Gonâve Island
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Gonâve Island or Zile Lagonav (, ; also ''La Gonâve'') is an island of
Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
located west-northwest of
Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...
in the Gulf of Gonâve. It is the largest of the
Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...
n satellite islands. The island is an
arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...
(''Arrondissement de La Gonâve'') or Ouest-Insulaire in the Ouest and includes the
communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...
of Anse-à-Galets and Pointe-à-Raquette.


Etymology

La Gonâve or Gonave is a francized form of ''Guanabo'', the
Taíno The Taíno are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The ...
and later
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
name for the island and region.


History


Taíno period

The indigenous
Taíno The Taíno are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The ...
s called the island ''Guanabo.'' Under the leadership of
Hatuey Hatuey (), also Hatüey (; died 2 February 1512), was a Taíno ''Cacique'' (chief) of the Hispaniolan cacicazgo of Guanaba (in present-day La Gonave, Haiti). He lived from the late 15th until the early 16th century. Chief Hatuey and many of h ...
, the island was the last refuge of the natives after the invasion of the Europeans.


European period

No major French or Spanish settlement was built in La Gonâve. During the colonial period, the island was uninhabited by colonists, which led the indigenous Taínos to seek refuge there after early battles with the
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
. Runaway slaves in the
French period In Northern European historiography, the term French period (, , ) refers to the period between 1794 and 1815 during which most of Northern Europe was controlled by Republican or Napoleonic France.Eduard Rothert''Rheinland-Westfalen im Wechsel d ...
, too, sometimes sought out the island for a place to hide from their owners on the mainland.


Haitian period

The island has been officially under Haitian control since
Toussaint Louverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (, ) also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda (20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803), was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louvertu ...
and the Constitution of 1801.


Modern period

On July 18, 1926, U.S. Marine Corps
Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...
Faustin E. Wirkus (1896–1945) was proclaimed by the residents of the island as King Faustin II, where he ruled over the island with the tribal queen Ti Mememnne as co-monarchs. His reign lasted until 1929, when he peacefully abdicated and returned home to the United States. Ti Memenne continued to unofficially rule the island until her death in that same year. For context, Haiti is a republic and abolished the monarchy in 1859 with Fabre Nicolas Geffrard. In the mid-1980s, British singer
Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...
wrote and recorded a song "La Gonave" for relief aid for the people of the island. It is included on his album '' The Rock Connection''. The island's docks were damaged by the
2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...
on 12 January. In the wake of the damage, supplies were airlifted in to the dirt strip.
Overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...
and
over-exploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable t ...
of water resources affect the island's current residents.


Independence movement

The island inhabitants have pushed the idea of independence from Haiti in order to achieve economic prosperity.


Geography

The island sits in the middle of the Gulf of Gonave, south of St-Marc, north of Miragoanes, and west of Port-au-Prince. It forms the canal of St-Marc with the Cote des Arcadins and the Canal of the South and Miragoanes. Made up of mostly
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
, the
reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...
-fringed island of Gonâve is long and wide and covers an area of . The island is mostly barren and hilly with the highest point reaching . The island receives between to of rain a year, higher elevations representing the latter figure. The barren, dry nature of the soil has long prevented agricultural development on the island and kept the population lower than it otherwise might have been.


Administrative division

La Gonâve arrondissement is divided into two communes: Anse-à-Galets and Pointe-à-Raquette. These are further subdivided into eleven sections and two towns (villes). The towns are Anse-à-Galets and Pointe-à-Raquette, named after their respective communes. Anse-à-Galets is the largest settlement on the island with an estimated 2015 population of 52,662 of the island's total population of 87,077.


Water scarcity

In 2005, following a particularly drastic drought, the Mayor of Anse-à-Galets formed the Water Platform, composed of service groups working on the island. Current participants include the Mayors of Anse-à-Galets and Pointes a Racquette, the Deputy, Justice of the Peace, World Vision, Concern WorldWide, Sevis Kretyen
the Matènwa Community Learning Center
the Alleghany Weslyen Church, the Methodist Church
Haiti Outreach
and many others. The Water Platform acts as a focal point for activities on the island, providing a coordination point for the multitude of groups working on La Gonâve.


Assistance efforts

The members of the Water Platform have been working to address the water needs of the island by capping springs, building rainwater catchment cisterns, building water systems and drilling wells. Dozens of rainwater catchment cisterns and
well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
s have been drilled on the island as an effort to bring water relief to the residents of the island. 2002–2004 Guts Church funded construction of a school providing first through sixth grade education and construction of a medical clinic providing free medical, dental and vision services for Haitians. , there were two non-profit groups actively drilling water wells on the island: Haiti Outreach, which has financed and drilled water wells in 25 communities; and Guts Church in
Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...
. The Tougher Than Hell Motorcycle Rally, organized by Guts Church, has sponsored 10 water wells drilled on the island. In 2010 Coordinated relief efforts after the 12 January earthquake. $250,000 was raised for this relief project. Medical supplies, building supplies, 150 tons of rice and beans and a backhoe were purchased. Aid was shipped to La Gonâve via a leased vessel and delivered directly to La Gonâve in early March 2010. The aid shipment fed 50,000 people for one month. there are over 70 water wells fully functional on the island. The drilling of more wells on the island has been planned for the near future. Since 2007, the Washington D.C.–based nonprofi
Roots of Development
and its La Gonâve–based Haitian sister organizatio
Rasin Devlopman
have been providing leadership and capacity-building programs to community leaders and locally elected officials on the island. The two organizations provide leaders access to professional facilitators, workshops and trainings, and material and financial resources, to help them strengthen local capacity and improve quality of life on the island. Founded in 2014, the Australian-based non-profit organisation For You Haiti began coordinating surgeries for children from la Gonâve island. The children receive medical treatment on the mainland of Haiti and in the United States. For You Haiti has a mentoring program for men and women to start small businesses in Haiti, with the goal of empowering communities to break the cycle of poverty. In 2016, For You Haiti started the Hungry Tummies Project at Complexe Scolaire Amis des Enfants and began growing their own food in the region of Palma, in the hope of making lasting change for the la Gonâvian people.


Ferry disaster

On 8 September 1997, the passenger ferry ''La Fierte Gonavienne'' (''The Pride of Gonave'') operating from La Gonâve to the
Montrouis Montrouis is a coastal communal section in Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths ...
on the Haitian mainland sank with hundreds of passengers aboard. It is considered the worst disaster in Haitian maritime history since the ''Neptune'' accident in 1993.


Media

* Radio Zetwa 89.1 FM


Sports team

* Roulado FC – professional football club


Notable natives and residents

* Faustin E. Wirkus – King of La Gonâve (''Faustin II'') * Ti Memenne of La Gonâve – Queen of La Gonâve


See also

* List of lighthouses in Haiti


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonave Gulf of Gonâve Islands of Haiti La Gonâve La Gonâve Lighthouses in Haiti