77-543: Navassa Island ( / n ə ˈ v æ s ə / ; Haitian Creole : Lanavaz ; French : Île de la Navasse , sometimes la Navase ) is a small uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea . Located northeast of Jamaica , south of Cuba , and 40 nautical miles (74 km; 46 mi) west of Jérémie on the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti, it is subject to an ongoing territorial dispute between Haiti and
154-571: A "tool of education". The Constitution of 1987 names both Haitian Creole and French as the official languages, but recognizes Haitian Creole as the only language that all Haitians hold in common. French is spoken by only a small percentage of citizens. Even without government recognition, by the end of the 19th century, there were already literary texts written in Haitian Creole such as Oswald Durand 's Choucoune and Georges Sylvain 's Cric? Crac! . Félix Morisseau-Leroy
231-451: A daily basis and is often heard in ordinary conversation. There is a large population in Haiti that speaks only Haitian Creole, whether under formal or informal conditions: French plays no role in the very formal situation of a Haitian peasant (more than 80% of the population make a living from agriculture) presiding at a family gathering after the death of a member, or at the worship of
308-601: A few extinctions covered below, the island's land and offshore ecosystems have mostly survived the 20th century. In September 1999, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service established the Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge, which encompasses 1,344 acres (5.44 km) of land and a 12 nautical mile (22.2 km) radius of marine habitat around the island. Later that year, full administrative responsibility for Navassa
385-494: A lighthouse on Navassa, and in 1917 the Lighthouse Service built the 162- foot (49-meter) Navassa Island Light on the island, 395 feet (120 meters) above sea level . At the same time, a wireless telegraphy station was established on the island. A keeper and two assistants were assigned to live there until the Lighthouse Service installed an automatic beacon in 1929. After absorbing the Lighthouse Service in 1939,
462-490: A miseducated person's French. Until the late 20th century, Haitian presidents spoke only standard French to their fellow citizens, and until the 21st century, all instruction at Haitian elementary schools was in modern standard French, a second language to most of their students. Haitian Creole is also spoken in regions that have received migration from Haiti, including other Caribbean islands, French Guiana , Martinique , France , Canada (particularly Quebec ) and
539-564: A similar pronunciation. Many towns, places or sites have their official name being a translation of the Taino word. Haitian Creole developed in the 17th and 18th centuries in the colony of Saint-Domingue , in a setting that mixed speakers of various Niger–Congo languages with French colonists. In the early 1940s under President Élie Lescot , attempts were made to standardize the language. American linguistic expert Frank Laubach and Irish Methodist missionary H. Ormonde McConnell developed
616-824: A small limestone island located in the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic . These islands were once centers of guano mining and are now nature reserves for the United States. Transient Haitian fishermen and others camp on Navassa Island. Still, it is uninhabited. Navassa has no ports or harbors, only offshore anchorages, and its only natural resource is guano. Economic activity consists of subsistence fishing and commercial trawling activities. A 2009 survey of fishermen in southwestern Haiti estimated some 300 fishermen, primarily from Anse d'Hainault Arrondissement , regularly fished near
693-470: A standardized Haitian Creole orthography . Although some regarded the orthography highly, it was generally not well received. Its orthography was standardized in 1979. That same year Haitian Creole was elevated in status by the Act of 18 September 1979. The Institut Pédagogique National established an official orthography for Creole, and slight modifications were made over the next two decades. For example,
770-545: A white Frenchwoman for a wife. Tell her, if you please. We won't kill anymore whites, brothers, friends, and camarades of ours. Your son hugs you, my dear mother. Congo, free and independent Haitian, at Trou-Salé. Haitian Creole and French have similar pronunciations and also share many lexical items. However, many cognate terms actually have different meanings. For example, as Valdman mentions in Haitian Creole: Structure, Variation, Status, Origin ,
847-563: Is accorded "entity" (country) status by the American Radio Relay League . The callsign prefix is KP1. Since it became a National Wildlife Refuge, amateur radio operators have repeatedly been denied entry. In October 2014, permission was granted for a two-week DX-pedition in February 2015. The operation, designated K1N, made 138,409 contacts. Navassa Island is about 2.1 square miles (5.4 km) in area. It
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#1732775406486924-570: Is administered as part of the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex . Due to hazardous coastal conditions and to preserve species habitat, the refuge is closed to the general public, and visitors need permission from the Fish and Wildlife Service to enter its territorial waters or land. After World War II, amateur radio operators occasionally visited to operate from the territory. Navassa
1001-493: Is located 35 miles (56 km) west of Haiti 's southwest peninsula, 103 miles (166 km) south of the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba , and about one-quarter of the way from mainland Haiti to Jamaica in the Jamaica Channel . Navassa reaches an elevation of 250 feet (76 m) at Dunning Hill 110 yards (100 m) south of the lighthouse, Navassa Island Light. This location is 440 yards (400 m) from
1078-400: Is often considered the high language and Haitian Creole as the low language in the diglossic relationship of these two languages in society. That is to say, for the minority of Haitian population that is bilingual, the use of these two languages largely depends on the social context: standard French is used more in public, especially in formal situations, whereas Haitian Creole is used more on
1155-632: Is one of the smallest departments but it is one of the most pollutant-free due to its isolation. The westernmost point in Haiti at Cap les Irois is located in Grand'Anse. The Macaya mountain chain in the Massif de la Hotte holds the second-highest mountain in Haiti and is one of the most important environmental reserves with multiple endemic animals and plants; the Plaintain Garden-Enriquillo faultline passes through it as well. Because of
1232-512: Is one of the ten departments of Haiti . Its capital is Jérémie . Grand'Anse was part of the Xaragua kasika with settlements like Mamey, the modern-day town of Abricot . Abricot is still known today as "the Indian's Paradise." It is said by the locals that the capital city of Jérémie is named after a French fisherman who established himself in the area because of its isloation from the rest of
1309-425: Is similar in phonetic structure. The phrase-structure is another similarity between Haitian Creole and French but differs slightly in that it contains details from its African substratum language. Both Haitian Creole and French have also experienced semantic change : words that had a single meaning in the 17th century have changed or have been replaced in both languages. For example, " Ki jan ou rele? " ("What
1386-636: Is the native language of the vast majority of the population. Northern, Central, and Southern dialects are the three main dialects of Haitian Creole. The Northern dialect is predominantly spoken in Cap-Haïtien , Central is spoken in Port-au-Prince , and Southern in the Cayes area. The language emerged from contact between French settlers and enslaved Africans during the Atlantic slave trade in
1463-504: Is today. Haitian Creole contains elements from both the Romance group of Indo-European languages through its superstrate , French , as well as influences from African languages . There are many theories on the formation of the Haitian Creole language. One theory estimates that Haitian Creole developed between 1680 and 1740. During the 17th century, French and Spanish colonizers produced tobacco , cotton , and sugar cane on
1540-472: Is your name?") corresponds to the French " Comment vous appelez‑vous ? ". Although the average French speaker would not understand this phrase, every word in it is in fact of French origin: qui "who"; genre "manner"; vous "you", and héler "to call", but the verb héler has been replaced by appeler in modern French and reduced to a meaning of "to flag down". Lefebvre proposed
1617-577: The Macaya mountain chain known as the Kongo Kingdom. Fort Marfranc was constructed under order of Dessalines in order to protect Jérémie. It is the burial place of Férou. For 20 years the Kongo Kingdom based in Grand-Doco was financed by the self-declared king of the northern monarchy Henri Christophe ; Goman was titled duke. The department later fell under the control of the republic under
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#17327754064861694-550: The Order of Galilean Fishermen , raised money to defend the miners in federal court. The defense tried to build a case on the contention that the men acted in self-defense or the heat of passion and even claimed that the United States did not have jurisdiction over the island. E. J. Waring , the first black lawyer called to the Maryland bar , was a part of the defense's legal team. The cases, including Jones v. United States , went to
1771-665: The U.S. Supreme Court in October 1890, which ruled the Guano Act constitutional. Three of the miners were scheduled for execution in the spring of 1891. A grass-roots petition driven by black churches around the country, also signed by white jurors from the three trials, reached President Benjamin Harrison , who mentioned the case in that year's State of the Union Address . Among other things, he said: "There appeared on
1848-696: The United States (including the U.S. state of Louisiana ). It is related to Antillean Creole , spoken in the Lesser Antilles , and to other French-based creole languages. The word creole comes from the Portuguese term crioulo , which means "a person raised in one's house" and from the Latin creare , which means "to create, make, bring forth, produce, beget". In the New World ,
1925-578: The United States , which administers it through the US Fish and Wildlife Service . Grand'Anse is one of the most isolated departments in Haiti. Jérémie is the largest port though it is mostly used for cabotage . The Jérémie airport can accommodate national flights from Port-au-Prince . The RN7 of the Haitian national road system connects Jérémie to Les Cayes . A road connecting it to Nippes has been proposed as well. Grand'Anse has large potential in
2002-402: The hyphen (-) is no longer used, nor is the apostrophe. The only accent mark retained is the grave accent in ⟨è⟩ and ⟨ò⟩ . The Constitution of 1987 upgraded Haitian Creole to a national language alongside French. It classified French as the langue d'instruction or "language of instruction", and Creole was classified as an outil d'enseignement or
2079-542: The multigraphs ⟨ch⟩ , ⟨ou⟩ , ⟨oun⟩ , and ⟨ui⟩ ). The Haitian Creole alphabet has no ⟨q⟩ or ⟨x⟩ ; when ⟨x⟩ is used in loanwords and proper nouns, it represents the sounds /ks/ , /kz/ , or /gz/ . (or à before an n) Grand%27Anse (department) Grand'Anse ( / ɡ r ɒ̃ ˈ t ɒ̃ s / , French: [ɡʁɑ̃tɑ̃s] ), Grandans or Grantans ( Haitian Creole: [ɡɣãtãs] ; both meaning "Big Cove")
2156-550: The 17th and 18th centuries in Saint‑Domingue , as well as in New France and French West Africa . Slaves lacked a common means of communication and as a result would try to learn French to communicate with one another, though most were denied a formal education. With the constant trafficking and enslavement of Africans, the language became increasingly distinct from French. The language was also picked up by other members of
2233-508: The 18th century an estimated 800,000 West Africans were enslaved and brought to Saint-Domingue. As the slave population increased, the proportion of French-speaking colonists decreased. Many African slaves in the colony had come from Niger-Congo -speaking territory, and particularly speakers of Kwa languages , such as Gbe from West Africa and the Central Tano languages , and Bantu languages from Central Africa. Singler suggests that
2310-655: The 2003 split, it had a population of around 600,000 (2002). Afterward, the population at the 2003 Census was 337,516. The area of the department (after the split) is 1,912 square kilometres (738 sq mi). The department is bordered in the north by the Gulf of Gonave , west by the Winward Passage connecting to Jamaica, south by the South Department , and east by the Nippes Department . It
2387-535: The Fongbe language, is a modern Gbe language native to Benin , Nigeria and Togo in West Africa . This language has a grammatical structure similar to Haitian Creole, possibly making Creole a relexification of Fon with vocabulary from French. The two languages are often compared: There are a number of Taino influences in Haitian Creole; many objects, fruit and animal names are either haitianized or have
Navassa Island - Misplaced Pages Continue
2464-552: The French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti ) in the 17th and 18th centuries. Although its vocabulary largely derives from 18th-century French, its grammar is that of a West African Volta-Congo language branch, particularly the Fongbe and Igbo languages. It also has influences from Spanish, English, Portuguese, Taíno, and other West African languages. It is not mutually intelligible with standard French, and it also has its own distinctive grammar. Some estimate that Haitians are
2541-648: The Haitian Constitution of 1874, Haiti has explicitly named "la Navase" as one of the territories it claims. It maintains that it has continuously been claimed as part of Haiti since 1801. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) code for the island, as part of the US Minor Outlying Islands , is ISO 3166-2:UM-76 . In 1504, Christopher Columbus , stranded on Jamaica during his fourth voyage, sent some crew members by canoe to Hispaniola for help. En route, they landed on
2618-589: The Phosphate Company had to abandon its operations on Navassa due to its proximity to Spanish Cuba and Puerto Rico. Company president John H. Fowler noted that the war made it impossible to find ships to deliver supplies to the island and expected his workers to be evacuated by June. Maryland senator Arthur Pue Gorman called for a naval warship to escort supply ships to the island to help evacuate workers. In July 1898, abrogating an agreement with Haitian Naval Admiral Hammerton Killick that would have allowed
2695-668: The Phosphate Company to withdraw equipment and supplies left on Navassa, a group of Haitians occupied the island and seized the company's assets. They were unable to operate the machinery, and mining ceased. The Navassa Phosphate Company went bankrupt and the island was sold at auction in the United States in September 1900. A dispute over the sale hampered efforts to restart mining on the island and left four contract workers virtually abandoned on Navassa from December 1900 to May 1901. Between 1857 and 1898, approximately 1 million pounds (450,000 kg) of phosphate deposits were removed from
2772-491: The U.S. Coast Guard serviced the light twice yearly. The U.S. Navy set up an observation post for the duration of World War II. The island has been uninhabited since then. Fishermen, mainly from Haiti, fish the waters around Navassa. As part of the Parish–Smithsonian Expedition to Haiti in 1930, Smithsonian naturalists Alexander Wetmore and Waston Perrygo stopped at Navassa to document and collect examples of
2849-650: The United States, creating a legal history for the island under U.S. law, unlike many other islands initially claimed under the Guano Islands Act. Haiti's 1987 constitution maintains its claim to the island, which is considered part of the department of Grand'Anse . Guano phosphate is a superior organic fertilizer that became a mainstay of American agriculture in the mid-19th century. In November 1857, Duncan transferred his discoverer's rights to his employer, an American guano trader in Jamaica, who sold them to
2926-559: The United States, which administers the island through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service . The U.S. has claimed the island as an appurtenance since 1857, based on the Guano Islands Act of 1856. Haiti's claim over Navassa goes back to the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697 that recognized French, rather than Spanish, control of the western portion of the island of Hispaniola and other specifically named nearby islands. However, there
3003-405: The agro-industry domain and the tourism sector like leisure tourism, eco-tourism, and historical and cultural tourism. The most famous beaches in the departement are Anse d'Azur and Anse du Clerc. The people of Grand'Anse are known for their hospitality and culinary skills, with their most known dish being Tonmtonm-Kalalou . It is a Haitian dish similar to West African Fufu . Many farmers use
3080-665: The annexation, but on July 7, 1858, U.S. President James Buchanan issued an Executive Order supporting the American claim, calling for military action to enforce it. Navassa Island has since been maintained by the United States as an unincorporated territory (according to the Insular Cases ). The United States Supreme Court on November 24, 1890, in Jones v. United States , 137 U.S. 202 (1890), Id. at 224, found that Navassa Island must be considered as appertaining to
3157-2219: The blow from the hurricane put me in the position of getting it refitted again. The Entrepreneur. Is it taking on a lot of water? The Captain. The first days after the storm, we took on thirty six inches in twenty four hours; but in clear weather I made them take as much of it out as I was able, and attached it the best we possibly could; we're presently taking on not even thirteen inches. Haïti, l'an 1er, 5e, jour de l'indépendance. Chère maman moi, Ambassadeurs à nous, partis pour chercher argent France, moi voulé écrire à vous par yo, pour dire vous combien nous contens. Français bons, oublié tout. Papas nous révoltés contre yo, papas nous tués papas yo, fils yo, gérens yo, papas nous brûlées habitations yo. Bagasse, eux veni trouver nous! et dis nous, vous donner trente millions de gourdes à nous et nous laisser Haïti vous? Vous veni acheter sucre, café, indigo à nous? mais vous payer moitié droit à nous. Vous penser chère maman moi, que nous accepté marché yo. Président à nous embrassé bon papa Makau. Yo bu santé roi de France, santé Boyer , santé Christophe , santé Haïti, santé indépendance. Puis yo dansé Balcindé et Bai chi ca colé avec Haïtienes. Moi pas pouvé dire vous combien tout ça noble et beau. Venir voir fils à vous sur habitation, maman moi, li donné vous cassave, gouillave et pimentade. Li ben content si pouvez mener li blanche france pour épouse. Dis li, si ben heureuse. Nous plus tuer blancs, frères, amis, et camarades à nous. Fils à vous embrasse vous, chère maman moi. Congo, Haïtien libre et indépendant, au Trou-Salé. Haiti, 1st year, 5th day of independence. My dear mother, Our ambassadors left to get money from France, I want to write to you through them, to tell you how much we are happy. The French are good, they forgot everything. Our fathers revolted against them, our fathers killed their fathers, sons, managers, and our fathers burned down their plantations. Well, they came to find us, and told us, "you give thirty million gourdes to us and we'll leave Haiti to you? (And we replied) Will you come buy sugar, coffee, and indigo from us? You will pay only half directly to us." Do you believe my dear mother, that we accepted
Navassa Island - Misplaced Pages Continue
3234-614: The claim on the basis that the Guano Islands Act applies only to islands which, at the time of the claim, are not "appertaining to" the United States. The department's opinion said that Navassa is and remains a U.S. possession "appertaining to" the United States and is "unavailable to be claimed" under the Guano Islands Act. A 1998 scientific expedition led by the Center for Marine Conservation in Washington, D.C. , described Navassa as "a unique preserve of Caribbean biodiversity." Aside from
3311-1119: The community and became used by the majority of those born in what is now Haiti. In Saint-Domingue , people of all classes spoke Creole French . There were both lower and higher registers of the language, depending on education and class. Creole served as a lingua franca throughout the West Indies . L'Entrepreneur. Mo sorti apprend, Mouché, qué vou té éprouvé domage dan traversée. Le Capitaine. Ça vrai. L'Entr. Vou crére qué navire à vou gagné bisoin réparations? Le C. Ly té carené anvant nou parti, mai coup z'ouragan là mété moué dan cas fair ly bay encor nion radoub. L'Entr. Ly fair d'iau en pile? Le C. Primié jours aprés z'orage, nou té fair trente-six pouces par vingt-quatre heurs; mai dan beau tem mo fair yo dégagé ça mo pu, et tancher miyor possible, nou fair à présent necqué treize pouces. The Entrepreneur. I just learned, sir, that you garnered damages in your crossing. The Captain. That's true. The Entrepreneur. Do you believe that your ship needs repair? The Captain. It careened before we left, but
3388-524: The control of the Armée Indigène , and was captured from French troops on 4 August 1803. Férou is a signatory of the Act of Independence of 1 January. The first Haitian Civil War split the country between a monarchy in the north and a republic in the south. Grand'Anse de facto sided with the monarchy under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Perrier (under the alias Goman) who established a government in
3465-469: The country's newly instated "Creole Day". Haitian Creole writers often use different literary strategies throughout their works, such as code-switching, to increase the audience's knowledge on the language. Literature in Haitian Creole is also used to educate the public on the dictatorial social and political forces in Haiti. Although both French and Haitian Creole are official languages in Haiti , French
3542-547: The country. Due to its rather mountainous geography, Grand'Anse could not have many plantations. Therefore, there were white and mixed-race communities with some of the best schools in the colony. Some slaveowners sent their children to schools in Grand'Anse instead of sending them back to France for education. The department was briefly under British control in 1793. While under the control of André Rigaud , more than 20 slaves died in prison in Jérémie. While their cause of death
3619-541: The deal? Our President hugged the good papa Makau (the French ambassador). They drank to the health of the King of France , to the health of Boyer , to the health of Christophe , to the health of Haiti, to independence. Then they danced Balcindé and Bai chi ca colé with Haitian women. I can't tell you how much all of this is so beautiful and noble. Come see your son at his plantation, my mother, he will give you cassava, goyava, and pimentade. He will be happy if you can bring him
3696-499: The definitive delimitation of the maritime zones between the United States and Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti, as well as determining the maritime frontier at the point of confluence between Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti. The island was disregarded for the purposes of determining equidistant boundary calculation with Cuba during the signing of the Cuba–Haiti Maritime Boundary Agreement in 1977; Cuba backs Haiti's claim to
3773-404: The earthquake in 2010, basic education became free and more accessible to the monolingual masses. In the 2010s, the government has attempted to expand the use of Creole and improve the school system. Haitian Creole has a phonemic orthography with highly regular spelling, except for proper nouns and foreign words. According to the official standardized orthography, Haitian Creole is composed of
3850-411: The education system has been French-dominant. Except the children of elites, many had to drop out of school because learning French was very challenging to them and they had a hard time to follow up. The Bernard Reform of 1978 tried to introduce Creole as the teaching language in the first four years of primary school; however, the reform overall was not very successful. The use of Creole has grown; after
3927-449: The family lwa or voodoo spirits, or contacting a Catholic priest for a church baptism, marriage, or solemn mass, or consulting a physician, nurse, or dentist, or going to a civil officer to declare a death or birth. In most schools, French is still the preferred language for teaching. Generally speaking, Creole is more used in public schools, as that is where most children of ordinary families who speak Creole attend school. Historically,
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#17327754064864004-722: The first four remain common, with the next three likely extinct , and the last being possibly extirpated due to feral cats , dogs and pigs inhabiting the island. In 2012, Acropora palmata (elkhorn coral), a common reef-building coral of the Caribbean, was located underwater near the island. The remaining coral was found to be in good condition. The island, with its surrounding marine waters, has been recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports breeding colonies of red-footed boobies and magnificent frigatebirds , as well as hundreds of white-crowned pigeons . The dispute has prevented
4081-814: The following 32 symbols: ⟨a⟩ , ⟨an⟩ , ⟨b⟩ , ⟨ch⟩ , ⟨d⟩ , ⟨e⟩ , ⟨è⟩ , ⟨en⟩ , ⟨f⟩ , ⟨g⟩ , ⟨h⟩ , ⟨i⟩ , ⟨j⟩ , ⟨k⟩ , ⟨l⟩ , ⟨m⟩ , ⟨n⟩ , ⟨ng⟩ , ⟨o⟩ , ⟨ò⟩ , ⟨on⟩ , ⟨ou⟩ , ⟨oun⟩ , ⟨p⟩ , ⟨r⟩ , ⟨s⟩ , ⟨t⟩ , ⟨ui⟩ , ⟨v⟩ , ⟨w⟩ , ⟨y⟩ , and ⟨z⟩ . The letters ⟨c⟩ and ⟨u⟩ are always associated with another letter (in
4158-712: The island's birds and other terrestrial and marine wildlife. From 1917 to 1996, Navassa was under the administration of the United States Coast Guard . In 1996, the Coast Guard dismantled the light on Navassa, which ended its interest in the island. Consequently, the Department of the Interior assumed responsibility for the civil administration of the area , and placed the island under its Office of Insular Affairs. For statistical purposes, Navassa
4235-487: The island, which had no water. They called it Navaza (from nava-, Spanish for 'plain' / 'field'), and mariners largely avoided it for the next 350 years. In 1798, Médéric Louis Élie Moreau de Saint-Méry , a member of the French Parliament best known for his publications on Saint-Domingue , referred to "la Navasse" as a "small island between Saint-Domingue and Jamaica". From 1801 to 1867,
4312-465: The island. Haitian Creole language Haitian Creole ( / ˈ h eɪ ʃ ən ˈ k r iː oʊ l / ; Haitian Creole: kreyòl ayisyen , [kɣejɔl ajisjɛ̃] ; French: créole haïtien , [kʁe.ɔl a.i.sjɛ̃] ), or simply Creole (Haitian Creole: kreyòl ), is a French-based creole language spoken by 10 to 12 million people worldwide, and is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French), where it
4389-621: The island. In 1905, the U.S. Lighthouse Service identified Navassa Island as a good location for a new lighthouse. However, plans for the light moved slowly. With the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, shipping between the American eastern seaboard and the Canal through the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti increased in the area of Navassa, which proved a hazard to navigation. Congress appropriated $ 125,000 in 1913 to build
4466-523: The island. There were eight species of native reptiles, all of which are believed to be, or to have been, endemic to Navassa Island: Comptus badius (an anguid lizard ), Aristelliger cochranae (a gecko ), Sphaerodactylus becki (a gecko), Anolis longiceps (an anole ), Cyclura cornuta onchiopsis (an endemic subspecies of the rhinoceros iguana ), Leiocephalus eremitus (a curly-tailed lizard ), Tropidophis bucculentus (a dwarf boa ), and Typhlops sulcatus (a tiny snake). Of these,
4543-450: The island. Throughout this period, the population was made of roughly equal numbers of engagés (white workers), gens de couleur libres (free people of colour) and slaves. The economy shifted more decisively into sugar production about 1690, just before the French colony of Saint-Domingue was officially recognized in 1697. The sugar crops needed a much larger labor force, which led to an increase in slave trafficking . In
4620-467: The landing point at Lulu Bay, where it was put into sacks and lowered onto boats for transfer to the Company barque , the S.S. Romance . The living quarters at Lulu Bay were referred to as ' Lulu Town ', as appears on old maps. Railway tracks eventually extended inland. In September 1875, the fierce 1875 Indianola hurricane swept over the island, destroying much of the company's infrastructure, including
4697-427: The largest community in the world to speak a modern creole language , others estimate that more people speak Nigerian Pidgin . Haitian Creole's use in communities and schools has been contentious since at least the 19th century. Some Haitians view French as inextricably linked to the legacy of colonialism and language compelled on the population by conquerers, while Creole has been maligned by francophones as
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#17327754064864774-510: The leadership of Jean-Pierre Boyer . There were many battles between the national and liberal political parties in Grand'Anse in the 1800s. The Grand'Anse department used to be part of the Sud department until 1962 when it was created. The department was reduced further in 2003, with the creation of a new department of Nippes from the Miragoâne and Anse-à-Veau arrondissements. Before
4851-532: The mountains, it does not have a major plain or plateau for agriculture; however, the Jeremi Valley is still a major agricultural hub. Rivers in the department include the Grand'Anse and Voldrogue rivers. Grand'Anse features many islands, such as Grande Cayemite , Petite Cayemite, the Cayemite reefs and cayes, and Navaasa Island . Navassa is currently the subject of a territorial dispute between Haiti and
4928-490: The newly formed Navassa Phosphate Company of Baltimore . After an interruption for the American Civil War , the company built larger mining facilities on Navassa with barrack housing for 140 black contract laborers from Maryland , houses for white supervisors, a blacksmith shop, warehouses, and a church. Mining began in 1865. The workers dug out the guano by dynamite and pick-axe and hauled it in rail cars to
5005-681: The number of Bantu speakers decreased while the number of Kwa speakers increased, with Gbe being the most dominant group. The first fifty years of Saint‑Domingue 's sugar boom coincided with emergent Gbe predominance in the French Caribbean . In the interval during which Singler hypothesizes the language evolved, the Gbe population was around 50% of the kidnapped enslaved population. Classical French ( français classique ) and langues d'oïl ( Norman , Poitevin and Saintongeais dialects, Gallo and Picard ) were spoken during
5082-473: The rail line and workers' homes. In total, the storm caused an estimated $ 25,000 (equivalent to $ 690,000 in 2023) in damage on the island. Hauling guano by muscle power in the fierce tropical heat, combined with general disgruntlement with conditions on the island, eventually contributed to a riot in 1889, in which five supervisors died. A U.S. warship returned 18 of the workers to Baltimore for three separate trials on murder charges. A black fraternal society,
5159-615: The southwestern coast or 655 yards (600 m) east of Lulu Bay. The terrain of Navassa Island consists mostly of exposed coral and limestone, the island being ringed by vertical white cliffs 30 to 50 feet (9.1 to 15.2 m) high, but with enough grassland to support goat herds. The island is covered in a forest of four tree species: short-leaf fig ( Ficus populnea var. brevifolia ), pigeon plum ( Coccoloba diversifolia ), mastic ( Sideroxylon foetidissimum ), and poisonwood ( Metopium brownei ). Navassa Island's topography, ecology, and modern history are similar to those of Mona Island ,
5236-507: The successive constitutions of Haiti claimed sovereignty over adjacent islands, both named and unnamed, although Navassa was not specifically enumerated until 1874. Navassa Island was claimed for the United States on September 19, 1857, by Peter Duncan, an American sea captain, under the Guano Islands Act of 1856, for the rich guano deposits found on the island and for not being within the lawful jurisdiction of any other government, nor occupied by another government's citizens. Haiti protested
5313-535: The term originally referred to Europeans born and raised in overseas colonies (as opposed to the European-born peninsulares ). To be "as rich as a Creole" at one time was a popular saying boasted in Paris during the colonial years of Haiti (then named Saint-Domingue ), for being the most lucrative colony in the world. The noun Creole , soon began to refer to the language spoken there as well, as it still
5390-415: The theory of relexification , arguing that the process of relexification (the replacement of the phonological representation of a substratum lexical item with the phonological representation of a superstratum lexical item, so that the Haitian creole lexical item looks like French, but works like the substratum language(s)) was central in the development of Haitian Creole. The Fon language , also known as
5467-487: The trial and otherwise came to me such evidences of the bad treatment of the men that in consideration of this and of the fact that the men had no access to any public officer or tribunal for protection or the redress of their wrongs I commuted the death sentences that had been passed by the court upon three of them." Guano mining resumed on Navassa at a much-reduced level. In 1898, during the Spanish–American War ,
5544-422: The word for "frequent" in French is fréquent ; however, its cognate in Haitian Creole frekan means 'insolent, rude, and impertinent' and usually refers to people. In addition, the grammars of Haitian Creole and French are very different. For example, in Haitian Creole, verbs are not conjugated as they are in French. Additionally, Haitian Creole possesses different phonetics from standard French; however, it
5621-462: Was another influential author of Haitian Creole work. Since the 1980s, many educators, writers, and activists have written literature in Haitian Creole. In 2001, Open Gate: An Anthology of Haitian Creole Poetry was published. It was the first time a collection of Haitian Creole poetry was published in both Haitian Creole and English. On 28 October 2004, the Haitian daily Le Matin first published an entire edition in Haitian Creole in observance of
5698-552: Was grouped with the now-obsolete term United States Miscellaneous Caribbean Islands and is now grouped with other islands claimed by the U.S. under the Guano Islands Act as the United States Minor Outlying Islands . In 1997, an American salvager, Bill Warren, claimed Navassa to the Department of State based on the Guano Islands Act . On March 27, 1997, the Department of the Interior rejected
5775-420: Was no mention of Navassa in the treaty detailing terms. Haiti's 1801 constitution claimed several nearby islands by name, among which Navassa was not listed, but also laid claim to "other adjacent islands", which Haiti maintains included Navassa. The U.S. claim to the island, first made in 1857, asserts that Navassa was not included among the unnamed "other adjacent islands" in the 1801 Haitian Constitution. Since
5852-481: Was not clear, Toussaint Louverture used their deaths as an excuse to portray Rigaud as anti-black and ordered his then-lieutenant Jean-Jacques Dessalines to attack the town. The battle was one of the most important scenes of the Haitian Revolution, with Laurent Férou [ fr ] , an officer, becoming known as the "Liberator of the Grand'Anse." Grand'Anse was the first department to come under
5929-598: Was transferred from the Office of Insular Affairs to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge protects coral reef ecosystems, native wildlife, and plants and provides opportunities for scientific research on and around Navassa Island. Navassa Island features large seabird colonies, including over 5,000 nesting red-footed booby ( Sula sula ). Navassa is home to four endemic lizard species. Two other endemic lizards, Cyclura cornuta onchiopsis and Leiocephalus eremitus , are extinct. Navassa Island NWR
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