Grand Bahama Island -- History

The Lost Past

On Grand Bahama Island, the sea has always provided. The earliest settlers, the Siboney Indians, were a people who lived off conch and fishing, and the shells and jewelry they left behind form the majority of what we know about them. Their remains suggest that they were here as early as 7,000 years ago, but disappeared after they were superceded by another Caribbean group, the Lucayans.

A reconstruction of a typical Lucayan village. Photo by James Turner, GBITB The Lucayans (also called Arawaks) were a broad group of tribes who worked their way up the Caribbean from South America's Amazon between 5 and 7,000 years ago. When Christopher Columbus sighted San Salvador on his first crossing in 1492, there were an estimated 40,000 of them living in The Islands of The Bahamas, with a population of about 4,000 on Grand Bahama Island. Surprisingly little is known about the Lucayans, a fact that comes from their rapid extermination by the Spanish shortly after the arrival of Columbus. It is believed they had an advanced political and social structure, and lived in well-organized cities.

Skulls and artifacts have been found in the caves at Lucayan National Park, and a significant new archeological site recently discovered near Deadman's Reef has uncovered hearths, animal bones, pottery pieces, and shell beads.