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Leonardo Moran, I am a writer born in Cuba. My... (more)
111 upvotes by Paul Jeong, Jann Hoke, David Durham, (more)
Hatuey’s accomplishment (the name's pronounced at-way) is unknown to most. But in Cuba he is the Shawnee warrior Tecumseh, he is Hannibal the Carthaginian, he is Joan of Arc, all rolled into one. This is what he did.
“They are well-built,” Columbus wrote of Cuba’s natives, “with good bodies and handsome features. They are the finest people on Earth, lacking any knowledge of evil. They neither murder nor steal [and] display the most singular loving behavior…always gentle and always laughing.
"They are ingenious and free with all they have; of anything they possess, if it be asked of them, they never say no. They are a very loving people and without covetousness. There is no better country or better people in the world than these.
“They do not bear arms and do not know them. They would make fine slaves. With fifty [armed] men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we will.”
The Spanish promised to impart their Christian faith in exchange for the Indians’ labor. ‘Labor’ in this case meant chattel slavery and starvation in the mines. It was annihilation. Indians who fled enslavement were hunted down like game. The priest Bartolomé de las Casas documented their stories; they fill a book. A minor example:
“…(the Spanish) forced their way into the native settlements, slaughtering everyone they found, including small children, old men, pregnant women, and even women who had just given birth. They hacked them to pieces, slicing open their bellies with their swords as though they were so many sheep. They even laid wagers on whether they could manage to slice a man in two at a stroke, or cut one’s head from his body, or disembowel him with a single blow of their axes. They took infants by the feet and dashed them headlong against the rocks. They spared no one. They raised gibbets on which to hang their victims, roasting them alive thirteen at a time. (That number) honoring our Savior and the twelve Apostles..."
Few among the ‘conquistadores’ were normal men. Many were psychopaths, murderers and rapists freed from Spanish prison. They had never before experienced absolute power over others. With no restraint over his actions a Spaniard could (and did) order an Indian child to hold out an arm, simply to test the sharpness of his blade.
The native Taínos had faced prior enemies. They had fought a fierce and warlike tribe called the Caribes (for whom the Caribbean is named). But all agreed: they had never met a race as savage and as lustful for gold as the Spanish.
The chieftain Hatuey gathered his kinfolk. Taking a basket full of their gold he threw it into a raging waterfall. “Here is the god the Spanish worship! For our baubles and our trinkets they torture and kill. For our trifles and vanities they hunt us down, butcher our children, murder our women, and take us as slaves to a distant, joyless place. Throw your gold into these waters! Then they may sail home and leave us in peace.”
But the Spaniards did not sail home. They longed to own the Indians’ final possession - their labor. Hatuey led the resistance. With sling and spear and tortoise-shell shields they battled the invaders. They were defeated. Hatuey was sentenced to burn at the stake on a pyre of the trees he worshipped. Every nation has its defining moment. This was ours. On that unjust day he became more than a rebel. On that day he became legend.
A Franciscan priest urged him to accept Christ as Savior. “For baptism in the blood of the lamb,” promised he, “ensures your place in paradise! There will you rest among ever-blossoming flowers and ever-fruitful trees. The islands of heaven run with streams of wine and honey. Such is the glory of Christian Paradise!”
The Indian worried. “And should I reject your faith, what will become of me? On what island shore will my spirit find peace?”
The priest’s gaze turned cold. “My son,” he hissed, “anyone so wretched as to die outside Christ’s embrace is forever doomed to a place of darkness! There you will find no fishes, no fruits or flowers. He foolish enough to reject God’s infinite compassion will be punished with equally infinite torments in the fiery cauldrons of hell! And more,” he promised, “a Christian baptism allows a quick beheading. Rather than the agonizing death by fire which you now face!”
The Indian asked warily: “Should I go into your Christian heaven…will I see them there?” With bound hands he indicated the Spaniards who had butchered his folk. “Those bloodthirsty savages who accompany you? Will they join me there?”
“But of course!” laughed the priest. “How could heaven be otherwise? All Christians dwell eternallywith Christ and His saints!”
The Indian lashed out at his tormentor. “A heaven for torturers? A paradise for child-killers? What god would so defile his creation? I want no part of your paradise. Send me to hell!” And so the fires were lit.
One hundred and fifty years after the burning the Indian’s sentiment was echoed in a great poem. It was written by one who had never set foot on Cuban soil. It is titled “Paradise Lost.” In it the Archangel Lucifer, exiled from heaven for disobedience, is cast into the netherworld. He embraces fate with these words:
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.
Here we may reign secure; and, in my choice,
To reign is worth ambition, though in hell:
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.
Hatuey‘s accomplishment: he knew something his conquerors did not. He knew that even paradise with all its glories, if shared with oppressors, will prove an agony and a hell. Better therefore to reign in hell than serve in heaven. Better to die with dignity than suffer the indignity of a slave. His example is taught to every Cuban schoolchild. Perhaps this is why even today we embrace rebels and visionaries, poets and malcontents, an indulgence not always to our profit.
The Spanish Bible gave us to know, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.” Hatuey said no; the meek shall have that which is theirs when they rise off their knees, stand fast on both feet, and claim it. Freedom is nowhere freely given. It must be fought for, and sometimes, but not always, won.
***
You may also want to read my answer on a related topic.
“They are well-built,” Columbus wrote of Cuba’s natives, “with good bodies and handsome features. They are the finest people on Earth, lacking any knowledge of evil. They neither murder nor steal [and] display the most singular loving behavior…always gentle and always laughing.
"They are ingenious and free with all they have; of anything they possess, if it be asked of them, they never say no. They are a very loving people and without covetousness. There is no better country or better people in the world than these.
“They do not bear arms and do not know them. They would make fine slaves. With fifty [armed] men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we will.”
The Spanish promised to impart their Christian faith in exchange for the Indians’ labor. ‘Labor’ in this case meant chattel slavery and starvation in the mines. It was annihilation. Indians who fled enslavement were hunted down like game. The priest Bartolomé de las Casas documented their stories; they fill a book. A minor example:
“…(the Spanish) forced their way into the native settlements, slaughtering everyone they found, including small children, old men, pregnant women, and even women who had just given birth. They hacked them to pieces, slicing open their bellies with their swords as though they were so many sheep. They even laid wagers on whether they could manage to slice a man in two at a stroke, or cut one’s head from his body, or disembowel him with a single blow of their axes. They took infants by the feet and dashed them headlong against the rocks. They spared no one. They raised gibbets on which to hang their victims, roasting them alive thirteen at a time. (That number) honoring our Savior and the twelve Apostles..."
Few among the ‘conquistadores’ were normal men. Many were psychopaths, murderers and rapists freed from Spanish prison. They had never before experienced absolute power over others. With no restraint over his actions a Spaniard could (and did) order an Indian child to hold out an arm, simply to test the sharpness of his blade.
The native Taínos had faced prior enemies. They had fought a fierce and warlike tribe called the Caribes (for whom the Caribbean is named). But all agreed: they had never met a race as savage and as lustful for gold as the Spanish.
The chieftain Hatuey gathered his kinfolk. Taking a basket full of their gold he threw it into a raging waterfall. “Here is the god the Spanish worship! For our baubles and our trinkets they torture and kill. For our trifles and vanities they hunt us down, butcher our children, murder our women, and take us as slaves to a distant, joyless place. Throw your gold into these waters! Then they may sail home and leave us in peace.”
But the Spaniards did not sail home. They longed to own the Indians’ final possession - their labor. Hatuey led the resistance. With sling and spear and tortoise-shell shields they battled the invaders. They were defeated. Hatuey was sentenced to burn at the stake on a pyre of the trees he worshipped. Every nation has its defining moment. This was ours. On that unjust day he became more than a rebel. On that day he became legend.
A Franciscan priest urged him to accept Christ as Savior. “For baptism in the blood of the lamb,” promised he, “ensures your place in paradise! There will you rest among ever-blossoming flowers and ever-fruitful trees. The islands of heaven run with streams of wine and honey. Such is the glory of Christian Paradise!”
The Indian worried. “And should I reject your faith, what will become of me? On what island shore will my spirit find peace?”
The priest’s gaze turned cold. “My son,” he hissed, “anyone so wretched as to die outside Christ’s embrace is forever doomed to a place of darkness! There you will find no fishes, no fruits or flowers. He foolish enough to reject God’s infinite compassion will be punished with equally infinite torments in the fiery cauldrons of hell! And more,” he promised, “a Christian baptism allows a quick beheading. Rather than the agonizing death by fire which you now face!”
The Indian asked warily: “Should I go into your Christian heaven…will I see them there?” With bound hands he indicated the Spaniards who had butchered his folk. “Those bloodthirsty savages who accompany you? Will they join me there?”
“But of course!” laughed the priest. “How could heaven be otherwise? All Christians dwell eternallywith Christ and His saints!”
The Indian lashed out at his tormentor. “A heaven for torturers? A paradise for child-killers? What god would so defile his creation? I want no part of your paradise. Send me to hell!” And so the fires were lit.
One hundred and fifty years after the burning the Indian’s sentiment was echoed in a great poem. It was written by one who had never set foot on Cuban soil. It is titled “Paradise Lost.” In it the Archangel Lucifer, exiled from heaven for disobedience, is cast into the netherworld. He embraces fate with these words:
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.
Here we may reign secure; and, in my choice,
To reign is worth ambition, though in hell:
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.
Hatuey‘s accomplishment: he knew something his conquerors did not. He knew that even paradise with all its glories, if shared with oppressors, will prove an agony and a hell. Better therefore to reign in hell than serve in heaven. Better to die with dignity than suffer the indignity of a slave. His example is taught to every Cuban schoolchild. Perhaps this is why even today we embrace rebels and visionaries, poets and malcontents, an indulgence not always to our profit.
The Spanish Bible gave us to know, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.” Hatuey said no; the meek shall have that which is theirs when they rise off their knees, stand fast on both feet, and claim it. Freedom is nowhere freely given. It must be fought for, and sometimes, but not always, won.
***
You may also want to read my answer on a related topic.
I really hope you get picked in the next rounds for Top Writer 2015. Your answers about Cuban culture and history are fascinating, especially because of your close and personal relation to some Cuban historical events. Even if you did not have that unique advantage, you are an excellent writer.
So sad. One of the reasons our species is in the mess it’s in.It has always been the most inhumane eliminating the more humane and never the other way around which resulted in the breeding of a subspecies that learned how to get away with calling ourselves human beings while continuing to behave like chimpanzees.
Amazing answer. I was wondering if you could recommend me any book related to this character. As a portuguese, I believe that we still romanticize the Discoveries in a very harmful towards the colonized people. It's always good to see someone shed some light regarding this dark chapter of History.
This a great answer. Thanks for sharing :)
This is the true face of christianity. Islam is even worse. bloodshed, extortion is filled in their culture. I hope the cuban people remember their ancient culture.
Gave me goosebumps!
Missionaries were always scum.They didn't improve these people one bit with all their Jesus Christ stuff.
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