Aruba

Aruba's first inhabitants were the Caquetios Indians from the Arawak tribe. Fragments of the earliest known Indian settlements date back to about 1000 A.D, as do the ancient painted symbols still visible on limestone caves found at Fontein, Ayo and elsewhere. Pottery remnants can still be seen at the Museum of Archaeology. Some centuries later, the first European landed on Aruban shores. Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda is thought to have arrived about 1499. The Spanish promptly exported the Indians to Santo Domingo in the Do,inican Republic, where they were put to work in the copper mines. In 1636, near the culmination of the Eighty Years' War between Spain and Holland, the Dutch took possession of Aruba and remained in control for nearly two centuries. In 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars, the English briefly took control over the island, but it was returned to Dutch control in 1816. Although Aruba continues to exist within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, it functions independently.Aruba has a melange of people from the South American and European continents, also from the Far East and other islands of the Caribbean. These different settlers have added a unique flavor to the lives of the inhabitants of the island.
When you drive about the island you will see housewives sweeping their dirt yards. This is to keep the yards clear from insects that may enter their homes. A tradition maintained from early Indian custom.

Some Arubans believe that it is necessary to go out the same door one entered.

Still a mystery is the fact that if one wanted to get rid of an unwanted guest is to stand a straw broom upside down against an outside wall. Apparently this truly works.

A red ribbon suspended over a doorway protects the house or place of business from evil Spirits. Newborns and small children wear a chain with a red and black seed which is thought to keep the “evil eye” away.