To the Illustrious Columbus, from Anacaona

At the heart of the cathedral plaza in Santo Domingo, stands an 1886 bronze monument to Christopher Columbus by French sculptor Ernest Guilbert, featuring the semi-nude figure of an Amerindian female at its base. The woman, allegedly Taino chieftain Anacaona, is represented writing titles of praise on the dado, as if captioning Columbus’ sculpture. Years prior, in 1877, the discovery of Columbus’ remains in the Santo Domingo cathedral prompted the island nation's commissioning of this commemorative statue and a mausoleum.

The monument has been interpreted as an affirmation of national sovereignty, an ode to empire, and a tourist trap. For this panel, I invite us to adopt the lens of gender to re-interpret the monument. How does the construction of gender in the monument elucidate intersections between colony and empire in turn-of-the-century Santo Domingo? And how might it do so today? Anacaona, as myth and historical legend, and from her point of view as non-author in the sculptural group, can offer insight into how the Santo Domingo Columbus monument frames a Eurocentric and male-oriented engagement with the colonial histories and material remains that it circumscribes.