December 2022 Community Activities St. Eustatius

Dec. 2 - Arrival of delegation

Dec. 6 – Radio show I with host Carlos Lopes

Dec. 11 -  Screening documentary & Q&A Film team and Unesco representative

Dec. 12 – Meeting SECAR director, board member and volunteer

Dec. 12 – Meeting Culture Department (Ms. Nasha Roudjouki & Ms. Daniela Richardson)

Dec. 13 – Radio show II with host Carlos Lopes

Dec. 13 – Visit to various burial grounds on the island (Old Church Cemetery, the Jewish Cemetery, Congo Cemetery, The Dutch Reformed Church Cemetery, Catholic Cemetery, Salem Cemetery)

Dec. 13 – Short informal meeting with Government Commissioner Ms. Alida Francis

Dec. 15 - Walking tour with the community with a libation for our ancestors of the Godet Afrikan burial ground

Dec. 16 – Online meeting with ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) about the Slavery Memorial Year 2023/2024

Dec. 17 – Island tour

Dec. 19 – Visit Berkel Cemetery

Dec. 21 - Visit Golden Rock Afrikan burial ground with a libation for our Ancestors

Dec. 24 – Meetings with participants interviewed for the article by marjolijn on ethics in Caribbean archaeology

Visit to the Heritage House was not realized. 

[Photo Gallery]

Visit to the Golden Rock burial ground St. Eustatius by the Alliance

On Wednesday, December 22, 2022 several members of the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance, including our archaeologist marjolijn kok, visited the Golden Rock Afrikan burial ground and asked questions to SECAR board member Gay Soutekouw.  

 

We were informed about the layout of the burials, in coffins and separated by age and gender. It was overwhelming to learn how much respect was given to the burials by the Afrikan population of the Golden Rock plantation at the time.

At the site, we had a fierce debate as well about roles and responsibilities between SECAR and the St. Eustatius government in the run-up to and during the controversial excavations.

Kenneth Cuvalay, president of the Alliance, held a small ceremony (libation) to honor and value the sacrifices and legacy of his ancestors.

 

 

A visit to the depot where the excavated ancestral remains are located is also planned. Every descendant has the right to visit these places.

The Golden Rock Afrikan burial ground is located near the airport of St. Eustatius. Excavations of 75 ancestral remains without knowledge or consent of the community by an international team of archaeologist in May 2021 led to the protests of the Alliance. 

 

 

Afrikan burial grounds: 'It Matters How We Choose To Remember'

Yesterday, the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance together with a small group of people from the island, held a ceremony (a ‘libation’) for our African ancestors who are buried at the former Godet plantation. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In June this year, the site was blocked off by the company Statia Roads & Construction that stacked small and big boulders against the cliff. No protection layer was used as any archaeologist would have recommended. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A gentleman of the company said it would be nice if over time the entire site were overgrown with trees and plants. But we won’t let the graves of war victims in the Netherlands grow over with plants, nor the Nazi concentration camps. They are kept in the best possible condition, so that memorial ceremonies can be held, guided tours can be given, awareness can be raised, and together we can say 'no more'.

Slavery and the trans-Atlantic slave trade were acknowledged by the UN as crimes against humanity. Don’t the African burial grounds on Statia deserve the same amount of respect?
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It Matters How We Choose To Remember (tagline of the documentary 'A Story of Bones')

See also our earlier blogposts on the Godet Burial Ground (How not to do archaeological research and 'Monument of Honor’ for enslaved ancestors in St. Eustatius )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PRESS RELEASE: Walking tour to Godet burial ground St. Eustatius to raise awareness of the protection of its marginalized Afrikan heritage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, December 15, the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance [short; Alliance) organizes a walking tour to the Godet burial ground on the southwest coast of St. Eustatius. The Godet burial ground is adjacent to the Waterfort, the islands’ most significant and at the same time most neglected memorial to the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Marjolijn kok, the community archaeologist of the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance, will also be present at the site to answer questions besides Alliance member and St. Eustatius Historical Foundation President Carlos Lopes, Alliance member Derrick Simmons and President of the Alliance Kenneth Cuvalay

The Alliance has submitted an application to Unesco Paris to include the Godet Burial ground and Waterfort in Unesco’s international memorial Routes of Enslaved Peoples. https://en.unesco.org/themes/fostering-rights-inclusion/slave-route Alliance President Cuvalay: "It is time for St. Eustatius to claim its rightful place in the tragic history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and realize the crimes that were committed to our people".

As with the Golden Rock burial ground, several excavations of ancestral remains have taken place at the Godet burial ground over the years. These were often carried out by American students who came on field trips organized by the St. Eustatius Centre of Archaeological Research (SECAR). The community of St. Eustatius was  never involved, and the research results were never shared with the people on the island. The site was left in a horrible condition (see photo) with bones sticking out of the ground.

The walking tour aims to make the community of St. Eustatius aware that the almost invisible burial grounds of their ancestors are also part of the cultural heritage of St. Eustatius and that we must take ownership to protect and preserve it. The Alliance is also lobbying for a grand memorial at the site, as argued on their blog last year December https://afrikanhistoryandconsciousness.blogspot.com/2021/12/press-release-ucf-caribbean-wants.html


Date: Thursday, December 15, 2022 (Kingdom Day)
Time: 11 am
Gathering location: Entrance of Salem Cemetery (Smokey Alley side), St. Eustatius    



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Information for the Editor
Kenneth Cuvalay, President of the “St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance”
- Phone/WhatsApp St. Eustatius: +599 3194975
- WhatsApp Netherlands +31 6 29014308
- Email: steustatiusafrikanburialground@gmail.com  
- Website: https://afrikanhistoryandconsciousness.blogspot.com/ or http://steustatiusafrikanburialground.org/ (as of July 2022)
- Facebook www.facebook.com/groups/steustatiusafrikanburialgroundalliance/
- Instagram @steustatiusafrikanburialground


The St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance is a movement that protests the excavations of Afrikan free and enslaved Afrikans at an 18th-century Afrikan burial ground in St. Eustatius (see https://www.change.org/LeaveOurAncestorsInPeace). The protests started in April 2021 and were initially led by the political party Ubuntu Connected Front Caribbean. Located in St. Eustatius and with allies around the world, the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance broadened the scope of the struggle focusing on other Afrikan burial grounds in St. Eustatius such as the Afrikan Burial Ground Godet Plantation St. Eustatius (Godet/Fort Amsterdam). One of the aims is to further broaden the scope of our struggle to the Pan-Afrikanism level, connecting with and working with Afrikan-centered organizations and movements that are also fighting for the preservation of our ancestors’ endangered Afrikan burial grounds around the world and taking control of our narrative that has been distorted.

Afrika is spelled with a “k” instead of a “c” based on the following insights:
- It is a Pan-Afrikan spelling which relates both to the Afrikan continent and to the Diaspora;
- It reflects the spelling of “Afrika” in all Afrikan languages;
- It includes the concept of “ka”, the vital energy which both sustains and creates.

In response to the protests, we published a scientific article in January 2022 “A Future That Does Not Forget: Collaborative Archeology in the Colonial Context of Sint Eustatius (Dutch Caribbean)”. We also published the “Manifesto: What the FARO Convention means for St. Eustatius”.


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Blog https://afrikanhistoryandconsciousness.blogspot.com/2021/12/st-eustatius-african-burial-ground.html
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PERSBERICHT | St. Eustatius heeft première voor documentaire “A Story of Bones”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 [Press release in English]

Op zondag 11 december organiseert de St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance (kort: Alliantie) een vertoning van de documentaire ‘A Story of Bones’ voor de inwoners van St. Eustatius. Het is de eerste vertoning van de documentaire op Nederlands grondgebied.

De documentaire ‘A Story of Bones’ vertelt het verhaal over de stoffelijke resten van 325 ‘bevrijde Afrikanen’ die in augustus van dit jaar op St. Helena Island werden herbegraven [zie eerder persbericht]. In 2008 besloot het geïsoleerde eiland tot de aanleg van de eerste commerciële luchthaven om het toerisme te stimuleren. Milieudeskundige Annina van Neel arriveerde in 2012 uit Namibië om te helpen bij de bouw en was aanwezig toen de stoffelijke resten van duizenden "bevrijde slaven"werden blootgelegd. Ze voelde zich steeds ongemakkelijker bij de manier waarop met de menselijke resten werd omgegaan en besloot de strijd aan te gaan om de nalatenschap van haar voorouders te eren en ze op te nemen in de geschiedenisvan het eiland. In 2018 vond ze een bondgenoot in de vooraanstaande culturele projectadviseur Peggy King Jorde, die in de jaren negentig betrokken was bij de realisatie van het African Burial Ground Memorial in New York City.

Twee kleine eilanden, wereldwijd probleem

De overeenkomsten tussen St. Helena en St. Eustatius zijn opvallend. Tijdens de protesten op St. Eustatius tegen de Golden Rock-opgravingen nabij de luchthaven in 2021 kwam de Alliantie in contact met Annina van Neel en Peggy King Jorde. Beide partijen realiseerden zich dat wat een lokale strijd leek, in feite een wereldwijde strijd is. Met gebundelde krachten vergroten ze nu wereldwijd het bewustzijn voor de onzichtbare en onvertelde verhalen van vele historische Afrikaanse begraafplaatsen in de Amerika’s. “Until it is fought on a global level it can’t be resolved locally”, zoals in de documentaire wordt gesteld.

Gemarginaliseerde geschiedenis van de Afrikaanse diaspora

Alliantievoorzitter Cuvalay: "Onze geschiedenis is gemarginaliseerd. Het is tijd dat we zelf onverbloemd ons verhaal gaan vertellen en naar buiten brengen . De regisseurs van 'A Story of Bones', Joseph Curran en Dominic de Vere, hebben de missie om verhalen te vertellen die van vitaal belang zijn en te luisteren naar perspectieven die normaliter onzichtbaar blijven, wat erg zeldzaam is. We hebben contact gezocht met elk groot  film- en documentaire-platform in Nederland dat we konden bedenken, maar er was geen interesse om 'A Story of Bones' te vertonen. Alleen met de steun van Unesco Nederland en één van de regisseurs is het ons gelukt om ‘A Story of Bones' naar St. Eustatius te halen. Dus nu hebben we de landelijke première hier op St. Eustatius en we verwachten zondag een volle zaal; we merken dat het leeft onder de mensen.

Dag van de mensenrechten    

Een dag voor de vertoning van de documentaire, op 10 december, is het de Dag van de Mensenrechten. Speciaal voor deze gelegenheid zal Tim de Haan, adviseur documentair erfgoed(Memory of the World-programma) en digitaal erfgoed van Unesco Nederland een inleiding bij de documentaire geven. Unesco Nederland heeft zich gecommitteerd aan het behoud van de historische begraafplaatsen van slaafgemaakte Afrikanen op St. Eustatius. Een aanvraag voor opname van de twee begraafplaatsen Golden Rock en Godet op St. Eustatius in Unesco's Routes of Enslaved People zijn vorige maand ingediend bij Unesco Parijs.

Vertoningsdatum: zondag 11 december 2022
Tijd: 16.00 uur (locale tijd St. Eustatius, 21:00 Nederlandse tijd)
Locatie: Mike van Putten Youth Centre (Lion’s Den) St. Eustatius
Toegang: gratis, donaties om de projectiekosten en zaalhuur te dekken zijn welkom

Meer informatie (in het Engels) via: https://tinyurl.com/astoryofbones

 

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VOOR DE REDACTIE

Kenneth Cuvalay, voorzitter van de “St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance”

    Phone/WhatsApp St. Eustatius: +599 3194975
    WhatsApp Netherlands +31 6 29014308
    Email: steustatiusafrikanburialground@gmail.com
    Website: https://afrikanhistoryandconsciousness.blogspot.com/ or http://steustatiusafrikanburialground.org/ (as of July 2023)
    Facebook www.facebook.com/groups/steustatiusafrikanburialgroundalliance/
    Instagram @steustatiusafrikanburialground

The St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance is a movement that protests the excavations of Afrikan free and enslaved Afrikans at an 18th-century Afrikan burial ground in St.Eustatius (see https://www.change.org/LeaveOurAncestorsInPeace). The protests started in April 2021 and were initially led by the political party Ubuntu Connected Front Caribbean.Located in St. Eustatius and with allies around the world, the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance broadened the scope of the struggle focusing on other Afrikan burial grounds in St. Eustatius such as the Afrikan Burial Ground Godet Plantation St. Eustatius (Godet/Fort Amsterdam). One of the aimsis to further broaden the scope of our struggle to the Pan-Afrikanism level, connecting with and working with Afrikan-centered organizations and movements that are also fighting for the preservation of our ancestors’ endangered Afrikan burial grounds around the world and taking control of our narrative that has been distorted.

Afrika isspelled with a “k” instead of a “c” based on the following insights:

    It is a Pan-Afrikan spelling which relates both to the Afrikan continent and to the Diaspora;
    It reflects the spelling of “Afrika” in all Afrikan languages;
    It includes the concept of “ka”, the vital energy which both sustains and creates.

In response to the protests, we published a scientific article in January 2022 “A Future That Does Not Forget:Collaborative Archeology in the Colonial Context of Sint Eustatius (DutchCaribbean)”. We also published the “Manifesto: What the FARO Conventionmeans for St. Eustatius”.

PRESS RELEASE | Premiere for Statia: first screening of ‘A Story of Bones’ within the Dutch territories

 

 [Persbericht in het Nederlands]

On Sunday, December 11, the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance organizes a screening of the documentary ‘A Story of Bones’ in the Lion’s Den for the community of St. Eustatius. It will be the first screening of the documentary within the Dutch territories.

The documentary ‘A Story of Bones’ tells the story about the remains of 325 so-called liberated Afrikans that were reburied in St. Helena Island in August this year. To encourage tourism, the island decided in 2008 to build its first commercial airport. Annina van Neel arrived from Namibia to help with the construction and is present when the remains of thousands of “freed slaves” are uncovered. Heeding her increasing discomfort with how the bones are handled, Annina campaigned tirelessly to honor their legacy and integrate them into the history of the island.

The similarities between St. Helena and St. Eustatius are striking. During the protests against the Golden Rock excavations, the Alliance came into contact with Annina and Peggy, and together they are now raising awareness around the globe for the unseen and untold narratives of many Afrikan burial grounds in the Americas. As the tagline of the documentary states: “It Matters How We Choose To Remember” and the message for us all is that what we often think is a local struggle is in fact a global one. And until it’s fought on a global level it can’t be resolved locally.

Date: Sunday, December 11, 2022
Time: 4 pm
Location: Mike van Putten Youth Center (Lion’s Den) St. Eustatius
Entrance: free, donations to cover the costs are welcome
 

PROGRAM:

• 4:00 pm – Opening & Welcome by Mr. Kenneth Cuvalay, President of the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance
• 4.02 pm – Moment of Honor and Remembrance for Our Ancestors by Mr. Kenneth Cuvalay
  
• 4:05 pm – Introduction by Mr. Tim de Haan, Information & Community Adviser Unesco Netherlands Commission in relation to the International Human Rights Day December 10.
• 4.10 pm – Screening of the documentary ‘A Story of Bones’
• 5.45 pm – Online screentalk with the film team: protagonist Ms. Annina van Neel (St. Helena), Afrikan burial grounds preservationist Ms. Peggy King Jorde (New York), and documentary director Mr. Dominic Aubrey de Vere (UK)
• 6:15 pm - Closing remarks by Mr. Kenneth Cuvalay
  

 

Questions the Alliance has for the audience are:

1. How do you think we should treat our Afrikan burial ground sites?
2. What do you want to learn about our Afrikan ancestral history in our schools and in the community?
3. How important is it to you to have a memorial dedicated to the Afrikan burial ground sites and what would you like to see?

Our special thanks go to Unesco Netherlands Commission and documentary director Dominic Aubrey de Vere for making this screening possible.

 

CONTACT

St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance

Email steustatiusafrikanburialground@gmail.com

Facebook www.facebook.com/groups/steustatiusafrikanburialgroundalliance

Instagram @steustatiusafrikanburialground 

Whatsapp +599 319 4975

Invitation Dec. 11 at 4 pm: Screening 'A Story of Bones' documentary at Mike van Putten Youth Center St. Eustatius

Documentary ‘A Story of Bones’ and online ScreenTalk with the filmmakers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, December 11, 2022 at 4 pm | Mike van Putten Youth Center (the Lion's Den) | Entrance is free, a donation to cover the costs is welcome 

 

St. Helena and St. Eustatius, two small islands, one shared history. The gruesome hidden history of the Middle Passage is now revealing itself. Our ancestors are talking.  

'A Story of Bones' tells the story of Annina van Neel as she works to reclaim the neglected history of St. Helena after the remains of thousands of formerly enslaved Afrikans are uncovered on the remote island.

As the Chief Environmental Officer for Saint Helena's troubled £285m airport project, Annina learned of the island's most terrible atrocity - an unmarked mass burial ground of an estimated 9,000 formerly enslaved Afrikans in Rupert's Valley. It is one of the most significant traces of the trans-Atlantic slave trade still on earth.

Haunted by this historical injustice, Annina now fights alongside renowned Afrikan-American preservationist Peggy King Jorde and a group of disenfranchised islanders - many of them descendants of the formerly enslaved - for the proper memorialization of these forgotten victims. The resistance they face exposes disturbing truths about the UK's colonial past and present.

 

 

 

 

The St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Alliance and Assiociated partners are bringing this documentary to the people of St. Eustatius to raise awareness about a forgotten part of our shared history. We fight for a respectful reburial of our ancestral remains and the realization of a memorial.

 ScreenTalk with the filmmakers

From left to right: Dominic Aubrey de Vere, Annina van Neel and Peggy King Jorde (at the Berlin Human Rights Film Festival, October 2022)

' A Story of Bones' UK 2022 directors Joseph Curran and Dominic Aubrey de Vere, 95 min

The documentary first premiered at the New York Tribeca Film Festival where Carlos Lopes of our Alliance was present and represented the Alliance.

With many thanks to Unesco Netherlands who helped us realize the organization of this event. 💓

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Contact person: Kenneth Cuvalay, President of the Alliance

Email steustatiusafrikanburialground@gmail.com

Whatsapp +599 319 4975 

Website https://steustatiusafrikanburialground.org

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/steustatiusafrikanburialgroundalliance

Instagram @steustatiusafrikanburialground 

PRESS RELEASE | St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance to host community events in St. Eustatius in December

The St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance will host several community engagement events in St. Eustatius in the next coming weeks. 

• On Sunday, December 11, there will be a screening of the documentary ‘A Story of Bones’ in the Lion’s Den in Statia at 4 pm. 
• On Thursday, December 15, a walk-in session for residents is organized to hear the ideas and opinions of the community on what should happen to the excavated ancestral remains.
  
• Another activity is a walking tour to the Godet burial ground where excavations of human remains took place in 2012 and 2018. Date is to be announced.
  

Marjolijn kok, an archeologist from Rotterdam who is part of the Alliance and specialized in community archaeology, traveled especially to Statia to hear and listen to the views of the community and to answer questions.

St. Helena documentary ‘A Story of Bones’

 

The story of the Golden Rock and Godet burial grounds are not unique. There are many Afrikan burial grounds in the Americas that tell a similar story. One of these is told in the documentary ‘A Story of Bones’ about the remains of 325 so-called liberated Afrikans that were reburied in St. Helena Island in August this year. Protagonist Annina van Neel got the help of Peggy King Jorde in New York, advocate for Afrikan burial grounds worldwide. 

 

Annina van Neel and Peggy King Jorde together with one of the two directors of the documentary, Dominic Aubrey de Vere, will be joining in online after the screening to answer questions of the audience.

UNESCO Nomination for Golden Rock and Godet burial grounds

 

 

 

 

 

In November this year, the Alliance nominated the Golden Rock and Godet burial site in St. Eustatius to be included in Unesco's Routes of Enslaved People. This project plays a major role in "breaking" the silence surrounding the history of slavery and placing this tragedy that has shaped the modern world in the universal memory. 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).

How to get involved?

All events and activities will be announced in the media, here and on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/groups/steustatiusafrikanburialgroundalliance/  

You can also send a Whatsapp to +599 319 4975

What the Alliance is about

 

 

 

The St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance came into existence during the protests against the Golden Rock burial ground excavations in April 2021. The main goal behind the protests was to urge for a respectful treatment of our ancestors’ remains, a dignified reburial and -as a descendent community- to be part of the decision making process. Nothing around the excavations and the reburial of our ancestors' remains can be decided without our consent. We will not rest until they are finally getting the respect and peace they deserve. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

President of the Alliance Kenneth Cuvalay: “One of the aims is to further broaden the scope of our struggle to the Pan-Afrikanism level, connecting with and working with Afrikan-centered organizations and movements that are also fighting for the preservation of our ancestors’ endangered Afrikan burial grounds around the world and taking control of our narrative that has been distorted. We are proud and honored to now work together with Annina van Neel and Peggy King Jorde to show the world that our marginalized history is valuable and has been ignored for too long.

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Information for the Editor

Kenneth Cuvalay, President of the “St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance”
-        Phone/WhatsApp St. Eustatius: +599 3194975
-        WhatsApp Netherlands +31 6 29014308
-        Email: steustatiusafrikanburialground@gmail.com  
-        Website: https://afrikanhistoryandconsciousness.blogspot.com/ or http://steustatiusafrikanburialground.org/ (as of February 2023)
-        Facebook www.facebook.com/groups/steustatiusafrikanburialgroundalliance/

The St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance is a movement that protests the excavations of Afrikan free and enslaved Afrikans at an 18th-century Afrikan burial ground in St. Eustatius (see https://www.change.org/LeaveOurAncestorsInPeace). The protests started in April 2021 and were initially led by the political party Ubuntu Connected Front Caribbean. 

Located in St. Eustatius and with allies around the world, the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance broadened the scope of the struggle focusing on other Afrikan burial grounds in St. Eustatius such as the Afrikan Burial Ground Godet Plantation St. Eustatius (Godet/Fort Amsterdam).

Afrika is spelled with a “k” instead of a “c” based on the following insights:
-        It is a Pan-Afrikan spelling which relates both to the Afrikan continent and to the Diaspora;
-        It reflects the spelling of “Afrika” in all Afrikan languages;
-        It includes the concept of “ka”, the vital energy which both sustains and creates.

In response to the controversial excavations, we published a scientific article in January 2022 “A Future That Does Not Forget: Collaborative Archeology in the Colonial Context of Sint Eustatius (Dutch Caribbean)”. We also published the “Manifesto: What the FARO Convention means for St. Eustatius”. A full list of activities is available at our activities timeline.