History
The Bay Islands' history of conquest, pirate raids and constant immigration has resulted in a society that's unique in Honduras. The islands' original inhabitants are thought to have been the Pech , recorded by Columbus on his fourth voyage in 1502 as being a "robust people who adore idols and live mostly from a certain white grain from which they make fine bread and the most perfect beer". Post-Conquest, the indigenous population declined rapidly as a result of enslavement and forced labour. The islands' strategic location as a provisioning point for the Europe-bound Spanish fleets ensured that they soon became the targets for pirates , initially Dutch and French, and subsequently English. The Spanish decision to evacuate the islands, eventually achieved in 1650, left the way open for the pirates to move in. Port Royal, Roatan, became their base until the mid-eighteenth century, from where they launched sporadic attacks on ships and against the mainland settlements. After the pirates left, Roatan was deserted until the arrival of the Garifuna in 1797. Forcibly expelled from the British-controlled island of St Vincent following a rebellion, most of the 3000-strong group were persuaded by the Spanish to settle in Trujillo on the mainland, leaving a small settlement at Punta Gorda on the island's north coast. Further waves of settlers came after the abolition of slavery in 1830, when white Cayman Islanders and freed slaves arrived first on Utila, later spreading to Roatan and Guanaja. These new inhabitants fished and built up a very successful fruit industry, which exported to the US - until a hurricane levelled the plantations in 1877. Honduras acquired rights to the islands following independence in 1821, yet many - not least the islanders themselves - still considered the territory to be British. In 1852, Britain declared the islands a Crown Colony, breaking the terms of the 1850 Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, an agreement not to exercise dominion over any part of Central America. Forced to back down under US pressure, Britain finally conceded sovereignty to Honduras in the Wyke-Cruz Treaty of 1859. Today, the islands retain their cultural separation from the mainland, although with both Spanish-speaking Hondurans and North American and European expats settling in growing numbers, there is ongoing re-shaping and adaptation. A unique form of Creole English is still spoken on the street, but due to the increasing number of mainlanders migrating here, Spanish - always the official language - is becoming just as common. This government-encouraged migration has sparked tensions between English-speaking locals and the Latino newcomers, especially in Roatan, where many islanders feel they are being swamped by land-hungry outsiders with whom they have little in common. The huge growth in tourism since the early 1990s, a trend that shows no signs of abating, has also been controversial, as the islands' income, which traditionally came from fishing or working on cargo ships and oil rigs, is coming to rely more and more on tourism. Concern is growing too about the environmental impact of the industry and the question of who, exactly, benefits most from the boom.
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