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ISLAND
HISTORY The very first inhabitants of what is now known as Barbados were the Arawak Indians. At that time, the island was quite lush, covered with many trees and shrubs with a variety of vegetation. The same foliage exists today. The Arawaks primarily settled in the northern portions of the island and were primarily farmers as the island had very little to hunt. Their main crops were maize (corn) and cassava, a root vegetable related to the potato or yam. They also supported themselves with fishing using nets or harpoons as well as bows and arrows. They were a peaceful, civilised society and remained on the island for four to five hundred years until about A.D.1500 when the population mysteriously left. No one has been able to definitely ascertain the reason for their departure but it is thought that perhaps it might have been due to drought or interference by the Spaniards. The Spaniards raided many of the islands for slaves and also carried several diseases such as small-pox and tuberculosis that could have wiped out the inhabitants. For one hundred years the island sat silent until the arrival of the Europeans. THE EUROPEANS The Spaniards first arrived while the Arawaks still inhabited the island. However, when the Portuguese visited in 1536, the Indians had already left. The Portuguese were not interested in settling Barbados and never claimed it. They released a number of wild hogs, however, to ensure a food supply should they ever return. They named the island 'Los Barbadoes' or The Bearded Ones, for the numerous Bearded Fig Trees they found throughout the island. The Olive Blossom, carrying the first English settlers arrived in 1625 with colonists and supplies for their new settlement. Finding their new home to be fertile and lush, they took possession of the island in the name of King James. They landed on what is now known as Holetown, St. James where a monument was erected in 1905. The new arrivals did not stay but rested and returned to England to make their report of the new 'discovery'. Arrangements were made and another group of settlers were sent over to settle the island. Arriving on February 17th, 1627, the eighty new settlers brought with them ten Negroes to be used as slaves. The first town was named Jamestown (later known as Holetown) and elected William Dean to be their governor. Their life was extremely hard as all traces of the Arawaks had long since grown over so they had to cut new pathways and road systems. They found that donkeys performed better than horses and later imported camels from West Africa. They hunted the hogs left by the Portuguese but when that source of meat was exhausted, the Governor of Essequibo (now part of Guyana) sent a number of plants that would flourish on the islands. To assist the settlers, he also sent forty Arawaks whose agricultural skills saved the Barbadians. The same plants still grow today; yams, cassava, corn, plantains, bananas, oranges, lemons, pineapples, and limes. With a population of nearly 2000 by 1628, the settlement was flourishing. The years that followed, however, were fraught with fear of starvation and political strife. Due to a lack of rainfall, the constant fear of attack by the Spaniards or Portuguese and the threat of hurricanes, the ever-growing settlement began to live in fear of starvation and death. Worse yet, was the constant struggle of ownership of the island between one faction or another. Several different men struggled to gain and claim ownership of the island while the inhabitants suffered throughout. Barbados our Island Home by F. A. Hoyos, Third Edition COMING SOON!!!!! The next stages in the development of the colony of Barbados. |
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ISLAND
