Overview of the (protest) activities since June 2021 against the excavations at the 18th century Afrikan burial ground Golden Rock, St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean.
See also our petition http://www.change.org/LeaveOurAncestorsInPeace and media coverage page.
2024
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March 26 - Alliance kicks off family heritage project with community gathering and screening of ‘A Story of Bones’ in St. Eustatius.
March 19 - Presentation of our Faro project in the webinar "Heritage Participation in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom" organized by the Dutch Caribbean Heritage Platform (DCHP) in cooperation with the Heritage Academy. See all webinars and review, go to webinar #11
February 2024 - Open Call Help us index the manumissions collection St. Eustatius of the years 1836 to 1846 and 1861 to 1862. Manumissions are the acts of freeing persons from slavery.
2023 Activities in short:
- December 18 - Press release: Alliance reveals names of Afrikan ancestors Golden Rock plantation St. Eustatius Also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/l-AS_shGe_8
- November 17 - Lecture Reuvensdagen. Theme "The Colonial and Slavery Past of the Netherlands in Ghana and the Caribbean". See recording on YouTube
- November 30- Faro project approval
- October 12 - Presentation of our Faro initiative in Utrecht by marjolijn kok & Durwin Lynch.
- October - Soft start of our Mondriaan project "Remember Statia: Tracing Our Origins"
- October 10 - Newspaper article on the aftermath of the controversial excavations (NRC, in Dutch. Please contact us if you want to read the full content)
- October 2 - Attending Catshuis Session Slavery Past on St. Maarten in relation to the 150/160 Slavery Past Memorial year and the Dutch apologies aftermath
- September 21- Our project proposal "All Histories Matter" for the Mondriaan Fund "Open Call Slavery Past" was rejected. The goal of the project was to take a first step in capturing and disseminating the full history of the abolition of slavery in the former Dutch colonies. There is growing dissatisfaction within the Antillean community about the over-focus on the Surinamese slavery past, and therefore it is important to fully reflect the history of the abolition of slavery on each island. On the islands and in the Netherlands live half a million Antilians. All histories matter.
- September 2 - Kenneth Cuvalay in Caribbean congress with Dr. Umar Itafunde Johnson in Rotterdam (see Afro Magazine article)
- August 26 - Press release: Village of enslaved Afrikan people on St. Eustatius severely destroyed during excavations
- August 21 - Alliance member Derrick Simmons about the Golden Rock and Godet Afrikan burial ground in TV documentary Firma Erfgoed Overzee (Episode 4 "The Golden Rock", Friday July 28, 40m)
- August 8 - A Story of Bones on Dutch National TV (2Doc.nl)
- July 3 - Film Screening and after-talk "A Story of Bones" at Pakhuis De Zwijger in Amsterdam
- July 1 - Lecture Emancipation Day 150/160 years by Kenneth Cuvalay in the Meervaart, Eindhoven (Lecture slides on YouTube)
- June 30 - President of the Alliance gives a lecture about slavery and the role of the Catholic church in the Catharina Church Eindhoven at the invitation of foundation "Gedeeld Verleden Gezamenlijke Toekomst Eindhoven".
- June 23 - Lecture Remembrance Day Ending of Slavery 150/160 years by Kenneth Cuvalay in Eindhoven Public Library (Lecture slides on YouTube)
- April 11 - The story behind, A Story of Bones #2. Impression of the screenings of the documentary 'A Story of Bones' including the After-talks with the Film Team and Alliance members at the Movies That Matter Film Festival March 25-29, 2023. Productie: @INNTime News (length 11'17'')
- March 30 - Special mention for "A Story of Bones" at the Movies That Matter Film Festival for directors Dominique Aubrey de Vere and Joseph Curran.
- March 29 - Grassroots meeting with film team 'A Story of Bones'
- March 24 to April 1 - Several screenings and events about the documentary "A Story of Bones" at Movies That Matter Film Festival The Hague
- March 23 - UNESCO Committee Netherlands presents its Year Report 2022 On page 7/8: "Routes of Enslaved People De Unesco Commissie heeft het Routes of Enslaved Peoples label aangevraagd voor twee begraafplaatsen op Sint Eustatius (Statia), waar tot slaafgemaakten liggen begraven. Het gaat om de begraafplaatsen Golden Rock en Godet. Golden Rock was in 2021 in het nieuws omdat de begraafplaats in een gebied ligt waar zandafgravingen nodig waren voor het vliegveld. Onzorgvuldig archeologisch onderzoek leidde echter tot grote beroering onder de eilandgemeenschap en tot een stop op de graafwerkzaamheden. Godet is een tweede site die is meegenomen in de aanvraag. Het ‘Routes of Enslaved Peoples’-label geeft erkenning aan plekken die verbonden zijn met het slavernijverleden en draagt bij aan universele waarden als verdraagzaamheid en respect. Het label is een Unesco-initiatief om de relatieve stilte rond slavenhandel en slavernij te doorbreken. Door middel van onderzoek, educatie en de inventarisatie van gedenkplaatsen en bijzondere plekken probeert men de kennis over slavernij te vergroten en het proces van betekenisverlening te ondersteunen. De Unesco Commissie ondersteunde de vertoning en discussie over de film ‘A Story of Bones’ op Sint Eustatius. Deze film gaat over het eiland Sint Helena in de zuidelijke Atlantische Oceaan en laat een verrassende parallel zien met Statia. Ook daar kwam men er bij zandafgravingen achter dat duizenden voormalig tot slaafgemaakten lagen begraven op het eiland."
- February 8 - Press release "Alliance calls for attention to unseen and neglected cultural heritage during royal visit to St. Eustatius"
- Throughout the year - Several meetings Ministry Kingdom Relations (BZK) and Ministry of Culture (OCW)
- Throughout the year - Participation in Statia Cultural Heritage and Implementation Committee (SCHIC)
2022
December 2022 - Several members of the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance, including our archaeologist marjolijn kok, hosted community activities on St. Eustatius during the month December, including a screening of the documentary 'A Story of Bones'. Read the press release & the full program of our visit.
November 29, 2022 - After sending many emails and letters to the Dutch ministries of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) and the ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK), we were happy to have an integral (online) meeting with them on November 29. On the agenda were the recent visit to St. Eustatius of the OCW/RCE/RCN[1] delegation and commemoration activities of the trans-Atlantic Dutch Slave Trade History. Two follow-up meeting will be planned. [1] RCE = Cultural Heritage Agency; RCN = National Office for the Caribbean Netherlands located in Bonaire; the RCN is the link between the ministries that are present on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba.
November 17, 2022 - President St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance, Kenneth Cuvalay, is invited guest speaker at Caribbean session on the Dutch national archaeology congress 'De Reuvensdagen'.
November 11, 2022 - The official nominations of the Golden Rock and Godet burial sites on St. Eustatius to be included in Unesco's Routes of Enslaved People have been submitted to Unesco Paris. Ambassador of Unesco for the Netherlands has provided the package with a brief letter of presentation. The nominations have been prepared in close cooperation with Unesco Netherlands and have been endorsed by the public entity St. Eustatius and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). Press release UNESCO: https://www.unesco.nl/nl/artikel/aandacht-voor-historische-begraafplaatsen-van-slaafgemaakten-op-sint-eustatius
October 17, 2022 - The St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance is now a member of the Statia Cultural Heritage and Implementation Committee.
October 16-19, 2022 - The documentary 'A Story of Bones' is programmed at the Berlin Human Rights Film Festival (13 - 23 October, 2022). This is the first time that the oversees members of the Alliance (St. Helena Island and New York) have met the Dutch Caribbean members of the Alliance in person. Read also the essay of protagonist Annina van Neel.
September 7, 2022 - PERSBERICHT: ‘Reparations’ sleutel tot gelijkwaardige toekomst van slavernijverleden
August 30, 2022 - PRESS RELEASE: St. Helena to honor 325 'liberated' Afrikans with ceremonial reburial. In Dutch: Ceremoniële massabegrafenis op St. Helena: de vergeten geschiedenis van de ‘bevrijde’ Afrikanen
August 11, 2022 - Publication of our Manifesto: "What the FARO Convention means for St. Eustatius ', by RT Dutch, giving some backgrounds on the documentary 'A Story Of Bones', by St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance leader, Kenneth Cuvalay, and the connection of the story with the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Grounds Godet and Golden Rock, and so many other Afrikan Burial grounds throughout the Americas. Produced by Dwight Sergio Samson, RT Dutch, Amsterdam
July 1, 2022 - PRESS RELEASE: "Descendent authority decides over ancestral remains and their resting places"
June 17, 2022 - Presentation at the Dutch Caribbean Research Week (June 13-17) with a critical reflection on the Dutch Caribbean Research Platform (DuCaRP) by Petra Ploeg.
June 11, 2022 - The premiere of the documentary 'A Story of Bones' at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Carlos Lopes of the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance is in New York. See press release: "Forgotten Victims of the Middle Passage: Afrikan diaspora human rights activists St. Eustatius and St. Helena join forces in fight for dignity and respect ancestors"
June 2, 2022 - Chair of the Unesco Netherlands Committee, Ms. Kathleen Ferrier, visits the several Afrikan burial grounds during a visit to St. Eustatius on invitation of the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance.
April 24, 2022 - PRESS RELEASE "When will the disrespect end, as it relates to the Golden Rock African Burial Ground site on Sint Eustatius?"
April 21-23, 2022 - Presentation on the Godet Burial Ground at the Nordic Tag Conference, Oslo 2022 by marjolijn kok, archaeologist
February 20, 2022 - PRESS RELEASE The ‘St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance’ pushes decolonization agenda forward On the occasion of the working visit of state secretary Kingdom Relations, Alexandra van Huffelen (February 20-22). Dutch version of the press release.
February 8, 2022 - PRESS RELEASE Our response to the report of the Statia Heritage and Research Commission
January 28, 2022 - Finally, the report of the Statia Heritage and Research Commission came out. See the government's press release and full text of the report.
January 26, 2022 - Publication of the academic article by marjolijn kok of the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance: A Future That Does Not Forget: Collaborative Archaeology in the Colonial Context of Sint Eustatius (Dutch Caribbean)
January 21, 2022 - PRESS RELEASE - Report
Commission on suspended excavations African burial ground St. Eustatius long overdue. PERSBERICHT - Resultaten onderzoek naar omstreden opgravingen St. Eustatius blijven uit
January 13, 2022 - The Parliamentary committee Kingdom Relations has decided that our letter sent on December 10, 2021 contains information that can be used during the collective committee debate BES on February 23, 2022. This committee debate may be concluded with a very short plenary debate (two-minute debate). The committee debate is public. You can follow it live via www.tweedekamer.nl or you can also watch the debate via https://debatgemist.tweedekamer.nl
2021
December 22-23, 2021 - PRESS RELEASE: UCF Caribbean wants ‘Monument of Honor’ for enslaved ancestors in St. Eustatius (also published in Dutch)
December 14, 2021 - Our ally, researcher Jack Theuns, tackles the misinformation and smoke screens of SECAR and the St. Eustatius government representatives in relation to the disrespectful excavations that were carried out at
the Golden Rock African Burial Ground. Read his Letter to the Editor "Deception on St. Eustatius".
December 10, 2021 - We have sent a second letter to the Parliamentary Committees Kingdom
Relations (KR) and Education, Culture and Science (OCW). Issues addressed:
- UCF is still not involved in the process despite the fact that we got 50.8 of the votes on St. Eustatius in the last parliamentary elections;
- SECAR has recently restarted excavations on the island. However, the investigation into SECAR is still ongoing. This is not the right way to do things;
- Questionable reputation of the chairman of the Statia Heritage and Research Commission (SHRC);
- To
inform the Committee of the fact that the chairman of a committee (SHRC) charged with investigating charges of racism at SECAR chooses to use the media to call a descendant of enslaved people a racist.
December 7, 2021 - We have sent a fourth letter to the St. Eustatius government representatives. Issues addressed:
- Reminder to our letter of November 9th;
- Concerns that after 6 months we are still not involved in any way in the
process. Even our request for an appointment is not granted;
- Our objections to the fact that the chair of the Statia Heritage and Research Committee is in the newspaper with the skull of an African ancestor in his hands as if it is a hunting trophy. He even asks the St. Maarten government if he can keep the skeletons for scientific research. WARNING - THE PREVIOUS TWO LINKS GO TO AN ARTICLE WITH GRAPHIC IMAGES SOME READERS MAY FIND DISTURBING
- Our objections to the fact that the chair of the Statia Heritage and Research Committee is calls our chairman a racist in the media in a cheap attack on his person.
- We informed the government representatives that someone who does these things cannot chair a commission of inquiry. We asked the government representatives to take appropriate measures.
December 3, 2021 - Our ally, archaeologist Marjolijn Kok, responds to the announcement by the government representatives of St. Eustatius that SECAR will resume excavations on the island, despite being the subject of investigation into allegations of unethical conduct in the excavations at the Golden Rock African Burial Ground. Read her Letter to the Editor on our blog: Better no archaeology than controversial archaeology
December 3, 2021 - Launch of our YouTube video that is showing how SECAR and other archaeologists left the site behind after they excavated the burial ground there. See also our previous blog post on these excavations.
November 30, 2021 - Launch of our family heritage project "Make the Connection"
November 24, 2021 - UCF Caribbean chair Kenneth Cuvalay reponds to Haviser's letter to the editor: "Archaeologist Dr. Haviser not fit as chair Statia Heritage and Research Commission"
November 23, 2021 - UCF coordinator in St. Eustatius, Derrick Simmons, gives a powerful response to the letter of Jay Haviser in The Daily Herald: Response to letter from Dr. Jay B. Haviser
November 15, 2021 - Archaeologist Jay Haviser publishes a letter to the editor in The Daily Herald of St. Maarten "Dutch politician beats emotional drum for votes".
Haviser responds to the article on the slave ship the Leusden, and accuses the writer, UCF Caribbean chairman Kenneth Cuvalay of extremism, Q'Anon practices, and racism, among other things.
November 13, 2021 - UCF members Derrick Simmons and Kenneth Cuvalay were guests in the Nationwide90fm Jamaica Radio Show Talking History hosted by Prof. Dr. Verene Shepherd. Topic was the controversies around the search for the slave ship the Leusden.
November 12, 2021 - New blogpost "Murder ship’ Leusden anchored in Statia four times".
This article was published in the printed edition of The Daily Herald of St. Maarten as a letter to the editor (November 12-13, 2021). The article is about the media reporting on the search for the slave ship the Leusden. Again archaeologist change the perspective from the Afrikan experience -664 Afrikans were murdered by the crew - to an exciting unique historical object for archaeological research.
November 9, 2021 - Third
letter sent out to the St. Eustatius government representatives in which we make some clarifications and reiterate of our concerns. Points addressed in the letter are:
- Concern about UCF not involved in the process
- Concern about disrespectful treatment of our ancestors and the descendant
community, and that Statia Heritage and Research Commission (SHRC)'s
mindset is still very colonial
- UCF feels there is a lack of transparency (in general and of the work of the SHRC)
- Concern about independency of SHRC
- Regulations and control over SECAR's activities
November 5, 2021 - Publication of our article "Decolonization of Dutch archaeology"at the website Doorbraak.eu (in English and Dutch)
November 4, 2021 - The St. Eustatius government representatives finally responds to our
letter. However, the key question, why are we not involved in the process despite the fact that the excavations were halted and a
investigation committee was installed in response to our protests?
November 1, 2021 - We filed a complaint against the St. Eustatius government representatives with the Dutch National Ombudsman.
October 27, 2021 - A reminder was sent out to the St. Eustatius government representatives to our letter of June 20, 2021 and additional concerns we have with the Statia Heritage and Research Commission not being independent, and the lack of supervisory structures on archaeological projects. Read our investigation in the blogpost SECAR and our search for scientific integrity
October 3, 2021 - Our online petition reaches 1,346 signatures. It's not too late to sign! Go to Stop the Excavations at St. Eustatius African Burial Ground'
September 15, 2021 - The Parliamentary Committee Kingdom Relations decides to request the Cabinet to inform the House about the progress of the excavations at the airport of St. Eustatius, the position of the Statia Heritage and Research Commission and the role of the national government in this regard. State secretary Kingdom Relations states that the archaeological excavations are the responsibility of the government commissioner at the public body of St. Eustatius,and that the role of his ministry and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science is limited to following the case and giving advice where necessary. He lets the appointed administrators in St. Eustatius answer the questions. The response of October 4, 2021 can be read here (see attachment, text is in Dutch): Brief regeringscommissaris over stand van zaken voortgang opgravingen vliegveld Sint Eustatius
August 19, 2021 - Press release African Descendants in St. Eustatius Critically Reflecting SHRC Committee
August 6, 2021 - Radio Broadcast on the protests against the excavations on WRFG Radio Atlanta "Public Affairs: What Good Is A Song?"
August 4, 2021 - A new blogpost is published "How Not To Do Archaeological Research: the Case of the Godet Burial Ground"
July 28, 2021 - The Government of St. Eustatius press release on the installation of the Statia Heritage Research Commission. This Commission, which is said to be independant, consists of 15 people chaired by Jay Haviser, an archaeologist on St. Maarten and the President of the International Association for Caribbean Archaeology (IACA)
July 19, 2021 - Our joint press release “Criticism remains despite suspension of excavations” (see also e.g. The Daily Herald, St. Maarten)
July 14, 2021 - St. Eustatius government announces suspending excavations
July 12, 2021 - Our joint press release “Opposition is mounting to archaeological excavations on Caribbean island St. Eustatius” (PDF document)
July 3, 2021 - Launch of our online Petition Stop the Excavations at St. Eustatius' African Burial Ground
July 1, 2021 - Speech by Kenneth Cuvalay at Nelson Mandela Park Amsterdam on the occasion of the July 1st Commemoration of Abolition of Slavery (Emanciation Day) (organized by Grani Boni).
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Speech July 1, Nelson Mandelapark
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June 22, 2021 - Our letter to Parliamentary Committees Kingdom Relations and Education, Culture and Science, and the National Agency of Cultural Heritage.
June 21, 2021 - Town Hall Meeting on Archaeological Research St. Eustatius Government. Basically, this meeting was a one-way presentation of latest developments. When people wanted to voice their opinion, they were told just to ask questions, not state opinions.
June 20, 2021 - Letter to St. Eustatius Government and Island Council
June 8, 2021 -
Mini symposium “A Sacred Space For Our Ancestors” on the excavations in St. Eustatius with experts in the Dutch Caribbean
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