Indigenous Passages to Cuba 1515-1900

“Portrays the vitality and dynamism of indigenous actors in what is arguably one of the most foundational and central zones in the making of modern world history: the Caribbean.”—Maximilian C. Forte, author ofRuins of Absence, Presence of Caribs
 
“Brings together historical analysis and the compelling stories of individuals and families that labored in the island economies of the Caribbean.”—Cynthia Radding, coeditor ofBorderlands in World History, 1700–1914
 
During the colonial period, thousands of North American Native peoples traveled to Cuba independently as traders, diplomats, missionary candidates, immigrants, or refugees; others were forcibly transported as captives, slaves, indentured laborers, or prisoners of war. Over the half millennium after Spanish contact, Cuba served as the principal destination and residence of peoples as diverse as the Yucatec Mayas of Mexico; the Calusa, Timucua, Creek, and Seminole peoples of Florida; and the Apache and Puebloan cultures of the northern provinces of New Spain. In this first history of the significant and diverse Amerindian presence in Cuba during and well beyond the early colonial period, Yaremko demonstrates the diverse, multifaceted, and dynamic nature of the indigenous diaspora in colonial Cuba.

Acknowledging these groups’ role in geopolitical, diplomatic, economic, and diasporic processes, Yaremko argues that these migrants played an essential role in the historical development of Cuba. With case studies and documentation from various sites, Yaremko’s narrative presents a fuller history of Amerindian migration and diaspora in Cuba and the rest of Latin America.
 

Jason M. Yaremko, associate professor of history at the University of Winnipeg, is the author ofU.S. Protestant Missions in Cuba.