Talk:Anacaona

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The areítos link refers to a specific album

The areítos link in the overview refers to a specific album, that is obviously incorrect. It should encourage to write a new document about this (Instead of refering to an irrelevant page)

Proposed Edits Here are my proposed additions to the article. I'm seeking to have a more diverse set of reliable sources for an overall unbiased representation of the facts. I'll be posting future edits and revisions. Please let me know what you think.

Anacoana Draft 1 Everything below is a new addition.

{}- language that may be biased or unconfirmed

Death In the fall of 1503, governor of Nicolas Ovando and his party of {~300} were received by Anacaona and {80} chiefs in Xaragua . They were received in a lavish ceremony. (Las Casas)

While the Taino presented the reception as a welcoming gesture, the Spanish who were present characterized it as an [elaborate distraction.] (Las Casas) Ovando’s party was under the impression that Anacoana and the present Taino chiefs were planning an insurrection. (Las Casas) Ovanda lured the chiefs into a batey (large hut) for a Spanish tournament and gave the signal for the Spaniards to [seize and bind] the caciques. {The caciques} were burned in the hut, while other {Taino “indians” of lesser rank} were slaughtered outside. Anacaona was arrested and hanged (Las Casas)

The accounts of these events remain uncertain for many reasons (Floyd). Even though the separate accounts made it seem as though it was a perfectly segregated {fight} between the Taino and the Spaniards, the two groups had coexisted for six years prior (Floyd). They had lived and intermarried. Additionally, fifty Spaniards were killed which is a high number of casualties, if the events truly occurred split down ethnic lines (Floyd). Additionally, it is unclear why the Spaniards intermarried with the Taino would let them fall for the trap (Floyd). Finally, the Xaragua caciques were respected as some of the most intelligent on the island, and it is unlikely that they could be lured into a hut if they were planning their own revolt (Floyd). (Word count: 235)

Legacy and Influence {Anacaona is memorialized in contemporary art and literature across the carribean.} Most famously, she is the main character in Edwidge Danticat’s {historical fiction} book, Anacaona, Golden Flower.

Other modern references:

Anacaona by Alfred Tennyson (poem) Anacaona. Callaloo (play)

Planned updates

Hello! Just a heads up that I am planning on overhauling and improving this article as part of the ongoing Developing Countries WikiContest. My primary goals are to improve sourcing and to expand the article in preparation for a GA review. I will be working in my sandbox, so feel free to check my progress there and message me if you feel there are issues with the sandbox content or if you have ideas for sources. There will probably be a very big edit coming tomorrow or in the next couple days. If there are issues with that edit once it goes through, let me know and we can discuss it here. Thank you! Spookyaki (talk) 03:00, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

GA review

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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This review is transcluded from Talk:Anacaona/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: Spookyaki (talk · contribs) 14:38, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

Reviewer: Averageuntitleduser (talk · contribs) 15:24, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

Absolutely. Will post a review within a few days. Averageuntitleduser (talk) 15:24, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

Well-written

• No written survive. — suggest: "None of her writings survive."
  • Done. Spookyaki (talk) 09:33, 16 July 2025 (UTC)
• began pursuing new political alliances — were these among themselves? With new Kalinago rulers? I wonder if the source elaborates.
  • Oops, guess I missed it, but this actually should be cited to Pierre 2016:

    In the last quarter of the fifteenth century, political federation on the island became a necessity when the Caribs, another Native American ethnic group from neighboring islands, engaged in aggressive military expansion. This action prompted caciques on Ayiti to form political alliances and centralize their authority over nearby territories. Yet the Taíno were not a culturally homogenous group, and strategic alliances across cacicagzo were often difficult to establish. In 1470 Cacique Caonabó, from the Lucayos (The Bahamas), conquered the Maguana cacicagzo that shared a border with Xaraguá. Cacique Behechio began consolidating power over all territories west of Xaraguá in 1475. In consideration of the military expertise required of a foreign cacique to subdue neighboring cacicagzo, Anacaona’s brother arranged a high-powered marriage between his sister and Caonabó to extend his political influence.

I don't know if this includes a conclusive answer. My impression, though, is that it seems like they mostly tried to form alliances with each other except in some unique cases, as with Caonabó. Do you think the text is sufficiently supportive of that conclusion? Spookyaki (talk) 09:33, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

Yep, that's my reading of it. Averageuntitleduser (talk) 03:18, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

• or one of many — If this intends to mean "one of many high-ranked wives", I suggest rewriting to make it clearer. Also, it might be good to preface that Caonabo had many wives before referring to them.
  • Rephrased: Caonabo had many wives, and it is possible that Anacaona was the highest-ranked of them of one of many.
• She only stayed with Caonabo for short intervals, spending most of her time in Jaragua with Bohechío. — to avoid confusion, change "she" to "Anacaona".
  • Done. Spookyaki (talk) 09:33, 16 July 2025 (UTC)
• By the time Columbus returned to Hispaniola in 1493, La Navidad had been destroyed. — Not to stray too far from the topic of Anacona, but this is very sudden and I wonder if we could say a few words about why this happened. I see that Anderson-Córdova (in note 2) suggests the Taínos killed them for abusing women, and Altman notes that Guacanagarix was not involved.
  • Added the following sentence: Guacanagaríx gave various accounts of La Navidad's destruction, ultimately claiming that Caonabo had destroyed the fort, possibly as a result of abuses perpetrated against Taíno women and possibly because he resented Guacanagaríx's perceived alliance with the Spanish.
    • I quite like that! Averageuntitleduser (talk) 03:18, 17 July 2025 (UTC)
• Academic Cecile Accilien claims that the Spanish disapproved of the relationship between Higuenamota and de Guevara, ultimately resulting in de Guevara's death. — I wonder why. Was de Guevara also Spanish and/or part of the rebellion?
  • He was Spanish, which I have now specified, so it may have been that they had a problem with a relationship between a Spaniard and a Taíno. It may have also been a problem because of de Guevara's eventual rebellion against Roldán. The source doesn't specify, though:

    Anacaona had a daughter who became famous around 1498 because of her relationship between her and a Spanish officer, Fernand de Ghevara, who wished to marry her. The Spaniards did not approve of their union and the love affair eventually led to Ghevara's death.

This is all it says on the matter. Spookyaki (talk) 09:33, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

Ah, you're right that his rebellion could be another indicator. Since the source does not give a direct reason, we do not need to either, but I think it was useful to specify his ethnicity. So this looks good. Averageuntitleduser (talk) 03:18, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

• reorganized Hispaniola — what does this phrase mean? I thought it referred to land, but we then discuss food.
  • You are correct, it does refer to land. Rephrased for clarity: Ovando reorganized Hispaniola, setting aside large tracts of land in Higüey, Vega Real, and Jaragua for food production. Spookyaki (talk) 09:33, 16 July 2025 (UTC)
    • Makes more sense. Averageuntitleduser (talk) 03:18, 17 July 2025 (UTC)
• In the novel, Higuenamota marries Hernando de Guevara and takes the name Doña Ana, eventually giving birth to a daughter, Mencia, who in turn eventually gives birth to the novel's protagonist, Enriquillo. — this sentence is a little dense and I figure some names could be dropped.
  • Rephrased: In the novel, Higuenamota marries Hernando de Guevara and takes the name Doña Ana. She is the grandmother of the novel's protagonist, Enriquillo. Spookyaki (talk) 09:33, 16 July 2025 (UTC)
• The song tells the story of Anacaona using lyrical fragments interspersed with a montuno based on the "Areíto de Anacaona", which was allegedly played by warriors to pay her homage. — what does "which" refer to?
  • Rephrased for clarity: The song tells the story of Anacaona using lyrical fragments interspersed with a montuno based on the "Areíto de Anacaona", an areito that was allegedly played by warriors to pay her homage. Spookyaki (talk) 09:33, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

Verifiable with no original research

Sources are all sufficiently reliable. The spot-check revealed no close paraphrasing.

Spot-check

• Anderson-Córdova, Karen Frances (2017). Surviving Spanish Conquest: Indian Fight, Flight, and Cultural Transformation in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-8173-9090-7.
  • Looks good, also alongside other sources. Y
• Cabrera Bosch, Maria Isabel (2008). "Anacaona". In Smith, Bonnie G. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. Translated by Miller, Matthew. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  • Looks good, also alongside Pierre. Y
• Pierre, N. Frederic (2016). "Anacaona". In Knight, Franklin W.; Gates, Jr., Henry Louis (eds.). Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro–Latin American Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  • Looks good, also alongside Cabrera Bosch. Y
• Sherwood, Marion (2013). Tennyson and the Fabrication of Englishness (PDF). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. doi:10.1057/9781137288905. ISBN 978-1-349-44999-6. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  • A few things. The page numbers need fixing, at least according to the provided link. Pedantically, the poem was only written in 1830. Also, only on the whole were Tennyson's early poems supportive of the British empire. Sherwood says specifically about the poem that he is criticizing the Spanish empire as destructive, but still portraying Anacona and Taíno society as primitive.
    • Interesting, didn't see that Citer had grabbed a link. Not the copy I used, but since it's there, I'll adjust the page numbers to the ones used in the linked copy. Also expanded on those points and clarified some of the details about the writing/publication (and split off into its own paragraph, as it was getting long): Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote the poem "Anacona" while attending Trinity College, Cambridge, publishing it in 1830. Independent scholar Marion Sherwood describes "Anacaona" as an "escapist fantasy" that portrays Anacaona as an "Other" living in an Edenic, natural paradise. According to Sherwood, Tennyson's "Anacaona" reflects Tennyson's ambivalence or hostility towards the Spanish Empire while romanticizing Anacaona as a "noble savage". He further claims that "Anacaona" reflects the poet's nationalistic concerns about the British Empire in the Caribbean. Spookyaki (talk) 09:33, 16 July 2025 (UTC)
      • I would change "published" to "written", because Sherwood says it was first printed posthumously (see also this article). Or you could say "wrote and recited". But also, I am still unsure about that last sentence. I don't see where he discusses the British empire in relation to the poem. Averageuntitleduser (talk) 03:18, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

        I swear there was something about that, but you're right, I can't find it. Removing that claim and rephrasing: Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote the poem "Anacona" while attending Trinity College, Cambridge, first reciting it in 1830, though it was not formally published until 1897, two years after his death. Spookyaki (talk) 04:32, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

        Huh, the page numbers should have alerted me before, but I see that the link is to the PhD thesis form of the book, so I have delinked it and restored the orginial page numbers. If it feels worthwhile, you could say that the poem is consistent with his nationalist view of the British empire in his early poetry. Averageuntitleduser (talk) 14:49, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

• Tracy, Olivia (2018). ""Rise Up through the Words": Postcolonial Haitian Uncoverings of Anacaona". Journal of Haitian Studies. 24 (1). Center for Black Studies Research: 101–126. ISSN 1090-3488. JSTOR 26527980. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  • Looks good, also alongside other sources. Y

Broad in its coverage

Yes, I think the article is broad enough. I haven't done too much searching, but it seems to represent a wide range of prominent books, encyclopedias, and journal articles. There is a lot of scholarship about Anacaona, but a lot of the other most promising results seem to only analyze the poetry, music, and drama about her, often focusing on a specific work. Yet Fumagalli and Tracy seem like the most prominent broad overviews of her legacy, and with them, we already end up with a sizable section, so we are definitely OK.

Yeah, there's a lot written about Anacona in literature. I actually think Anacaona the play and Anacaona: Golden Flower, Haiti, 1490 are probably sufficiently independently notable to have their own pages, so going to redlink those. Spookyaki (talk) 09:51, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

I was curious about one book that seemed fairly legit. It is supposedly a very comprehensive review of her biography and legacy, at least according to one review. But I am getting ahead of myself, and the article is already a solid pass on the breadth criterion.

Very interesting! Can't say I have access to this book, but I'm not sure how much it could add aside from some analysis. What little we know about Anacaona seems to come from a handful of Spanish primary sources. Spookyaki (talk) 09:33, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

That is true, so it's exclusion does not worry me! And it would seem like the very limited primary accounts of Anacoana might explain why scholars seem less inclined to focus on her biography. Averageuntitleduser (talk) 03:18, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

Stable

A little back and forth with another editor, but not major.

Illustrated

Images all seem appropriately licensed and captioned. Thanks for adding the map, it is a big help.

Summary

@Spookyaki: Thanks for your patience! Here are some thoughts. Averageuntitleduser (talk) 05:37, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

@Averageuntitleduser: Thank you for taking the time to review this! I've tried to address each concern. Let me know if there's anything else I can do to improve the article! Spookyaki (talk) 09:33, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

OK. Thanks @Spookyaki: for a very interesting article and for your speedy replies. I hope we will work together again in the future! This looks good to pass. Averageuntitleduser (talk) 14:52, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by AirshipJungleman29 talk 10:20, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

(

• Comment or view
• Article history

)

• ... that Anacaona, a 16th-century Taíno cacica, was the subject of a popular salsa song centuries after her death?

• Source: "One of the earliest songs to reintroduce Anacaona was the salsa piece 'Anacaona,' written by Tite Curet Alonso and popularized in the United States by Cheo Feliciano in the 1970s. As Eliana Ortega writes, this song had a large influence on Puerto Rican female poets in the United States." (Tracy 2018, p. 107)

• • ALT1: ... that Anacaona was the subject of a popular salsa song centuries after her death? Source: Same as above
  • Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Coupvolution

Improved to Good Article status by Spookyaki (talk). Number of QPQs required: 1. Nominator has 6 past nominations.

Spookyaki (talk) 06:11, 20 July 2025 (UTC).

• Promoted to GA on 17 July, so new enough, and long enough. The article is well-written and provided with reliable inline citations throughout. The style is neutral. The hooks are good, I personally prefer the second one that is punchier, but both work and are supported by reliable inline citations. No image. QPQ is done. Should be good to go. Yakikaki (talk) 20:04, 20 July 2025 (UTC)