Saint Lucia - (Page 14)

A Step Back In Time Ancient Araw aks and Caribs inhabited S aint L ucia l ong bef ore the arrival of the Europeans. Some archaeological ﬁnds have been dated back to 1000 B .C. T he Caribs arriv ed around A.D . 8 00, conq uering the peacef ul Araw aks and assim il ating them into Carib cul ture. T he Caribs w oul d l iv e on S aint L ucia through the f erocious 16 th century piracy period w ith F rancois l e Cl erc. Ev en though their num bers dw indl ed, they l iv ed in S aint L ucia until w el l into the 18 th century . W hil e l ocal l ore of ten points to Christopher Col um bus hav ing touched l and here, actual records show that during his f our v isits to the N ew W orl d, S aint L ucia w as not on his nav igational charts. How ev er, 6 7 Engl ish settl ers arriv ed here in 16 05, bl ow n of f course on their journey to Guy ana. W ithin a f ew w eeks, the Caribs had m assacred m ost of them , onl y al l ow ing 19 surv iv ors to l eav e the isl and in a dug-out canoe. O v er the nex t tw o centuries, Engl and and F rance battled over possession of Saint Lucia, with the island changing ﬂags 1 times. It was the French, however, who secured the ﬁrst lasting European settl em ent at S ouf riere in 174 6 . Capital iz ing on the area' s f ertil e soil , estates w ere sw if tl y establ ished and sl av es w ere brought in f rom Af rica to w ork the l and, starting w ith cotton and tobacco plantations and later adding sugar, which became the most proﬁtable ex port. ( T oday , bananas dom inate the pl antation l andscapes.) S aint L ucia' s col onial history , how ev er, continued to seesaw back and f orth betw een conq uering pow ers, as a B ritish inv asion succeeded in 1778 , establ ishing nav al bases at Gros I sl et and igeon Island. England ﬁnally got the permanent upper hand in 1815, 14 under term s of the T reaty of Paris. And under the B ritish, the 18 38 Em ancipation f reed the sl av es, giv ing them the right to ow n their ow n property , al though m any f am il ies chose to rem ain at the estates as f ree m en. F ast-f orw ard ov er a century to 19 6 7 w hen S aint L ucia gained internal autonom y , and then to F ebruary 22, 19 79 , w hen the isl and achieved full independence, with the ofﬁcial status of an independent state w ithin the B ritish Com m onw eal th. T aking a cl ose l ook at the S aint L ucia w e know today - m easuring approx im atel y three tim es the l and m ass of W ashington, D .C. or one-sixth of hode Island we ﬁnd that while reat ritain contributed the ofﬁcial language, political structure, educational and legal systems, it is the French and African inﬂuence that dominates this isl and-nation' s cul tural grass roots- its v il l age nam es and v il l ager surnam es, its F rench patois created by Af rican sl av es, Cathol icism , cuisine, m usic and the arts in general . T une into the heart and soul of the country , and y ou discov er a col orf ul and hom egrow n m el ange of Engl ish, F rench, Af rican, Carib-I ndian and East I ndian cul tures. And f or today ' s v isitors, S aint L ucia presents m any captiv ating rem inders- f rom Araw ak inscriptions to m il itary sites and pl antation estates- of her of ten turbul ent, col orf ul and m ul ti-cul tural past. Consider an essential sampling Jutting out f rom the northw est coast, P ige on Island w as used by the F rench in the m id-16 th century as a base f or raiding passing S panish ships. Two centuries later, ritish Admiral eorge odney fortiﬁed the island to use as a base for monitoring the French ﬂeet on neighboring

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Saint Lucia

Editor’s Notes
19th Annual Recommend Readers’ Choice Awards Winners
Cruising Into the Future
Anthem of the Seas
Norwegian Escape
Looking Ahead
Saint Lucia 36-Page Pull-Out Travel Agent Specialist Program
Trending Now in the Caribbean
Eyes on 2016
Dive Into the New Year
Wild Encounters in the Coming Year
New Year, More Choices
Latin America in 2016 & Beyond

Saint Lucia