posted                         

supposition of Bernard Ortiz de Montellano https://wayne.academia.edu/bortiz

an off-white man adopting
Quetzacoatl a red man's nom
when posting here on ES.


Let's learn what actually did happen.

quote:

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The kingdom of the Africans in the Esmeraldas land of Ecuador


[. . . .]


Beginning in 1540, slave [labor] was also needed in the newly founded Viceroyalty of Peru, in order to work the fields.

Spanish ships sailed from the port of Panama heading south bound for the City of Kings, later called Lima,
a name that evokes the Indians who were living in the area where Francisco Pizarro founded his capital.

One of those ships, whose owner was known as Alonso Illescas, went to Peru in October 1553. Inside this
ship there were twenty [enslaved] African (17 men and 6 women). One day, the ship anchored along the
coast of Esmeraldas for approximately 30 days due to a total lack of wind. When a slight breeze finally
arose, the Spanish sailed southbound again, but the captain decided to stop just after the Cape of San
Francisco, and dropped anchor in a bay called Portete.

The purpose of this stop was to find fresh water, fruit and possibly wild game, because during their brief
stay the food had finished. The Spaniards went ashore and took all the Africans along to help them
search for food. During their absence, there was a storm. The sailors who were in charge of the vessel
could not stop the dangerous swaying of the ship and eventually she crashed on a cliff and sank rapidly.

When the group that was looking for food returned to the bay, they realized that what had happened was
irreversible: the ship was destroyed and most of the goods were lost. Taking advantage of the confusing
situation, the Africans [took off] into the jungle.

The Spaniards were not quick-witted and instead of building a small vessel to continue sailing along the
coast, which might have saved them, they decided to walk down the coast, perhaps hoping to reach a
village inhabited by other Europeans.

Almost all of them died during this march: some of cerebral malaria, others of thirst and fatigue. Only a few
survivors reached a remote village inhabited by settlers, after months of hard walking, but died soon after.

The Africans, meanwhile, managed to seize some knives and muskets which the Spaniards had abandoned
in the area of the wreck. They went inside the jungle and entered in a village of indigenous Pidi, who were
short and stocky, and had very similar somatic characteristics to current northern Siberian indigenous people:
almond eyes, high cheekbones and very smooth black hair. For centuries these people had been accustomed
to a humid equatorial climate, with very lush and insidious forests. While the Africans, who were originally
from the Gulf of Guinea, found this environment very similar to their distant land, and adapted quickly.

Upon their arrival, the Pidi initially fled their village in terror. We can imagine their reaction, seeing 17
men and 6 women with dark skin, different somatic features compared to theirs: flat nose, prominent
lips, and curly hair.

The Africans made themselves at home in the village and seized all the food they could find. A few
hours later, the natives returned and decided to drive the invaders from their territory. There was a
fierce battle but the Africans were victorious, particularly because they could count on the strength
of iron weapons, such as axes and knives, but also because they were physically stronger.

The Pidi suffered some losses, realized that the newcomers were tough souls and decided to surrender
to them.

In time, one of the Africans called Anton emerged as a leader. Only a few days after the wreck, one
of the most interesting cases of adaptation was going to happen in the Esmeraldas Ecuador's land,
an incredible case of symbiosis and syncretism between different cultures throughout the history of
mankind.

In the area there were other indigenous groups: the peaceful Niguas and the aggressive Campas,
who soon realized that the arrival of the African intruders created a situation of instability.

A few days later there was another bloody confrontation between the Africans led by Anton,
their allies, the Pidi, and a group of fearless Campas.

The Campas were victorious and six Africans and several Pidi were killed in the battle.
The Africans had to withdraw and, as a result of several successive clashes, only seven
men and three women survived overall.

After the death of Anton, a black man called Alonso Illescas took charge. He was a native of
Cape Verde who had lived for many years in Seville [enslaved by] the owner of the wrecked
ship and had been baptized with the same name of his former Spanish [enslaver].

At this point, the Africans realized that they were surrounded by hostile indigenous groups
that would have killed them eventually, so they decided to carry out a diabolical plan: each
potentially dangerous native was put to death; only the elderly, women and children, would
have stayed alive.

It was a real war for survival: the majority of the Campas were murdered.

Alonso Illescas was appointed chief of the Niguas and the remaining Campas,
and a young beautiful wife was offered to him as a bride.

After a few months of relative peace, Alonso Illescas was invited to a party
by a powerful Indian chief named Chilindauli, who was the king of the
neighboring valley, near the current San Mateo Bay.

In full celebration, while the ‘cacique’ Chilindauli and other Indians were
drunk, Alonso Illescas and the other Africans attacked the villagers, killing
the chief and most of his soldiers.

It was a shameful act, but it is possible that Alonso Illescas premeditated
it to avoid falling victim of the locals.

After this ignoble victory, Alonso Illescas became the undisputed ruler
of the entire area and even managed to loot the nearby town of Puerto
Viejo, inhabited by Spaniards and Indians. By 1565, Illescas dominated
an immense area and its growing power was beginning to worry the
Spanish settlers of Puerto Viejo.

Meanwhile, the remaining seven Africans had mixed with several native women, and by
1600, forty-seven years after the wreck, there were about fifty “zambos”, or children of
the union between Africans and Amerindians.



During these years in the ancestral lands of the Pidi, Campas and Niguas, the Africans adopted some
practices, customs and traditions of the locals they had conquered. There was a syncretism between
African tribal religion and local beliefs, based on the cult of the Sun and the Moon.

Anton Illescas and his lieutenants were adorned with gold jewelry that they proudly wore on their faces
as well as dazzling emerald rings on their fingers. They even wore cotton garments woven by the natives,
but also used some typical Spanish conqueror accessories such as white cotton necklaces, seen in the main picture.



The Spanish of Puerto Viejo decided that it was not wise to organize a military expedition against
the militia of Illescas, and they granted them privileges, such as the title of governor, to those
rebels who converted themselves to Christianity.

Miguel Cabello Balboa, author of “Verdadera descripción y relación larga de la Provincia y Tierras
de las Esmeraldas” (True work description and long relationship of the Province and Lands of
Esmeraldas), was sent to negotiate with Illescas in order to gain the submission of his kingdom
to the Spanish Crown, but returned to Puerto Viejo empty handed.

In 1598, the black Esmeraldas ‘caciques’ had further consolidated their rule and became the main
enemies of the Spanish government in Quito, which was increasingly concerned about those rebel
regions so hostile to the Crown, and focused his attention on how to overthrow them. Despite all this
antagonism and hostility, in 1607, the black chief Sebastian Illescas (a successor of Alonso), was still
the undisputed ruler of the Esmeraldas area.

During the following century, the “zambos” population grew and many of them settled in the villages
of Old Esmeraldas and Atacames. It is estimated that, in 1670, the descendants of the Africans who
survived the ship wreck were hundreds.

During the following centuries there were other waves of “forced” migrants to Ecuador, a country where
presently 75% of the population is mixed, while those of African origin are 5% of the total population,
just under 700,000 people.


YURI LEVERATTO
Copyright 2010

Translated by Vinicio Dinelli, Rome, Italy

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