M a a rt e n/ St.
M art in ST. MAARTEN TOURISM BOARD
S t.
tWO natiOnS, SiDe BY SiDe in HarMOnY by John Anderson
The people of St. Maarten and St. Martin offer proof that having the good fortune to inhabit one small island paradise is all anyone needs to coexist peacefully with folks of another nationality. Boats rest quietly in a serene harbor.
BeGInnInGs
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powers of ancestral deities known as
CoLuMBus sIGhTs an IsLanD
The first settlers on the northeastern
zemis. The tribe established a network of
On his second voyage to the New
Caribbean island were the Arawak
fiefdoms throughout the Caribbean; but
World in 1493, Columbus sighted
Indians, a tribe of Amerindians who
archaeologists believe the Arawaks on
the island on his way to the Spanish
migrated northward from the Orinoco
St. Martin were an independent society
settlement on Hispaniola. The fortuitous
river basin of South America, hopping
free of such alliances.
day was November 11, the feast day
from one island to the next along their
In the century leading up to the arrival
of St. Martin of Tours, in whose honor
journey. Finding an abundance of
of Christopher Columbus, the Arawaks
Columbus named the island. A dispute
salt pans and brackish water on the
were supplanted by the Carib Indians, a
exists among historians as to whether
future Franco-Dutch isle, they named
more aggressive tribe also from South
the island Columbus sighted was indeed
it Soualiga, or Land of Salt. Due to the
America for whom the Caribbean is
St. Martin or the more southerly Nevis.
lack of freshwater sources, the island’s
named. The Carib were skilled in the
Regardless, the Spanish never took
population remained small.
arts of boatbuilding and sailing — as well
much interest in the 38-square-mile
A relatively cultured and innovative
as war, which explains their dominance
piece of property, and St. Martin sat
people, the peaceful Arawaks introduced
of the region. They also harbored large
mostly uninhabited for 138 years.
agriculture and pottery-making. Their
quantities of gold, obtained through
In 1623, after the English colonized
social structure was ruled by hereditary
trade with the mainland, which made
St. Kitts, their first stronghold in the
chieftains, believed to possess the
them the target of many expeditions.
Caribbean, both the French and Dutch
carnival cruise lines fun ashore
1112 POC St Maarten.indd 522
10/5/11 3:59 PM