A contemporary image of this hero — who died in 1512 — does not exist, but this painting of the indigenous Taíno (who hailed from the modern island of Haiti/the Dominican Republic) called Hatuey is my favorite. Painted by Lacoste, it shows his face in a triumphant smile. And though he was burned at the stake by the Spanish Conquistadors, he dominated when it came to leadership and resistance.
Hatuey experienced the European onslaught against his homeland, and, knowing that the warrior Diego Velázquez was headed to modern Cuba next, beat the Spanish leader to the island and warned the indigenous people what was coming. According to the Spanish friar Bartolomé de las Casas, Hatuey relayed a scathing indictment against Christianity. Holding a basket of gold up to the people, he exclaimed:
“Here is the God the Spanish worship. For these they fight and kill; for these they persecute us and that is why we have to throw them into the sea . . . They tell us, these tyrants, that they adore a God of peace and equality, and yet they usurp our land and make us slaves. They speak to us of an immortal soul and of their eternal rewards and punishments, and yet they rob our belongings, seduce our women, violate our daughters. Incapable of matching us in valor, these cowards cover themselves with iron that our weapons cannot break . . .”.
Hatuey was eventually captured by the Spanish. Before they burned him to death, they asked him if he would accept Jesus and go to heaven. Reportedly, Hatuey refused. He retorted that, if the Spanish went to heaven, he wanted to be in hell, where he “would not see such cruel people”.
Snap. Today Hatuey is often called “Cuba’s first national hero”.
