PERSBERICHT: Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance vraagt aandacht dekolonisatie bij werkbezoek staatssecretaris St. Eustatius

 

 

[In English]

De St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance, ontstaan uit de protesten tegen de omstreden opgravingen op St. Eustatius, vraagt rondom het kennismakingsbezoek van staatssecretaris Van Huffelen op het eiland aandacht voor dekolonisatie.

De Alliance is met opzet niet door de overheid van St. Eustatius betrokken bij de activiteiten van de commissie die de misstanden tijdens de archeologische opgravingen onderzocht. Met smoesjes zijn wij op afstand gehouden. Ook het ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties (BZK) heeft de alliantie maandenlang aan het lijntje gehouden zonder in gesprek te willen gaan. Kenneth Cuvalay, coördinator van de Alliance: “Wij analyseren de problemen die spelen rondom de opgravingen vanuit de koloniale structuren en verhoudingen die tot de dag van vandaag een rol spelen. Zowel de lokale overheid als BZK wil daar niet aan. Maar als je deze discussie uit de weg gaat, worden de problemen alleen maar groter. Bij de toeslagenaffaire is ook structureel weggekeken en wordt er nog steeds heel versluierd gesproken over het feit dat racisme de onderliggende drijfveer was bij de belastingdienst. Het is zoals wij in het Engels zeggen “the elephant in the room” en we willen daar verandering in brengen.”

Excuses voor koloniaal verleden

In Nederland is er steeds meer aandacht voor het koloniale verleden van Nederland. Bedrijven, gemeenten en kerken onderzoeken hun rol bij het slavernijverleden met vaak schokkende uitkomsten. De Nederlandsche Bank start een traject van reflectie en dialoog naar aanleiding van haar rol in de Nederlandse koloniale slavernij. Premier Rutte bood onlangs zijn diepe excuses aan voor de rol van de Nederlandse regering tijdens de onafhankelijkheidsoorlog in Indonesië. Dit zijn goede ontwikkelingen. Aan St. Eustatius gaan ze echter in het geheel voorbij. In Caribisch Nederland is de ongelijkwaardigheid in beton gegoten door de zogenoemde BES-wetten die op zoveel fronten nadelig uitpakken voor de inwoners op de eilanden.

De kolonie St. Eustatius

De Nederlandse overheid houdt al sinds februari 2018 de democratie in St. Eustatius in gijzeling, het vijfde jaar na het bestuurlijk ingrijpen is ingezet. Dat is meer dan een volledige kabinetsperiode voor een eiland met net iets meer dan 3000 inwoners. Dat is natuurlijk bizar. Intussen neemt de lokale overheid ‘geadviseerd’ door BZK het ene besluit na het andere en wordt de eilandsraad (vergelijkbaar met een gemeenteraad) keer op keer geschoffeerd. Zij wordt niet, laat of slecht geïnformeerd, kan geen bestuurders benoemen en heeft geen formele zeggenschap. Er worden steeds meer Nederlanders ingevlogen en benoemd op hoge posities, de regelgeving legt steeds zwaarder de nadruk op beheer en controle en ook worden steeds meer lokale overheidstaken overgeheveld naar de ministeries in Nederland. Wie de voortgangsreportages van Van Huffelens voorganger Knops leest, kan er alleen maar een goed gevoel bij krijgen. Maar ze spiegelen een onevenwichtig positief beeld voor terwijl de democratie steeds verder wordt uitgehold en de mensenrechten op de tocht staan. En welk Kamerlid heeft voldoende kennis van de situatie ter plekke om te weten wat er daadwerkelijk gebeurt, is in contact met de burgers op St. Eustatius? Veel inwoners in St. Eustatius hangen wat zij zien gebeuren niet aan de grote klok, op een klein eiland ben je kwetsbaar.

Dekolonisatie op de agenda

De St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance is eind 2021 opgericht. Zij heeft inmiddels bondgenoten in Barbados, Jamaica, St. Helena, de VS en Nederland. Er is een Family Heritage project gestart op St. Eustatius en we hebben het wetenschappelijke artikel “A Future That Does Not Forget: Collaborative Archaeology in the Colonial Context of Sint Eustatius (Dutch Caribbean)" uitgebracht. Er zijn ook connecties gevormd met andere bedreigde begraafplaatsen van tot slaaf gemaakte Afrikanen in de Amerika’s, zoals in Brooklyn New York en St. Helena. We blijven in 2022 onze alliantie uitbreiden en aandacht vragen voor de koloniale situatie op St. Eustatius. We hopen dat de nieuwe staatssecretaris het tij weet te keren. 

Een Engelstalige variant van dit persbericht is te vinden op:
https://afrikanhistoryandconsciousness.blogspot.com/2022/02/pushing-decolonization-agenda-forward.html
 

PRESS RELEASE: The ‘St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance’ pushes decolonization agenda forward

 

 

[In Dutch]

Since the start of the protests against the controversial excavations, Ubuntu Connected Front (UCF) Caribbean has been excluded from participation by the government representatives of St. Eustatius and the ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK). None of our numerous requests have been honored no matter what the report of the Statia Heritage and Research Commission (SHRC) may claim. The reason for this is that both local and Dutch national government refuse to see the core of the problem with the excavations in the light of colonial relations and the structures behind them. It is a refusal to address systemic racism and inequality and the effects on everyday life of people in the Afrikan diaspora to the present day. But even though St. Eustatius is an island, this attitude can no longer stand, as several decolonization themes are now very topical. 

Racism: addressing the elephant in the room

In connection with the maiden visit of the new state secretary Ms. Alexandra van Huffelen, of Kingdom Relations, and her quest to familiarize herself with the colonial part of the Dutch Kingdom, we deem it important to reiterate the importance of the respectful treatment of persons of Afrikan descent from the past, present or future. 

We can remain quiet and not address “the elephant in the room” pointing to the fact that although her previous Dutch (Kingdom) Government, who almost on the eleventh hour before going into an election, resigned because of the blatant racist attacks by the tax department on persons of Afrikan descent, emerged even more victorious. This indicates to us that dealing with racism should be even more important than global warming. Because of a racist posture, persons of Afrikan descent might most likely be taken advantage of in the areas of, to name a few: Climate and the environment; Housing; Health; Education; Work and taxes; Law and order; Immigration and asylum; Mobility; and Arts and culture (list taken from December 15, 2021, DutchNews.nl “The new government’s plan: what you need to know”).

It might be comforting for the present Dutch government to have as one of the areas of the coalition accord to allocate annually part of 170 million euros for arts and culture, to contribute of the establishment of a national history and slavery museum. It is the hope of our Alliance that artifacts and remains that were gained through what they might call legal plundering, should not be in such an institution but must be returned to the rightful places from which they were stolen from, and treated with dignity and respect.  

Ghosts of the past still present

In a recent article of February 10, 2022, The Daily Herald “Reports highlights Dutch central bank’s links to slavers and the slave trade” where more facts of the Dutch continued accumulation of wealth because of the trade. What is mind boggling is, that even though slavery was abolished by the Netherlands in 1863, almost 160 years ago, business still continued as if nothing had changed.

A company like the “Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie” also known as “The Dutch West India Company” still owns properties in the Caribbean, including St. Eustatius. An interesting question is: who still dare to manage assets of this company’s, knowing that the Trans-Atlantic slave trade has been, and still is, a crime against humanity. Similar companies also were established by Denmark, French, and Sweden, all with the charter to monopolize the trading of enslaved persons.

Pushing the decolonization agenda forward

Since the release a few weeks ago of the final report by the Statia Heritage Research Commission, the commission that was put in place to investigate the mishandling of the St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research (SECAR) with respect to Golden Rock excavations, recently not much been heard of, other than appointing a person to an official position within government of St. Eustatius as a Heritage Inspector and embracing the recommendations.

At the end of 2021, UCF Caribbean formed the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance. We now have allies in Jamaica, St. Helena, the US and the Netherlands. We will continue to expand this network of Afrikan centered activists, scientists, and organizations and together we will push the decolonization agenda forward.

 

A Dutch version of this press release is available via https://afrikanhistoryandconsciousness.blogspot.com/2022/02/aandacht-voor-dekolonisatie-werkbezoek-vanhuffelen.html

PRESS RELEASE: Protest group responds to outcome research on controversial excavations St. Eustatius

 

Six months after its installation, the Statia Heritage and Research Commission finally presented its findings to the public on January 27, 2022, during a town hall meeting. The commission was tasked with investigating the controversial excavations on an 18th century burial ground of enslaved Africans that were carried out by the local archaeological center SECAR. Protests of Ubuntu Connected Front (UCF) Caribbean and others led to the establishment of this commission but, despite multiple requests to the government, UCF Caribbean was not involved in any way during these six months. We decided to do our own research and forge international alliances with endangered burial grounds around the world. This resulted in the creation of the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance, which other organizations and individuals joined. One of these individuals is marjolijn kok from Rotterdam. She is an artist and independent archaeologist, who helped us understand the practices and regulations in archaeology. In this press release the Alliance provides an initial response to the report. We will also make our findings known to the parliamentary Kingdom Committee and the National Agency for Cultural Heritage in The Hague.

Way forward with proposed standards and guidelines

The report of the Commission was released on the same day as the town hall meeting, leaving the public with no time to read the report thoroughly. Already at the start of the protests in June 2021, it seemed very problematic for the present Executive Council to inform the public in a rightful manner. We find the chapters in the report on international standards and guidelines for archaeological research a way forward with archaeology and heritage on St. Eustatius. The problems indicated in the report about the present situation where the government turns a blind eye towards the execution of projects by SECAR and the incompetence of SECAR itself, leaves one to wonder what will happen now. The proposal to create a Heritage Agency will not happen in a day, so we are now in a period of uncertainty with all indications that it will be business as usual.

Marjolijn kok: “If the recommendations of the report on the guidelines for archaeological research are followed, it will be the first policy where the Malta convention and the Faro convention are combined at a basic level. This would be a great step forward in heritage management.

Limitations and concerns

A major problem with this part of the report is that private landowners are seen as owners of the archaeology on their property. This may be the case in the USA but is not part of Dutch legislation on heritage. Especially as more and more foreigners and non-residents of St. Eustatius buy property this would mean that the common heritage is taken away from the St. Eustatius Afrikan community and they are left with just paper reports.

Furthermore, the new to form heritage agency and project for a monument should be careful not to work with the usual suspects as they have shown inappropriate behavior when it concerns Afrikan descendant communities. We are thinking here of Mr. Jay Haviser, the chairman of the committee, who, against all proper conduct in community heritage projects, inserts his own idea about what the monument should look like before anyone else of the community has been consulted. This shows he wants to put a personal stamp on a project that hasn’t started yet for his own personal gain. Another person is Mr. Ruud Stelten, who deliberately withheld information about Afrikan enslaved burials as he knew the St. Eustatius Afrikan descendant community would want to have their say in the excavations of their ancestors. SECAR as the supervisor of these projects also has shown not to care about the people of St. Eustatius and their heritage and has conducted these projects for their own interest.”

Old days and old habits

We are critical as well of the first two chapters of the report which appear to be written by a different hand. The background information contains inaccuracies and is lacking critical events, which raise questions as to whether people or groups are being kept out of the loop. We heard the chairman of the board say that the old days (of science for science only) are long passed, but that’s exactly what took place at the Godet excavations in 2019, and the Golden Rock excavations in 2021. Some parts in the report read like an open application which is inappropriate, just like it highly inappropriate to make a detailed proposal as to what the memorial should look like (see page 38 of the report). We mentioned that earlier.  

What happens now?

“As St. Eustatius is still under colonial rule where the Dutch government makes all the major decisions either directly or through the two government representatives, it is our hope that the new Heritage Agency is not an all-white and colonial thinking affair”, says Kenneth Cuvalay, chairman of the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance. “We need Afrikan-centered leadership with people who understand our culture and community, respect our beliefs and traditions and who we can trust to do the right thing and involve us. There may not be many Dutch archaeologists of Afrikan descent but there are plenty in the Caribbean to choose from. Let the problems surrounding the excavations of Afrikan enslaved burials be a lesson for the future and together not make the same mistakes. To empower us, as the Afrikan descendant community, we have to have a genuine say and lead in the matters and be part of the decision-making process.”

The St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance will closely monitor future developments and inform stakeholders about our findings. The report is now in the hands of the St. Eustatius Executive Council which, according to the report, cannot handle specialist archaeological matters, and it is unclear whether the Statia Heritage and Research Commission is still functioning. Marjolijn wrote a very insightful academic article on the controversial excavations that is available for the public: "A Future That Does Not Forget: Collaborative Archaeology in the Colonial Context of Sint Eustatius (Dutch Caribbean)"

We will continue the debate on decolonization in archaeology and academia in general. We do not allow colonial thinking people to determine for us how we deal with our heritage and the honoring of our ancestors.

Kenneth Cuvalay, chairman of the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance 

marjolijn kok, member of the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance, independent archaeologist


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Information for the Editor

Website: https://afrikanhistoryandconsciousness.blogspot.com/

Contact:
Kenneth Cuvalay, chairman UCF Caribbean / St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance

The St. Eustatius African Burial Ground Alliance protests the excavations of African free and enslaved Africans at an 18th-century African burial ground in St. Eustatius (see https://www.change.org/LeaveOurAncestorsInPeace).

About Ubuntu Connected Front (UCF)
Ubuntu Connected Front is a political party in the Netherlands founded in 2017. It participated in the 2021 Parliamentary election and although it did not receive enough votes to win a seat in the House of Representatives, it was the most popular party in St. Eustatius, receiving 50,8% of the votes. Motto: “Equality is a human right, not a privilege”. UCF focuses on equal rights for people of African descent.

Ubuntu means "humanity" in African Bantu languages. It is often translated as "I am because we are", or "humanity towards others". It is Ubuntu Connected Front’s core belief that all people have rights, which promotes equality of treatment and eliminates marginalization and deprivation.

Black Agenda. 

The 'Black Agenda' of Ubuntu Connected Front (UCF) can be found in the "Manifest for NL Transformation" at the UCF website (Chapter 5).

The Black Agenda consists of three pillars:
1.    Recognition concerns the impact of our slavery past as a crime against humanity.
2.    Justice is about historical restoration of rights.
3.    Development aims to achieve equal development opportunities for everyone.

See also: https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/abga-considers-report-way-forward-for-archaeology-and-heritage-in-statia