Kiskeya-Ayiti

Kiskeya-Ayiti, officially the Federation of Kiskeya-Ayiti (Taino: Federasiyon o-Kiskeya Ayiti; Spanish: Federación de Quizquella-Haití) is a Caribbean island country consisting of the large island of Hispaniola and several smaller adjacent islands. Covering 77 thousand square kilometres and hosting a population of over 14 million, Kiskeya-Ayiti is the most populous country in the Caribbean, and the second-largest in terms of land area. Its capital city is Bana Hatüey (Bana Hatuwey) on the offshore island of Guanaba (G'wanaba).

Since prehistoric times, the island of Hispaniola has been inhabited by the Taino people. The first Europeans arrived in December 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus. Columbus founded the first European settlement in the Americas, La Navidad, on the northeastern coast of Hispaniola, and attempted to completely subjugate the native populations, using them for slave labour. In 1502, however, the native Cacique Hatüey united the various tribes of the island into an alliance, launching what would become a 9-year revolt against Spanish rule. By 1511, the Spanish monarchs, alarmed at the expense and high casualties that resulted from the war, ordered their forces to withdraw from the island. In 1512, the two sides signed the Treaty of La Isabela, finalising the war's end and affirming Taino sovereignty over the island.

Under Hatüey, the island of Hispaniola was consolidated as a federation of five chiefdoms, with Hatüey as the Li-Dujo ("Chairman" or "President") of the federation. However, later on in his tenure, Hatüey grew more autocratic and paranoid, eventually stripping away most of the chiefdoms' autonomy and ruling as a military dictator. In 1539, 27 years into Hatüey's tenure, the Caciques of the five chiefdoms voted to impeach Hatüey. Hatüey responded by declaring all five to be traitors and Spanish agents, ordering their immediate execution. However, a large sector of the armed forces was loyal to the Caciques, and launched a military coup, removing Hatüey from power and replacing him with Higuamota (Higuwamota), a more moderate and decentralist noblewoman. In 1540, the Caciques elected Higuamota as the Li-Dujo, beginning a period of constitutional rule that continued almost uninterruptedly to the present day.