The Dominican Republic is the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas - Santo Domingo which became the country's capital.

The nation has experienced political turmoil and unrest with tyrannical governments. 
The original inhabitants, the Tainos lived in villages headed by chiefs. They named the island Ayiti or Haiti which means mountainous land. Other names were Bohio and Quisqueya.
The Tainos, besides hunting and gathering, also engaged in farming and fishing.

Christobal Colon, as the Dominicans call Christopher Columbus, landed at Mole St. Nicolas on December 5, 1492. Nineteen days later the Santa Maria ran aground near Cap-Haitien. Colon was forced to leave 39 men who founded the settlement of La Navidad.
The men left behind, as Colon returned to Spain, started taking Taino women by force and the local chief decided to retaliate by killing all of them.
Upon Colon's return, he decided to retaliate and enmity broke out between the two races.
One rebel, however, successfully fought back. Enriquillo, leading a group of those who had fled to the mountains, attacked the Spanish repeatedly for fourteen years. Finally, the Spanish offered him a peace treaty. In addition, they gave Enriquillo and his followers their own city in 1534. The city did not last long, however; several years after its establishment, a slave rebellion burned it to the ground, killing anyone who stayed behind.

Anacaona was a Taino cacique. Caciques usually passed inheritance to the eldest children of their sisters. She became queen of Xaragua which is located in present day Haiti. Her husband, Caonabo, was suspected of the attack on La Navidad and was captured and shipped to Spain. He died in a shipwreck during the journey. Anacaona was captured by the Spanish and hanged at the age of 29.

Gregorio Luperon 1839 - 1897 was born in Puerto Plata. He occupied the chair of an interim government between 1879 and 1880. Speaking Spanish and English as his mother was an Immigrant from Britain. He had a gift for public speaking. Fighting for independence he ended up in jail from where he escaped to Haiti and then the US. He returned in 1863 to participate in several insurgency movements and was promoted to the rank of General. Spain finally surrendered the country to independance on July 11, 1865. Luperon accepted the position of vice-president.
Baez overthrew the government in 1868 and Luperon was forced to flee again. 
In 1876, Ulysses Espaillat became president and Luperon accepted the post of minister of War and Navy. When the president eventually resigned and Baez regained control Luperon had to leave yet again. In October, 1879, Luperon became president of an interim government based in Puerto Plata. In late 1880 he granted power to Fernando Arturo Merino.
Luperon spent some time in Europe as ambassador before returning home. He assisted Ulysses Heureaux to become president and as Ulysses became more dictatorial Luperon sought support from the Haitian government with no success so he retired to St. Thomas in 1897 with symptoms of cancer. Ulysses went after his old friend and they reconciled. Luperon returned to Puerto Plata where he died on May 20 of that year.

Words from this country: canoa, hurican, hamaca, caiman, barbacoa, tobaco, maraca, marimba, iguana, and manatee.

Many, if not a majority of Dominican cities, campos, rivers, and mountains have indigenous names, including: Amina, Bani, Bao, Bonao, Cotui, Cutupu, Dajabon, Damajagua, Guajaca, Guayubin, Inoa, Jacagua, Janico, Licey, Magua, Maguana, Mao, Nagua, and Samana. The majority of rivers have Taíno names, including Haina, Maimon, Ozama, Sosua, Tireo, and Yaque. Most native trees and fruits have Taíno names, including Anacajuita, Caimito, Cajuil, Caña, Caoba, Ceiba, Cuaba, Guacima, Guano, Guao, Guayaba, Guanabana and Guayacan. Beyond flora, indigenous insects, birds, fish, and other animals with names of Taíno origin may list into the hundreds. They include the Bibijagua (ant), Comejen (termite), Carey (sea turtle), Hicotea (river turtle), manatee, and Guaraguao (Dominican hawk).

Popular Identity
Perhaps the greatest association with the indigenous past comes with the biological feature known as the "Indio" skin color. While some official identity cards use the term "trigueño" to describe the majority of Dominicans, "Indio" is the commonly held concept for the color of Dominican skin, and the "race" of the Dominican people. The term, popularized by Trujillo to distance Dominicans from darker skinned Haitians, skirts the issue of Native American inheritance, which is referred to by the word indígena, and simply defines the physical manifestation of being of mixed race.

Dobal writes about indigenous physical qualities, temperaments, and sexuality of Taíno origin, and suggests that the long, straight-hair, large brown eyes, and soft skin of campesinas is Taíno in origin. While such observational criteria appear straight forward, subjective traits have proven to be unreliable in making larger cultural generalizations. So too, is it problematic to use early Spanish descriptions of physical beauty to generalize what the Taíno looked like in the 15th century. However, it is acknowledged that biological "racial" features are recognized by members of a cultural community and often form the basis of assessing cultural difference. Dominicans, certainly, would agree with Dobal's description of Indios.

Dobal further suggests that the Dominican has inherited the indigenous love for liberty, the appreciation for the esthetics as opposed to the functionality of objects, the lack of ambition or greediness, and the love for their homeland and place of birth (Dobal 1989:26). Indian strength and bravery is often a quality assumed by many Dominicans, and many campos which are known for the courage of their people are cited as places where there is a lot of Indian blood. Matrifocality is a cultural trait described in ethnohistoric documents about the Taíno, and can be tied to some degree to the present. Perhaps, it is a matrifocal love for homeland, that Dobal comments on, a love to be in the place where you were born and raised.

In the Dominican Republic, it is difficult to attach a clean ethnic category to the whole population. The amount of historical and contemporary miscegenation between individuals of different African, Indian, and European blood has been very high, and has produced a multitude of biological mixes. There is a tremendous range of so-called "racial" features, for example, in hair texture, skin color, and facial shape. Basically, the way Dominicans recognize and talk about biology, some Dominicans look more "Black", some more "White", and some more "Indian".  In this sense, Dominicans appear as a multi-biological people. On top of this, however, many Dominicans have combinations of "racial" features that make it difficult to pinpoint their exact biological ancestry. Dominicans have invented names for over 20 different physical mixes including trigueño, indio, indio claro, trigueñooscuro, canelo, pinto, etcetera. Thus, the Dominican Republic appears a "melting-pot" as well as a place of many separate biologies.

Ultimately, though, when simple biology—the way people look—is put aside in favor of discussions about culture—what people do—the Dominican Republic displays a common denominator, uni-cultural identity that has little correlation with the physical appearance of its people. Indeed, there is no such thing as a distinct Black Dominican culture, White Dominican culture, or Indian Dominican culture. Regional difference do exist but for the most part, cultural differences appear between rich Dominicans and poor Dominicans, and between "city" Dominicans and "campo" Dominicans, and even these differences dissolve in discussions of a unifying national identity.

While it is true that Dominicans with more European ancestry and culture represent the group which historically have had more access to money and power, they represent a small fraction of the demographic whole. While their influence in controlling the production of national identity has been strong, the majority of Dominicans are poor and without access to power.