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51-576: Bimini's largest islands are North Bimini, South Bimini, and East Bimini. Smaller islands in the Bimini chain include Gun Cay, North Cat Cay, South Cat Cay, and Ocean Cay . The District of Bimini also includes Cay Sal Bank , more than 100 km (60 mi) further south, which is geographically not a part of the Bimini Islands but a separate unit. North Bimini is about 11 km (7 mi) long and 200 m (700 ft) wide. Its main settlement

102-496: A "catastrophe" and announcing, "allowing Bimini Bay to continue with phase II would certainly strip this island paradise of its precious natural riches. Over time, visitors and residents alike will suffer the decline of economic, social and environmental prosperity." Ocean Cay Ocean Cay is an island in the Bahamas located in the district of Bimini . It is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Bimini proper. Ocean Cay

153-401: A new resort for the cruise line. The cruise line planned to spend $ 200 million on the project. The restoration would involve removing all of the abandoned mining facilities and infrastructure. A 3-part documentary film series entitled Building Paradise Island by director James Redgate documented the cleanup of the island, the conservation leading to marine reserve status, and the building of

204-536: A new resort from the ground up. The island has eight beaches, including Lighthouse Bay, North Beach, South Beach, Bimini Beach, areas near the lagoon, and a beach reserved for employees. Each beach has at least one lifeguard on duty when the beach is open. Arawak peoples The Arawak are a group of Indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean . The term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to different Indigenous groups, from

255-548: A resident of the islands, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited in 1964 and worked on his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech while there. South Bimini was home to Colonel Joseph C. Mackey, the founder of Mackey Airlines , which was later bought by Eastern Airlines. He built a home on the southern tip of South Bimini. This structure would become the Sunshine Inn and is currently a bar and restaurant, though

306-421: Is Alice Town , a collection of shops , restaurants , and bars on a road known as "The King's Highway". The second major road is called Queens Highway and runs almost the length of the island parallel to Kings Highway. As a low-lying island, rising sea levels may cause the entire island to become submerged. South Bimini (pop. 182) houses an airstrip, South Bimini Airport , and offers a quiet alternative to

357-446: Is also evidence that they modified the soil using various techniques such as adding charcoal to transform it into black earth , which even today is famed for its agricultural productivity. Maize and sweet potatoes were their main crops, though they also grew cassava and yautia. The Arawaks fished using nets made of fibers, bones, hooks, and harpoons. According to Heckenberger, pottery and other cultural traits show these people belonged to

408-412: Is an artificial island which was built by dredging in the late 1960s by Dillingham Construction of Hawaii and was used to mine white Aragonite sand for diverse industrial purposes. The cay has been redeveloped as a private island called Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve for MSC Cruises . Ocean Cay is an island that was man-made and created originally for mining aragonite sand. The total size of

459-405: Is especially high in calcium and magnesium. Bimini is home to several unique, endemic and threatened species. The Bimini Boa ( Epicrates striatus fosteri ), protected by Bahamian law, is the largest of the terrestrial reptiles on Bimini. The Bimini Ameiva ( Ameiva auberi richmondi ) is a very common, fast-moving lizard on the island. The smalltooth sawfish ( Pristis pectinata ) is one of

510-544: Is now Guyana , Suriname , Grenada , Bahamas , Jamaica and parts of the islands of Trinidad and Tobago . Michael Heckenberger , an anthropologist at the University of Florida who helped found the Central Amazon Project, and his team found elaborate pottery, ringed villages, raised fields, large mounds, and evidence for regional trade networks that are all indicators of a complex culture. There

561-686: The Colombian Andes connected to the Arhuaco people , while the Amazonian model supports an origin in the Amazon basin, where the Arawakan languages developed. The Taíno were among the first American people to encounter Europeans. Christopher Columbus visited multiple islands and chiefdoms on his first voyage in 1492, which was followed by the establishment of La Navidad that same year on

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612-752: The Lokono of South America to the Taíno (Island Arawaks), who lived in the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. All these groups spoke related Arawakan languages . Early Spanish explorers and administrators used the terms Arawak and Caribs to distinguish the peoples of the Caribbean, with Carib reserved for Indigenous groups that they considered hostile and Arawak for groups that they considered friendly. In 1871, ethnologist Daniel Garrison Brinton proposed calling

663-553: The Lucayan language. Bimini is home to several landmarks said to contain mystical properties of obscure origins. Much of the historical data about these places is speculative in nature, and experts in various fields have opined across the full spectrum of explanation. The most contentious of these sites is Bimini Road . During the period of Prohibition in the United States , Bimini was a favorite haven and supply point for

714-633: The Orinoco River valley in present-day Venezuela. They subsequently spread widely, becoming by far the most extensive language family in South America at the time of European contact , with speakers located in various areas along the Orinoco and Amazonian rivers and their tributaries. The group that self-identified as the Arawak, also known as the Lokono , settled the coastal areas of what

765-504: The South Bimini Airport . Found within the brackish mangrove swamp that covers 6 kilometres ( 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  mi) of the shoreline of North Bimini is The Healing Hole , a pool that lies at the end of a network of winding tunnels. During outgoing tides, these channels pump cool, mineral-laden fresh water into the pool. Because this well was carved out of the limestone rock by ground water thousands of years ago, it

816-469: The paper genocide . The paper genocide and the myth of extinction spread throughout colonial empires, Taíno people still continued to practice their culture and teachings passing it down from generation to generation. Much of this was done in secret or disguised through Catholicism in fear for their survival and of discrimination. With the modern invention of DNA testing, many Caribbean people have discovered they have Indigenous heritage. This has supported

867-501: The rum-running trade. Some claim that the term " the real McCoy " was applied to the rum provided by William McCoy , who used Bimini to transport whiskey to the U.S. during Prohibition, although the phrase pre-dates the Prohibition Era, first recorded in the U.S. in 1908 – and the phrase is the subject of numerous fanciful folk etymologies . Chalk's International Airlines operated seaplane flights between Miami Harbor and

918-562: The 16th century. In the early 17th century, they allied with the Spanish against the neighbouring Kalina (Caribs), who allied with the English and Dutch. The Lokono benefited from trade with European powers into the early 19th century, but suffered thereafter from economic and social changes in their region, including the end of the plantation economy. Their population declined until the 20th century, when it began to increase again. Most of

969-555: The Arawak of the Antilles died out or intermarried after the Spanish conquest. In South America, Arawakan-speaking groups are widespread, from southwest Brazil to the Guianas in the north, representing a wide range of cultures. They are found mostly in the tropical forest areas north of the Amazon. As with all Amazonian native peoples, contact with European settlement has led to culture change and depopulation among these groups. During

1020-554: The Arawakan language family, a group that included the Tainos, the first Native Americans Columbus encountered. It was the largest language group that ever existed in the pre-Columbian Americas. At some point, the Arawakan-speaking Taíno culture emerged in the Caribbean. Two major models have been presented to account for the arrival of Taíno ancestors in the islands; the "Circum-Caribbean" model suggests an origin in

1071-458: The BBFS has witnessed and recorded captures of shortfin mako ( Isurus oxyrinchus ), bigeye thresher ( Alopias superciliosus ), spiny dogfish ( Squalus acanthias ), and sixgill ( Hexanchus sp.) sharks . The Shark Lab is a world-famous facility owned and operated by shark biologist Dr. Samuel Gruber . The Shark Lab offers internships in marine biology to people interested in shark research and

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1122-535: The Bahamas from 1917, so the company was an island institution for generations. As goods on the island were expensive because of shipping costs, many locals used Chalk's flights to buy cheaper goods in Florida and take the goods to Bimini. A seaplane operated by Miami Airways ditched into the sea off the coast of Bimini on March 22, 1922. All five passengers subsequently drowned. A Grumman Turbo Mallard of Flight 101

1173-572: The Carib territory, killing a majority of the Yellow Caribs. After the eruption, 130 Yellow Caribs and 59 Black Caribs survived on St. Vincent . Unable to recover from the damage caused by the eruption, 120 of the Yellow Caribs, under Captain Baptiste, emigrated to Trinidad. In 1830, the Carib population numbered less than 100. The population made a remarkable recovery after that, although almost

1224-433: The Caribbean populace "Island Arawak" because of their cultural and linguistic similarities with the mainland Arawak. Subsequent scholars shortened this convention to "Arawak", creating confusion between the island and mainland groups. In the 20th century, scholars such as Irving Rouse resumed using " Taíno " for the Caribbean group to emphasize their distinct culture and language. The Arawakan languages may have emerged in

1275-462: The DNA confirmation in the scientific community, Taíno peoples within the Caribbean and its diasporas had started a movement around the late 1980s and early 1990s calling for the protection, revival or restoration of Taíno culture. By coming together and sharing individual knowledge passed down by either oral history or maintained practice, these groups were able to use that knowledge and cross-reference

1326-468: The Europeans. Others survived in isolated communities with escaped and free Black people, called Maroons. Many of the explorers and early colonists also raped Indigenous women they came across, resulting in children who were considered mestizo . Some of these mestizo groups retained Indigenous culture and customs over many generations, especially among rural communities such as the jíbaro . In time,

1377-640: The House had acted unconstitutionally when it excluded Powell, a duly elected member. In 1972, Powell died of cancer in Miami. Following his funeral in New York, his ashes were taken to Bimini and scattered in the waters surrounding the islands. [1] There is rumor of the famed Chicano civil rights lawyer, Oscar Zeta Acosta , of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas fame potentially meeting his end after returning from

1428-841: The Lokono population is growing. The Spaniards who arrived in the Bahamas , Cuba, Hispaniola (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and the Virgin Islands in 1492, and later in Puerto Rico in 1493, first met the Indigenous peoples now known as the Taíno , and then the Kalinago and other groups. Some of these groups—most notably the Kalinago—were able to survive despite warfare, disease and slavery brought by

1479-422: The Spanish colonists over the now-subjugated Taíno. Over the next decade, the Spanish colonists presided over a genocide of the remaining Taíno on Hispaniola, who suffered enslavement, massacres, or exposure to diseases. The population of Hispaniola at the point of first European contact is estimated at between several hundred thousand to over a million people, but by 1514, it had dropped to a mere 35,000. By 1509,

1530-448: The Spanish had successfully conquered Puerto Rico and subjugated the approximately 30,000 Taíno inhabitants. By 1530, there were 1,148 Taíno left alive in Puerto Rico. Taíno influence has survived even until today, though, as can be seen in the religions, languages, and music of Caribbean cultures. The Lokono and other South American groups resisted colonization for a longer period, and the Spanish remained unable to subdue them throughout

1581-634: The area, such as the wreck of the SS ; Sapona , which ran aground in 1926 during a hurricane . The top of the ship is exposed to the air while the bottom half is submerged. Parts of the wreck were stripped over the years and some of the wood was used in the construction of the Compleat Angler Hotel and bar on North Bimini. The first inhabitants on the island were the Lucayans , and the name Bimini means "two islands" or "the twins" in

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1632-1027: The beginning of the eighteenth century, the Island Carib population in St. Vincent was greater than that in Dominica. Both the Island Caribs (Yellow Caribs) and the Black Caribs ( Garifuna ) fought against the British during the Second Carib War . After the end of the war, the British deported the Garifuna (a population of 4,338) to Roatan Island , while the Island Caribs (whose population consisted of 80 people) were allowed to stay on St. Vincent. The 1812 eruption of La Soufrière destroyed

1683-746: The claims of individuals and communities with Taíno heritage living today, particularly in rural areas such as "campos" (meaning small villages/towns in the country side). Though many communities and individuals across the Caribbean have some amount of Indigenous DNA, not all of them identify as Indigenous or Taíno. Those who do identify as Indigenous Caribbean may also use other terms to describe themselves as well as or in addition to Taíno . There has been increasing scholarly attention paid to Taíno practices and culture, including communities with full or partial Taíno identities. Because of this, Taíno people started to become more open about sharing their identities, passed down Indigenous culture, and beliefs. Even before

1734-586: The conservation of the ocean's ecosystems. Located on South Bimini Island, it has done much research regarding the lemon shark . For elections to the Parliament of the Bahamas , it is part of the West Grand Bahama and Bimini constituency. Ernest Hemingway lived on Bimini from 1935 to 1937, staying at the Compleat Angler Hotel . He worked on To Have and Have Not and wrote a few articles, but mostly he fished aboard his boat Pilar , trolling

1785-592: The deep blue offshore waters for marlin, tuna and swordfish. Hemingway was attracted to Bimini by tales of the incredible fishing available in the Gulf Stream , the legendary “river” of warm water that rushes north past the Bahamas. An Atlantic blue marlin with a mass of 500 pounds (230 kg) caught off Bimini allegedly inspired Hemingway to write The Old Man and the Sea and Islands in The Stream . While not

1836-554: The entire tribe died out during the 1902 eruption of La Soufrière . As of 2008, a small population of around 3,400 Kalinago survived in the Kalinago Territory in northeast Dominica. The Kalinago of Dominica maintained their independence for many years by taking advantage of the island's rugged terrain. The island's east coast includes a 3,700-acre (15 km ) territory formerly known as the Carib Territory that

1887-468: The establishment of a second settlement, La Isabella, and the discovery of gold deposits on the island, the Spanish settler population on Hispaniola started to grow substantially, while disease and conflict with the Spanish began to kill tens of thousands of Taíno every year. By 1504, the Spanish had overthrown the last of the Taíno cacique chiefdoms on Hispaniola, and firmly established the supreme authority of

1938-506: The fountain could be found. Although the location was erroneously associated with the Bahamas, the natives referred to a location in the Gulf of Honduras . Although de León's expedition brought him to Florida, the fountain was rumored to exist within the shallow pools of South Bimini. Today there is a small freshwater well with a plaque commemorating the Fountain of Youth, on the road leading to

1989-470: The hotel was damaged by a hurricane and was subsequently demolished. Among Port Royale's notable residents was Adam Clayton Powell Jr. , who was excluded from the U.S. House of Representatives because of allegations that he misappropriated committee funds for personal use. He stayed in Bimini from January 1967 to April 1969 in self-imposed exile until the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that

2040-455: The island is 42 hectares and the original owners also had dredged the area to allow for deep vessels to dock for the exportation of the sand. When Dillingham Construction abandoned the island, the cay fell into a state of decay. In 2015, the executive chairman of MSC Cruise line, Pierfrancesco Vago, signed a 100-year lease agreement with the Bahamian government to redevelop the island into

2091-411: The island of Bimini to Key Biscayne in 1974 during a failed attempt to smuggle drugs. According to the story told to Hunter S. Thompson, upon their boat nearly reaching the shoreline of the southern tip Key Biscayne, Acosta and his companions were ambushed when they suddenly found themselves surrounded by bright lights from boats that "appeared out of nowhere". Gunfire erupted and one of Acosta's companions

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2142-658: The life of owner Julian Brown. The final scene of the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs was shot in Alice Town. The movie's producers thanked the Bahamas Film Production Bureau as well as the district of Bimini in the end credits. Juan Ponce de León and his search for the Fountain of Youth included references to Bimini ("Beniny"). Arawak and/or Taíno spoke of a land called Beimini where

2193-524: The northeast coast of Hispaniola , the first Spanish settlement in the Americas. Relationships between the Spaniards and the Taíno would ultimately sour. Some of the lower-level chiefs of the Taíno appeared to have assigned a supernatural origin to the explorers. When Columbus returned to La Navidad on his second voyage, he found the settlement burned down and the 39 men he had left there killed. With

2244-485: The number of recorded Taíno was greatly diminished through forced labor, disease and warfare, but also through changes to how Indio groups were recorded in the Spanish Caribbean. For example, the 1787 census in Puerto Rico lists 2,300 "pure" Indios in the population, but on the next census, in 1802, not a single Indio is listed. This created the enduring belief that the Taíno people went extinct, also known as

2295-405: The rarest fish in the world, sometimes listed as a critically endangered species by conservation groups. The Bimini Biological Field Station (BBFS) has captured and recorded 13 species of sharks in the shallow waters around Bimini. However, the number of sharks around the island is higher, considering the sharks of the deep waters off Bimini's western shores. Along with the species featured below,

2346-461: The slow bustle of North Bimini. There is a small community of homes on South Bimini known as Port Royale. For many years, South Bimini tourists were limited to boaters because there were few accommodations other than private homes. Because Bimini is close to Miami, Florida, many American anglers go to the islands by boat to fish or to enjoy the local nightlife. Scuba diving and snorkeling are also popular activities, as there are many shipwrecks in

2397-491: The smuggling attempt. This came to represent one of a number of possible Acosta sightings that Thompson had been told of, which he would term "buffalo sightings", from all around the world following Acosta's official disappearance in 1974 under suspicious circumstances. In May 1987, Colorado Senator Gary Hart 's presidential bid was derailed after media reports exposed a relationship with model Donna Rice . A well known photo of Rice sitting on Hart's lap on one of Bimini's docks

2448-421: Was en route to Bimini when it crashed on December 19, 2005, killing all 18 passengers and two crew; at least 11 of the passengers were Bimini residents. On January 13, 2006, one of the more famous establishments in Bimini, the Compleat Angler Hotel , was destroyed by fire. The bar is remembered for the photographs and memorabilia of Ernest Hemingway that lined its walls and were lost in the fire, which also took

2499-647: Was granted to the people by the British government in 1903. The Dominican Kalinago elect their own chief. In July 2003, the Kalinago observed 100 Years of Territory, and in July 2014, Charles Williams was elected Kalinago Chief, succeeding Chief Garnette Joseph. In the 21st century, about 10,000 Lokono live primarily in Guyana, with smaller numbers present in Venezuela, Suriname, and French Guiana. Despite colonization,

2550-445: Was immediately killed by being shot in the head. Acosta, acting quickly, floored the boat's throttle and plowed into and over one of the ambusher's boats and, upon making it to shore, he grabbed a small suitcase likely containing drugs and ran off inland into the island. It is worth noting that the veracity of this story was deemed questionable by Thompson, as he had heard it secondhand from the individual whose boat Acosta had borrowed for

2601-640: Was published by the National Enquirer after Hart suspended his presidential campaign. Jody Weech, Miss Commonwealth Bahamas 1992, was from Bimini. She made the Top 10 in the Miss World contest in Sun City, South Africa. She received the title Miss World Caribbean. In May 2008 marine conservationist Jean-Michel Cousteau criticized Bimini Bay Resort, now Resorts World Bimini by Hilton, calling it

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