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21 The Stranger King Este [Caonabó], fue valerosisimo y enforzado señor, y de mucha gravedad y autoridad, y segun entendimos a los principos a esta isla [Española] vinimos era de nacion Lucayo, natural de las islas de los Lucayos, que se pasó dellas acá, y por ser varon en las guerras y en la paz señalado, llegó a ser rey de aquella provincia [Maguana] y por todos muy estimado. [Caonabó was a highly esteemed and powerful man, very serious and authoritative . We understand that he is one of the main chiefs of the island of Hispaniola. He is a Lucayan, who came from the Lucayan Islands. He is a man of war and peace, the King of Maguana, and is respected by all.] —Bartolomé de las Casas The tale of the “stranger king” is told in some version in virtually every culture in the world. It is the tale of an immigrant king who deposes a ruler, then solidifies the takeover by marrying the daughter of the former king. The basic story line is as follows:The heroic son-in-law from a foreign land demonstrates his divine gifts, wins the daughter, and inherits half or more of the kingdom. Before it was a fairy tale, it was a theory of society. Accounts of the stranger king have been retold numerous times in anthropological works. Marshall Sahlins (1985) devoted an extended essay to such beliefs, with an emphasis on those from Fiji and Hawaii and demonstrated how belief in a stranger king not only justified king/subject relations, but also structured native reactions during initial contacts with Europeans. Caonabó was the most powerful cacique on Hispaniola when Columbus arrived on the island. It is likely that he grew up on Middle Caicos at the site known as MC-6. His story explores the intersection of myths, beliefs, and practices among the different participants who have written this history (see Keegan 2007). For example , the Taíno imbued Caonabó with a mythical status bordering on divinity; the Spanish imposed their own beliefs on their interactions with Caonabó and recorded the story; and the archaeologists who have studied this time period have used their beliefs to interpret the events and to present these as history. The story and legend of Caonabó begins with the sinking of the Santa María off the north coast of Hispaniola. Shortly past midnight on Christmas Day, 1492, the Santa María had her belly ripped open on a coral reef. Awakened by the sound of 118 / Chapter 21 an explosion that could be heard “a full league off” (about three miles), Columbus quickly assessed the situation and ordered the main mast cut away to lighten the vessel. He also sent Juan de la Cosa, the ship’s master, to take a boat and cast an anchor astern in order to keep the vessel from being driven further onto the reef. Instead , de la Cosa fled to the Niña.The captain of the Niña refused to let de la Cosa onboard and sent a longboat to aid the admiral. It was too little too late; the Santa María was stuck fast. The wreck of the Santa María occurred in the Taíno province of Marien, which was ruled by a cacique named Guacanagarí. Upon learning of the wreck Guacanagarí wept openly, and he sent weeping relations to console Columbus throughout the night. Afraid to risk the Niña in salvaging the Santa María, Columbus enlisted Guacanagarí’s assistance. His people recovered everything, including planks and nails, and assembled the materials on the beach. So thorough were the Taínos that not a single “agujeta” (lace-end1 ) was misplaced. Thus, Guacanagarí came to be the first Taíno cacique to establish a strong bond with the Spanish. Furthermore, his lifelong friendship with Columbus can be interpreted as an unsuccessful effort on his part to enhance his status in the island’s political hierarchy . Columbus took the sinking of the Santa María as a sign from God that he should build a fort in this location. Guacanagarí gave Columbus two large houses to use. With the assistance of his people, the Spaniards reportedly began the construction of a fort, tower, and moat in the cacique’s village using the timbers and other materials salvaged from the Santa María. Because the Niña could not accommodate all of the sailors, about thirty-nine men were left at La Navidad with...

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