Shelling on Sint-Maarten/Saint Martin, the ‘Friendly Island ’: Part I: Introduction and Land Mollusca

Shelling on Sint-Maarten/Saint Martin, the ‘Friendly Island ’: Part I: Introduction and land mollusca Delphine Clement, Patricia Nolf & Frank Nolf 1 1 Pr. Stefanieplein 43 B8 B-8400 Oostende [email protected] Neptunea, vol.14, n°1 1 May 2016 1 Introduction Geography Sint-Maarten/Saint Martin (SXM) is situated at 18°04' N, 63°04′ W and belongs to what is called the 'Windward Islands', together with Puerto Rico, Saba, the Virgin Islands and some other islands, in contrast to the 'Leeward Islands' Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire north of Venezuela. Saint Martin is confined by the Atlantic Ocean in the north and by the Caribbean Sea in the south. Saint Martin belongs to the northernmost islands of the Lesser Antilles in the external volcanic arc. It consists of two parts: the French Saint-Martin in the north and the Dutch Saint Maarten in the south. The total area is 86 km², of which about 34 km² is inhabited by approximately 35,000 of people in the Dutch Saint Martin. The ‘Collectivité de Saint Martin’, is an overseas collectivity of France and has an area of about 53 km², inhabited by more than 32,000 inhabitants. The capital of the Dutch part is Philipsburg while Marigot is the French capital. The island is very hilly and is dominated by several 'Hills' or 'Monts' such as the Mt. France, Mt. Boeuf, Mt. Caretta, Sentry Hill and above all the highest hill, the Pic Paradis (424 m). Ridges of the hills run into the sea and with a certain regularity around the coastline which is interrupted by numerous bays and white beaches, where hundreds of hotels and resorts shoot up like mushrooms. Some large lagoons characterise the landscape (Simpson Bay Lagoon, Great Salt Pond, Etang aux Poissons, Etang Guichard). The beautiful wide beaches are strongly sloping and the rocky coast is sometimes difficult to access. Neptunea, vol.14, n°1 1 May 2016 2 Simpson Beach Friar’s Bay History In the past, the island was scarcely inhabited, presumably due to a lack of drinkable water. We suspect that the island has already been inhabited since 4000 BC and that Arawak Indians were living there since ca. 800 BC. The Arawaks were relatively civilised. They were proficient in agriculture, they made pottery and their social organisation was headed by hereditary chieftains who derived their power from personal deities called ‘zemis’. It was a peaceful nation that practiced salt extraction from the seawater in the lagoons. The island was then called 'Soualiga' or 'Island of the Salt'. In the 14th century the Arawaks were subjected by the war-like Carib Indians who came from South America. We presume th e latter were cannibals who massacred the male members of the Arawak tribes and used their women as slaves. The island was then called 'Oualichi ' or 'Island of Women'. Neptunea, vol.14, n°1 1 May 2016 3 Most likely the island was first observed by Columbus on 11 November 1493, the feast day of the Holy Martin, a bishop and missionary who lived from 330 to 397 (Tours, France). It is possible that Columbus did not observe the current Saint Martin but the nearby Island of Nevis. So, it was only later on added to the Spanish possessions. As the Spaniards conquered the Caribbean Islands they rounded up the local Indian people and put them to work. Many Carib Indians emigrated or did not survive the successive Spanish, Dutch and French dominations. The Spaniards introduced the first African slaves into the Caribbean, but the vast majority of the slaves were only introduced in the middle of the 18th century. The increasing development of the sugar plantations required the supply of still more slaves from American, African, European and Asian countries. This resulted in a West Indian culture, which cannot be matched in any other part of the world for richness and diversity. The Caribbean Sea was the venue of privateers, pirates and smugglers from different countries such as Spa in, Portugal, England, the Netherlands and France with the sole purpose of getting ever more grip on the Islands. English privateers were even knighted for their fight in the service of Queen and country. Between 1630 and 1648 the Dutch seized the islands of Saint Martin, Curacao, Saba and St. Eustatius, all valuable trading and smuggling depots. In 1631 the Dutch started salt extractions and the cultivation of tobacco, but two years later they were driven out by the Spaniards. In the meantime the French had obtained a joint rule of the island through the 'Compagnie des Isles d' Amérique', founded in 1635. In 1642 the Friesian Peter Stuyvesant was appointed Governor of Curaçao and in 1644 the Spaniards renounced their rights to the island. Neptunea, vol.14, n°1 1 May 2016 4 On 23 March 1648 France and the Dutch Republic signed the Treaty of Concordia, and the distribution of the territory between the two countries was decided. Between 1631 and 1816 Saint Martin was under the rule of the Dutch for seven times, three times under English authority and four times under the French Government. At the end of the Eighty Years' War, Saint Martin was again partially under Dutch supervision. Finally in 1816, at the Treaty of London, the agreement was totally accomplished. Since 2010, the Dutch part of Saint Martin has been a separate country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Population At present, the original Saint Martin natives are by far the minority compared to the legal and illegal migrants who overran the island since the 1960s. The large inflow of immigrants from the other islands on Saint Martin resulted in a Creole-Caribbean folk culture which is also present on many other Caribbean islands. The rapid development of tourism seriously influenced the population figure of Saint Martin. At the end of the 1960s, there were approximately 3,000 inhabitants. At present, this number has increased to more than 60,000 people, equally divided between the Dutch and the French sides of the island. Only 20% of them can really be called autochthonous. The otrhers come from France, India (especially in the jewelry stores), the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, other immigrants from islands such as Haiti, Dominica, St. Kitts, Anguilla, but also from China (especially working in hotels and the catering sector), Germany, North America and the United Kingdom. In addition, there are also thousands of illegal immigrants on the island, especially from the surrounding Caribbean Islands. Certain estimates believe that there are almost as many illegal immigrants as legal Saint Martin inhabitants. Probably more than 120 different nationalities are represented on Saint Martin. Due to the important British influence in the past and present, English has become the main language on the Windward Islands. The official language in Saint Martin is still Dutch, but the actual knowledge and practice has become very small. The language used by the immigrants on Saint Martin is the 'patois', or 'Papiamento' of the French territories in the Caribbean region (Martinique, Guadeloupe). Economy and traffic Originally, the extracted salt from the seawater on Saint Martin was an interesting export product to many countries, including France and The Netherlands. Salt was used to preserve meat during the long trips across the ocean. Nowadays there are no more salt extraction activities on the island. In the second half of the 17th century and in the 18th century the inhabitants of Saint Martin were fairly prosperous. Agriculture yielded sufficient benefits for their own use while cotton and tobacco were exported. During the 18th century sugar cane supplanted the cultivation of other crops. To increase labour intensiveness, a growing number of black slaves were introduced. At the end of the century the island counted 31 plantations, and about half of them were controlled by the English. So, Saint Martin gradually began to Anglicise not only in a demographic way but also as to language use. This phenomenon is now a general reality and there is still little that reminds of the Dutch presence except for some older names of streets and buildings. In the 19th century there was an economic turnabout due to the many wars in which The Netherlands had been involved at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. The cultivation of sugar cane gradually disappeared as a result of devastating hurricanes, but also by the abolition of slavery. Nowadays, there are only a few plantation houses on the island. The second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century was a period of poverty for Saint Martin. Since 1939 Saint Martin has become a free trade area without tax provision. Since the late 1950s and the 1960s tourism has gradually developed and begun to flourish. Now Saint Martin depends on this sector for 80%. Proportionally, the construction sector still provides more employment to the local population. Fortunately, the Government is also one of the larger employers on Saint Martin. More than a quarter of the working population has a job as a civil servant or is employed in the 'security'-sector. Surprisingly practically no fishing activities can be observed on the island. Moreover, there are no industrial activities. Neptunea, vol.14, n°1 1 May 2016 5 Tourism and infrastructure Saint Martin is an important tourist destination. Countless tourists - especially Americans - supplied by gorgeous cruise ships, visit the tax free town of Philipsburg every year. Aircrafts of the type Boeing 747 are able to land on the 'Princess Juliana International Airport ' in the Dutch part of the island, in contrast with the smaller airport, the 'Aérogare de l' Espérance' in the French part.

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