Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is an island that is part of the Greater Antilles, with Hispaniola to the west and the Virgin Islands to the east. Many know that it was on his second voyage in 1493 that Christopher Columbus “discovered” Puerto Rico, and named it San Juan Bautista. Many also know that it was the discovery of gold that led its name to be changed to Puerto Rico and its capital to take on San Juan. However, many do not know that there were many peoples that lived in Puerto Rico before Columbus even set his eyes on its shores and of the atrocities committed.

According to the Southeast Archeological Center (SEAC), the first people were those of the Casimoroid culture who migrated from Central America to Cuba and through Hispaniola to extreme western Puerto Rico. Little is known about these people. Then came those of Ortoiroid culture who were hunters and gatherers (SEAC). While the Casimoroid people came eastward, the Ortoiroid people came north from South America and through the Lower Antilles and westward into Puerto Rico (SEAC). These people either settled in the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico, and they ended up developing separate cultures as a result (SEAC). While the early inhabitants of the Virgin Islands tended to live in open areas, those of Puerto Rico lived in caves as well as open areas (SEAC). Then Saladoid period came and displaced the Ortoiroid (SEAC). The Saladoid culture originated from Orinoco River Valley in South America and going up the same way as the Ortoiroid (SEAC). However, with the Saladoid came pottery (SEAC). They were the beginning of what was called the Ceramic Period (SEAC). These people were part of the Arawak Tribe and developed the Igneri culture, excelling in pottery (Massa and Vivas 27)These people brought about an agricultural lifestyle, with their main crop being cassava (SEAC). Then came the Ostinoid period and with it the Taíno and the Carib people, who lived closed by (SEAC). The Taíno people who were also part of the Arawak tribe. Puerto Rico was called, by the Taíno, Boriquén, which is where the words Borinquen, Borinqueño, and Boricua originate, and it means “Land of the Haughty Lord” (Massa and Vivas 28). The Taíno and the Carib were in constant warfare (SEAC). Massa and Vivas noted that, in the Taíno culture, there existed three social classes: “the naborias, [who were the] common people, the nytainos, [who were the] nobles … and the buhitis, who were the priests and medicine-men” (28-29). Even the nobles had their own hierarchy, with a local cacique, who headed each town, and the supreme cacique, who ruled over everyone (29).

By the time the Spaniard returned, several years have passed since Columbus first arrived. It was Juan Ponce de León who asked to explore San Juan (Brau 103-104). When Ponce arrived at San Juan in 1508, he met with the “great Taíno chief, Agüeybana” (Massa and Vivas 35-36). Ponce was met with great hospitality, and Van Middeldyk argues the hospitality was because the mother of the chief cacique was a woman of acute judgement and heard about the doings of the Spaniards in Hispaniola (19). They went through a ceremony to become “guaytiaos” and Ponce de León even married the chief’s sister (Massa and Vivas 36; Van Middeldyk 19). At the end of these ceremonies, Ponce asked the chief for the source of his gold, and the chief happily showed him the rivers in which he found the gold, unknowingly sealing the doom of his people (Van Middeldyk 20). He then told the King of Spain of his bounty and was asked to send it to Hispaniola to be smelted and then on to Spain. He, later that same year, founded Caparra and in 1510, founded Villa de Sotomayor, naming it after his second in command, Cristóbal de Soto-mayor (Massa and Vivas 36). The Spaniard made quick work of the Natives and enslaved them in the fields and the mines. Under the system of repartimientos and encomiendas, the several Taínos were given to each Spanish settler.

In 1509, the Governor General of the Indies, Nicolás de Ovando, was deposed and in his place, Diego Colón was appointed in accordance with the agreement between Columbus and the King and Queen of Spain where he and his heirs would hold the titles of Viceroy, Governor and Admiral of the areas discovered (Massa and Vivas 36). Diego knew of role in which Ponce took in the “insurrection of Roldán against his father’s authority, and bore him no good-will” (Van Middeldyk 21). Thus, Colón appointed Juan Cerón as Governor of San Juan and Miguel Diaz as High Constable (21). During this time, Ponce continued his correspondence with the King, and as a result he was granted the Governorship of the island (Brau 128). This first thing Ponce did with his now title was capture Cerón and Diaz and send them to Spain (Van Middeldyk 23). While all this was happening, the Taínos were rebelling (Massa and Vivas 37). The Taínos had to first test the veracity of the immortality of