St. Vincent

 Known by the Caribs as Hairoun  (“Land of the Blessed”),St. Vincent was first inhabited by the Ciboney, a grouping of Meso-Indians. The economy of these hunter-gatherers depended heavily on marine resources as well as the land.

They used basic tools and weapons and built rock shelters and semi permanent villages.

    Another indigenous group, the Arawak, who entered the West Indies from Venezuela and moved gradually north and west along the islands, gradually displaced the Ciboney.

They practiced a highly productive form of agriculture and had a more advanced social structure and material culture. The peace-loving Arawak fished and collectively formed plots of land. The bountiful harvests and abundant fish, combined with the compact and stable island population, permitted the development of an elaborate political and social structure.

    The Caribs, arriving in St. Vincent perhaps no more than 100 years before the Europeans, conquered the Arawak and began a new chapter in Vincentian history. More warlike than their predecessors, the Caribs were extremely efficient at keeping unwanted settlers from their shores. While it is doubtful that Christopher Columbus ever set foot on the island, he may have sighted it on his third voyage to the New World (1498-1500). Heavy Carib resistance prevented St. Vincent from being colonized long after most other Caribbean islands had well-established European settlements. In 1627 Charles I of England granted the island to Lord Carlisle and then, in 1672 Charles II granted it to Lord Willoughby. While the British, French and Spanish disputed possession, the Caribs resisted all these claims.

    The first permanent settlers arrived on the shores of St. Vincent in 1635. 

Source The St. Vincent & Grenadines Tourist Board    

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