Afro-Arubans arrived in Aruba in three waves. During the
colonial era, enslaved Africans were transported to Aruba by
Dutch settlers, although not in large numbers as the Dutch (and before them, the
Spanish) considered Aruba too dry for large-scale plantations.
Papiamento, the now common language of the
ABC islands, dates back at least 300 years and is predominantly based on
Afro-Portuguese linguistic structures combined with vocabulary and influences from
Spanish,
West African languages, Dutch, English and
Amerindian languages. Papiamento arrived in Aruba from
Curaçao. Prior to the 20th century, most black Arubans likely arrived free or enslaved from Curaçao or from Africa via Curaçao, or descended from earlier migrants from Curaçao, which was historically one of the largest Dutch slave trading ports in the Caribbean. Small scale migration from Curaçao, and from other Caribbean islands, to Aruba continued after emancipation. Slaves did not form a separate Afro Caribbean culture and after emancipation in 1863, former slaves integrated in the free society rapidly (Alofs 2003a. Throughout the 20th century, many immigrants from the
British West-Indies (namely from
Trinidad and
Grenada),
Sint Maarten,
Saba,
Sint Eustatius, and other islands settled in San Nicolaas, namely to work in the
Aruban oil industry. Many brought their local
English Creoles and
dialects to the town, later developing into what is today known as
San Nicolaas English (also known locally as Bush English, Sani English, We English, Village Talk etc.). In the 21st century, most recent
African-descended immigrants to Aruba come from a new inflow of
Haitian,
Surinamese,
Curaçaoan and
Dominican labor migrants. == Notable people ==