Times of the Islands Fall 2021

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astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum SHUTTERSTOCK Two Turks & Caicos historians have gone to great lengths to promote the theory that Christopher Columbus’ first landfall in the “New World” was on Grand Turk. Small Island, Big History Grand Turk is an island of historical importance. By Dr. Carlton Mills and Debby-Lee Mills It has been commonly taught that Christopher Columbus’ first landfall in the “New World” was San Salvador in the Bahamas. In recent years, this theory has been challenged by two Turks & Caicos Islands historians, the late H.E. Sadler and Josiah Marvel. These historians promoted the theory that Columbus’ first landfall was Grand Turk in the Turks & Caicos Islands. The late Josiah Marvel started his research in this area in the mid-1980s. Bolstered by his dear friend Tim Ainley, who accompanied him on his expedition, they took their 43 foot catamaran and proceeded to retrace the first landfall made by Christopher Columbus on Grand Turk. According to Dave Calvert, the author of the article, “Sailing the Caribbean in the Wake of Christopher Columbus,” the purpose of the expedition was to retrace Marvel’s purported route on a sailing vessel to confirm distances, courses and descriptions of the various islands as recorded by the famed admiral in the Diario of Christopher Columbus. 70 www.timespub.tc
astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum Columbus also recorded in his diary that when he made landfall, he encountered Indians on the island. Over the years, an argument arose as to whether or not there is evidence to substantiate that there were Indians in the Turks & Caicos Islands at the time. In short, the following details tend to suggest that there is strong evidence of Taíno/Lucayan presence in the Islands. It commenced with Theodore De Booy (1912) when he obtained exquisite examples of Taíno art. Later on, archaeologist Dr. Shaun Sullivan devoted two years of dedicated work to surveys and excavations in the Caicos Islands in an effort to track the Taíno colonization. He re-discovered forty Taíno sites; all but five were on Middle Caicos. In 1989, while attending a conference at which Robert Power and Josiah Marvel presented their case for Grand Turk as the first landfall of Columbus, Dr. Donald Keith found two Taíno sites on Grand Turk. This was the beginning of the Taíno story on that island as an article in the Summer 1995 issue of Times of the Islands, “History begins on Grand Turk,” suggests. Further evidence also revealed that within a half century of the European colonization efforts through conquest, degradation and extermination, this group of people were decimated through the imposition of the Spanish Encomienda System (their forced labour policy), inhumane treatment and the ingress of diseases by the Europeans which the Taíno people were not immune to. Following the demise of the Taíno population, the next main settlement attempt in Grand Turk was by the Bermudians in 1678. The Bermudians first came to the Islands on a temporary basis to harvest salt. While they waited on the process to take place, they used their time to salvage wrecked ships and fish for turtles. In time, salt became a very lucrative business which encouraged them to establish a permanent settlement on the island. Remnants of the old salt ponds on Grand Turk tell this story. The island still retains aspects of the old colonial British-Bermudian heritage through its buildings, street designs and family names—in particular Astwood, Butterfield, Dean, Durham, Frith, Seymour and Taylor. Salt made Grand Turk a vitally important artery linking this small island (whether directly or indirectly) with several global partners including the USA, Canada, England and neighboring Caribbean countries, in particular Jamaica and Barbados. It was the salt from Grand Turk that was shipped to Newfoundland in Canada to make “salt cod” that was then sold to the slave plantation owners in these Caribbean countries as the main food for their slaves. As the salt trade expanded, it resulted in Grand Turk being declared the first port of entry in the Turks & Caicos, with custom officials present to collect the revenue that was being generated from its sales. By 1681, salt was not only a thriving business but because of demand, it acquired the popular name “White Gold.” This flourishing business also saw the Bermudians establish Cockburn Town in Grand Turk as the capital of the island. It was named after Sir Francis Cockburn, the then-governor of the Bahamas. Cockburn Town was a small Bermudian coastal settlement on the western side of Grand Turk, now the oldest permanent settlement on the island. Its boundaries extended from Duke Street on the southern end heading north along Front Street to where Duke Street merges into Queen Street overlooking These iconic images of the Grand Turk salt industry feature the windmills that pumped sea water through the vast salinas and the laborers who toiled to rake the salt that dried in the hot sun. TED PHILIPPONA–TURKS AND CAICOS NATIONAL MUSEUM COLLECTION Times of the Islands Fall 2021 71
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LEADING THE INDUSTRY IN HEALTH AND
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