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Monday 17 July 2023 LOCAL
A10

Episode 23

The Aruban way of life since 1678

rapidlyadopted by the and English privateers; Bo-
Portuguese speaking Jews naire and Curacao, where
and their slaves. horses were bred as well-on
Bonaire at least as many as
This is how Papiamento on Aruba-were garrisoned.
got a support and starts to
develop in what it has be- The attack supposed
come today. The European to have been made by
families coming to Cura- actual fact been occupied French filibusters at the be-
cao already spoke Papia- by its predecessor, among ginning of the seventeenth
mento after one genera- which were Curacao, Bo- century, so at about the
tion, the younger members naire, and Aruba. The sec- same time when the first
being brought up by native ond class comprised all Dutchmen came here,
From a previous episode, the beginning and where Jaja`s ornany`s had its influ- other coasts and regions cannot be historically prov-
a relevant passage in the who directed the first Afri- enceon their lexicon. The referred to in the 1621 char- en. Traditions, however,
1678 Dutch version of Ex- cans in the broken Spanish few Europeans and their ter, among whose number preserve the memory of a
quemeli’s vicissitudes, it they talked. Father Scha- were also St.Eustatius, Saba, fight between the Aruban
appears that in his time bel, himself an excellent and St.Martin, and all other Indians and the French pri-
Spanish was still spoken speaker of Spanish, says Caribbean islands. The new vateers on the spot alleged
here. Next to nothing has that in his time, after 1704, company only possessed a to have been named Rooi
been published about the broken or corrupted Span- monopoly to carry on trade Frances in commemora-
origin of Papiamento, but it ish was also heard on Cu- with the first class territories, tion of this event. When
is assumed that this mixed racao. This was probably of those of the second class in the years after 1824the
language originated with the more and more influx of being open to all Dutch Rev.Bosch paid his visits to
the arrival of the Castilians, Aruban natives speaking a ships against payments of Aruba the collector Croes
mainly because of the bro- mix of Spanish and Arawak. the dues conceded to the showed him a cave in
ken Spanish natives from Already before this date it slaves coming to Aruba Company in the charter. which the bones and skulls
Aruba where combined was made a requirement brought new words to the Practically this division into of the Indians were still lying
with their own. for outgoing ministers to Aruban Papiamento. The about. Croes told the min-
speak Spanish in order to vicinityofthe continent and ister that he had already
The next influx of Africans be able to work successful- family ties,kept the more twice been in the cave, first
also made it more acces- ly among the Amerindians distinctive Spanish Am- about 1800, when the skel-
sible for those higher on the of Aruba. As the number of erindian elements to the etons were still intact.
socially scale, since Aruban Africans increased, the lan- Aruban Papiamento. After
natives where employed in guage of the natives were 1816 the number of those Later he had conducted
speaking Papiamento rap- Father Jacobus Schinck
idly went up, the Indians O.F.M. there. This must
themselves dying out, or consequently have been
marryinginto the non-Ar- before 1809, for after this
awak speakers of Papia- classes did not affect Aru- date Father Schinck paid
mento and adopting this ba’s position. The second no more visits to Aruba.
idiom as their own. West India Company, too, He “had the odd fancy to
left the island to its own re- wrench the teeth from the
sources. Undefended it lay jaw-bones, and to take
open to every attacker. them with him in a little
bag”. Through this proce-
Freebooters on Aruba dure the skeletons had
Buccaneers and smug- been moved and fallen
glers from time to time asunder. A.J. van Kool-
brought some change to wijk as late as 1880 also
the quiet life of Aruba’s saw here “half-decayed
two hundred odd inhabit- bones” of grown-ups and
ants. Horse-breedingfrom children some 8 or 10 per-
First class Island Spanish times, was contin- sons in all.
On 20 September 1674 the ued by the Company. The
second West India Com- animals formed one of the Source; Island Insight col-
pany took over the pos- attractions luring on French umn by Etnia Nativa.
sessions of the old one.
Aruba, too, came to the
new Company as a “de-
pendency” of Curacao.
For the history of the island
this change would be of no
significance if this second
company had not divided
the islands mentioned in its
charter into two classes.

To the first class belonged
the islands which had in