Talk:Navassa Island/Archive 1

Caribbean Wikipedians' notice board
I would like to announce the establishment of the Caribbean Wikipedians' notice board. Anyone with an interest in the Caribbean is welcome to join in. Guettarda 1 July 2005 13:37 (UTC)

Incorrect Supreme Court Info
In regard to this statement in the article: "The U.S. Supreme Court can properly rule only on the constitutionality of a proposed law. The Guano Act went beyond the boundaries of the U.S. and was therefore beyond the Court's jurisdiction. "

It is incorrect, pov and weirdly placed. First of all, the Supreme Court cannot rule on proposed legislation. It can only rule after the law has been enacted and then only when someone has suffered actual harm from the law. For example, the Wikipedia Article on the Supreme Court puts it: "The Supreme Court may only hear actual cases and controversies. It does not hear moot cases or issue advisory opinions."

Secondly, even if you agree with the second sentence, which I tend to, it is out of place in an encyclopedic article.

I'm going to delete these sentences.

206.253.219.50 19:52, 22 March 2006 (UTC)Allen

Confusion re light
The article says, "On August 29, 1996, the U.S. Coast Guard dismantled the light on Navassa." However, the caption of the picture of the lighthouse claims the photo was taken in 1999. Which was it? Montréalais 15:11, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Yeah I saw that too. The article gives a specific date, while the dates on photos can sometimes get mucked up, so I removed the date from the photo caption. Herostratus 07:45, 20 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm the Wikipedian who found the photo. The light was switched off by the Coast Guard in 1996. It appears the photo was taken by FWS staffers in 1999 or thereabouts. - Thanks, Hoshie 03:34, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

Locator map
This article needs a locator showing the position of the territory in the world. -- Beland 01:06, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

Haitian claim
Can anyone provide more information about the Haitian claim? --Daniel C. Boyer 17:34, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * From what I have read, the Haitian claim starts when Columbus discovered Hispanola in the 1500's. He included Navassa Island/La Navase as part of the claim for Spain. Later in the 1600's, Hispanola was split between the French and the Spanish. According to the Haitians, Navassa Island became a part of Haiti in 1804 and has been Haitian since then. The US claims that the Island was up for grabs until 1859, when Peter Duncan and friends made a claim under the Guano Islands Act. It remains unresolved.
 * There is a private claim on the island. California businessman Bill Warren expressed an interest in the island in 1996 intending to find treasure, but later found out about the Guano. He made a claim on the Island under the Guano Islands Act. Warren has brought Navassa/La Navase from the heirs of the people who owned the island in the 1850's. He has even sued to have his claim enforced. He has been unsuccessful in his suits so far. In 1998, an environmental survey was done on the island and this could upset any claim that Warren has. I am unsure if this impacts the Haitian claim. - iHoshie 18:00, 12 Sep 2004 (UTC)


 * The island is also claimed by Haiti via the Haitian Constitution (1987 revised version). See article 8. Some reports I've heard stated that there's actually "one" maybe more Haitian families living on Navassa("La Navase") island.  -- Constitution of Haiti - OAS link

Map
Wouldn't it be nice if someone provided a larger scale map, so that one could get a better idea where exactly the island is?

I have a nice map of the caribbean which shows Navassa Island, I'm trying to figure out how to upload it, guess I'm a nube Mad05963 19:40, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Here is the link for the map of the caribbean http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/navassa_island.html also includes a nautical map. According to the description at the bottom of the page MATERIL USAGE STATEMENT, i believe this falls under Public Domain. Someone check it out and let me know if you agree.Mad05963 21:06, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

I just added the map, it is public domain.Mad05963 23:15, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

What is the currency?
What is the currency on Navassa Island?
 * The island's uninhabited.
 * Naturally because the island is politically a possession of the United States, the United States Dollar would be used. Currently however the island is uninhabited and nothing is used for this reason. --Indolences 22:00, 16 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I added the line, "The island's uninhabited," to answer the question. Sorry for not signing! Northridge 07:26, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the answer! kai400 13:05, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Pronunciation?
Can't find this in dictionaries. We have pronunciations for all other US possessions. Anyone know this one? kwami (talk) 22:27, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

More on Pronunciation
Just ask Haiti inhabitants about pronuntiation. Indeed, it is an isle that you stole from them. And what comes now?, your invasion?. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.219.167.111 (talk) 15:07, 21 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I think they have bigger problems to worry about198.6.46.11 (talk) 19:49, 15 November 2010 (UTC)

Biodiversity preserve claims
The 1998 Center for Marine Conservation expedition doesn't have published reports that I can find. Other articles cite the CMC expeditions (there were more in 1999 and 2000, apparently) mostly as personal communications; see eg Grace, Banick, and Jones, A Preliminary Study of the Marine Biota at Navassa Island, Caribbean Sea, Marine Fisheries Review 62(2), 2000; which also states:
 * The concept of Navassa Island as a pristine and entirely unexploited marine habitat must be viewed with caution. Miller[3] mentions Haitian fishermen inhabiting the island, and during the 1998 NMFS project fishing activities from a small sailboat [...] were observed. [....]

This should probably be reflected in the article text. --209.221.140.12 (talk) 00:32, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

Flag of Navassa Island
I suggest to merge Flag of Navassa Island with the main article for the following reasons: no independent notability, no possibility for expansion. Any comments or objections? — Rankiri (talk) 15:19, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

There is no flag of Navassa.


 * The infobox shows an unofficial flag of Navassa. How much is this used, since no one lives there? If it's something someone just made up but isn't used in the real world, we should remove it. Jonathunder (talk) 14:53, 26 October 2018 (UTC)


 * Indeed, it seems to be entirely made up. Savvyjack23 (talk) 19:42, 12 September 2020 (UTC)
 * It's been used at least once in an official capacity by the National Park Service. Being entirely made up by an employee of the National Park Service for use in commemorating the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor is a bit different from being made up by somebody with no connection to the island - it's administered by the federal government. See NAVA News 208 Jbt89 (talk) 05:41, 29 December 2021 (UTC)

Uninhabited?
So what are these tents doing in the ruins of the lightkeepers house? Squatters? 109.178.150.118 (talk) 22:36, 16 August 2011 (UTC)
 * shrug* They could be people from the main island of Haiti. CaribDigita (talk) 02:33, 18 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Clearly someone had to visit at least long enough to take the photo. Could be Fish and Wildlife Service employees, could be amateur radio guys, could be Haitian fisherman. In any case, they don't live there permanently. Jbt89 (talk) 05:37, 29 December 2021 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on Navassa Island. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20121025151226/http://www2.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/misctopic/navassa/poop.htm to http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/misctopic/navassa/poop.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100104043436/http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/misctopic/navassa/glowing.htm to http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/misctopic/navassa/glowing.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20050930201020/http://elips.doi.gov/ELIPS/sec_orders/html_orders/3205.htm to http://elips.doi.gov/elips/sec_orders/html_orders/3205.htm

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Circuit Court?
Why would original jurisdiction for the island not be vested in the nearest U.S. District Court? There is no such entity as a U.S. Circuit Court. The court to which the writer was apparently referring would have been the U.S. Court of Appeals for either the 1st Circuit (Puerto Rico) or the 11th Circuit (Florida).Probably the former. In either case, these are, as the name suggests, appellate courts.Toyokuni3 (talk) 18:03, 26 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Why would a U.S. District Court have jurisdiction at all? The island is disputed territory, after all. --Rob Kelk 00:56, 29 October 2019 (UTC)
 * And NOBODY lives there! CaribDigita (talk) 10:51, 29 October 2019 (UTC)
 * What does inhabitation have to do with anything? Let’s say I have a home in Florida that I never use, does that give the right for a swatter to dwell there while I am gone? That’s basically what’s going on here. Besides, the island is frequently visited by Haitian fisherman so...? If the Haitian government took this to the rightful jurisdiction (International Court of Justice), they’d win in a landslide. Claims made by Columbus for Spain; international treaties between France and Spain in 1697, 1795; historians supporting textual evidence; the Constitutional claims over named and unnamed adjacent islands (which are actually plenty) dating from the 19th - 20th century. There is also no other country that has a closer proximity, which make these adjacent claims to be enforceable. Savvyjack23 (talk) 19:55, 12 September 2020 (UTC)
 * I do not think the Haiti claim is as strong as you make out. Habitation relates to 'effective occupation', which is a very strong reason for a sovereignty claim. The US has had effective occupation for decades: Haiti has not. Geographical proximity to a country has no bearing at all to a sovereignty claim. Roger 8 Roger (talk) 22:38, 12 September 2020 (UTC)


 * Nobody is on the island. It is abandoned save for migrant Haitians who are said to stop there. Officially the USA has two groups of islands United States Minor Outlying Islands which the U.S.'s claim is officially under for Navassa.  And the other block of islands which includes like the US Virgin islands and Puerto Rico etc. (The Insular area.) CaribDigita (talk) 22:50, 12 September 2020 (UTC)

External links modified (February 2018)
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 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-680247
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100517155212/http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/234/234.F3d.1331.00-5130.html to http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/234/234.F3d.1331.00-5130.html

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