The island of Aruba is taken as an example for the historical dimension of an evolving culture and cultural dialogue. Four significant groups can be identified in Aruba: the Aruban “Indians,” the Spanish, the Dutch, and the Americans, the last three as a dominating culture. The discussion starts with prehistory, going to the colonial age with the Spanish and Dutch influence, then coming to modern times. A great influence in the social and cultural history was the opening of an oil refinery in 1927 and its closing in 1984. An important metaphor, cultural hysteresis, is used to describe cultural and societal development in Aruba.