Salt

Soualiga, the Land of Salt 

By Roland and Laura Richardson

            Created by a process as natural as it is mysterious, salt is a gift of nature that for uncountable centuries has been at the very heart of St.Martin-St.Maarten history. The Land of Salt, Soualiga, the island’s earliest name given by the Amerindian people, reflects clearly how much it impressed them.  

Without salt, mankind and all the animal kingdom would perish. It has influenced every civilization throughout the course of history. Salt was the chief preservative that allowed sustenance through times that would have been famine. It was a currency traded for goods and hard-earned wages. It graced the tables of kings for their health and protection. It was carried by brides and grooms with promise of fertility. To trace the history of salt is to trace the history of man.  

As the islands only natural resource, salt was our first truly organized industry. When a small landing party of Dutchmen arrived on St. Martin in 1624 and discovered the Great Bay pond, they might as well have struck gold. The French discovered that the pond in Grand Case was worth their return to the island after surviving a hurricane’s wrath in 1629. To these spare forces, salt’s promise of fertility, health, protection and prosperity was lure enough to found this community that remains today shared by these two nations.  

The salt industry of St. Martin/Sint Maarten preceded and outlived indigo, tobacco, sugar, cotton, and every other economic effort undertaken here. Its quantity and high quality made it sought after and this brought us contact and exchange with the outside world. Though hard and often painful labor, it offered the joy of congregation, nourished our pride and shaped our identity.