Dutch Caribbean Research Platform (DuCaRP): 'Pas op te eurocentrisch onderzoek'

 

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

Carlos Lopes, President of the St. Eustatius Historical Foundation, and member of the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance, will be traveling to New York to be a special invited guest at the premiere of the captivating documentary “A Story of Bones” on June 11 at the renowned Tribeca Film Festival in New York. In New York, Carlos Lopes will meet Annina Van Neel and Peggy King Jorde who worked closely together on the documentary and are impact producers. "A Story of Bones" tells Nina's journey to create a respectful burial ground. Annina Van Neel: "Saint Helena Island, a British territory is home to the world's most significant physical trace of the Middle Passage, Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The St. Helena Burial Grounds (up to 10,000 formerly enslaved Afrikans) are proclaimed to be of global significance. Yet, the local and global descendant community is completely disconnected from this story and the space that holds it. The site remains uncelebrated, neglected and worse, has suffered several destructive episodes."

Although there are thousands of miles between both islands, their stories are the same. Human and cultural rights activists on both islands, St. Eustatius and St. Helena, recently joined forces to "begin to aggressively and surgically address the legacies and institutions of historic racial injustices", as Annina puts it. In New York they have the support of the renowned preservationist Peggy King Jorde who worked on the Afrikan Burial Ground project in New York City in the nineties, where the remains of up to 15,000 enslaved and free Afrikans were found on a six-acre burial ground during a construction project.

The documentary ‘A Story of Bones’

BBC's Storyville describes the documentary as follows: "Twelve years ago, Annina Van Neel, Chief Environmental Officer for Saint Helena’s $350m airport project, 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 described as one of the most significant traces of the Transatlantic Slave trade still on earth. Horrified by this historical injustice, Annina Van Neel now fights alongside 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." And the Tribeca website: "The documentary “A Story of Bones” celebrates Annina’s personal victories, and mourns collective setbacks along her journey to create a respectful burial ground."

Shared history of St. Eustatius and St. Helena

There is the same link between a large burial ground and the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade in St. Eustatius: the recent excavations at the 18th century Golden Rock Plantation Burial Ground and older excavations at the 18th century Afrikan Burial Ground Godet Plantation near the ruins of Fort Amsterdam at the south-east coast of St. Eustatius. During the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade period, the enslaved that survived the brutal treatment of the journey to the shores of St. Eustatius, where kept at barracks that at one time could accommodate up to 450 individuals. Those that died were buried in the area next to Fort Amsterdam known as Godet. The contrast between the Godet and the Golden Rock burial grounds is that the latter were mainly individuals that were enslaved that were established on the island versus those in transit to somewhere else throughout the Americas. The Golden Rock Burial ground is believed to contain the remains of more than 150 enslaved people, one of the largest burial grounds for enslaved Afrikan people in the Caribbean. At least 48 skeletons were excavated.

Afrikan Burial Grounds throughout the Americas

The St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance originated from the fierce protests against the excavations at the Golden Rock Burial Ground in 2021. The Alliance seeks connections with similar groups across the Afrikan diaspora community in the Americas. Annina Van Neel: “There are thousands of Afrikan Burial Grounds spread across the globe that bear the untold stories of the great traumas and defeats that people of Afrikan descent endured for 350 years and longer. Stories that are relegated to the most marginalized and isolated black communities with no means to adequately protect and remember their ancestors with the respect they deserve. Now the story is told not only to protect the Saint Helena Burial Grounds, but also gives a voice to thousands of other sites and cultural rights activists, especially those belonging to marginalized and underrepresented groups.”

Screenings outside the US

The documentary will be broadcasted outside the US by the BCC and featured at other Film Festivals around the globe. When Carlos Lopes returns to St. Eustatius, the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance will devote an interactive radio broadcast to the documentary and Lopes’ visit to the Tribeca film festival for the community of St. Eustatius and beyond. “It is important that we as joint Burial Ground Alliances keep addressing the issue,” Lopes emphasizes, “respecting the living means respecting the dead too. We saw what happened during the excavations at the Golden Rock Burial Ground. The descendent community was completely ignored and disrespected." Annina Van Neel: "Today black cultural heritage is excluded from funding, legal protection and consideration. The more commonly accepted colonial heritage and curricula (archaeology, scientific research, history education) supersedes any descendant attempts. Thus, Black histories are made invisible, voiceless and diminished, ultimately dehumanized." Peggy King Jorde welcomes the newly created international alliance: "The relationships we are forging right now will transform the mythology around who we are as an Afrikan diaspora and our story."

The Tribeca Film Festival runs from June 8 to 19 and screening times for "A Story of Bones" are on June 11, 12 and 18. Viewers in the US can buy a ticket for virtual "At Home" screening. "At Home" will not be available outside the USA. 

More information: https://tribecafilm.com/films/story-of-bones-2022



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Information for the Editor
Kenneth Cuvalay, President of the “St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance”

-    Email: steustatiusafrikanburialground@gmail.com  
-    Website: http://steustatiusafrikanburialground.org/ (as of June 2022)

Relevant links on the documentary “A Story of Bones”:

• https://abc7ny.com/here-and-now-sandra-bookman-a-story-of-bones-trans-atlantic-slave-trade/11882202/
•  http://sainthelenaisland.info/slavery.htm
  

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.

Spelling of Afrika 

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.

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 Afrikan descent.

Ubuntu means "humanity" in Afrikan 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.

The 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 people of Afrikan descent throughout the diaspora meaning “Equality is a human right, not a privilege”.

Presentation on the Godet Burial Ground at the Nordic Tag Conference, Oslo 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the members of the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance, archaeologist marjolijn kok, gave a presentation at the Nordic TAG Conference that took place in Oslo April 21-23, 2022. 

Main theme of the conference was the use of archaeological theory in an academic world that favors measurable outcomes. The title of marjolijn's contribution was "Multiple disasters hitting from all angles: The Godet enslaved Afrikan burial ground on the Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius". It was presented in a session of seven presentations titled Unruly things, unruly theories: On the possibility of theorizing from archaeological encounters. As described on the conference website the aim of this session was to "theorize archaeological practices and approaches to heritage that are inclusive of the unexpected, unruly, unmanageable, or otherwise disruptive. [...] While extremely broad in scope, the concept of the ‘unruly’ is an attempt at capturing and theorizing what happens when archaeological encounters do not unfold in a clear, straightforward, expected manner.

Abstract as presented on the Conference website:

"In this paper I want to explore how natural, cultural and social disasters can come together and further unnecessary trauma and how to limit the damage. Sint Eustatius is a small Caribbean island of 21 km2 which is part of the Netherlands. Due to storms parts of the coast are in danger of erosion; this has led to the exposure of ancestral bones of enslaved Afrikans at the Godet site. The local archaeological company SECAR undertook a small rescue excavation. The site was later hit by hurricane Irma and Maria and again a rescue excavation took place, now with the University of Texas. 

The ancestral bones belong to a burial ground of Afrikan enslaved people who were either living on plantations or came from the nearby prison. Slavery can be viewed as a cultural disaster where people were dehumanized even after death as many burial grounds have no formal status or demarcation. Their cultural heritage was deliberately destroyed by multiple prohibitions as for example the prohibition against speaking their own language. The rescue excavations are never done in ideal circumstances but they can be used for restorative purposes. However the lack of engagement with the local community added a social disaster where people feel their ancestors are disrespected. 

Here I want to propose how we can set up conceptual frameworks that turn archaeology into a practice which is more concerned with social justice. Drawing from postcolonial studies and collaborative archaeology we can put the damages done by capitalism in a perspective where we envision new futures. Instead of repeating old colonial patterns deeply ingrained in archaeology we can play a role in building new more robust heritage landscapes. When we are prepared we can deal with unruly heritage landscapes even in times of natural disaster and avoid new social disasters."

PRESS RELEASE: When will the disrespect end, as it relates to the Golden Rock African Burial Ground site on Sint Eustatius?

 

 

 

 

 Also published in The Daily Herald of April 25, 2022  

When will the disrespect end, as it relates to the Golden Rock African Burial Ground site on Sint Eustatius?
 

ST. EUSTATIUS / 24 April 2022 / -- Ubuntu Connected Front


Buried in an article of The Daily Herald of March 25, 2022, “Parliament again asks to accelerate Statia process” concerning a resent debate of the Second Chamber of the Dutch government, where various Members of Parliament express their views on the speeding up to restore democracy on Sint Eustatius. It is quite ironic that the process to enact a law, in the second week in February 2018, when the then State Secretary of Kingdom Relation, passed the law, based on the so call Wise men Refunjol-Janssen, not forgetting the main unmentioned author the forgotten Jenny Thunnissen, report, through both Dutch Parliaments, with unanimous consent, signed into law by the King, traveled to Sint Eustatius, with military support, to take over a defenseless island, all within the time frame of three days, but it have to take divine intervention, to speed up a process that have lasted over four years.  The state secretary, van Huffelen, referred to the Dutch Slavery past as “a shame in our shared history” and it was very important to give account for it, but on the other hand the prime-minister, who apparently have a degree in Dutch history from the Leiden University, still believes that an apology would create a risk that will cause society to further become more polarizing. Based on apologies that he has muster up the courage to give in the past months, they still seem to be lacking some elements of what a proper apology should be regarding the Afrikan people. They should at least have some elements of, acknowledgment, remorse and empathy, and the most of all, restitution on grounds of reparatory justice. If one should dissect the historical behavior of colonial powers, they tend to enact laws, or skillfully make statement, that might make terms like “War Crimes” and “Crimes against Humanity” as incidents of history, that will be easily forgotten as time go by, without any proper form of restitution or accountability.  

The project if the Construction Airport Boulevard which is scheduled to commence the second quarter of 2022, seems to have the plans in full swing. Apart from having a presentation of the report from the Statia Heritage Research Commission (SHRC), in relation to the excavation that was done at the Afrikan Burial Ground site in questioned, it might seem like all the relevant boxes have been checked off, like community engagement, and all is well. Specifically, in the notice of the project, is mentioned about “the Bend at the One Link supermarket” and is noticeable from the video clip, that is circulating, of the Airport Boulevard project that some sort of construction will take place through the Afrikan Burial Ground site in question. Apparently there seems to be a major traffic congestion issue and by constructing roundabouts that “will improve the safety of road users immensely.” We would like the local government administration to publicize, the past reports of these incidents, that is disrupting the flow of traffic, that took place in the last four years. If one should use the same argumentation provided for the placements of these roundabouts, practically every intersection on the island would qualify for one.

Another very important moment in time is, since the matter of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and colonialism, that has been classified a crime against humanity, by the United Nations.
As a consequence of the UN decision the following developed, the European parliament, with the full endorsement of all the EU parliaments members that represents the coalition parties that supports the present fourth Rutte cabinet, with a pending apology which might happen sometime this century the fundamental question can be ask.
With the possibility of this Airport Boulevard project, with the placement of the roundabout destroying the 18 century cemetery of our enslaved Afrikan ancestors, the second biggest in the Caribbean after Barbados which in itself is disrespectful is that not become part of a crime against humanity?

Taking the most recent roundabout, that still have people wondering why it was constructed in the first place, and why you still have those mobile guardrails with the sign “Road to Jeems Road Closed” place on one of them, when practically on a daily basis you will see motorist entering the roundabout and making a left turn because it seems more practical to do so.
It seems quite easy for motions to be presented, and carried in the Dutch parliament, often giving vague and general instructions, but that have not come to the realization that the main issue, that is the common unmentioned cause of the majority of the problems, as it relates to its colonies have to do with racism. The “BCN” issue with students coming from the colonial part of the kingdom are basically being racially profiled and are categorized as foreigners with the Dutch passports. How is it possible that practically overnight, sanctions on the oil and gas trade from Venezuela can be implemented with the full support of the Dutch Government, with the full knowledge of the economic ramifications that will result thereof for the colonial part of the kingdom, including other Caribbean islands, then questioning the abilities of the islands to run their own affairs, because of the lack of sufficient financial means follows by intention to further take away any form of autonomy that they believe to have. On the other hand, it seems to be a very difficult pill and bitter to swallow, to implement similar oil and gas sanctions when the European part of the kingdom, including Europe might suffer the economic ramifications of such a move. Also resent you have the COHO elephant taking up a lot of media discussion room that comes as a subtle form of terrorism.

The Emancipation Act of July 1, 1863, although the decision was made in 1848, when the Netherlands abolish slavery, didn’t come without the usual concerns, like it even took many more years after for the enslaved Afrikans to be free because of a mandatory 10-year transition phase in Suriname. Some might say that those responsible for the Transatlantic Slave trade are no longer alive, so what use does an apology serve? The answer to that question reveals it self through a system that seems to repeat itself. Although with the introduction of the Charter of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1954, that should have ended the Dutch ownership of colonies, which turns out not to be true. When it comes to matters of freedom the Dutch Government still seems to drag things out endlessly, and referring to self-made laws, but in the interest of development and fabricated safety and congestion issues, the placement of a roundabout trumps a cemetery of our enslaved Afrikan ancestors that apparently was not the final resting place, even after enduring the horrendous and barbaric Crimes Against Humanity.   



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Information for the Editor

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

The St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance 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).

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.

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 Afrikan descent.

Ubuntu means "humanity" in Afrikan 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.

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