Cacicazgo of Higuey

The Cacicazgo of Higuey was one of the five Taino chiefdoms of the island of Hispaniola, spanning the island's easternmost end and known in some accounts as the Caicimu-Higuey kingdom, ruled over time by caciques including Cotubanama and the female cacique Higuanama. Spanish conquest of the chiefdom began in 1503 under Juan de Esquivel following Taino attacks on Spanish settlers, and the Taino of Higuey fought two wars of resistance, the first encouraged by Higuanama in 1502 and the second by Cotubanama in 1504, both of which ended in defeat and the killing of natives who had already surrendered. By 1519 most of the Taino population of the Higuey region had been enslaved, with their numbers reduced to only about 1,189 individuals, marking the effective end of the chiefdom within roughly two decades of Spanish contact.