Protests against excavations at 18th century burial ground of free and enslaved Africans on St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[See the events timeline for an overview of protest activities and media coverage since June 2021]

 

On St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean, an 18th century burial ground of enslaved Afrikans is being excavated by an international research team.

The excavations are carried out in a disrespectful manner and there is no involvement and input from archaeologists from the African diaspora nor the descendant community. The reasons why the archaeological research is being conducted are highly questionable. There is a lack of transparency from both the local government and the research team.

The research team is led by the archeological organization SECAR (St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research) that conducted a similar excavation at Godet, a plantation on the west coast of the island. "They worked in secret, left the site in a deplorable condition and put the remains somewhere without telling the local community where they are or what they did with them”, says Kenneth Cuvalay in a press release. 

Despite suspension of archaeological excavations announced by the local government on July 14, objections are still being raised. We have issued a press release on July 19. We still have many questions and concerns. It is one step forward, but we are not quite there yet. Suspension does not mean discontinuance. Does this mean scientific suspension and discontinuation of our ancestral remains in laboratories outside of St. Eustatius? The local government now talks about the installment of a 'commission of experts'. Who will be on this commission? Friends of SECAR? More parachuted civil servants from the Dutch mainland?

St. Eustatius is a small island with 3,500 inhabitants. In the 18th century, it was the largest transit port of the transatlantic slave trade in the Western Hemisphere.

Protest organizers

• Kenneth Cuvalay, Chair Ubuntu Connected Front Caribbean and Tilburg
  
• Derrick Simmons, Coordinator Ubuntu Connected Front Caribbean
  
• Xiomara Balentina, President Brighter Path Foundation St. Eustatius
• George Berkel, Vice President grassroots movement SEAD (St. Eustatius Awareness and Development Movement)

Protest objectives

The objectives of the protests are outlined in the online petition

http://www.change.org/LeaveOurAncestorsInPeace

Summarized:

• the respectful treatment of the ancestral remains;
• engagement of the descendant community in the decision-making and research process;
• the reburial at the original site of rediscovery, and placement of a permanent memorial.

Broader goal

We need to work towards a more collaborative and participatory archaeology in the Netherlands, that has the ethics and sensibility to go into dialogue with us, as the Afrikan descendant community.

We need to start an urgent debate on decolonizing Dutch archaeological regulations and practices.

Moreover, we need to extend that debate to a global level for there are many more African Burial Grounds at risk in the Americas. 

See the events timeline for an overview of protest activities since June 2021