Page 23 - AHATA

Wednesday 13 september 2023 locAl
A10

Episode CCXXIII-223 The Coconut palm

Etnia Nativa is where you can con- introductions, the place of origin
nect with the mystical aspects of of the coconut is a disputed issue;
Aruba, its culture, and its traditional while many consider it to come
heritage. The platform encourages from South Asia, fossil records from
visitors to engage with our island`s New Zealand indicate that similar,
unique cultural setting. although smaller, plants grew there
at least 15 million years ago. There
During this episode, we want to are also older fossils discovered in
share the mysticism of an iconic different regions of India, with co-
plant of the Caribbean region that conuts appearing in Hindu litera-
has great cultural and religious sig- ture from the 2nd to the 1st century
nificance in certain Western Pa- BC, where they state that between
cific societies, appearing in their 575 and 608 B.C., a sultan planted
mythologies, songs, and oral tradi- a coconut garden about 25 km
tions. long, which would most likely be
the first recorded coconut planta-
If you think of the Caribbean Sea, tion.
the image of a couple of coco-
nut trees and a hammock strung During the colonial era and the Co-
between them surely comes to lumbian exchange, some coconut
mind, since it is difficult to imagine palm varieties were introduced to
a Caribbean beach without them. the American continent through There is written evidence of the first trees stood out along the coast,
However, despite being a cultural Europeans, although some theo- exports of coconuts from the insu- but here the development of the
icon of the tropics, the coconut ries speak of a possible introduc- lar Caribbean in 1850, and it would emerging hotel and tourist indus-
tree, to the surprise of some, is not tion of coconut palms from the be a few years later and until the tries also changed the contem-
native to these shores. Pacific through Panama and by early 1900s that the boom in the porary landscape to which the lo-
Austronesian sailors. coconut industry began. cals were used. Currently, we see
Coconuts were first domesticated some coconut trees along part of
by the Austronesian peoples in We know that when Europeans An industry that had its ups and the boulevard and in some aban-
Southeast Asia and spread during "discovered" the coconuts, they downs but that came to export doned plantations. On the other
the Neolithic via their seaborne mi- quickly realized how easy it would considerable quantities from the hand, many hotels were beauti-
grations. They played a critical role be to transport sterilized water (co- Caribbean islands of Cuba, Jamai- fied with coconut palms and other
in the long sea voyages by provid- conut water) and nutrients aboard ca, and Trinidad and Tobago. palm species.
ing a portable source of food and ships, embarking on long voyages There are 13 different types of
water as well as building materi- across saltwater where freshwater palms that produce edible coco- As something curious, we also share
als for boats. Coconuts were also was scarce and often contami- nuts around the world. In the Carib- that the name "coconut" can refer
later spread along the coasts of nated. After being introduced like bean, the coconut palm was intro- to the coconut palm or seed or
the Indian and Atlantic Oceans by this in the middle of the 16th cen- duced by Spaniards who brought it fruit. The term coconut comes from
South Asian, Arab, and European tury, the coconut in the Caribbean from the Canary Islands. In Aruba, the old Portuguese word coco,
sailors. Based on these separate region was planted afterwards. the coconut tree did not devel- meaning "head" or "skull", from the

op as a major industry; however, three indentations in the coconut
beautiful plantations were erect- shell that resemble facial features.
ed into the landscape, with over So if you look for a face in the next
15.000 trees. Those who owned coconut you find, you will surely
private property land with acces- find it!
sibility to underground water, like
in Balashi, Rooi Lamunchi, Daimari, If you are keen to explore Aruba’s
Andicuri, Plantage Tromp, Basiruti deep heritage, Etnia Nativa is a
area, etc., decided to invest in co- place to connect. A private resi-
conut plantations. Aruban's demo- dential, a house which integrates
graphics and its original landscape natural and reused materials,
have also experienced changes bursting with art, culture, and is-
since the mid-18th century until land heritage. Each visitor is guid-
the present, which is why some of ed through an authentic encoun-
these long extensions of coconut ter with owner-builder and cultural
palms could not resist deforesta- expert. Booking a magical glimpse
tion and a lack of rainfall. inside Etnia Nativa WhatsApp +297
592 2702 etnianativa03@gmail.
Basiruti on the West Coast was a comq
place where hundreds of coconut