Spanish Conquest of Nicaragua Told Through Music and Dance

This past weekend I attended a Nicaraguan festival with my family. When I arrived, I noticed there was a group dancing on stage. These dancers were dressed in bright colors wearing and holding various kinds of masks. Not thinking too much of it, I took a quick 5 second video as a memory for when I will compile a video of my day at the event. Looking back at the video I took, I realized that the dance was new to me. There are many things about Nicaragua that are still very foreign to me. Growing up I found it hard to connect with my heritage because typically a lot of their traditions are rooted in Catholicism and native folklore. It is something I cannot relate to because I do not believe in those things. I wrote them off as a culture that's just very Catholic. Due to this, the only other way I could think of connecting with my culture was through food and family tales. It wasn’t till recently I started learning about the natives who inhabited Central America. You can read in various blog posts I’ve written that I try my best to make a connection with my ancestors. Through food or nature, I find their impact is weaved into our modern society. I don’t believe we have to revive old practices, but I find importance in learning and appreciating how the natives interacted with the land. 

The purpose of this post is to highlight my Nicaraguan Heritage, breaking down the walls built from religious oppression and diving deep into the untold stories. I’ve come to realize there is more than one side to a story, with many groups wanting to claim the origins of these practices. It happens often with forgotten history, and I think it is important to highlight that all these stories can all be true. I find that it is important to bring all the info into light because these forgotten stories paint a picture of history told through dance and music. There is still so much I would like to learn but today we will talk about the Fiesta Del Torovenado. By chance I came across the Fiesta Del Torovenado while looking for a topic to research. I knew I wanted to learn about Nicaragua, but I wasn't sure where to start.

History

It all starts when the Spanish conquests Nicaragua. Before Nicaragua was a country with its many regions, it was inhabited by various tribal groups consisting of Mesoamericans and Non-Mesoamerican tribes. Chorotega, Nicarao and Matagalpa were three major groups that inhabited the land to the west. Nicarao were a Nahuatl speaking Mesoamericans who broke off from Pipil around the 13th century settling along the Pacific Coasts what is now known as Rivas. Chorotega were also a Mesoamerican people speaking Mangue language. Matagalpa were non-Mesoamericans speaking Misumalpan inhabiting the central highlands. They were a tribal society organized into different chiefdoms. They were at war with Nicarao by the time the Spanish arrived. Other tribes consisted of indigenous Caribbean and Columbian groups as well as other South American groups. This makes Nicaragua very diverse with different cultures inhabiting the land. Nicaragua is the biggest country in Central America. Population was around 825,000 at the time of Spanish contact, after a century its population collapsed due to diseases, exploitation of slaves as well as war and mistreatment from the Spaniards. 

Cacique Nicarao was a powerful ruler of the Nicarao tribe. In Nahuatl his name was Macuilmiquiztli, which means ‘five deaths’ in the Nahuatl language. The Spanish saw that the land was fertile and rich as well as a perfect location for them. It was wedged between the Pacific Coast and the Nicaragua Lake. The Spanish also noted that Nicarao governed a political and religious center filled with markets and temples. They also had social hierarchies that resembled other Nahuatl tribes they have encountered. The Nicarao territory was unfortunately a major target for them to conquer. With the help of Tlaxaltecas, who were native allies of the Spanish, they were able to gain the trust of Nicarao. Nicarao accepted them into their territory, inviting them to partake in ritual and political exchanges. Gil Gonzáles Dávila, the chief conquistador, only had one thing on his mind. It was to convert and baptize these people into Christianity. Under the rule of Pope Alexander VI, “Bulls of Donation" was issued, which gave Portugal and Spanish Catholic Monarchs the ability to go overseas and convert the native inhabitants to Christianity. The church insisted the native people merited legal rights and protection, but not many thought that way. They saw them as someone below human, just like Dávila, who called the Nahuas and the Chorotegas Los Rojos as well as naming the children Rojitos due to their skin color. Treating them below humans.

It is said that Nicarao voluntarily converted to Christianity and got baptized, but modern historians believe that he was coerced into being baptized. Nicarao may have not understood the meaning of baptism. Due to the tradition of baptism in the Catholic church you were given a new name and Nicarao was given the name Fernando symbolizing his alliance with the Spanish Crown. These forced baptisms among the Nicarao people caused problems. Not only were they forcing them to renounce their native deity worship but also telling them to hand over their gold jewelry. Robbing them of their fortunes and even killing and torturing their animals like horses and dogs. Nicarao saw the harm that was made and formed an alliance with Chorotegas to drive Dávila and his group out. They fled south to Panama. This would soon start the Spanish conquest of Nicaragua, by 1524 Spanish captain Francisco H. establishes the first town Granada. Due to the spread of European diseases and forced slavery the numbers in Nicaragua dropped, eradicating people groups like the Nicarao. It is unclear what happened to Cacique Nicarao.

To this day Nicarao’s legacy is symbolically important to the Nicaragüenses. Representing indigenous resilience against colonization and as well as Nicarao being a diplomatic strategist. It is believed that the name Nicaragua is a combination of the name Nicarao and the Spanish word for water which is agua. His story reflects the experience that other leaders went through during the conquest. We see this story being told through festivities like Torovenado.

Torovenado

What is Torovenado? In its most basic form tells a story of the conqueror and the conquered. Other themes of these opposites represent good and bad, male and female, pleasure and sacrifice as well as predator and prey in the animal kingdom. There are various symbolic characters in the dance like the toro, the jaguar, the dear, the man and the woman. Their representations differing but highlight a common theme of struggle. It is said that the dance’s origin was pre-Columbian. The jaguar represents the power and the vitality of the native which was later replaced with a bull to signify the strength and vitality of the conquistador. While the dear is the representation of the female side of the natives, or in this case the conquered. Their unison represents the mixing of race and culture. There is a lot more to the other characters and their supposed meanings as well as their relationships between them. Due to my limited understanding, I will not be highlighting their meanings. In some village stories the bull has demonic connotations. Related to a folktale where the bull represents ‘el señor de la gran hacienda ganadera’. The man in the folktale would make pacts with the devil to obtain immense riches. This tale I wasn't specifically able to find but similar stories are found all around the world for example like the Sicilian folktale called ‘Don Giovanni di la Fortuna’. Stories with similar themes have been written and rewritten throughout history. The greed of money and selling your soul for it.

Torovenado is also mingled with the catholic saint, Saint Jerome. It is said that the image of Saint Jerome was found on a mount by a hunter. He took the image home only for it to disappear the next day. He then found out that the image had returned to the same mount. The owner of the place got word of the strange occurrence and took his laborers who wore red flower hats from the flame tree, but the saint became too heavy to carry. So, the men decided to dress as women to take the image. Their plan worked but it had disappeared the next day. They took this as a sign to build a church dedicated to Saint Jerome. Jerom became the patron saint of Masaya and he is celebrated along with the festival. Though torovenado was a pre-Columbian practice, it slowly got lost with time and was later revived. Dances like these told stories of struggle, the oppression of women, and the oppression of the natives in the land. To this day many people incorporate modern social events in the dances telling their own story of oppression. People dress as the characters, wear masks of Jerome, it is tradition that the men dress and dance in both male and female attire. They dance funny and try to make the crowd laugh by making a mockery of the conquistador. Many people today dress in various kinds of costumes, resembling a Halloween parade carrying the patron saint. It’s like a mixing pot of practices all mingled into one. Celebrations start mid September ending on the last Sunday of October.

Theatrical dance on stage

Flame Tree: Delonix regia

Saint Jerome: Born in Stridon (347-419/420) famous for translating bible into Latin known as Vulgate Translation. His work was admired by many women. 

 In modern times Rojita is a red soda found in Nicaragua with the face of a little indian girl on the bottle. 

References

• Palma Milagros. Memoria nicaragüense. El carnaval del toro venado en Nicaragua ; simbolismo del mestizaje y representación de la relation de géneros. In: América : Cahiers du CRICCAL, n°31, 2004. Mémoire et culture en Amérique latine, v2. pp. 63-70.

• “Delonix Regia.” Wikipedia, 17 Nov. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delonix_regia.

• to, Contributors. “Nicarao Cacique.” Wikipedia.org, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 10 Aug. 2011, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicarao_(cacique). Accessed 3 Oct. 2025.

• ---. “Spanish Conquest of Nicaragua.” Wikipedia.org, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 26 June 2017, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_conquest_of_Nicaragua. Accessed 3 Oct. 2025.

Wikipedia Contributors. “Jerome.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Nov. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome.

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It is interesting how practices change with each era. Morphing and developing into something new that the current generation can enjoy. I don't think I will partake in these celebrations but learning of Nicaraguan struggle and how the history continues to repeat itself. The people try to find solace in the middle of their oppressions. I hope you enjoyed it, thank you for reading! Shop my Etsy down below! I sell funny hats.

Etsy