St. Eustatius Alliance kicks off family heritage project with community gathering and screening of ‘A Story of Bones’

ST. EUSTATIUS -- The St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance kicks off the family heritage project “Remember Statia: Tracing Our Origins” on Tuesday evening March 26 at 7 pm in the public library on St. Eustatius. It is a public event where people can walk in, ask questions about the project and watch the documentary “A Story of Bones”.

After this introduction meeting, on April 2, 3, and 4, the Center for Family History from the Netherlands will give three workshops on relevant archival sources and how to search in the archives. On April 10 and 17, educator and writer Marvin Hokstam who has long worked in St. Maarten as a journalist, will host two workshops on how to craft a personal story with the information found about our ancestors. A maximum of 35 people can join the program, whether on location in St. Eustatius or online.

Researching and reinterpreting marginalized histories

Marvin Hokstam who did a similar program with the Surinamese community:

The Black community has a wealth of untold stories. Beyond enslavement, marginalization and hardship, our history is full of great stories, of heroism, of love, of entrepreneurship.

Black people have a pre- and post-slavery history as well with stories that live on in the oral tradition of families, but have been conveniently ignored by Eurocentric historiography. Many Black people are unaware of the wealth of rich material in archives waiting to be uncovered and turned into engaging ancestor stories.”

Retaking our history, rewriting our narrative

Getting the names of our ancestors from archival sources and making them known is important to change the narrative.

Our ancestors were not just enslaved, they were people with a name, a face, a profession, a story. They came from different countries of the continent of Afrika, they had knowledge, values, and traditions. They survived the crimes and horrors of the Middle Passage; our ancestors virtually live in us.

There was also a large free Black community in St. Eustatius that we know little about. We have to get ancestors out of oblivion, where they were at best extras in the history of the colonizers, while it was them who actually built the Americas.

Participants do not necessarily have to research their whole family tree going back centuries," Cuvalay explains. “You can write your story about someone who has been very inspirational to you, for example.” The Alliance is very much looking forward to the results of the project, and it trusts the stories will capture the heart and soul of the strong-willed Statia people, with heroic whaler captains, highly skilled tailors, carpenters, midwives, artists, musicians, healers, teachers, and what have you. The Alliance is preparing a special tribute to Statia’s very own Congo man, Mr. Eric Henriquez, who passed away in November 2023.”

About the project

The Dutch Slavery Memorial Year's Mondriaan Culture Fund Open Call partially funds the project. It is still possible to register for the project. If you have roots in St. Eustatius and are from the Afrikan (diaspora) community, you are welcome to join via https://bit.ly/statia-ancestors. All stories collected will be published.