Letter to St. Eustatius Government and Island Council

To:

St. Eustatius Government Commissioner Ms. Lady A. Francis

St. Eustatius Deputy Government Commissioner Ms. C. Toet

Members of the St. Eustatius Island Council

 

Tilburg, June 20, 2021

 

Dear Commissioners and members of the Island Council,

Via concerned residents of St. Eustatius and through the media, we learned of the recent excavations at a cemetery of our ancestors (former Golden Rock plantation) by a team of international researchers. We were shocked by this fact and to see the human remains of our ancestors widely featured in national and international newspapers, television channels and social media.

We understand that the St. Eustatius government has ordered the investigation and we have been informed through the media that there is a necessity for the excavations and that the human remains will be moved. We have tried to get more information from the archaeologists, but they refer us to you the island government representatives.

In the meantime, we have received many alarmed, angry and dismayed reactions from people on St. Eustatius and beyond who do not approve of the exhumation of the remains of our ancestors, who do not find the reasons for this credible and who believe that they have been poorly informed and are insufficiently involved by the government, which therefore as such has hampered and prevented the involvement of a broad community and social engagement.

Cemeteries are sacred places and our ancestors deserve to be treated with respect. Our ancestors were once given these resting places and they cannot be dug up and treated with disrespect without great national importance, interest and necessary legal reasons and certainly not without structural involvement of their descendants. We want reinternment of these ancestral remains.

Ubuntu Connected Front, Brighter Path Foundation, SEAD and EcoRAY are organizing the protest movement. On June 8, we organized the mini-symposium “A Sacred Space For Our Ancestors” with experts from Curaçao, Aruba, St. Eustatius and the Netherlands. We have also made contact with, among others, African historians in Barbados (Newton Slave Burial Ground) and the United States (African Burial Ground) and also CARICOM. Naturally, many residents of St. Eustatius are also involved in this protest.

On behalf of all these individuals, African descendants and organizations, we ask the government, Commissioners and Island Council members the following:

1. Immediate cessation of our ancestors' excavation on this sacred ground;
2. The submission of a written plan about the proposed excavation and commemoration of these ancestors that includes input from the community and scholars from the African diaspora;
3. Adoption of a scientific research protocol which includes a definitive timeline for completion;
4. Adoption of a commemorative proposal that is distinctive and rooted in African and African diasporic history and culture.  This commemorative proposal should include plans for the:
1. respectful treatment of these ancestral remains;
2. plan for their reburial at the original site of rediscovery;
3. plan for the appropriate African centered ceremonies as selected by the descendant community;
4. placement of a permanent memorial on the site of sacred ground (at the airport).
   

With regard to the assignment given to the team of archaeologists, we have the following questions:

1. What exactly is the assignment given to the archaeologists by the government of St. Eustatius and where can we see it?
2.  What are the exact research objectives and questions of the research team?
3. What has been recorded about handling the human remains currently being excavated (will they stay on the island?)
4. Several protocols exist for handling human remains during archaeological research. Under which protocols, regulations or laws are the current excavations taking place?
5. Is there independent supervision of the execution of the excavations?
6. What happened to the human remains of our ancestors exposed by erosion at the Godet site? SECAR does not provide information on this despite repeated inquiries.
7. Is the Cultural Heritage Agency involved in the project, given the enormous historical significance of the cemetery for the whole world?
8. The Transatlantic Slave Trade has been recognized by the United Nations as a Crime Against Humanity. Do you agree that an eighteenth century cemetery of free and enslaved Africans therefore demands special attention and treatment?
   

We would like to receive a response to these questions, thank you very much in advance.

Sincerely,

Kenneth Cuvalay, Chair Ubuntu Connected Front Tilburg

Xiomara Balentina, President Brighter Path Foundation St. Eustatius

George Berkel, Vice President of grassroot movement SEAD (St. Eustatius Awareness and Development Movement)

Teresa Leslie, Director Public Health Research EcoRAY

Cc

• House of Representatives Committee on the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK)
• House of Representatives Committee Education, Culture and Science (OCW)
• The Cultural Heritage Agency of OCW