Montserrat was first inhabited by Amerindians that came from Venezuela. Archaeologists have found artifacts that date back to between 500 and 50 B.C. They have artifacts in 5 different locations on Montserrat.

Two tribes of Amerindians inhabited Montserrat. They were known as the Arawaks and the Caribs. The Caribs had their own name for Montserrat, before Christopher Columbus named the island. The Caribs called it "Alliouagana". These native peoples did not inhabit the island when Christopher Columbus visited in 1493.

The first European settlers went to Montserrat in 1632 from St. Kitts. They were of Irish descent and named many of the towns after places in Ireland. Later black people were brought to the island as slaves. Today the main ethnic group is black. There are some white people and some people who are Indian. The language spoken is English.
 
 

Observations

We have met many people since we arrived on the island. Before the volcanic eruptions 12,000 people lived here. Now it is between 3 and 4,000. Everyone we meet is very friendly. On Friday, December 6 and on Saturday, December 14 we went to a Calypso competition where 22 people are singing in elimination rounds. Now they have 6 finalists who will compete on December 30 for the title of "Calypso King". They have 3 competitions over 3 weeks to see who wins. 

This week (Dec. 9-13) is the last week of school before Christmas break. It is the week that all the students put on pageants and there is also a festical with music, dancing and an arts and craft festival.

We are meeting many people since we've been here. We've met many school kids but also people in the community. The man who owns the "Soft Freeze" was telling us about his business in Plymouth before the eruption of the volcano. He had his home there and commercial buildings and the ash flow covered the whole town. Plymouth was the capital and is completely covered. He said he can walk over the place where his store was and knows that it's buried 40 feet below. Plymouth has always been the capital. The island was badly damaged in 1989 from Hurricane Hugo. Plymouth was rebuilding and had lots of new buildings like a new library and new parliament building when the volcano erupted. All those homes and businesses disappeared and the people had to decide whether they would leave the island or stay on the island. That's why the population was 12,000 and is now around 3,000. 

One of the teachers said that after the volcano, half the teachers left the island. Now teachers come from the islands and other places to teach for the school. These teachers go home to their own countries during school breaks. 

It is hard to imagine what it would be like to lose everything you own and then have to decide whether to leave your island or stay and try to rebuild your life. Plymouth was built on a large flat area but most of the rest of the island is very steep. The vegetation on the south of the island is like tropical rain forest and the soil is good. Everyone who stayed had to move to the north of the isalnd where there is little soil and different conditions.