THE TAINO CACIQUE MAJAGUA
Dr. Fray Mario Rodríguez León, O.P.
Translated by Ann Shevlin
(c) CopyRight - Prohibido copiar, reproducir
 El cacique Majagua
 HE TERRITORY that makes up present-day Bayamón was part
of one of the Taino villages
(yucayeques)
on the island of Borinquen
(Puerto Rico).
Although the number of
Indians who inhabited
the region is unknown,
it was probably not
very high. The villages
were always built
near flowing water.
The Taino Indians were Arawaks who originated in South America.
They were men and women
of low stature, bronze-colored
skin, almond-shaped eyes,
prominent cheekbones
and black hair.
In each village there was
a chief (cacique)
who was the highest authority
for the region.
In turn, these chiefs,
while autonomous in
their villages, rendered
obedience to a supreme
chief named Agueybana.
Taino society was divided into three main
social groups: the caciques
(chiefs) and
the nitaynos (elders and
warriors), the bohiques(priests),
and the naborias, who made
up the majority
of the population at the
base of the societal
pyramid.(1)
Although the true origin of the name of
Bayamón is unknown, it
is possible that it
was the name of a chief
who has not yet been
determined. Dr. Cayetano
Coll y Toste considered
Bayamon to be the seat
of the chief Majagua.
[See Bayamón coat of arms,
at right; read
about Bayamón Coat of Arms].
According to the above-mentioned historian,
in 1510:
...the conuco (garden) of 8,000 hills of
yuca and
sweet potato belonging
to the cacique Majagua
is sold in public
auction by Juan Ponce
de
León:
one hundred pesos
to Juan Cerón, and
to Marcos
de Andón y Garci
Troche, to take care
of
the
expenditures of the
incipient colony
of Borinquen.. (2) |
Bayamón writer Dr. Walter Murray Chiesa is
the person who has done
the most study of
the figure of chief Majagua
and is his greatest
promoter. (3)
Presently there is a school
in Bayamón that
carries the name of Cacique
Majagua.
______
NOTES:
1. Gómez Acevedo, Labor y Manuel Ballesteros
Gaibrois: Culturas indígenas
de Puerto Rico.
Samarán, Madrid, 1975,
pp. 61-71.
2. Coll y Toste, Cayetano: Prehistoria de
Puerto Rico, Bilbao, 1969,
p. 23.
3. Autor del hermoso cuento taíno Otoquí.
Don Walter Murray Chiesa
constituye uno de
los valores intelectuales
de Bayamón y un
ferviente defensor de la
artesanía puertorriqueña.
* Learn more about the
Taínos. Read: Books about the Tainos.
|
