The story of Iodoimae

Iodoimae (in Atakauan, iodo imae, "green eyes") was born in the Atakau village in the southwest of Atrocha. He was the son of the local leader Badieau (in atakuan, "turtle", called Badiao by the Altusians) and his wife. Born into the Miauemaeua clan, Iodoimae was destined to lead his clan, and was educated as such, although not in the arts of war, as the Atakau believed that the alliance with the Althusians would protect them. Iodoimae was born around 1637, 16 years after the Land Pact, an agreement between the Chief of Chiefs of the Atakau, Mazanao, and the Altusian explorer Pedro Sahagún de Santa Lucía, where the settlement of the Altusians was agreed in exchange for protection.

The Miauemaeua clan would not escape the Altusian influence, when a town called Portasena was established in 1642, in the vicinity of the clan's domain. Little by little, the daughters of the rich of the clan were married to Altusians, to get a better life. The inventions and innovations brought by the Altusians attracted more and more Atakau. In 1646, Badieau and the entire clan converted to Christianity. This led to the marriage of Iodoimae's older sister with an Altusian explorer, and his entry into a convent of the Sanguis Catholic Church, so that he could be educated. At the age of 10, Iodoimae was interned, where he dressed in Nonscian clothing, learned Sanctish literature, and learned how to use firearms.

After years of study, Iodoimae realized the abuses committed by some Altusians against his Atakau servants. He argued that under Christian customs they could not commit such abuses, but the mayor threatened to imprison him. Iodoimae decided to abandon his modern ways and decided to return to his clan's village. When Iodoimae was 17 years old, an epidemic of tuberculosis came to the clan. The outbreak began in Portasena, but did not greatly affect the Altusian population, which obtained immunity. However, the Atakau, who had no defense against the disease, began to die. Iodoimae was infected, but survived. However, his father and his family died, as well as half the clan. That left him in charge of the clan.

The people in Portasena wanted to expand the city, occupying the old village and demanding that the survivors leave. Iodoimae leaves without resistance and migrates to Alao, where he has heard that the northern clans are. Iodoimae, outraged by what was done by the Altusians, decides to go to Alao to visit the great chief Mazanao to wage a war of honor. However, upon arriving in Alao, he is informed by the clan leaders that Mazanao had died of "Altusian fever" 3 years ago, and the clan chiefs had stopped meeting after epidemics and the dissolution of several clans. Determined to do something, Iodoimae opts to train the population of Alao's clans in Nonscian weapons and warfare. In 1655, a caravan of Altusian businessmen passed through the villages, and when a herald saw an Atakau girl, he tried to rape her. The girl escaped and informed the clan leaders. In revenge, Iodoimae decided to attack the caravan, with 25 men.

The Iodoimae ambush killed a large part of the Altusian members of the caravan. Iodoimae collected the Altusians' ammunition and firearms and began to raise an army. From there, they began a series of ambushes and attacks by Iodoimae towards the Altusians who were passing through, protecting the rest of Alao outside its borders. The Altusians called him the "Great Yodomao" (Yodomao is the Sanctish form of Iodoimae). Between 1655 and 1656, an estimated 1,000 Althusians died on the sword of Iodoimae's armies, and that more than 10,000 Altusians were robbed. In 1656, the island's governor, Luis de Saldaña, sent a contingent to control the situation, but they were defeated. In a letter to the king of Altusia, the bishop of Atrocha, Tomás Horquilla, narrated the situation:

Finally, the governor decided to send a peace entourage to make an agreement with the Alao clans. By this time, Iodoimae had been appointed the new Chief of Chiefs. The agreement between the Altusians and the Atakau was the recognition of their independence in Alao and respect for culture, as well as no longer committing abuses against the Atakau.

The agreement was successful, and there was a period of peace, where Altusia began to trade with the domain of the clans. Still, there were people who left the clans to join the Altusian society. However, Iodoimae approved of that, as long as they did not allow themselves to be abused, and that they would always inform her if her honor was desecrated.

In 1662, a group of Althusians decided to establish farms on Atakau land, without the permission of Iodoimae or clan leaders. Although they tried to drive them off peacefully, the Althusians fired on the natives, causing the Iodoimae to attack them. Iodoimae inquired, and when he discovered that the Althusians were planning to expand into their places through war, he declared war first. Attacking nearby towns and trade caravans from Altusia, the objective was the capital of the colony, Santa María de Atrocha.

However, the siege of Santa María was a failure, the Atakau were defeated and Iodoimae was taken prisoner, but he escaped. However, Governor Torcuato del Prado called on the conquistador Antonio Cortés de Mendoza, known for his bloody campaigns in the Yucanoa Valley, to attack the clans led by Iodoimae. Cortés de Mendoza successfully attacked the villages, razing the infrastructure, defeating the warriors and taking Iodoimae prisoner. Walked in chains throughout Santa María de Atrocha, Iodoimae was taken to the city's courthouse. Tried by the bishop sent by the Sanguis Inquisition, Juan Espínola, Iodoimae was accused of high treason and rebellion against the Crown, and was ordered to be sentenced to death. However, Iodoimae challenged his right to receive an honorable death as a Christian. In order not to encourage a worse revolt, and based on his religious confession, Espínola sentenced 25-year-old Iodoimae to a lifetime prison in Sierramar Castle, in Villa del Norte. Iodoimae withdrew from the hall of justice with the cry: Omedie mabieto uaie! (We will be free!).

Iodoimae was assigned to the deep dungeons of Sierramar, but due to the intervention of the daughter of a wealthy landowner, Cecilia Franco, Iodoimae received a better cell, and had food every day thanks to Cecilia. He spent several months in prison, until in 1663, when an ambush of Atakau warriors attacked the castle, burning it down and freeing Iodoimae. Iodoimae fled to Papetua, one of the few areas to the north where the Atakau survived. There he was received with cheers like a true hero. Iodoimae was informed that the Atakau were fleeing to a new island where they were making a new life, but Iodoimae refused to leave his homeland.

Iodoimae started a resistance movement in Papetua, the last he would ever make of it. In 1664, the Altusian chronicler García Olmedo visited the Atakau village to record it in his Historia General de La Atrocha (General History of Atrocha). There, he met Iodoimae, and interviewed him. We know much of the biography and history of Iodoimae from Olmedo's records. In the middle of 1665, some Altusian landowners, affected by the attacks of the Atakau, decided to set a trap for Iodoimae. They sent a syphilis patient, Ana Sánchez, to the domains of Papetua, to make Iodoimae fall in love. Sánchez posed as a poor helpless slave to a merchant from Prata, and she was received in the village. Ana and Iodoimae developed a relationship, and Iodoimae contracted syphilis. Iodoimae became seriously ill, and two weeks later, he passed away, at 28 years of age. After his death, a chief of chiefs for the Atakau never rose again. The entire Atakau population of Papetua emigrated from there in the 1690s.

Iodoimae is seen as a national hero in Atrocha, known for his bravery against the Altusians, his bravery and his dignity. The Hadaguean community, descendants of the Atakau, has it as its main historical reference.