5 minute read
A short but Barbudaful history
Everywhere you go on Barbuda today, you see evidence of the everyday history and culture of Barbuda: pre-Columbian sites yet to be fully explored, houses built over the centuries from hand-cut wood and shingles, old village walls made of stone, still-functioning wells built by enslaved Africans, caves that are also weekend hunting retreats, and roads or tracks to beaches with fascinating names that only local people know. All of these sites and the Barbudans who still live on Barbuda today, who keep this knowledge, along with traditions and skills alive, are part of Barbuda’s unique and marvellous history. It is now estimated that throughout the Caribbean as many as five million people lived and thrived from the time of the Stone Age until Europeans arrived and decimated their populations. On Barbuda, we can still see one of the few remaining Caribbean wildernesses where much of the island remains as pristine as it would have been in those ancient times. There are many locally known sites, and it’s common to find fragments of shells, tools and pottery that were used by the Arawak people thousands of years ago.
In 1649, Christopher Codrington set out from Cheltenham in the UK to the war-torn Caribbean and later, in 1684, his son, also named Christopher, founded a sugar estate at Betty’s Hope, taking over any indigenous cultural farming practices that still existed to introduce to Antigua large-scale and profitable sugar-planting with the free labour provided by enslaved Africans. The following year, he leased Barbuda from the British Crown at the rent of one fat sheep per year before Barbuda and Antigua were officially united. Over time, the Codringtons considered Barbuda to be their ‘private island’, and as such, they were often anxious to keep Antigua out of Barbuda’s affairs. Their family line continues to the present day. In 1959, the original and important papers of the Codrington family, including first-hand accounts of their occupation of Barbuda, were given to the Gloucestershire Record Office in the UK for public use by Sir Simon Codrington. They were removed again by the family who apparently needed the sale and were purchased at Sotheby’s anonymously in 1980 for £106,000. The purchaser was later revealed to be a ‘friend of Antigua’ and the Bird family government Bruce Rappaport. They are now said to be held in the National Archives building in St John’s.
However, on Barbuda, the enslaved Africans brought to the island by the Codringtons were not working on plantations. First-hand accounts from the papers describe Barbuda as a barren rock with “weak trees” and “dangerous coasts”, and the British found it hostile and challenging. The Codringtons used the island to provide resources for their plantations elsewhere, with the extensive knowledge and skills of Africans who must have had a much better understanding of this environment. Fishing was plentiful, and as shipwrecks were so common, salvage was a source of both riches and essential items like ropes and timber. On Barbuda, the air was described as “pure and wholesome” with “nature that has produced great plenty”, specifically mentioning turtles, deer, and guinea fowl – all of which are still in existence and hunted today. Barbudans had established families and used the land over many generations, as had the Codringtons, and there are many accounts of their refusal to be moved to Antigua: ‘Barbudans acknowledge no Master…’ They were as independent as it was possible to be in enslavement; they were resourceful and resilient, they wanted to stay, and they considered the island belonged to them.
When we take our children to Guava, Basil Mango Tree, Two Foot Bay or Fishing Creek, we are not just going on a day out, we are sharing our Barbuda story with them.
Barbudans today know this story very well. They know that growing crops can only work on a small scale on land that is shared when it is subject to droughts one year and hurricanes the next. They know that cattle, pigs, sheep and goats can roam the island, finding water and providing meat at all times. They can still camp out, carry home a deer and share it. There is still plentiful fishing, and they protect their waters to international standards. They also decline overdevelopment, recognising it as the threat to their unique history and culture that it is. When we take our children to Guava, Basil Mango Tree, Two Foot Bay or Fishing Creek, we are not just going on a day out, we are sharing our Barbuda story with them.
Article written by Claire Frank. Claire artist and writer who has lived in Barbuda for over 30 years. She runs the ArtCafe, a small business that sells her silk paintings, local crafts and food to visitors to the island. Throughout the years, she has contributed articles about Barbuda to many publications and writes the only Barbuda website, barbudaful.net.
