Turks and Caicos - Getting Down on Grand Turk

Well, what did y'all think of the Netherlands? Yeah, agreed, it was ok-ish. There's only so much good that Euro-Pop can do.

Let's head to the Turks and Caicos Islands today! 

Whoa. Just looking at this map makes us realize that we have so many more countries to go!

Pinky's sister and her new husband were going to head down there recently for their honeymoon, but they were expecting bad weather down there all week, so they utilized their travel insurance and headed to Hawaii instead. Good thing bad weather doesn't frighten us!

Like many other Caribbean islands, the indigenous population, in this case the Taínos and Lucayans tribes, were enslaved with the arrival of Europeans. When the Europeans started to run low on people to enslave on the Island of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti today), they raided the Turks and Caicos islands for labor for their plantations. The islands were almost completely depopulated over a span of about 20 years. And, aside from the odd pirate hang-out these islands remains basically uninhabited for another 150 years.

And, here's the fateful moment where they all simultaneously contract small pox and die, before being turned into slave labor, that is.

They were knocked around between the French, British, and Spanish rule, but no one entity ever built any permanent settlements. After the American Revolution, British loyalists fled the States (and good riddance to them) and flooded the Caribbean. The first real settlements were built in the Turks and Caicos by carpetbagging ex-pat Brits. Soon after, the islands were annexed by the British as part of the Bahamas. They were put under the stewardship of the Jamaican colony for a good long while, and when Jamaica was granted independence in the 60's, the Turks and Caicos became a Crown Colony themselves. Check out this nifty timeline to help you place important dates in Turks and Caicos history, including the arrival of Jojo the dolphin.

Since the late 1970's there's been a good deal of talk about shacking up with Canada or achieving independence themselves, but governmental changes have prevented it from occurring. Here's the juicy part though, last year the UK suspended them from self-governance, as there was a lot of evidence of systemic corruption (like selling government land for personal gain). Plus an American woman accused the Premier of sexually assaulting her. After that nifty trick the Crown dissolved the position of premier until a new sovereign government can be elected (by next year at the latest.) Yikes. Talk about a bad performance review.

Let's tune in and see what they're up to down there. I sure hope we get to hear some of their distinctive Ripsaw music!

So! Grab your shades, sun block, and your favorite conch and let's head to the city of Grand Turk kick back to the tunes of RTC!

Radio Turks and Caicos

**even though the site is "down" for maintenance, you can still listen my selecting one of their audio streams!**

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