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Description *Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts." - Christopher Columbus On October 12, 1492, one of the most important "first contacts" of the modern era was made when three ships of Spanish origin approached the island archipelago now known as the Bahamas, cautiously dropping anchor as the captain of the fleet gazed across to what he assumed was the coast of India. According to the popular version of the story, amazed at the sight of ships and men of such unfamiliar appearance, the native people of the island plunged into the clear waters of the western Atlantic, expertly swimming or aboard dugout canoes, and came out to greet the strangers. In all probability, the meeting was much more cautious and incremental, but the idea that these innocent people, raised in a tropical Eden, might embrace with such open enthusiasm their own destruction is picturesque, and no doubt appeals to contemporary perceptions. By whatever means one might choose to view it, this meeting of cultures certainly did mark the beginning of a bold new chapter in the history of Europe, and the beginning of the end of an ancient race of native people occupying a vast new continent. The entries into Christopher Columbus' log a

The Arawak: The History and Legacy of the Indigenous Natives in South America and the Caribbean, Paperback/Charles River Editors

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