Salt collected from Salt Island for gift to Queen
Following Governor John S. Duncan OBE's declaring open the salt pond from which the territory's gift to the Queen will be taken, descendant of Salt Island Elcine Durante handed over the gift of salt to Premier Dr The Honourable D. Orlando Smith. The Premier then handed over the one pound bag of the mineral to Governor Duncan who will present it to Queen Elizabeth II.
Making remarks at a brief ceremony just prior to the salt breaking today, March 24, 2016, Governor Duncan said it has been a pleasure for him as the Governor and the representative of Her Majesty the Queen to be part of the effort to revive the ceremony which he called unique as it is rooted in the oral history of the territory and tells the story of the VI's unique link with the monarchy.
“Last year it was my pleasure to present Her Majesty with this symbolic annual rent of one pound of Salt Island salt...,” said Governor Duncan.
“This year the colour [of the salt bag] is purple in recognition of the fact that 2016 is the 90th birthday of our Queen, Queen Elizabeth,” he said.
Speaking at the ceremony, Premier Smith said that the act of gifting a pound of salt to the Queen was something that he knew nothing about until Governor Duncan spoke about it on his arrival in the territory in 2014.
“I went and Googled where I could find stories of this gift of salt but I couldn't. So I am relying completely on the Governor's research,” he said.
He said that in many areas the relationship between the territory and the United Kingdom has served the Virgin Islands very well, especially in the areas of financial services and tourism.
Meanwhile, information about the gift of a pound of Salt Island salt to the Queen being a tradition can be found on Wikipedia.
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13 Responses to “Salt collected from Salt Island for gift to Queen”
Salt island once a had booming population of ~100 people. Gales (hurricanes), along with migration to the main land (Tortola), contributed to the decreasing population; today there are no permanent residents on Salt Island. With the advancement, improvement and availability of transportation, telecommunications........etc, there is no reason why Salt Island should not be re-populated. Salt Island is gem. Its value as getaway for quiet and enjoyment is priceless and should be preserve for descendants of Salt Island should be protected.
Moreover, it is obvious to those that journeyed to Salt Island to the recreation of the Salt Breaking event that Salt Island lack even basic infrastructure. Government should encourage repopulating Salt Island by investing in basic infrastructure, i.e., electricity, water, community center, sewage, roads, wharf, moorings ........etc. Additionally, it can subsidized transportation to the island ( add a stop to VG ferries). My Salt Island family you got to agitate for repopulating Salt Island. Kenneth and other cousin family looking good in the pics. Keep agitating!
Too much politics have been the downfall of not getting to develop Salt Island. There are families who were in constant dialogue with Hon. Pickering on getting the deed for what they applied for, some got,and some didn't.
As though they will have to do like the Indians of American form a society, and go from there.
The Premier is lost on the history and culture of Salt Island and he grew up on Down Street; that says a lot. Was he living under a rock for the past 70+ years. Well, no help there. People of Salt Island all you screwed. Sad. The only hope may be Governor Duncan. Governor Duncan seems more aware of the history and culture of Salt Island than local leaders. No suprise for Salt Island people are the dregs of the earth. They should feel ashamed and emsbarassed. Wat ah ting. The Governor (know you read the blogs) should stop the marina ( if true) and commissioned a review of Salt Island and the Salt Islanders. He is the only hope to make Salt Islanders hold. Governor has the opportunity to shake the view that he is on a tropical vacation and cannot be bothered.
Concur with E. Leonard blog and call for Salt Islanders to agitate for repopulation. Too much time has past with no action. Too much assumption. The hour is now to strike, for mañana may be too late. Get organize today. It may require winging off to Britain to get results. Cousin family time for action.
"Speaking at the ceremony, Premier Smith said that the act of gifting a pound of salt to the Queen was something that he knew nothing about until Governor Duncan spoke about it on his arrival in the territory in 2014."