"500 NATIONS" "Hello, I'm Kevin Costner." "Welcome back to 500 Nations." "The first encounters between Europeans and Indian people are some of the most famous and important events in world history." "Most of us can recite the names of Christopher Columbus' ships the year he first landed in the New World and how he mistakenly called the people he encountered there "Indians."" "But few of us know the names of the people who greeted Columbus or much about the lives they led." "How did they greet the strangers?" "Were they treated like gods?" "Were they feared?" "Were they attacked?" "Or were they treated as a new and exotic trading partner by a people who had a long history of dealing with other seafaring cultures?" "The first meeting between European and American worlds would bring two very different cultures into conflict." "We take you now to the Caribbean where the rough road of contact begins." "500 Nations continues with "A Clash of Cultures."" "The Caribbean" ""How much damage, how many calamities, disruptions and devastations of kingdoms have there been?" "How many souls have perished in the Indies over the years, and how unjustly?" "How many unforgivable sins have been committed?"" "Bartolomé de las Casas." "In December of 1492, three ships under the command of Christopher Columbus approached the second largest island in the Caribbean." "For eight weeks, Columbus had traveled from the Bahamas to Cuba finally reaching the site of modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic the island he would name "Hispaniola."" "The island was then populated by people known as the Taino." "One region was controlled by the paramount chief, Guacanagari." "On Christmas Eve, while coasting along the shore Columbus' flagship, the Santa María, ran aground." "When Guacanagari learned the news he sent all his people from the town with many large canoes to unload everything from the ship." "So great was the care and diligence which that king exercised and he himself was as diligent unloading the ship as in guarding what was taken to land in order that everything would be well cared for." "Grateful for the island leader's help Columbus accepted his invitation to come ashore." "The admiral left to dine on shore and arrived at the time when five kings had come all subject to the one who is called Guacanagari." "Guacanagari came to receive the admiral as soon as he had reached land and took him by the arm." "Columbus was immediately struck by the beauty of Taino life." ""The king observes a very wonderful estate in such a dignified manner that it is a pleasure to see." "Neither better people nor land can there be." "The houses and the villages are so pretty." "They love their neighbors as themselves and they have the sweetest speech in the world." "And they're gentle, and they're always laughing."" "Christopher Columbus." "As a token of gratitude for the rescue of his men and supplies Columbus presented Guacanagari with a red cape a prestigious item among the Taino elite." "In return, Guacanagari gave Columbus a golden tiara he wore on his head." "To Guacanagari, it was a fair exchange a gesture of mutual respect and recognition the opening of trade between equals." "To Columbus, it was a crown, a symbol of authority." "Guacanagari was surrendering his lands and people to Spain." "But Columbus was not simply looking to rule people." "He saw something much more valuable to his future." "He saw gold." "The prize he could take back to his sponsors in Europe." "There was wealth to be had." "And to the Europeans of the time wealth belonged to those strong enough to take it." "Now I have ordered my men to build a tower and a fort." "Not that I believe it to be necessary for it is obvious that with these men that I bring I could subdue all of this island since the people are naked and without arms." "But it is right that this tower be made so that with love and fear, they will obey." "Leaving behind a contingent of men in a fort built from the timbers of the Santa María Columbus set sail for Europe." "With him he would carry the news of a new world gold, and docile island natives." "Guacanagari and the Taino had no way of knowing what was about to happen to their ancient way of life." "The Taino's ancestors were part of a series of migrations of South American Indian people dating back over 2000 years." "They farmed the land and harvested the wealth of the sea." "Taino traders traveled in huge ocean-going canoes capable of carrying up to 150 men." "Boats laden with feathers, gold, wood, pottery beautiful birds, cotton fabric, and food." "Island nations were woven together by trade." "Trade was the communication system by which nations knew one another and maintained peace." "Some trading partners even exchanged their names to create lasting bonds between their communities." "By the time of contact there were well over a million people living in the Caribbean." "Local community leaders were subject to powerful regional leaders like Guacanagari, who controlled trade with large personal fleets and warehouses of commodities." "Into this world, Columbus returned in November 1493 with a military flotilla of 17 ships." "Under his command were armor-clad soldiers mounted cavalry, attack dogs, and guns." "The Spanish conquest of the Caribbean began." "Gold mines were opened, and the Taino were enslaved forced to mine the ore." "A Spanish priest, Bartolomé de las Casas who accompanied Columbus on his second voyage spoke out against the cruel treatment of the Taino people." ""It is not possible to recount the hundredth part of what I have seen with my own eyes." "A man had need to have a body of iron to undergo the labor they endure in getting gold out of the mines." "They must delve and search a hundred times over in the inner parts of the mountains till they dig them down from top to bottom." "They must work the very rocks hollow."" "Bartolomé de las Casas." "Epidemics and famine swept the island." "Yet the Spanish continued to demand that the beleaguered Taino supply them with both food and labor." "Garrisons were strung across the island to fortify the gold fields." "When resistance sprang up, Columbus sent out military units to terrorize towns into submission." "They were so relentlessly persecuted and pursued with their wives and children up into the hills, so tired, hungry, and harassed." "And there went with them disease, death, and misery just as if they had been killed in the wars." "They died of hunger and sickness that surrounded them and the fatigue and oppression that followed." "After 1496, no more than a third remained of the multitudes that had been on the island." "Taino suffering was so severe that thousands took their own lives rather than submit." ""Wherefore many went to the woods and there hung themselves after having killed their children saying it was far better to die than to live so miserably." "Some threw themselves from the high cliffs down precipices." "Others jumped into the sea, and others starved themselves to death."" "Benzoni, soldier for Spain." "Some escaped into the mountains including Guacanagari, the paramount chief who had befriended Columbus." "He soon died, a homeless wanderer." "By 1503, 11 years after Columbus' first voyage only a few pockets of resistance remained." "In the mountainous region of Xaragua Taino people, ruled by a woman named Anacaona successfully evaded Spanish demands for labor." "Determined to break the resistance the Spanish governor requested a diplomatic meeting." "Anacaona agreed and summoned 80 regional subchiefs to her statehouse for the meeting." "When the 80 leaders were gathered inside the governor gave a signal, and the thatched statehouse was set on fire." "Soldiers lined up outside with swords." "Taino leaders who did not burn were killed as they fled the blaze." "Anacaona was spared only to be later executed by hanging." "In the aftermath of the bloody carnage a little boy stood among the ashes and smoke beside the charred remains of his father a boy whose name the Spanish would come to remember well." "Enrique." "Enrique's Rebellion" "The child who witnessed the murder of his father and the other Taino leaders in Xaragua was taken away from the killing field by a Spanish priest." "He was placed in the care of missionaries and baptized "Enrique."" "Although raised by Spaniards, he never forgot his own identity:" "Heir to the chiefdom of the Bahoruco region of the island." ""Enrique was a tall and graceful man with a well-proportioned body." "His face was neither handsome nor ugly but that of a serious and stern man." "He married a native a woman of excellent and noble lineage named Dona Lucia."" "Bartolomé de las Casas." "The Spanish government created a labor-grant system under which individual Spanish landholders were given village populations to use as forced labor." "Enrique, his wife and his people were turned over to a debauched young Spaniard named Valenzuela." "They were at his mercy." "The priest, las Casas, protested." "In a more just world, Enrique would have been the master." "Valenzuela viewed Enriquillo as a slave and valued him less than manure in the street." "Enrique complied with Valenzuela's tyrannical demands for which he was rewarded with regular beatings and robbed of his last remaining possessions." "His many appeals to Spanish authorities fell on deaf ears." "When Valenzuela raped his wife, Enrique reached his breaking point." "He and his followers escaped to their homelands in the lofty Bahoruco Mountains." ""The Spanish came to call him 'The Rebel Enrique' and those who followed him were termed rebels and insurgents." "Although, in truth, they were not rebelling, but only fleeing from their cruel enemies who were misusing and destroying them just as a cow or an ox tries to escape from the slaughterhouse."" "Bartolomé de las Casas." "Enrique organized his people." "Women, children and elderly were sent into caves high in the mountains where they raised chickens and cultivated gardens to feed the resistance army." "Scouts were posted on every crag and pass heavy boulders rolled into place above the footpaths." "Enrique instructed his men to fight only in self-defense to kill Spaniards only in the course of battle and otherwise to simply deprive them of their arms." "At first, the Spanish army was confident they would quickly crush the Taino resistance." "But Enrique's people, armed only with spears iron spikes, fish bones, and bows and arrows fought with fierce determination against the Spanish and their sophisticated arms." "Time after time, they forced the enemy to retreat." "During one fierce battle, Valenzuela himself was captured but even this mortal enemy's life would be spared." "Enrique ordered him released." "As word of Enrique's victories spread across the island many Taino fled to his refuge and joined the fight for freedom." "His legend grew." "It was said that Enrique never slept at night." "That he himself patrolled the village until dawn." "For over a decade, he fought Spain to a standstill." "Finally, unable to defeat the guerrillas on their own territory an exhausted and humiliated Spanish government made overtures of peace." ""I know the Spanish very well, because they killed my father and grandfather and all the people of the kingdom of Xaragua and reduced the population of the entire island of Espanola." "I have fled to my own land, where neither I nor any of my followers are harming anyone, but are simply defending ourselves against those who came to capture and kill us." "I need not talk to another Spaniard."" "Enrique, Taino." "But there was one Spaniard to whom Enrique would still talk." "The priest, las Casas." "After many years spent demanding the king act to stop Spanish atrocities in the New World las Casas had been officially designated "Protector of the Indians."" "He now sought out Enrique in his mountain stronghold." "Two months later, las Casas and Enrique appeared before Spanish authorities and negotiated a truce." "Fourteen years after it began, the rebellion came to an end." "But only after the Spanish agreed to guarantee freedom for Enrique's people." "At the base of the Cibao Mountains Enrique settled with his 4000 followers the last members of a culture that had flourished for millennia." "By the end of the century the Taino population that las Casas had estimated at 2 million was officially reported extinct." "What does the name DeSoto mean to me?" "It means the personification of evil." "Gulf Coast of Florida" "In the late spring of 1539, less than 50 years after Columbus less than 20 years after the fall of the Aztec empire Spanish conquistador Hernando DeSoto landed on the west Florida coast north of present-day Tampa Bay." "He rode at the head of a 600-man army, 200 mounted." "They were supported by 100 servants, herds of horses, pack animals, swine and trained attack dogs." "Unable to carry the quantity of food needed to support the massive expedition DeSoto would feed his men and animals on the bounty of the towns they entered." "The invaders came prepared to take their provisions by force." "In July, DeSoto struck north into the lands of the Timucua people chiefdoms of fishermen and farmers scattered across the northern Florida peninsula." "One by one, villages were plundered by the marauding army." "Indian people were enslaved as burden bearers chained together with iron neck collars in groups of 30." ""If they were men of virtue, they would not have left their own country." "They have made highwaymen, adulterers, and murderers of themselves without shame of men or fear of any god."" "Timucua." "But the Timucua were people who also knew of war." "As the Spanish army advanced, news reached one leader, Uriutina who was secure in a military strength that had never failed him." "As the Spanish force neared Uriutina's town DeSoto sent a messenger ahead with a warning to submit or be destroyed." "Uriutina responded:" "I am king in my land." "I and all of my people have vowed to die a hundred deaths to maintain the freedom of our land." "This is our answer both for the present and forevermore." "DeSoto entered Uriutina's town with his army in battle formation." "But, oddly, they met no resistance." "The chief who had promised such defiance seemed to have completely submitted." "But the surface belied the reality." "While the Spaniards gorged upon the town's food stores Uriutina secretly summoned fighting men from throughout the region." "Then, playing out a military chess game the young chief invited DeSoto to witness Timucua military maneuvers in a large field." "His plan:" "To amass his army and launch a surprise attack on the Spanish force." "But DeSoto had been forewarned by a spy." "Matching the Indian leader move for move he brought his army to the field in battle formation." "To the rear of the Timucua force were two lakes to their flanks were forest and in front of them, the Spanish army." "Suddenly, DeSoto gave a signal." "Uriutina was seized, and the Spaniards attacked." "The Spanish cavalry thundered forward their horses' hooves driving into the Timucuan ranks." "Outmatched, the Indian force fell back." "Some ran towards the shelter of the trees." "Hundreds more plunged into the lake nearby swimming out into the deep water to evade their pursuers." "The Spaniards fired into the lake, trying to force the Timucua to surrender." "Indian resistors had to tread water constantly but by nightfall, not a single man had yielded." "A Spanish chronicler observed the agonizing struggle:" "And now they continued to torment the Indians never once letting them set foot on the shore hoping that they would become exhausted by the swimming and as a result, give up the more quickly." "Thus, they threatened with death those who would not surrender." "Regardless of how much the Castilians afflicted them they could not do enough to keep them from showing their spirit and strength." "For even though these men realized that they were without hope of help in the hardships and danger they were experiencing some chose death as a lesser evil." "It was not until late the following morning that 200 survivors surrendered in a body." ""They had been swimming 24 hours and it was a great pity to see them emerge from the lagoon half-drowned and swollen and transfixed by the toil, hunger, fatigue and lack of sleep they had suffered."" "Garcilaso de la vega, Spanish chronicler." "The remaining seven were dragged out of the water at knifepoint by DeSoto's men." "The Timucuan prisoners were chained and distributed among the Spanish soldiers as slaves." "Uriutina was imprisoned inside his own statehouse." "He would make one last act of defiance." "Pretending to have passively accepted his defeat he lulled DeSoto within his reach." "Suddenly, he lunged at the Spanish leader smashing his face with chained fists." "The chief gave out such a tremendous roar that it could be heard for a quarter of a league around." "The blow was so fierce that DeSoto was unconscious for more than half an hour and he bled through the eyes, nose, and mouth." "Simultaneously, Uriutina was gored by 12 swordsmen." "Outside, the Timucua fell upon their captors fighting with stones, pots of boiling food, anything at hand." "The Spaniards turned upon them, killing indiscriminately." "They were valiant and spirited people." "And had they found themselves free, would have done more harm." "With all that, imprisoned as they were they tried to do everything they could." "And for this reason, the Spaniards killed each of them not permitting a single one to live which was a great pity." "In a certain way, I feel like the land has a memory of its own and the memory of the suffering can still be felt in the Southeastern United States." "You can go into sites where Indian villages, and even, we might say, cities, once were and you can see the ruins, you can see the mounds where people were buried and you don't see the people." "And you know immediately there was a great and tragic story there." "So I think that the story still lives." "Even if it's not in our history books, it's in the land itself." "DeSoto's March" "Having laid waste to the Timucua, DeSoto marched his army north." "In the spring of 1540, he approached a town near present-day Columbia, South Carolina." "Cofitachequi, a farming community with a religious and social heritage reaching back to the ancient Mound Builders." "The army's approach was monitored by the people of Cofitachequi." "They hid what they could of their food stores and sent their elderly chieftess away to a town removed from DeSoto's path." "When DeSoto reached the bank of the Wateree River the niece of the old chieftess crossed the river to meet him." "Relying on diplomacy rather than military force she hoped to persuade the Spaniard to spare her people." "The mistress of her town and eight of her ladies embarked in a canoe which had been covered with a great canopy and adorned with ornaments." "It was towed by a second one, which bore six principal Indians and many oarsmen." "In this manner, they all crossed the river." "The mistress of Cofitachequi came before DeSoto and, after paying her respects seated herself upon a chair, which her subjects had brought for her." "She alone spoke with the governor." "Excellent Lord although my possibility does not equal my wishes for goodwill is more worthy than all the treasures of the world which may be offered without it with very sincere and open goodwill I offer you my person, my lands my vassals and this poor service." "Unwrapping a great strand of pearls from her neck she presented them to DeSoto." "Struck with admiration, DeSoto called her the "Lady of Cofitachequi."" "But her generosity and graciousness would not prevent the plunder of her town." "The Spaniards feasted on 600 bushels of corn." "They looted the graves and temples for pearls." "Then DeSoto demanded that the old chieftess be summoned from hiding to gain her submission." "Finally, a 21-year-old adopted son of the chieftess was pressed into leading the army to her." "The Spaniards marched out of town behind the young guide stopping some time later in the forest to eat." "He began to grow morose and to sit contemplatively with his hand on his cheek." "He gave some long and profound sighs." "Then, as he sat in the midst of the Spaniards he began to remove his arrows one at a time and very slowly." "Observing that the Castilians were not watching him he struck himself in the gullet in such a way as to inflict a mortal wound, and thus died instantly." "When the Indian bearers were asked why the boy had taken his life they explained:" "He realized that the act of guiding these people to his mother's present location was unworthy of the love she bore him." "The elderly chieftess remained undiscovered but before resuming his march, DeSoto took her young niece the Lady of Cofitachequi, as his hostage." "After days of traveling west, she managed a daring escape even recovering some of the plundered pearls." "DeSoto would not pursue her." "He moved on, crossing the Appalachian Mountains." "In July, he traveled down a broad river into the territory of the Coosa what is now northern Alabama." "The Spaniards were amazed by the size and wealth of the Coosa nation where a single day's march took them through 12 towns each surrounded by vast fields of crops." "When they reached the Coosa capital they were met on the road by 1000 men wearing great feathered headdresses and bearing their young chief on a litter." "After replenishing their supplies DeSoto and his men departed without serious incident." "With them, they would take stories of Coosa wealth that would become legendary in Spain." "As the army headed west they left behind one man too sick to travel a decision that would shatter the Coosa world." "On October 18th, 1540 DeSoto arrived at the fortified town of Mauvila in the territory of the powerful Mobile nation." "The Mobile had been preparing for this moment." "Inside a strong, defensive wall replete with towers, a war council was in progress." "Upon the arrival of the Spaniards a man described as a was sent out to confront them." "Who are these thieves and vagabonds who keep shouting "Come forth, come forth" with as little consideration as if they were talking with some such person as themselves?" "No one can endure longer the insolence of these demons, and it is, therefore only right that they die today, torn into pieces for their infamy and that in this way, an end be given to their wickedness and tyranny." "As he finished speaking the captain general was struck down with a Spanish sword." "Instantly, thousands of Mobile fighters spilled out driving back the Spaniards, fighting so fiercely they even grabbed the cavaliers' lances by the blades." ""The Indians fought with so great spirit that they drove us outside again and again."" "Elvas, Spanish chronicler." "But the Spanish soldiers broke through the town's fortifications with battle-axes and drove the Mobile inside their homes." "DeSoto ordered the houses set on fire." "Wind fanned the flames, engulfing the town in thick smoke while DeSoto kept the trumpets, fifes and drums blaring." "And yet the Mobile battled ever more desperately." "Women fought frantically beside the men prompting one Spanish soldier to say:" ""They fought with a desire to die."" "Finally, at sunset after nine hours of battle, it ended." "Eyewitness estimates of the Mobile dead ranged up to 11,000." "Bodies littered the streets between the charred remains of buildings." "Even the Spaniards reeled in shock." "One soldier emerged from the silence of the aftermath frozen like a wooden statue until he died." "A Mobile fighting man hung himself by his bowstring rather than be left to survive alone." "Eighty-two of DeSoto's men died and every one of his soldiers was wounded, many seriously." "For a month, the army was forced to stop and recover." "Then, as the surrounding Indian nations watched in horror DeSoto renewed his march." "But his army had been weakened." "The tide was beginning to turn." "In April of 1541, the invaders reached the Mississippi River." "There, DeSoto heard stories of the powerful Natchez nation direct inheritors of the grand Mississippian culture." "Natchez influence, both economic and military spread in all directions along the Mississippi." "Their temple pyramids rose majestically along the banks of the rivers." "The Natchez paramount chief, Quigaltam, was heir to the tradition of the great suns and spiritual head of a powerful religious aristocracy." "His title was "Son of the Sun."" "He was carried on a litter so his feet would never touch the ground." "His head was flattened according to Natchez custom and tattoos of black, red and blue designs were etched across his body." "DeSoto, claiming that he too was a child of the sun summoned the Natchez leader to the Spanish camp." "Quigaltam sent back his reply:" ""With respect to what DeSoto said about being the 'Son of the Sun' let him dry up the great river, and I will believe him." "With respect to the rest I am not accustomed to visit anyone." "On the contrary all of whom I have knowledge visit and serve me and obey me and pay me tribute."" "Quigaltam, Natchez." "DeSoto would never meet Quigaltam or see the wealth of the Natchez." "On May 21 st, 1542, he died." "His body was buried in the Mississippi." "Over the following year DeSoto's army ventured as far west as Texas before returning to the Mississippi." "There, they built a flotilla and headed downriver for the Gulf of Mexico." "En route, they were met by 100 magnificently painted Natchez canoes arrayed in battle formation." "Seated under canopies, fighting men dressed in vivid colors and wearing large headdress plumes drove the Spanish boats out of Natchez territory and downriver where one tribe after another picked up the pursuit." "The Spaniards reached the Gulf of Mexico on July 18th, 1543 setting sail for Spanish outposts on the Mexican coast." "For the American Indian nations DeSoto's expedition mercifully came to an end." "But it would not be the end of DeSoto's influence on the continent." "Twenty years later, another expedition would enter the Southeast this time to colonize." "In Spain, the agricultural wealth of the region had become legendary but the new arrivals found few people and could barely survive." "In desperation, they traveled north to the land of the Coosa where DeSoto's army had passed through 12 thriving towns on a single day's march." "But instead of the fabled towns they found ruins and temple mounds deserted and overgrown." "And instead of populations of thousands they found only pockets of survivors." ""Our village had once been very great and populous but other men similar to you destroyed it and forced us to run away in fear."" "Nanipacana, Coosa." "Unknown to DeSoto the sick man he had left with the Coosa carried a weapon far more deadly than Spanish arms." "While the army carved a path of destruction through the Southeast a hidden enemy that would take more Indian lives than all the generals and conquistadors combined was secretly traveling among them." "The Europeans had tremendous immunity and resistance to the diseases that they had known for tens of thousands of years:" "Smallpox, even the plague, chickenpox, whooping cough, measles, mumps." "The Indians had no epidemic diseases." "None of these were there." "Consequently, they had no immunities, absolutely no resistance." "So a disease as simple as mumps that we think of today as a childhood disease it would come into an Indian community and quite possibly kill off 20 percent of the village." "Then the next year another disease could come through, such as smallpox and kill off 30 percent." "So the Indians were tremendously weakened by disease." "Knowledge was lost as elders died suddenly." "Nations were thrown into upheaval." "In less that 20 years civilizations that had flourished for centuries swirled into oblivion." "Our next hour looks to North America's East coast from the Arctic to Virginia." "There the Indian nations would meet another European power the English." "Please join us for part four of 500 Nations:" "Invasion of the Coast." "Feel free to translate this to your language and place your name here as translator."