History, Language & Culture Anguilla

History Anguilla was first settled by Indigenous Amerindian peoples who migrated from South America.The earliest Native American artefacts found on Anguilla have been dated to around 1300 BC; remains of settlements date from AD 600. The native Arawak name for the island was Malliouhana.

Precisely when Anguilla was first seen by Europeans is uncertain: some sources claim that Columbus sighted the island during his second voyage in 1493, while others state that the first European explorer was the French Huguenot nobleman and merchant René Goulaine de Laudonnière in 1564.The Dutch West India Company established a fort on the island in 1631. However, the Company later withdrew after its fort was destroyed by the Spanish in 1633.

During the early colonial period, Anguilla was administered by the British through Antigua; in 1825, it was placed under the administrative control of nearby Saint Kitts. Anguilla was federated with St Kitts and Nevis in 1882, against the wishes of many Anguillians. Economic stagnation, and the severe effects of several droughts in the 1890s and later the Great Depression of the 1930s led many Anguillians to emigrate for better prospects elsewhere.

Flag of the short-lived Republic of Anguilla.

Full adult suffrage was introduced to Anguilla in 1952. After a brief period as part of the West Indies Federation (1958–62), the island of Anguilla became part of the associated state of Saint Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla with full internal autonomy in 1967. However many Anguillians had no wish to be a part of this union, and resented the dominance of St Kitts within it. On 30 May 1967 Anguillians forcibly ejected the St Kitts police force from the island and declared their separation from St Kitts following a referendum.The events, led by Atlin Harrigan and Ronald Webster amongst others, became known as the Anguillian Revolution; its goal was not independence per se, but rather independence from Saint Kitts and Nevis and a return to being a British colony.

Official languages English