Before the Dutch came to town to shape the Aruba history in a strong way, as discussed earlier, some Caquetío were sent back to Aruba from Santo Domingo. This triggered a new immigration wave from the mainland Caquetíos. Predominantly from Paraguaná and La Guajira. One of the reasons for this new influx was the wars between the colonizers and the Caquetíos on the mainland.
In the first article of this blog I indicated not to spend too much time on the pre-Columbian period of Aruba. This part however is important for us to understand how the population of the post-Columbian period developed over time.
Recapping: the original inhabitants of Aruba were sent to Santo Domingo as slaves, leaving the island pretty much desolate. Later they were pardoned and freed by the Spanish King and the Catholic Church. Upon their return to Aruba, some Spanish had also settled on Aruba with them. Therefore, starting in the 16th century the population was a mix of original Caquetíos, mainland Caquetíos, and Spaniards.
In my opinion, this is what constitutes the last original inhabitants of Aruba before Dutch settlement in the 17th century and colonisation later in the 18th century. This was all when Juan de Ampiés was managing the islands as encomendero.
Settlement locations on Aruba
Before European contact, the areas on Aruba that had been inhabited and showed signs of villages were located in what we now know as Tanki Flip & Malmok (Noord), Santa Cruz, and Savaneta. There were other locations, but these three represent the most important ones.
In the 16th century, when the Caquetíos returned to Aruba, all literature I found indicated that they were spread around Aruba in what we now know as the same general areas. Because many of the new ones came from the mainland, they were accustomed to Spanish presence, especially the clergy. The Catholic inhabitants of Aruba fell under the Bishopric based in Coro, founded by Juan de Ampiés.
Gonzalo de Angulo, the Bishop of Coro, ordered a census of the ABC Islands in 1619. The Priest Martín Gomez reported that only a few hundred Caquetíos lived on Aruba. Even though the Caquetíos had been pardoned and freed, they were still obliged to work for the Spanish. In practice they were often forced and could still be considered slaves. Juan de Ampiés himself had a history of being an indiero — a hunter of indigenous people as slaves.
Why this period matters
Unfortunately we do not know much about the people living on Aruba in this period. It remains a challenge to really construct a detailed timeline of the population and social developments of Aruba before the arrival of the Dutch. It was not until the 17th century that many important events took place that influenced the development of Aruba — it can be considered the start of Aruba’s first major social and population developments.
One can look at these developments as positive, negative, or a combination. For me, it is what happened, and without judging I want to understand this. It can help in discovering more about Aruba, my heritage, and why things are the way they are now.
Continue reading Aruba’s history:
← Previous: Chapter 1 – First Contact with Europeans (1499) | Next: Chapter 3 – Aruba & the Spanish Empire (1522–1598) →
