theraizalpeople

Introduction

San Andrés, along with its sister islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina, make up the faraway Colombian archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. It remains one of the least discussed parts of Colombia in historical surveys of the country.[1] Due to its settlement history, the islands and the people who live on them had strong connections with the wider Caribbean from the coasts of Central and South America to the larger islands of Jamaica and smaller islands of Bahamas and Curaçao. While quite reflective of the migratory patterns of the greater Caribbean, the most influential population were the Anglophone Afro-Caribbean Protestant islanders who resided exclusively until the middle of the twentieth century. Today, their descendants on San Andrés Island are called the Raizales to denote their multigenerational roots in these islands.

Before the European and African presence in the area, Indigenous populations off the coast of Nicaragua and Honduras hunted and fished in and around San Andrés, Providencia, and the tiny neighboring island Santa Catalina. More archaeological work is warranted to gain a better sense of the role of these places for communities like the Miskitu. The islands received multiple waves of people from indigenous mariners, European pirates and colonists, and enslaved African laborers, often changing administrative hands from different polities. During the Spanish-American wars of independence, Providencia and San Andres adhered to the newly independent yet faraway republic of New Granada (or modern-day Colombia). The governance of an offshore and distant island proved difficult. The Anglophone, Protestant resident population of European and African ancestry shared little with its fellow nationals on mainland Colombia. The extent of the cultural and social gulf between the islands and the mainland became clearer and manifested in a state mandate to rectify the situation over the twentieth century.

We are the Raizal People digital exhibit underscores two parallel historical processes: (1) competing visions on whether the archipelago belonged to Colombia and (2) the development of San Andres from one extractive economy to another: fruit to tourism.

For a general overview of the archipelago’s history, find a KnightLab Timeline here.

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How to Navigate the exhibit:

To begin the exhibit, click the hyperlink title on each image and read more about the history of these islands.