ROYAL OAK Martin “Tom” Thomas Sustarich, 80, of Royal Oak, passed away on July 11, 2023. Tom was born on August 21, 1942 to Martin and Yvonne Sustarich
The original title of this article (published in
Aruba Today) is “Indians,” but the main topics are Aruba’s Arawak and Carib past and the origins of the island’s name.
There are different theories about the origin of the name Aruba. Most probably the name is of Indian origin, two words joined together like ora (shell) and oubao (island), so that would mean Shell Island. Another explanation would be the combination of uru (canoe) and oubao (island), which could be explained by the fact that the Indians used canoes on the sea and that’s how they have populated Aruba.