Booking a magical glimpse inside Etnia Nativa

Our narratives have long emphasized the vital balance needed in all that we do, especially on a small island like Aruba. For generations, we thrived with a laid-back colonial existence, shaped by a unique blend of cultures. However, the neglect of our cultural heritage and the growing threats to our biodiversity has reached critical levels.

This platform is dedicated to preserving and rediscovering native traditions, while exploring the true spirit of what it means to be Aruban and reflecting on our history and identity.

During this episode, we provide a brief historical overview of the evolution of drinking water in Aruba, highlighting its importance as a basic necessity for the establishment of human populations. Therefore, it is no surprise that, in arid regions like ours, people have sought ways to desalinate brackish or seawater to produce drinking water for centuries.

Before the establishment of the current seawater desalination plant, the native population relied on collected rainwater for drinking. They had limited access to natural fresh water, finding it in a few places such as caves where water leaked from stalagmites, springs like Loran, also known as Pos di Rey, located on top of a hill near Shette, and under rocks at Paraboste, among others.

Rainfall in Aruba typically occurs from August to February during the rainy season, but most of this rainwater quickly flows to the sea through dry riverbeds. In some areas, natives dug dams and irrigation channels, which were covered by vegetation such as Kwihi and other trees to prevent evaporation, like those at Tanki Flip. During the early colonial era, rainwater was also collected from the surface for use in homes and small-scale livestock farming.

While surface water can be abundant during the rainy season, it quickly dries up in the dry season, becoming scarce due to evaporation and absorption by the porous layers of the soil. Rainwater that filters through these layers accumulates in aquifers and underground channels, forming what are known as underground rivers. On Aruba’s northeast coast, a small stream called Fontein flows year-round with crystal-clear water, in contrast to ephemeral streams that only flow after heavy rains. Historically, Fontein’s water was used for horticulture and later by a group of Chinese families who grew vegetables. However, the stream’s flow has been hampered due to excessive dynamiting of nearby limestone quarries for commercial extraction.

Wells of varying depths were dug by hand using chisels and hammers throughout the island to access groundwater. Due to the dissolution of minerals and calcium carbonates in some of these wells, the extracted water has a certain level of salinity and is known as ‘brackish water.’

Water from the well was extracted manually using a wooden bucket tied to a rope. Later, windmills with wooden or metal frames were installed to pump water to the surface. Meanwhile, the island’s early inhabitants, the Caquetio Amerindians, established their villages in areas where water and food were available. They would dig small holes near beaches to access naturally filtered seawater for drinking, a practice that became an art.

With low rainfall, scarce natural freshwater sources, and limited groundwater reserves, Aruba faced a significant water shortage for the gold industry following the establishment of the Gold Mining Company in 1899. This shortage led to the decision to build a melting plant in Balashi and desalinate seawater from the nearby Spanish Lagoon.

During the colonial era, houses were built with cisterns to efficiently store rainwater, improving its quality for consumption and domestic use. At that time, peeled cactus plants were used as a natural coagulant or filter for muddy water.

When Petroleum refining company was established on the island, a solution was needed for both drinking and industrial water supplies. Initially, it was decided to import drinking water from the United States using special tankers. However, this system proved inadequate. As a result, a new water supply system was implemented for Oranjestad and St. Nicholas, distributing distilled and mineralized water—a system that had already proven successful in Curaçao. (Episode 216:Drinking water in Aruba)

If you enjoyed reading our stories and are interested in learning more about the island’s true identity, we recommend booking a visit to Etnia Nativa—the only ‘living museum of its kind in the Caribbean.’ Since 1994, Etnia Nativa has been a trendsetter and a co-founder of Aruba’s National Park, the Archaeological Museum Aruba, many Artisan Foundations, and other organizations. Etnia Nativa offers valuable knowledge and connects you to the ancient spirit and soul of the island.  Contact by WhatsApp+297 592 2702 oretnianativa03@gmail.com.Visits are private and by appointment only.

ORANJESTAD — You are back and we would like to portrait you! By inviting you to send us your favorite vacation picture while enjoying our Happy Island. 

Complete the sentence: Aruba to me is ……. Send your picture with that text (including your name and where you are from) to: news@arubatoday.com and we will publish your vacation memory. Isn’t that a special way to keep your best moments alive? Please do note: By submitting photos, text or any other materials, you give permission to The Aruba Today Newspaper, Caribbean Speed Printers and any of its affiliated companies to use said materials, as well as names, likeness, etc. for promotional purposes without compensation.

Last but not least: check out our website, Instagram and Facebook page! Thank you for supporting our free newspaper, we strive to make you a happy reader every day again.

For today we received a lovely message from Chris and Terry Garvey & Don and Lori Aldridge from Massachusetts, USA.

They wrote to us saying: “Aruba to me is sunny skies, beautiful beaches,and friendly people.”

Thank you for sending us this wonderful message sharing what Aruba means to you with us and our readers!

The Aruba Tourism Authority recently had the great pleasure of recognizing Goodwill Ambassadors of Aruba. The honorees were respectively honored with a certificate for their years of visits, loyalty, and love for the island of Aruba.

The honorary certification is presented on behalf of the Minister of Tourism as a token of appreciation and to say “Masha Danki” to guests who have visited Aruba 10, 20, or 35 years or more consecutively.

Emerald Ambassador (35>years consecutively visiting Aruba)

The honorees were:

On behalf of the Aruba Tourism Authority, we would like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the honorees for their continued visits to the “One Happy Island”.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday that she has directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, following through on the president’s campaign promise to vigorously pursue capital punishment.

It is the first time the Justice Department has sought to bring the death penalty since President Donald Trump returned to office in January with a vow to resume federal executions after they were halted under the previous administration.

“Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” Bondi said in a statement. She described Thompson’s killing as “an act of political violence.”

Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family, faces separate federal and state murder charges after authorities say he gunned down Thompson, 50, outside a Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4 as the executive arrived for UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference.

Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said Tuesday that in seeking the death penalty “the Justice Department has moved from the dysfunctional to the barbaric.”

Mangione “is caught in a high-stakes game of tug-of-war between state and federal prosecutors, except the trophy is a young man’s life,” Friedman Agnifilo said in a statement, vowing to fight all charges against him.

The killing and ensuing five-day manhunt leading to Mangione’s arrest rattled the business community, with some health insurers hastily switching to remote work or online shareholder meetings. It also galvanized health insurance critics — some of whom have rallied around Mangione as a stand-in for frustrations over coverage denials and hefty medical bills.

Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind. Police say the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were scrawled on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase commonly used to describe insurer tactics to avoid paying claims.

Mangione’s federal charges include murder through use of a firearm, which carries the possibility of the death penalty. The state charges carry a maximum punishment of life in prison. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to a state indictment and has not yet been required to enter a plea on the federal charges.

Prosecutors have said the two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state case expected to go to trial first. It wasn’t immediately clear if Bondi’s announcement will change the order.

Mangione was arrested Dec. 9 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of New York City and whisked to Manhattan by plane and helicopter.

Police said Mangione had a 9mm handgun that matched the one used in the shooting and other items including a notebook in which they say he expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives.

Among the entries, prosecutors said, was one from August 2024 that said “the target is insurance” because “it checks every box” and one from October that describes an intent to “wack” an insurance company CEO. UnitedHealthcare, the largest U.S. health insurer, has said Mangione was never a client.

Mangione’s lawyer has said she would seek to suppress some of the evidence.

Former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department filed the federal case against Mangione but left it to Trump and his administration to decide whether to seek the death penalty. Because the federal case had been taking a backseat to the state case, federal prosecutors have yet to seek a grand jury indictment, which is required for capital cases.

Trump oversaw an unprecedented run of 13 executions at the end of his first term and has been an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment. Trump signed an executive order on his first day back in office on Jan. 20 that compels the Justice Department to seek the death penalty in federal cases where applicable.

Bondi’s order comes weeks after she lifted a Biden-era moratorium on federal executions.

Biden campaigned on a pledge to work toward abolishing federal capital punishment but took no major steps to that end. While Attorney General Merrick Garland halted federal executions in 2021, Biden’s Justice Department at the same time fought vigorously to maintain the sentences of death row inmates in many cases.

In his final weeks in office, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life in prison.

The three inmates that remain are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history.

By STEPHEN GROVES

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — With President Donald Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” of tariff implementation fast approaching, Senate Democrats are putting Republican support for some of those plans to the test by forcing a vote to nullify the emergency declaration that underpins the tariffs on Canada.

Republicans have watched with some unease as the president’s attempts to remake global trade have sent the stock market downward, but they have so far stood by Trump’s on-again-off-again threats to levy taxes on imported goods.

Even as the resolution from Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia offered them a potential off-ramp to the tariffs levied on Canadian imports, Republican leaders were trying to keep senators in line by focusing on fentanyl that comes into the U.S. over its northern border. It was yet another example of how Trump is not only reorienting global economics, but upending his party’s longtime support for ideas like free trade.

“I really relish giving my Republican colleagues the chance to not just say they’re concerned, but actually take an action to stop these tariffs,” Kaine told The Associated Press in an interview last week.

Kaine’s resolution would end the emergency declaration that Trump signed in February to implement tariffs on Canada as punishment for not doing enough to halt the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S. If the Senate passes the resolution, it would still need to be taken up by the Republican-controlled House.

A small fraction of the fentanyl that comes into the U.S. enters from Canada. Customs and Border Protection seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the northern border during the 2024 fiscal year, and since January, authorities have seized less than 1.5 pounds, according to federal data. Meanwhile, at the southern border, authorities seized over 21,000 pounds last year.

Democrats warned that tariffs on Canadian goods would ripple through the economy, making it more expensive to build homes, outfit military ships and pay for daily goods.

“These tariffs are a tax increase on American families — plain and simple,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. He argued that the increased costs for American households were being done “simply to give a tax cut to Trump’s billionaire friends.”

Schumer said he agrees with taking on China “which really has hurt us in trade every step of the way.” But the tariffs don’t make sense for an ally whose economy is so interconnected with the U.S. economy. He added the tariffs are creating uncertainty with businesses and consumers.

At a news conference Tuesday, Kaine said fentanyl trafficking is an emergency, but that the emergency stems from China and Mexico, not Canada. He said Trump invented a “made-up emergency” to help pay for extending tax cuts that he said primarily benefit the wealthy.

“How are they going to pay for it? Massive cuts in programs like Medicaid and Medicare, and tariffs imposed on the backs of everyday Americans,” Kaine said.

Still, Trump has claimed that the amount of fentanyl coming from Canada is “massive” and pledged to follow through by executing tariffs Wednesday.

“We are making progress to end this terrible Fentanyl Crisis, but Republicans in the Senate MUST vote to keep the National Emergency in place, so we can finish the job, and end the scourge,” Trump said on social media Tuesday.

Still, a few of Republicans have indicated they are considering voting for the legislation, which would need just a simple majority to pass the Senate.

Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said she was still examining the bill, yet added she supported its “intent” because “Canadian tariffs are disastrous for the state of Maine.”

“Canada’s our friends and our ally, and this is not China we’re talking about. It’s not an adversarial nation. It’s our biggest trading partner, and this just makes no sense,” she added.

Republican leaders in the Senate have signaled they aren’t exactly fans of tariffs, but argued that Trump is using them as a negotiating tool.

“I think all of us are anxious to see — and we’ll wait to see — what the president actually comes out with in terms of tariff policy tomorrow, but I don’t think that should change people’s vote,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters at the Capitol.

He added that the emergency declaration was made to “deal with the flow of fentanyl.”

While Trump’s close allies in the Senate were standing steadfastly by the idea of remaking the U.S. economy through tariffs, others have begun openly voicing their dissatisfaction with trade wars that could disrupt industries and raise prices on autos, groceries, housing and other goods.

“I’m keeping a close eye on all these tariffs because oftentimes the first folks that are hurt in a trade war are your farmers and ranchers,” said Sen. Steve Daines, a Montana Republican.

Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, said he would prefer to see the U.S. and its trading partners move to remove all tariffs on each other, but he conceded that Trump’s tariff threats had injected uncertainty into global markets.

“We’re in uncharted waters,” Kennedy told reporters. “Nobody knows what the impact of these tariffs is going to be.”