Arasibo

Arasibo (born c.1480s) was the Taino Cacique Governor in the Puerto Rico area named after him (now spelled Arecibo).

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Arasibo governed a tribe whose village was located by the shore of the river "Abacoa" (now known as the "Rio Grande de Arecibo"). Arasibo had been known to be a "just" and respected cacique and his tribe had led a peaceful existence before the arrival of the Spaniards. The rivers close to the village were full of fish and turtles and so it was only natural that the members of Arasibo's tribe were fishermen. Their land produced many fruits, such as mangos and papayas; the tribe were cultivators of corn and rice. Arasibo loved to collect all kinds of animals and birds. He, like rest of the other Caciques, reported only to the "Supreme Cacique" Agueybana.

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The relationship between the Spaniards and the Tainos was peaceful at first, however, all that changed when the "Conquistadores" started to enslave the natives. Agueybana's brother "Agueybana II" discovered that the Spaniards were not "Gods" and this encouraged the Cacique to rebel against the invaders. The rebellion failed after Juan Ponce de Leons troops confronted and killed Agueyubana.

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In the "Cronicals of Arecibo" written by Puerto Rican historian Cayetano Coll y Toste, Toste states that his research and investigations led him to uncover the following facts. In the year 1515, all of the area of Arecibo including the rivers of "Rio Grande" and "Tanama" were given as a gift to a "Lope Conchillos" (who resided in Spain) by the Spanish Crown. Conchillos sent a helper by the name of "Pedro Moreno" to the island to administer his lands; Moreno found Arasibo and his tribe of about 200 Tainos living in the land - he then enslaved them and Arasibo and his people died shortly after.

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The crown in the Coat of Arms of the City of Arecibo says that it represents the glory of the Cacique Arasibo, who was the first known ruler of the region.

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Taino: The Ta?no are pre-Colombian indigenous Amerindian inhabitants of the Greater Antilles islands, which include Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, Jamaica and the Bahamas. The seafaring Ta?no are relatives of the Arawakan peoples of South America. Ta?no of the Bahamas wer...

Cacique: A cacique is a tribal chief in Latin America, particularly of the Spanish West Indies from the 16th century. The term is a Spanish variation of the Ta?no word cacike or the Arawak word kassequa, both meaning "chieftain"....

Puerto Rico: The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico) is a self-governing unincorporated organized territory of the United States located east of the Dominican Republic in the northeastern Caribbean. Puerto Rico, the smallest of the Greater Antilles, includes the main isla...