The pre-Columbian indigenous peoples of the Bay Islands are believed to
have been related to Paya, Maya, Lenca or Jicaque, which were the cultures
present on the mainland. Christopher Columbus on his fourth voyage (1502–1504)
came to the islands as he visited the neighboring Bay Island of Guanaja. Soon
after the Spanish began raiding the islands for slave labor. More devastating
for Native American communities was
