About Us

About the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance (SE-ABG Alliance)

The SE-ABG Alliance came about as a result of the protests against the excavations on an 18th-century burial ground of enslaved Afrikans that were started by a team of international archaeologists in June 2021 in St. Eustatius (see www. change.org/LeaveOurAncestorsInPeace). 

 

The protests 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-Africanism 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. Among them are Annina van Neel, CEO of the Tiekie Box Project and protagonist of the awarded documentary “A Story of Bones”, and Peggy King Jorde, consultant and defender of marginalized histories and Afrikan burial grounds.

 
These organizations are Afrikan centered organizations of people of Afrikan descent from St. Eustatius. We are not affiliated with another group of people that is protesting against the excavations, the group of five ‘concerned citizens’. 
 
We also work with allies that are experts in their field and are willing to advise us. Together we form the  St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance.
 
We will post regularly on the latest developments as well as provide background information. 
 
Overview of protest activities:  Events Timeline 
 
 

On St. Eustatius and the Dutch Caribbean

Six islands in the Caribbean are part of the kingdom of the Netherlands: Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius. 

Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten are each a country within the kingdom. 

The three smaller islands, Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, are public entities in the Netherlands. All three together they are sometimes referred to as Caribbean Netherlands or the BES islands. 

Explanation of the spelling of Afrika

Why we and other Afrikan grassroots’ movement spell Afrika with a “k” instead of a “c” is 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. 

Ka The Soul, There are three elements to the Egyptian concept of the soul: Ka, Ba and Akh.

  • Ka is the life force or spiritual double of the person;

  • The royal Ka symbolized a pharaoh’s right to rule;

  • A universal force that passed from one pharaoh to the next.