(When Columbus was near Redonda on November 11, 1593, he sighted the island the Caribs called “WALADLI” named it “Santa Maria la Antigua” after a miracle working Virgin shrine in a chapel of Seville Cathedral, Spain.

The Carib’s name of “Waladli”, (called “WADADLI” by today’s people) was found in a French missionary’s Carib dictionary. The name is very close to the Amerindian word “wadli”, which means fish oil. The Dominica Caribs had very little reefs to collect natural resources, whereas Antigua had many, so the Amerindians may have come to Antigua to collect shark and other oils in the reef environment. These oils would have been used for lighting and medicinal purposes.

The First Peoples of Antigua were the archaic Indians who settled at Jolly Beach; later over the years the Amerindians arrived from South America to settle the islands. These Amerindians introduced from South America most of the fruits and vegetables we eat and use today. Paw-paw, red-pepper, calabash, avocado, cashew, soursop, genip, guava, sweet potato, peanut, string beans, tobacco, and the Royal Palm are examples, There are no traces of the Amerindian speaking people on the island today, but their artifacts and way of life are on display at the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda.