By Daniel Ortega Beltrán
Acrylic on Canvas
29.5in by 16in
The popularity of the healer grew, especially known for healing children
using applications of saliva and water from a spring near her home,
which is now known as La Poza de Ma' Dolores.
The beneficial powers of the African Black woman continued to trouble
the Spanish authorities, who soon accused her of sheltering the
insurgents and claimed her home was a center of conspiracies against the
Crown.
On May 15, 1875, Ma' Dolores was taken to jail along with twenty other
accomplices. However, during the search of her home, no weapons were
found—only seashells, herbs, owl feathers, animal bones, and an altar
with all her saints. Even so, she was sentenced to death. The incident
only reinforced the belief in the convict's supernatural powers.
The judge who had insulted María Dolores during the trial woke up the
next morning ill, diagnosed with a cerebral hemorrhage.
The night
before, the sky had darkened, and a lightning strike set fire to the hut
in front of the courthouse. Meanwhile, the sergeant chasing the
mambises with a group of volunteers fell from his horse and broke his
leg.
The authorities, nervous about what was happening, didn’t know what to
do with the healer. Despite this, they reaffirmed the death sentence by
firing squad. However, the condemned woman remained calm, fearing
nothing.
Finally, the day of the execution arrived. From early in the morning,
the townspeople made their way to La Mano del Negro, where she was to be
executed. Soldiers tried to maintain order. Enslaved Black people
prayed for their compatriot. And the Black woman sang:
“They won’t kill me! The little angels are coming to save me!”
The unexpected appearance of a Spanish officer holding a document
aroused the crowd’s curiosity: the gangá witch had been spared from an
unjust death. Her death sentence had been commuted to exile in Havana.
On March 14, 1876, she left for that city.
María Dolores Iznaga was flesh and blood—only a mystic aura grew around
her, perhaps because of the virtues she spread through her healing. The
enslaved people brought from Africa did not come alone; with them came
the power of spirit, their potions, and their inner strength.
