St. Vincent History
	The very first people to arrive in St. Vincent were the Ciboney who came in small craft from South America a long time before the Pharaohs held sway over Egypt.  Following them came a peace loving people called the Arawaks.   They were amateur farmers and fishermen and moved up through the islands, settling them as they went. Next came the Caribs, also from South America.  They were a warlike Amerindian race that did not hesitate to raid the islands to the north, kidnapping Arawak women and making wives of all whom they chose.  They had yellowish skin, coarse, lank hair and high cheekbones. The Garifunas were of African decent and are believed by many to have come from a slave ship that sank offshore. Our local historians dispute this, noting that slaves who were chained hands and feet and who were kept on decks that were too close together to allow standing room, could really not be expected to swim several miles to mainland St. Vincent. These historians see the Garifunas as having arrived around 1200 A.D., when Abubaka, the Emperor of Mali sent out a large number of ships towards the west. It is known that the Washitas of the southern United States (an African people) arrived before the Spaniards and there is no reason why the Garifunas could not similarly have arrived before the slave trade began. The mainland therefore had two main races of people, the Caribs on the Leeward side of the island and the Garifunas on the Windward.  Columbus is reported to have "discovered" St. Vincent on the 22nd of January, 1498, but there is compelling evidence that says he was nowhere near the island on that date.  In recent times, the youthful inhabitants have asked why it was necessary for Columbus to have "discovered" the country when the Ciboneys, Caribs and Garifunas had been here a long time before.  "Discovery Day" has now been superseded by "National Heroes Day", a day on which we celebrate the lives of Vincentians who have made vital contributions to our country and our people. St. Vincent has a reputation for having very independent minded people.  The Garifunas who were often referred to as "Black Caribs" resisted the encroachments of Europeans for some two hundred years, during which time the other islands had been settled.  Our island became a haven for runaway slaves and Caribs defeated on neighbouring islands and was more heavily populated than the other islands for this reason. When finally the locals permitted missionaries to come in from neighbouring islands (including Martinique), they were soon followed by their offspring who came with guns and were more interested in land than in souls.  Thus began the Hundred Years War that included the Brigands War.  The Garifunas fought valiantly, retreating to the heavy foliage of the rainforests when necessary.  They were on the point of winning when Admiral Abercromby descended on them with warships carrying nearly 4000 troops.  Outnumbered ten to one, they were forced to surrender or be slaughtered.  The militants and their families numbering 5040 were transferred to Balliceaux, a small island offshore, then after three years (in 1797), their decimated numbers were shipped to Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras.  The 2900 that left St. Vincent fanned out into Belize, Honduras and Guatemala and have now grown to around one million.  They have retained their culture and can be heard speaking their language fluently today in Dangrida, Belize. The Garifunas were shipped to Central America in 1797.  The yellow Caribs moved to the northeast of the island to what is now called Sandy Bay where their descendents now live.   St. Vincent changed hands between the English and French several times, finally becoming a British colony in 1871, a British Associated State in 1969 and a fully independent state within the British Commonwealth on October 27, 1979.  The effect of the French occupation is still seen in the number of places with French names.

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