-Cacique Award Winner-
Ashley B. Saunders
History of Bimini Vol. 1
Written by an outstanding authority and profusely illustrated, this is a comprehensive study of the people of the Biminis – the westernmost group of islands in the Bahamas – and the only collection of history books to be written about a Bahamian island by a native of the Bahamas to date.
This volume vividly captures the complexities and attainment of this culture of the Bahamas.
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The Biminis' seclusion and proximity to the United States mainland and the Gulf Stream, island legend and history point to a great deal of wheeling-and-dealing and dangerous activity along its shores and on nearby cays, at the tip of the 40-mile Bimini island chain.​
The author first describes the land, the people and the pre-history of the area, and then considers each aspect of the history: the Lost City of Atlantis, Lucayan Indians, Explorers, Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth, slave traders, pirates, ship wreckers, gun runners, cotton traders, spongers, rum runners, drug and alien smugglers, adventurers and big game fisherman, and such notable characters as writer Ernest Hemingway, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., philanthropist Mike Lerner and exiled Harlem congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
History of Bimini Vol. 2
This second volume of the History of Bimini is a comprehensive study of the Biminis, the westernmost group of islands in the Bahamas, and uses the knowledge of an internationally recognized author and poet.
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Beautifully organized and illustrated, this book presents a vivid and accurate picture of Biminian folkloric life. It incorporates new facts, new insights, fascinating revelations about the beliefs and love of folk medicine and the miraculous secrets of nature that Biminites have discovered and passed down from one generation to another. Above all, it gives the richness that characterizes the "Biminis," giving that area a unique and durable place in the history of the Bahamas.