HERITAGE MATTERS

Tag: Virgin Islands

  • Interwoven Histories: The Interrelations Between the British and U.S. Virgin Islands

    The Virgin Islands, split between British and American governance, are often viewed separately, yet they share a deep and interwoven legacy. Their proximity, cultural overlap, and mutual history of colonialism, migration, and resilience bind them in ways that transcend modern political borders.

    This post explores how the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) have influenced each other historically and culturally, and how these ties continue to shape their identities, economies, and approaches to historic preservation today.

    A Shared Colonial Past

    Both the BVI and USVI were once colonies of European powers that fought over control of Caribbean territory. The USVI, formerly the Danish West Indies, was sold by Denmark to the United States in 1917. The BVI, meanwhile, remained under British control and is now a British Overseas Territory.

    Despite these different trajectories, their colonial pasts echo with similar themes: enslaved labor, plantation economies, maritime trade, and resistance.

    Common Threads:
    • Slavery and Emancipation: Enslaved Africans in both territories faced similar conditions under colonial rule. Emancipation came at different times (1834 in the BVI, 1848 in the USVI), but its cultural and political aftermath reverberates across both island chains.
    • Plantation Architecture: Ruins and remnants of sugar plantations—windmills, greathouses, and slave quarters—are found throughout both territories, often preserved as part of heritage tourism efforts today.

    Cultural Crossroads: Language, Religion, and Tradition

    Though English is the official language in both the BVI and USVI, local dialects, customs, and creole expressions create a rich cultural landscape shaped by African, European, and Caribbean influences.

    Religious Connections:
    • Christianity, particularly Anglican, Methodist, and Moravian denominations, has long been a unifying spiritual force. Churches across the islands often have sister congregations or shared histories dating back to missionary activity in the 18th and 19th centuries.
    Festivals and Traditions:
    • The celebration of Emancipation Day, Carnival, and St. Ursula’s Day (the patron saint of the Virgin Islands) reflect shared historical milestones and community pride.
    • Music, particularly quelbe in the USVI and fungi in the BVI, showcases the African roots of island culture and often features similar instruments and rhythms.

    Economic and Social Exchange

    Even today, the BVI and USVI maintain strong economic and social ties. Many residents travel between the islands regularly for work, education, healthcare, and family connections.

    Migration and Family Ties:
    • Families are often spread across both island groups. It’s not uncommon for someone from Tortola (BVI) to have cousins in St. Thomas (USVI), and vice versa.
    • Migration between the islands has created tight-knit communities with blended traditions.
    Trade and Tourism:
    • Inter-island trade, especially in agriculture, livestock, and crafts, has existed for centuries.
    • Tourism is a shared economic pillar. Cruise ships, sailing charters, and eco-tourism packages often include stops in both the USVI and BVI, creating opportunities for collaborative marketing and cultural exchange.

    Historic Preservation Across Borders

    Both territories have placed increasing emphasis on preserving their historical sites, oral traditions, and architectural heritage.

    USVI Efforts:
    • The Virgin Islands State Historic Preservation Office (VI SHPO) oversees preservation planning, National Register nominations, and public education.
    • Restoration of historic districts in Charlotte Amalie (St. Thomas) and Christiansted (St. Croix) reflect the islands’ Danish colonial past.
    BVI Efforts:
    • The BVI Department of Culture, alongside community organizations, is engaged in preserving traditional crafts, historic sites (like the Callwood Rum Distillery), and archival records.
    • Heritage initiatives such as storytelling festivals and cultural heritage month highlight the unique BVI identity while acknowledging regional connections.
    Cross-Island Collaboration:
    • Academic institutions and NGOs have begun to explore shared heritage projects, oral history collections, and joint exhibitions.
    • Discussions around climate resilience and preservation of coastal heritage sites are increasingly becoming regional efforts due to the shared vulnerability of both island groups.

    Challenges and Opportunities

    While shared history offers a foundation for collaboration, political and infrastructural differences can pose challenges.

    Challenges:
    • Different governance systems (U.S. federal vs. British overseas territory regulations) create bureaucratic barriers.
    • Currency, legal systems, and education frameworks differ, which can complicate joint initiatives.
    Opportunities:
    • Cultural Exchange Programs: Schools, museums, and arts organizations could benefit from more structured inter-island exchanges.
    • Regional Preservation Networks: A unified Virgin Islands preservation alliance could support training, funding, and awareness campaigns.
    • Heritage Tourism: Collaborative heritage tourism packages that celebrate both sides of the Virgin Islands could help sustain historic sites and boost local economies.

    Two Flags, One Legacy

    Though governed by different nations, the people of the British and U.S. Virgin Islands share more than geography. They share family lines, cultural rhythms, ancestral stories, and a profound commitment to preserving the beauty and resilience of their shared heritage.

    Preservationists, educators, and community leaders on both sides of the border have an opportunity to collaborate, honor their intertwined histories, and ensure that the legacy of the Virgin Islands continues to inspire future generations—no matter the flag they fly.

  • Shared Shores: The Legacy and History of Puerto Ricans in the U.S. Virgin Islands

    Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands have always shared a kinship with each other. They have shared struggles, similar narratives, and due to the migration of Puerto Rican families to the Virgin Islands throughout the years, it has fostered a new shared memory, identity and culture. The history of Puerto Ricans in the Virgin Islands is building home away from home. 

    The US took occupation of Puerto Rico from Spain in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. The shift from Spanish colony to US colony took place, although they call it a “commonwealth” these days. The US purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917 for a price of $25 million dollars. They shifted from Danish colony to US colony, although they call is an “unincorporated territory” these days. Both places are not part of the US state system, are not allowed to vote for president or US politics, only local elections, but each’s residents are considered US citizens. 

    With the US in charge, migration between Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands increased. Other impacting issues such as economic changes, labor shortages in the Virgin Islands, and hardships in Puerto Rico, created opportunities for Puerto Rican workers to find more stability. Many families came from recommendations from their friends or family who had gone ahead looking for prospects of a better life. 

    Those who took the chance to leave all that they knew behind them, move to a new place with a new language, no connections, no family, had to start over with nothing. They built new lives, new communities, assimilated, they opened small businesses, filled the gaps, and integrated into their new home. Throughout time, their children and grandchildren would see the Virgin Islands as home. 

    One thing that the Puerto Ricans never left behind was their culture. In family get togethers the sound of music and singing was front and center, the smell of arroz con gandules cooking in the kitchen, families joining together to celebrate any and every event. But, as much as they retained their cultural traditions, they adapted to learn and apply their new home’s cultural customs. They and their children became bilingual, even learning Virgin Islands Creole in daily conversations. Tables now adorned with pasteles and kallaloo, tostones and fungi, and coquito and guavaberry rum. 

    For those who migrated to the Virgin Islands, their identity is multilayered – they have a dual sense of belonging, one to their ancestral ties of Puerto Rico and, one to the Virgin Islands. For many later generations of these families, they just see themselves as Virgin Islanders with Puerto Rican heritage. There is great pride for both cultures and identities, equally.

    It has not always been such an easy dynamic though. Differences in culture, language and access to resources has sometimes caused conflict and tension. Many Puerto Ricans came to the Virgin Islands with nothing more than themselves and their families, whatever they had they took to pay their way, and they had to find work immediately to survive. Many times neighborhood families from Puerto Rico found themselves in the Virgin Islands and supported one another, lifted each other up, and were the village each other needed to get a step up. 

    My family was one of these families that migrated from Puerto Rico. My grandfather left Ceiba, came with his siblings and parents in the 1930s to St. Thomas when he was a young boy. They left jobs as generational cane cutters in Puerto Rico to become farm workers in St. Thomas. They joined resources as a family and saved everything they had to go into business for themselves as grocers and from there kept saving till they could purchase family land. My grandmother left Vieques as a young girl for St. Croix before relocating to St. Thomas as a young woman. She worked in the St. Thomas Apothecary until she met my grandfather. But they and the rest of my family were always larger than life characters in the community, there was always food for whoever might stop by the house, family or not, community was everything to them. This was their home, where their life had played out and where their happiness and pride found peace.

    I am thankful for the many stories my abuela instilled in me growing up, owning my cultural pride, identity, the stories of my people. I am thankful for the community life my abuelo modeled, teachings about nature, people, plants and herbs. Because of them I carry a deep appreciation for my ancestors and their legacy, as well as the place we now call home which holds so much memory, moments, feelings, and pride.