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RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE suggests that the Bahamas may
have been settled as early as the fourth century
A
.
D
. But little is known about
these earliest native inhabitants.
In the 9th or 10th century, a group of Arawak Indians known as the
Lucayans arrived. The word
Lucayans
comes from the native term
lukku-caire
,
which means “island people.” These peaceful people may have traveled to
the Bahamas in order to avoid conflicts with the Caribs, a
cannibalistic
tribe
that was growing more and more dominant in South America as well as in
many areas of the Caribbean.
The Lucayans lived in villages that were organized into
clans
. Each clan
had a chief (
cacique
). The Lucayans ate fish and shellfish. They planted and
harvested vegetables such as corn and yams, and they used a starchy plant
Pirate’s Paradise
(Opposite) Christopher Columbus and
his crew claim San Salvador for
Spain, October 12, 1492. Columbus
believed the Bahamas were part of an
archipelago that lay north of Japan.
(Right) Perry Christie, prime minister
of the Bahamas, speaks at a United
Nations summit on climate change in
September 2014.
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