Post #437206 by hodadhank on Sun, Mar 1, 2009 4:01 PM

Sorry to keep ya waitin' Squiddly my old chum.

A little more info on the artisans of Andros Island...

Discovered by the Spanish in the mid 1500's, La Isla del Espirito Santo was home to Arawak natives until British colonization in 1629. Nassau archives show the island mapped as San Andreas in 1782, most likely due to a settlement of Brits and their African Slaves from San Andreas off the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua. Proximity to trade shipping lanes and the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere made Andros a an ideal pirate port for the likes of famed buccaneer Henry Morgan. The evolution to Andros may be due to successful Greek sponge traders who likened it's terrain and sweet water to a beautiful Grecian island named for Andros, son of Apollo.

Americans who sided with Britain during the Revolutionary war were granted asylum there and resettled bringing more African slaves from Florida, SC, Virginia and Georgia to establishing plantations. Even before Abolition the British Navy would "Deposit" liberated slaves on the Island. Dwelling in huts of driftwood and thatch, settlements with names like Congo Town developed into centers for hybrid culture and art.

The beauty and seclusion of Andros east coast Fresh Creek even lured Rat Packers to this unspoiled Bahamanian hideaway during the sixties where I believe Sammy Davis actually owned a villa overlooking Young Sound.

Today inhabitants enjoy art as a natural part of everyday life much like the people of Thailand and Carving, Batik and watertight baskets woven from Agave Sisal are just as important to natives income as their generational skills as seafarers, bone-fish anglers and lobster/ conch divers.

Enough with the history lesson. I hope to offer sculpture and textiles from Andros this summer. For the moment lets check out Henry's carving and some expert Sisal weaving... Oh, Sisal can also be made into beautiful jewelry.