The Land and People of Saba – Albert & Michael – Saba Island Properties
- August 10, 2024
- Albert & Michael - Saba Island Properties, BLOG, Caribbean Real Estate
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A follower of our monthly Blog asked us to reshare one of our most popular posts on the history of the people of Saba. So here it is – from our archives. Enjoy the read and please share it with others.
Thank you – Albert & Michael
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We value the history of Saba and acknowledge the land and the Indigenous People who first lived and worked here.
Indigenous is about belonging and comes from the Latin word indigena, which means “native – sprung from the land.”
Land acknowledgment is a custom dating back centuries. It’s a powerful way of showing respect to the Indigenous Peoples of the land on which we work and live, a simple way of telling the truth and resisting the erasure of Indigenous histories and working towards honoring different cultures and rituals.
We know the Ciboney (Soo-bony) 1100 BC from Haiti, Cuba and the Dominica Republic and the Arawak (Ar-a-wak) Indians 800 AD from South America were the founding people of Saba, which should always be celebrated.
Our roots are in the land
> Saba is thought to have been originally inhabited by the Ciboney people as early as the 1100s BC – people of Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
> Later, circa 800 AD, Arawak indigenous people from South America settled on the island.
> Christopher Columbus is said to have sighted the island on 13 November 1493; however, he did not land, being deterred by the island’s perilous rocky shores.
> In 1632, a group of shipwrecked Englishmen landed on Saba.
> In the 1640s, the Dutch Governor of the neighboring island of Sint Eustatius (Statia) sent several Dutch families over to colonize the island.
> In 1664, refusing to swear allegiance to the English crown, these original Dutch settlers were evicted to St. Maarten by Jamaican governors-cum-pirates Edward, Thomas, and Henry Morgan.
> The Netherlands gained control of the island in 1816.
The earth is what we all have in common and when you stand on a piece of land it holds not just the vital facts of history but the lives and feelings of people – individuals, family, community.
Here are several quotes about nature and land and people that matter to us:
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“Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.” – Mark Twain – American writer, humorist
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“The earth, the air, the land and the water are not an inheritance from our forefathers but on loan from our children. So we have to handover to them at least as it was handed over to us.” – Gandhi – Indian lawyer,
anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist
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“The real wealth of the Nation lies in the resources of the earth — soil, water, forests, minerals, and wildlife…
Their administration is not properly, and cannot be, a matter of politics.” – Rachel Carson – Marine biologist
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“The land is sacred; it belongs to the countless numbers who are dead, the few who are living, and the multitudes of those yet to be born.” – Penan, nomadic indigenous people – Sarawak, Malaysia
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Albert & Michael – Saba Island Properties
Expats – Helping People Feel at Home on Saba
Saba (+599) 416 – 2777
Emails: Albert@sabaislandproperties.com or Michael@sabaislandproperties.com
Some Testimonials from Our Happy Clients
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Michael’s writing is published at Arianna Huffington’s – Thrive Global, The Huffington Post,
Medium, Maria Shriver’s Website, LinkedIn, Michael Port, The Fordyce Letter, Mélange Magazine and others.
Along with this international monthly Blog Michael publishes daily on his coaching website – Commit2Change.
