Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary Places Reflecting
America's Diverse Cultures Explore their Stories in the National
Park System Virgin Islands National Park Virgin Islands National
Park covers roughly 60% of St. John Island in the United States
Virgin Islands. Often thought of primarily as a place of natural
beauty, the park also preserves the history and tells the
stories of the rich cultural mix of peoples in the Caribbean--
Native Americans from South America, enslaved Africans, European
colonists, and, after 1917 when the Virgin Islands became part
of the United States, Americans. Today, visitors to St. John can
marvel at the beauty of the island, enjoy a variety of outdoor
recreational activities, and learn more about the Native
Americans and European colonization in the Caribbean. The first
people in the Virgin Islands arrived from South America by canoe
beginning about 710 BCE. They settled in a number of places,
including along the south shore of St. John. One group, the
Taino, formed vill