The Island of Hispaniola

Definition

The Island of Hispaniola is the second largest island in the Caribbean.

Before Columbus' arrival in the Caribbean, the Island of Hispaniola was called the Island of Haiti, Quisqueya, and Bohio by the tainos who inhabited the Caribbean island.

In the Taino language, Haiti, Quisqueya, and Bohio mean "Mountainous Land" or "Great Land."

After Columbus's arrival the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola was baptized "La Isla Española" and the name was shortened over the yeas to Hispaniola.

When the French colonized the western part of the beautiful Caribbean Island of Hispaniola, they started calling the island Saint-Domingue.

Have you ever heard of Santo Domingo?

That's Saint-Domingue in Spanish.

Why is the island of Haiti called "The Island of Hispaniola" and not "The Island of Haiti" or "Quisqueya", or "Bohio"?

Here is what I found out from an article by Odette Roy Fombrun:

In 1930, to avoid confusion between the name of the "Republic of Haiti" and that of the entire island, the U.S.G.B.

(United States Geographic Board) decided, unilaterally, to name the island Hispaniola in homage to the Spanish colonizer, thereby erasing all traces of the Amerindians who occupied the island before the arrival of Christopher Columbus.

Unfortunately, Haitian and Dominican authorities of the time did not protest this decision with enough force or perseverance, nor did they mobilize any interested parties against this assassination of the island's Amerindian past.

Source: http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/ile.en.ile/paroles/fombrun_quisqueya-en.html

The story of the Island of Hispaniola - The rest of the story:

In 1697, the Spanish later ceded the western third of the island of Hispaniola to the French.

In 1804 the western part the island of Hispaniola became known as the republic of Haiti.

The remainder of the island was known as Santo Domingo.

The entire island of Hispaniola was eventually occupied by Haiti because, in 1821, immediately after Santo Domingo (Saint-Domingue in Spanish) declared its independence it was occupied by Haiti.

It wasn't until 1844, when Santo Domingo declared Independence from Haiti that the island of Hispaniola was finally split up into two legal republics, The Republic of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

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