Category Archives: K-12 Outreach and Education

Slave bunker at Boca de Nigua sugar mill

During my trip with the PIER Institute to Santo Domingo, I visited the first two sugar mills constructed in Spanish America.  Touring the sugar mills or ingenios was interesting for me in many ways. The ruins of these ingenios, which show the remains of the socio-economic effects of colonization, have historic importance.  Since my project is on this topic, it was a valuable experience. Miguel Angel, our knowledgeable guide, gave us a tour of the ingenios that stand approximately 500 yards apart and are located about an hour away from the capital.  We drove through several small towns, which were impoverished but colorful, before arriving at the site.  Our colleague Barbara entertained us with her enthusiasm, snapping every possible shot with her camera. We were told to bring insect repellent, but it didn’t help; I was eaten alive by mosquitoes and now, days later, I still feel the effects. It was worth it the visit, however.

The first mill we visited, Ingenio Santa Isable/Boca Nigua, built in 1508 and restored in 1978, is the site of the second major slave revolt on the Spanish part of the island.  It took place in 1796.  One can see where the slaves lived. The second mill ruins we visited, a few hundred yards away, is situated on the River Nigua. Very little of its structure is left, but the canal, which was an integral part of the mill, still stands.  It was the very first sugar mill in Spanish America, built in 1504.

It is fascinating to walk around these sites, imagining and sensing the magnitude of what once was the thriving force of slave labor for sugar production in Latin America, reflecting the socio-economic complexity of colonization. Many slaves lost hands, limbs, even their very lives in the process.  This horrific thought stayed with me long after we departed.  My colleagues and I observed the absence of signs and billboards, anything indicating the site’s importance. It is as if nothing ever happened there.  Travel books list the mills as historical sites of the Colonial period, yet there is little recognition.  Is there no tribute or honor paid to the many workers of African and indigenous descent who contributed to the wealth of the island? One can only wonder.

Posted by Myriam Victoria — Dual language Teacher at PS 24 Dual Language School for International Studies

Myriam was an educator participant in the Yale University PIER - Yale University CLAIS – NYU CLACS  Summer Educator Institute on Colonial Latin America in July 2011.

Street sign on the Calle las Damas in the Colonial Zone, Santo Domingo

For my reflection of the visits to the different Taino – Colonial settings and museums, I have to state that as a Dominican student growing up in this country in the late 60’s all of the 70’s, I had limited knowledge of the level of history, the richness and above all, the great significance that 1492 and the century that follow meant to the encounter and development of modern day society in the Americas and the impact on the rest of the world.

Studying the Tainos from a historical, anthropological, sociological, political and humanist   perspectives has allow me to developed a very different and paradoxical view of their way of life, systems, social structure, rituals, and above all – more in accord with the reality of their times and not the romanticize, embellished or infantile view that was presented in my early 8 years of education in the Dominican Republic, or the obligatory week long imposed curriculum of my high school years in suburbia schooling USA – often titled “Celebrating Columbus”.

I live in the Diaspora.  If one wants to learn about one’s history, the best thing to do is to go there.  Sadly enough, I must admit that what sparked my desire to reflect on my history was not my many, many visits to the Dominican Republic, or my newly minted “Cedula” that functions as my ID and gives the background of my dual citizenship.  No.  It pains me to say that even thought as a committed teacher of Spanish and Latin American studies, it was not the hours of preparation to deliver an educational unit that was more than just a celebration, but a critical and thought provoking exposition and discussion of the living history of the real founders of the Pre-Colonial Americas, los indios.

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