the cacique, or chief, in aboriginal
Hispaniola and a list of the main chiefdoms.
Caciques of
Puerto Rico, from www.elboricua.com: A useful page that
lists the principal chiefdoms, or cacicazgos, of aboriginal
Puerto Rico, indicating their general locations. The site as a
whole provides a wide range of cultural information.
Map of Chiefdoms (Cacicazgos) of Puerto Rico (Boriquen), from
taino.com: an illustration of the names and distribution
of known chiefdoms is shown on this site.
Cultural History
of the Tainos of Puerto Rico, by Ivonne Figueroa,
www.elboricua.com: A detailed page, with references to
published sources, covering various facets of Taino culture,
including social and political organization, religious
ceremonies, agriculture and material culture.
Editor's
Note: The historical Anacaona is a figure that has attained almost
legendary status in narratives of anti-colonial resistance in Hispaniola
during the early years of Spanish conquest. The story of Anacaona is one
of both courage and tragedy, a story that lends itself to considerable
reworking in the historical imagination. In reading various online
resources, some of which provide references to published works, the reader
must keep in mind that everything we know about Anacaona comes to us not
from indigenous sources, or from dispassionate scholarly observers on the
ground, rather we receive what we know from Spanish colonial chronicles,
which means that, at best, our knowledge will always be second hand,
incomplete, and a product of colonialism itself.