Turks and Caicos Islands History, Language and Culture

History of Turks and Caicos Islands

None of the Lucayan Indians, who occupied the islands when Columbus first discovered them in 1492, survived the 16th century, with most taken as slaves by the Spaniards. Legend has it that the islands were named after the indigenous, red-topped Turk’s-cap cactus, shaped like a Turkish fez, and the Lucayan phrase ‘caya hico’, meaning ‘string of islands’.

During the mid-17th century, the Turks and Caicos Islands became a major centre for the salt industry. In fact, the archipelago provided the American mainland with salt well into the 19th century, with African slaves – many brought to the islands by Loyalists fleeing the War for Independence in the United States – being used as labour. During the 18th century, control of the islands changed hands several times among the French, Spanish and British, who eventually asserted dominance. Emancipation came in 1834 after a series of slave escapes to nearby Haiti.