Recently, I was reminded of the story of Hatuey, a chief of the indigenous Taíno people in the 1500s. Struck by its power, I wanted to share his story with you. I will offer no commentary or evaluation, but rather, I will allow you to reflect upon this story yourself. I hope it impacts you as profoundly as it’s beginning to with me.
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"Taíno chief Hatuey... was from the island that later became Hispaniola. After actively opposing the Spanish colonizer’s cruelty against the Indigenous inhabitants, Hatuey organized 400 men who traveled by canoe to Cuba[. They aimed] to warn the inhabitants there and urge their resistance to the Spaniard colonizers’ genocidal cruelty. After fighting guerrilla-style against the Spaniards, Hatuey was captured on February 2, 1512 and burned at the stake." [1]
The historian Bartolomé de las Casas wrote this account of Chief Hatuey's execution:
"[A] Franciscan monk, a holy man, who was there, spoke as much as he could to [Chief Hatuey], in the little time that the executioner granted them, about God and some of the teachings of our faith, of which he had never before heard; he told him that if he would believe what was told him, he would go to heaven where there was glory and eternal rest; and if not, that he would go to hell, to suffer perpetual torments and punishment.
After thinking a little, Hatuey asked the monk whether the Christians went to heaven; the monk answered that those who were good went there. [Chief Hatuey] at once said, without any more thought, that he did not wish to go there, but rather to hell so as not to be where Spaniards were, nor to see such cruel people."[2]
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Notes
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[1] “Who Is Hatuey?” The Hatuey Project, n.d. https://www.hatueyproject.org/who-is-hatuey/.
[2] Francis Augustus Macnutt. Bartholomew de Las Casas : His Life, Apostolate, and Writings. Cleveland, OH: General Books, 2007. Emphasis added by me.