Aruba’s first inhabitants are believed to have been Caquetois Amerinds from the Arawak tribe, who drifted there from Venezuela for escaping the attacks by the vicious Caribs. Fragments of the earliest known settlements date back to 1000 AD. As time passed, the sea currents made canoe travel to other Caribbean islands arduous, Caquetio culture remained closely linked with that of mainland South America.
Aruba was not known to the Europeans until they first learned of its existence following the explorations for Espanola (Spain) by Amerigo Vespucci and Alonso De Ojeda in the summer of 1499. There is confusion of the island’s discoverer as Vespucci boasted of discovering the island though originally Ojeda is credited with it as per records of the inhabitants of adjacent islands. Connoted as the ‘island of giants’, Aruba remarks on the comparatively large stature of the native Caquetios compared to Europeans.
Vespucci returned to Spain with cotton and brzilwood as gold was not discovered then. The stories of Vespucci lured the Spaniards and they soon colonized the island. The island country was colonized by Spain for more than 100 years. It was in 1629 when Netherlands covered the island with their set of regulations thereby marking the end of Spanish dominance. Officially, from 1636, Aruba has been under Dutch administration, initially governed by Peter Stuyvesant who was later appointed to New Amsterdam. Stuyvesant was originally on a special mission to Aruba in November and December of 1642. Primarily the island was included under the Dutch West India Company administration, named as ‘New Netherland and Curacao’.
During World War II, Aruba was one of the prime suppliers of refined petroleum products to the Allies force. After the German occupation of the Netherlands, Aruba was made a British province from 1940- 42 and a USA outpost from 1942- 45. Long before Aruba was known for its artificial flooring playground in Caribbean or the water parks, the island already established a prime mark on to the segment of international affairs.
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