Cozumel's History

Cozumel's History

Cozumel's name is believed to have come from the Mayan "Ah-Cuzamil-Peten" ("land of the swallows"). For the Mayans, who lived here intermittently between about AD 600 and 1200, the island was not only a center for trade and navigation, but also a sacred place. Pilgrims from all over Mesoamerica came to honor Ixchel, the goddess of fertility, childbirth, the moon, and rainbows. Viewed as the mother of all other gods, Ixchel was often depicted with swallows at her feet. Mayan women, who were expected to visit Ixchel's site at least once during their lives, made the dangerous journey from the mainland by canoe. Cozumel's main exports were salt and honey; at the time, both were considered more valuable than gold.

In 1518 Spanish explorer Juan de Grijalva arrived on Cozumel, looking for slaves. His tales of treasure inspired Hernán Cortés, Mexico's most famous Spanish explorer, to visit the island the following year. There he met Geronimo de Aguilar and Gonzales Guerrero, Spanish men who had been shipwrecked on Cozumel years earlier. Initially enslaved by the Mayans, the two were later accepted into their community. Aguilar joined forces with Cortés, helping set up a military base on the island and using his knowledge of the Mayans to defeat them. Guerrero died defending his adopted people; the Mayans still consider him a hero. By 1570 most Mayan islanders had been massacred by Spaniards or killed by disease. By 1600 the island was abandoned.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, pirates found Cozumel to be the perfect hideout. Two notorious buccaneers, Jean Laffite and Henry Morgan, favored the island's safe harbors and hid their treasures in the Mayan's catacombs and tunnels. By 1843 Cozumel had again been abandoned. Five years later, 20 families fleeing Mexico's brutal War of the Castes resettled the island; their descendants still live on Cozumel.

By the early 20th century the island began capitalizing on its abundant supply of zapote (sapodilla) trees, which produce chicle, prized by the chewing-gum industry (think Chiclets). Shipping routes began to include Cozumel, whose deep harbors made it a perfect stop for large vessels. Jungle forays in search of chicle led to the discovery of ruins; soon archaeologists began visiting the island as well. Meanwhile, Cozumel's importance as a seaport diminished as air travel grew, and demand for chicle dropped off with the invention of synthetic chewing gum.

For decades Cozumel was another backwater where locals fished, hunted alligators and iguanas, and worked on coconut plantations to produce copra, the dried kernels from which coconut oil is extracted. Cozumeleños subsisted largely on seafood, still a staple of local economy. During World War II the U.S. Army built an airstrip and maintained a submarine base here, accidentally destroying some Mayan ruins. Then, in the 1960s, the underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau helped make Cozumel a vacation spot by featuring its incredible reefs on his television show. Today Cozumel is among the world's most popular diving locations.