St Lucia History, Language and Culture

History of St Lucia

Fierce resistance from Carib Indians kept British and French colonists away from this Caribbean island in the early-17th century, though the island was not entirely untouched by Europeans – the notorious French pirate, François le Clerc, had been a frequent visitor a century before and by 1600 the Dutch had established a camp at what in now Vieux Port.

The Carib Indians could only keep the colonialists at bay for so long, though: between 1660 and 1814, the Old World skirmished over the island and its ownership of St Lucia switched hands no fewer than 14 times.