Española’s Natives in the Account of Repartimiento of 1514-1515

Abstract

The repartimiento system introduced during the period of colonization of the Greater Antilles was meant to ensure the economic security of the colonists and was partially responsible for the disappearance of social and ethnic communities of the natives in the islands. The author focuses on repartimiento in Española in 1514–1515 and draws attention to several different categories of natives that were subjected to encomienda; the main of those were known as indios del cacique and naborías de casa. He traces the particular manner in which the distribution of natives among the Spaniards was accomplished. That distribution system was recognized as one of the principal causes of demographic collapse among the islanders.