Curaçao’s Indigenous Deportation Under Spain

After Europeans discovered Curaçao, the Spanish control of the island led to many Indigenous people being completely deported from their homeland. The island’s original inhabitants were Arawak and Caquetio Amerindians, and the first Europeans recorded there came with a Spanish expedition led by Alonso de Ojeda in 1499. Spain officially settled Curaçao in 1527, but disappointing agriculture and a lack of precious metals made the Spanish call it “the useless island.” In 1634, the Dutch West India Company captured the island from Spain, and after the Spanish surrendered, about 30 Spaniards and many Indigenous people were deported to Santa Ana de Coro in Venezuela.

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