11 Facts About Gaspar Yanga

Gaspar Yanga successfully resisted a Spanish attack on the colony in 1609.

Finally in 1618, Yanga achieved an agreement with the colonial government for self-rule of the maroon settlement.

Gaspar Yanga was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Mexico, where he was baptize the name Gaspar.

Around 1570, Gaspar Yanga led a band of slaves in escaping to the highlands near Veracruz.

Gaspar Yanga asked for a treaty akin to those that had settled hostilities between Indians and Spaniards: an area of self-rule in return for tribute and promises to support the Spanish if they were attacked.

Gaspar Yanga's terms were agreed to, with the additional provisos that only Franciscan priests would tend to the people, and that Gaspar Yanga's family would be granted the right of rule.

In 1871, five decades after Mexican independence, Gaspar Yanga was designated as a "national hero of Mexico" and.

Gaspar Yanga published an account of Yanga in an anthology in 1870, and as a separate pamphlet in 1873.

Much of the subsequent writing about Gaspar Yanga was influenced by the works of Riva Palacio.

Gaspar Yanga characterized the maroons of San Lorenzo de los Negros as proud men who would not be defeated.

In 2019, Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz wrote a piece called Gaspar Yanga, using a text by Santiago Martin Bermudez.