Arena Massacre

Last updated

The Arena Massacre or Arena Uprising took place on 1 December 1699 in Trinidad at the mission of San Fernando de los Arenales, east Trinidad. It resulted in the death of several hundred Amerindians, Roman Catholic priests connected with the mission of San Francisco de los Arenales, the Spanish Governor José de León y Echales and all but one member of his party. [1]

Contents

Amerindians tied to the Church's encomienda at the mission at Arena revolted, killing the priests and desecrating the church. [2] They then ambushed the governor and his party, who were on their way to visit the church. Among those killed in the governor's party was Fr. Juan Mazien de Sotomayor, O.P., missionary priest to the Nepuyo villages of Cuara, Tacarigua and Arouca. One member of the governor's party managed to escape the attackers and returned to San Jose where he raised the alarm.[ citation needed ]

Aftermath

The rebels hastily buried the bodies of the monks, threw the governor's body into the river and headed for the coast. They were pursued by the Spaniards, who overtook them at Comcal and drove them to Cocal. Many dived into the sea in preference to being captured. Eighty-four rebels were captured and sixty-one of them were shot. The surviving indigenes were interrogated via torture. Many of the tortured revealed that they were often beaten by the priests for not attending church services. The twenty-two identified as ringleaders were hanged on 14 January 1700 at San José de Oruña, the capital of the colony, [2] and their dismembered bodies displayed. The women of the tribe were distributed among the Spanish households as slaves.[ citation needed ]

Miracles

In April 1701 a party set out to recover the bodies of the Capuchin monks. According to the official history of the Capuchins, written by Fr. Mateo de Anguiano in 1704, the ground was still wet with fresh blood, and the bodies of the monks were uncorrupted, bleeding from their wounds when they were moved. The bodies were taken to the main church where they lay in state for nine days. [3]

In 1885 Dominican Fr. Cothonay claimed to have found the site of the Mission of San Francisco de los Arenales. In addition to physical evidence he cited Amerindian traditions that on Holy Thursday and Good Friday every year, "remarkable things happened" and some claimed to have heard voices, talking and singing, a priest saying Mass and people praying. [3]

Related Research Articles

The history of Trinidad and Tobago begins with the settlements of the islands by Indigenous First Peoples. Trinidad was visited by Christopher Columbus on his third voyage in 1498,, and claimed in the name of Spain. Trinidad was administered by Spanish hands until 1797, but it was largely settled by French colonists. Tobago changed hands between the British, French, Dutch, and Courlanders, but eventually ended up in British hands following the second Treaty of Paris (1814). In 1889, the two islands were incorporated into a single political entity. Trinidad and Tobago obtained its independence from the British Empire in 1962 and became a republic in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter the Aleut</span> Christian martyr and saint

Cungagnaq is venerated as a martyr and saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was a native of Kodiak Island, and received the Christian name of Peter when he was baptized into the Orthodox faith by the monks of St Herman's missionaries operating in the north. He was captured by Spanish soldiers near San Pedro and tortured and killed at the instigation of Roman Catholic priests either there or at a nearby location. At the time identified for his death, California was Spanish territory, and Spain was worried about Russian advances southwards from Alaska. Hubert Howe Bancroft, in his multi-volume History of California, only notes that, in connection with an incident wherein a Russian fur-hunting expedition was taken into custody after declining to leave San Pedro; one Russian source accused "the Spaniards of cruelty to the captives, stating that according to Kuskof’s report one Aleut who refused to become a Catholic died from ill-treatment received from the padre at San Francisco."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mission San Francisco Solano</span> 19th-century Franciscan mission in California

Mission San Francisco Solano was the 21st, last, and northernmost mission in Alta California. It was named for Saint Francis Solanus. It was the only mission built in Alta California after Mexico gained independence from Spain. The difficulty of its beginning demonstrates the confusion resulting from that change in governance. The California Governor wanted a robust Mexican presence north of the San Francisco Bay to keep the Russians who had established Fort Ross on the Pacific coast from moving further inland. A young Franciscan friar from Mission San Francisco de Asis wanted to move to a location with a better climate and access to a larger number of potential converts.

The Santa Rosa First Peoples Community is the major organisation of Indigenous people in Trinidad and Tobago. The Kalinago of Arima are descended from the original Amerindian inhabitants of Trinidad; Amerindians from the former encomiendas of Tacarigua and Arauca (Arouca) were resettled to Arima between 1784 and 1786. The SRCC was incorporated in 1973 to preserve the culture of the Caribs of Arima and maintain their role in the annual Santa Rosa Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish missions in Trinidad</span> Catholic religious outposts

Spanish Missions in Trinidad were established as part of the Spanish colonisation of its new possessions. In 1687 the Catholic Catalan Capuchin friars were given responsibility for religious conversions of the indigenous Amerindian residents of Trinidad and the Guianas. In 1713 the missions were handed over to the secular clergy. Due to shortages of missionaries, although the missions were established they often went without Christian instruction for long periods of time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arouca, Trinidad and Tobago</span> Town in Tunapuna–Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago

Arouca is a town in the East–West Corridor of Trinidad and Tobago located 19 km (12 mi) east of Port of Spain, along the Eastern Main Road. It is located west of Arima, east of Tunapuna and Tacarigua, south of Lopinot, and north of Piarco. It is governed by the Tunapuna–Piarco Regional Corporation. Arouca may be a corruption of Arauca, an Amerindian tribe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish missions in Texas</span> 17th to 19th-century Catholic religious outposts

The Spanish Missions in Texas comprise the many Catholic outposts established in New Spain by Dominican, Jesuit, and Franciscan orders to spread their doctrine among Native Americans and to give Spain a toehold in the frontier land. The missions introduced European livestock, fruits, vegetables, and industry into the Texas area. In addition to the presidio and pueblo (town), the misión was one of the three major agencies employed by the Spanish crown to extend its borders and consolidate its colonial territories. In all, twenty-six missions were maintained for different lengths of time within the future boundaries of the state of Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church in Trinidad and Tobago</span>

The Catholic Church in Trinidad and Tobago is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. The Apostolic Nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago is, since November 2017, Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, who is also Apostolic Nuncio to other independent states and Apostolic Delegate to the Antilles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish missions in Baja California</span>

The Spanish missions in Baja California were a large number of religious outposts established by Catholic religious orders, the Jesuits, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, between 1683 and 1834. The missionary goal was to spread the Christian doctrine among the Indigenous peoples living on the Baja California peninsula. The missions gave Spain a valuable toehold in the frontier land, and would also act as a deterrent to prevent pirates from using the peninsula of Las Californias as a jumping off point for contraband trade with mainland New Spain. Missionaries introduced European livestock, fruits, vegetables, and industry into the region. Indigenous peoples were severely impacted by the introduction of European diseases such as smallpox and measles; furthermore, the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Spanish Empire in 1767 ripped the social fabric of the peninsula, although Franciscans were sent to replace them. In 1769, the Franciscans moved to Upper California, leaving Dominicans in charge of Baja California. By 1800 indigenous numbers were a fraction of what they had been before the arrival of the Spanish, yet even today many people living in Baja California are of indigenous heritage.

Toco is the most northeasterly village on the island of Trinidad in Trinidad and Tobago. The island of Tobago is 35 kilometres (22 mi) to the northeast, making Toco the closest point in Trinidad to the sister island. The name Toco was ascribed to the area by its early Amerindian inhabitants. The meaning of the name is uncertain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomasian Martyrs</span> Dominican Catholic priests, Martyrs, Blesseds and Saints

The 17 Thomasian Martyrs were the 12 Dominican priests, 1 Franciscan priest and 3 Dominican bishops who became administrators, professors, or students in the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, they are venerated in the Catholic Church regarded them as a martyrs and declared as a saints and blesseds by several popes throughout the 20th and 21st century, All of them gave up their lives for their Christian faith, some in Japan, others in Vietnam, and in the 20th century, in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila was among the lay companions of the Thomasian Martyrs of Japan, their feast day is celebrated every year on November 6.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos</span> Catholic missions in Bolivia

The Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos are located in the Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia. Six of these former missions collectively were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990. Distinguished by a unique fusion of European and Amerindian cultural influences, the missions were founded as reductions or reducciones de indios by Jesuits in the 17th and 18th centuries to convert local tribes to Christianity.

Juan de Eulate was a Spanish soldier who served with distinction in the Netherlands, and later was appointed Governor of New Mexico between 1618 and 1625 at a time when it was a province of New Spain. He then became Governor of the Margarita Province, based on Isla Margarita off the coast of what today is Venezuela, from 1630 to 1638 before retiring to Spain.

José de León y Echales was the Spanish governor of Trinidad in 1699. He was killed by an arrow in the Arena Massacre, taking three days to die, his body was thrown into a river, where it was found by the Spanish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexican secularization act of 1833</span> Legislation concerning the separation of church and state

The Mexican Secularization Act of 1833, officially called the Decree for the Secularization of the Missions of California, was an act passed by the Congress of the Union of the First Mexican Republic which secularized the Californian missions. The act nationalized the missions, transferring their ownership from the Franciscan Order of the Catholic Church to the Mexican authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Joseph Church (Trinidad and Tobago)</span> Church in Saint Joseph, Trinidad and Tobago

The St. Joseph R.C. Church is a religious building that is affiliated with the Catholic Church and is located on the street Abercromby of the town of St. Joseph, part of the Tunapuna–Piarco region in the north of the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean and island country of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Carib Queen is the leader of the Indigenous community in Trinidad and Tobago. The Queen, whose title was established in 1875, is based at the Santa Rosa First Peoples Community in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago. The position is a lifetime appointment.

The Spanish–Chamorro Wars, also known as the Chamorro Wars and the Spanish–Chamorro War, refer to the late seventeenth century unrest among the Chamorros of the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean against the colonial effort of Habsburg Spain. Anger at proselytizing by the first permanent mission to Guam, which was led by Diego Luis de San Vitores, and a series of cultural misunderstandings led to increasing unrest on Guam and a Chamorro siege of the Hagåtña presidio incited by maga'låhi (Chief) Hurao in 1670. Maga'låhi Matå'pang killed San Vitores in 1672, resulting in a campaign of Spanish reprisal burnings of villages through 1676. Local anger at the attacks against villages resulted in another open rebellion led by Agualin and a second siege of Hagåtña. Governor Juan Antonio de Salas conducted a counter-insurgency campaign that successfully created a system of collaboration in which Guamanians turned in rebels and murderers and transferred most of the people from about 180 villages to seven towns, a policy known as reducción. By the early 1680s, Guam was largely "reduced," or pacified.

References

  1. Anthony, Michael (2001). Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago. Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Md., and London. ISBN   0-8108-3173-2.
  2. 1 2 Allen-Agostini, Lisa (30 November 1999). "Revising the Arena affair". Trinidad Guardian. p. 21. Archived from the original on 19 July 2001. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  3. 1 2 Williams, Eric (1942). History of the People of Trinidad and Tobago. Buffalo: Eworld Inc. pp. 25–27. ISBN   9781617590108.

Further reading