Hatuey - 2001
35mm film photograph

 

Baracoa, Cuba - 35mm film - 2001

Baracoa is about the only place in Cuba where you'll still find people with strong strains of native blood. Isolated from much of the rest of Cuba by the mountains the Spanish were unable to totally decimate the natives. This statue honours Hatuey, a native from Dominica who led the local Tainos against the Spanish in the 1500s. They held out for months, burning Baracoa down in the process, but Hatuey was ultimately captured. Given a choice of accepting God or burning at the stake and going to Hell he chose Hell, stating he preferred that over a Heaven filled with Spanish Christians.

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