Grand Life Magazine Winter 23-24 - Flipbook - Page 45
THE STORY OF
GRAND BAHAMA
ISLAND
ABOUT GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND
As the northernmost island of The Bahamas, and the closest major island to the United States,
Grand Bahama Island is a beautiful, and convenient, vacation destination, and home to some
of the friendliest people on Earth. Our ecological wonders and bounty of natural riches have
brought explorers to our gorgeous shores for over 7,000 years, while our vibrant culture,
charming towns and settlements, and island highlights and landmarks have long delighted
visitors from all over the world.
For your next trip to our tropical paradise, be sure to check out the many attractions and
adventures that await you on Grand Bahama Island. And to make your vacation here even
more fantastic, view our Travel Tips, Facts & Figures and Entry Requirements before you travel.
(This way you can spend less time planning things out and more time having fun in the sun on
one of our spectacular beaches!)
THE HISTORY OF GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND
7,000 YEARS AGO... The earliest settlers, the Siboney Indians, were a people who lived off the
sea; 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
another Caribbean group, the Lucayans, superseded them.
The Lucayans (also called Arawaks) were a broad group of tribes who worked their way up the
Caribbean from South America’s Amazon between 5000 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.
