marjolijn kok is an artist and independent researcher with a PhD in archaeology. Her projects concern protest movements and postcolonial issues, including the 90 habitation camps of Moluccan people in the Netherlands after the independence of Indonesia (see the Dutch website www.molukserfgoed.com)
We searched online for marjolijn contact details after she left a comment at the online petition:
"We still lack the debate about colonial practices in Dutch archaeology. So stop when asked by descendants."
The sentence stuck with us. We got acquainted and we clicked immediately. In the meantime marjolijn has been part of the 'St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance' for almost six months and we learned a great deal from her about archaeology and community collaboration. Although marjolijn was not familiar with archaeology in the Caribbean, she wrote a very insightful article about the controversial Golden Rock excavations in St. Eustatius.
From the introduction:
"This article is written on request of the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance, powered by Ubuntu Connected Front Caribbean (UCF), not as a paid commission but as an act of solidarity. I met the alliance through signing their petition to stop the excavation of the ancestral remains of enslaved Africans near the airport of Sint Eustatius and protest the lack of community involvement. As a white archaeologist I am not writing this article to tell the narrative of the enslaved Africans as I feel the descendant community3 has to be in control of that narrative. This article concerns the archaeological circumstances in which the protest takes place and tries to shed light on the way forward of dealing with ancestral remains. The ideas I put forward are not new in an international context; the same type of struggles over African burial grounds occur in other places such as St. Helena and Flatbush (NY) at the moment but they are not much discussed in Dutch archaeology. Suggestions are put forward for collaborative archaeology and guidelines for dealing with sensitive archaeology."
marjolijn kok, 2022. A Future That Does Not Forget: Collaborative Archaeology in the Colonial Context of Sint Eustatius (Dutch Caribbean). Rotterdam, Bureau Archeologie en Toekomst, BAT-report 1.
1 Monumento a la abolición de la esclavitud / Monument to the abolition of slavery (Ponce, Puerto Rico) 1956
Located at Parque de la Abolición in Barrio Cuarto in Ponce, Puerto Rico, dedicated to the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico in 1873. The monument consists of an obelisk and a statue called El Hombre Redimido. Creator sculpture: Victor Cott
2 Statue of Kwakoe (Paramaribo, Suriname) 1963
Monument commemorating the abolition of slavery unveiled on June 30, 1963, as part of the centenary of emancipation. Kwakoe does not represent a historical figure, although it has been said that Kwakoe would have been the first black landowner of Suriname. Creator: Jozef Klas
3 Le Marron Inconnu de Saint-Domingue (Port-au-Prince, Haiti) 1967
The statue was created to commemorate the abolition of slavery in Haiti. Man kneeling on his right leg, his left leg outstretched behind him, a broken iron chain lays on the ground around his left foot. He arches his torso back as he holds a conch shell to his lips with his left hand, tilting his head upward. His right hand holds a machete at the ground. Creator: Albert Mangonès (1917 –2002)
4 1763 Monument (Georgetown, Guyana) May 1976
Unveiled three days before the 10th anniversary of Guyanese Independence, the work celebrates the Guyanese anti-colonial struggle, resistance against, and eventual emancipation from slavery. The work is dedicated to the memory of Cuffy, an Akan man sold into slavery who led a revolt against the Dutch owners of the Magdalenburg plantation on the Canje River in Berbice (now Guyana). Although the uprising was ultimately unsuccessful, Cuffy’s rebellion anticipated the eventual end of slavery in Guyana. Creator: Philip Moore (1921-2012)
5 Gaspar Yanga (Yanga, Veracruz, Mexico) August 1976
Monument created to celebrate Gaspar Yanga, a 17th century self-emancipated leader of a maroon colony of self-emancipated people near Veracruz, Mexico. He successfully resisted a Spanish attack on the maroon colony in 1609 and later negotiated with the Spanish colonial government to secure self-rule for the maroon settlement. Creator: Erasmo Vásquez Lendechy (b. 1918)
6 Emancipation Statue (Bridgetown, Barbados) 1985
Monumental bronze statue of a man who raises his arms in a triumphant gesture, which accentuates the broken chains around his wrists. The identity of the figure is thought to be the leader of the April 1816 slave revolt, General Bussa. Although ultimately unsuccessful, it was the largest revolt in Barbadian history, General Bussa commanded nearly 400 freedom fighters. Creator Karl Broodhagen (1909–2002)
7 Monumento Al Esclavo Rebelde / Monument to the Rebel Slave (Matanzas, Cuba) 1991
Sculptural group that commemorates one of the most significant slave uprisings (November 5, 1843) that occurred in Cuba, Triunvirato. The monument was inaugurated in 1991 and declared a national monument. The Triunvirato rebellion was one in a series of slave uprisings throughout Cuba in 1843 known as La Escalera, meaning ladder in Spanish. Carlota and Fermina Lucumi were the female leaders of the revolt.
8 Desenkadena (Willemstad, Curaçao) 1998
The over life-size bronze sculptural group depicts three figures, two men and one woman who are breaking free from the chains that bind their wrists. The central figure is flanked by a man and woman, both of whom gaze at him as he breaks their chains. The “chain breaker” stands in front of an anvil raising a hammer over his head. In his other hand he holds iron chains in place with a chisel. The work commemorates the 1795 slave rebellion led by an enslaved person called Tula. Creator Nel Simon (1938- )
9 Mémorial de l’Anse Cafard (Le Diamant, Martinique) 1998
The memorial, which overlooks the sea, commemorates both the enslaved people who perished in a shipwreck off the coast of Martinique in 1830, and more generally, the tens of thousands of enslaved Africans who were taken to Martinique as part of the transatlantic slave trade. Arranged in a triangle the figures face the ocean, leaning forward, their eyes cast downwards and their mouths open, as if vocalizing a scream. Creator: Laurent Valère (1959- )
10 Middle Passage Monument (St. Croix, USVI) 1999
A twelve‐foot‐high aluminum arch commemorates the thousands of Africans who perished during the transatlantic slave trade. Composed of two halves, which bend towards one another but never touch, the work symbolizes “the need for the past, present, and future to converge in order for cultural identity and pride to be realized.” Creator: Mike Walsh (1948- )
11 Redemption Song (Kingston, Jamaica) 2003
The two bronze figures of a man and woman stand in a cast-iron dome fountain. They are shown from the knees up, face one another as they gaze skyward. Creator: Laura Facey (1954- )
12 The Three Rebel Queens of the Virgin Islands (Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI) 2005
Three women, the leaders of the Fireburn Revolt, face outward, forming a triangle. Dressed in floor-length dresses and aprons, each figure carries objects related to their resistance. One figure lifts a lantern in her right hand. The second figure holds a cane bill in her right hand and a torch in her left, while the third figure holds a torch in her right hand. Creator: Richard Hallier
13 One-Tété Lohkay (St. Maarten, in repair) 2006
One-Tété Lohkay was hunted down by her plantation owners, recaptured and brought back to the plantation. As punishment for her defiance and as a warning to other slaves, the slave masters ordered that one of her breasts be cut off. That is how she became known as One-Tété Lohkay.
14 Lady Liberty (Agrément roundabout Marigot, St. Martin) 2007
Lady Liberty, unveiled in 2007 to mark the 159th anniversary of the abolition of slavery on the French side of St. Martin. The statue stands tall and strong with the broken shackles of slavery in one hand, and a lantern in the other. This statue has frequently been compared to the Statue of Liberty in the New Jersey/New York harbor. Creator: Theodore Bonev
15 Vicissitudes (Caribbean Sea floor, off the coast of Grenada) 2007
An eerie circle of children holding hands and with manacled wrists. Although the original intent of the artist wasn’t a tribute to the captured Africans thrown overboard during the Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas, it does serve as a powerful reminder of the tragedy of slavery. Creator: Jason DeCaires Taylor
16 Valongo Wharf (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) 2011
As the last nation in the Americas to officially abolish slavery in 1888, historians estimate that of the approximately 10.7 million enslaved persons brought to the Americas, as many as 50 percent arrived in Brazil. Valongo was the debarkation point for an estimated 900,000 enslaved Africans. The site consists of a number of archaeological layers, the lowest of which are the remains of the Valongo Wharf’s floor pavings. The bodies of the slaves who died upon arrival in Brazil were burned and chopped-up bones were buried in mass graves. Designated a World Heritage Site in 2017
17 1823 Monument (Georgetown, Guyana) 2013
Unveiled on August 5, 2013, this eccentric structure with carved, out of bronze, the body of an enslaved man of African descent wielding a cutlass with a chain attached to its end. It sits on a concrete pedestal which consists of a miniature male and female sculpture on either side of the base. The African man was made to stand erect, with legs apart, symbolizing strength and perseverance. The chain he clings to symbolizes the oppression humans endured during slavery. The shrine recognizes the slaves who lost their lives in the 1823 Demerara Slave Uprising that served as one of the catalysts for the abolishment of slavery in Guyana. Creator: Ivor Thom
Standing resolutely forward, the bronze figure of a self-emancipated man ('neg maron' or black maroon), with broken shackles and chains around his wrists and neck, holds a conch shell to his lips. Located in the center of a traffic circle, the monument celebrates the self-emancipated (maroon) societies that engaged in a sustained struggle against slavery and French colonialism. The work was unveiled during Dominica’s 2013 Emancipation Celebrations. Creator: Franklyn Zamore
19 Mémorial ACTe (Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe) 2015 The museum, housed in a silver-latticework structure on the site of the former Darboussier sugar factory along the Pointe-à-Pitre waterfront, is dedicated to the history of the slave trade and slavery. The museum includes permanent exhibitions devoted to the history of slavery from Antiquity to the present alongside exhibitions of contemporary art by Guadeloupian artists such as Thierry Alet, Bruno Pédurand and Shuk One. Creator: Atelier Architecture B.M. C. (Berthelot/Micka-Celestine)
20 Freedom Fighter Monument (Philipsburg, St. Maarten)
Monument dedicated to those who fought for emancipation and freedom. Every year for Emancipation Day there is a commemorative wreath-laying ceremony at this monument. Creator:
The 570 timber poles memorialize the enslaved West Africans buried in unmarked graves at Newton Plantation. This memorial is designed by renowned architect David Adjaye and still to be realized.
About The St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Alliance is working towards the realization of a Memorial of Honor on St. Eustatius as well as a dignified reburial of our ancestors' remains that were brutally excavated at the Afrikan burial grounds Godet (2019) and Golden Rock (2021).
Credits Credits: photos and text from https://www.slaverymonuments.org, except Antigua, Barbados Burial Ground, Guyana, St. Maarten, and Suriname Compiled by the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance. https://www.steustatiusafricanburialground.org (powered by Ubuntu Connected Front (UCF) Caribbean)
