Five years above ground is enough: Petition urges reburial of Statia’s 69 Golden Rock ancestors by Nov. 13

ORANJESTAD, St. Eustatius--A group of concerned citizens from St. Eustatius’ descendant community has launched a petition calling on the Executive Council to ensure that the remains of 69 ancestors excavated from the 18th-century Golden Rock Plantation burial ground are reinterred on or before November 13, 2026.

The petition comes amid renewed uncertainty over the planned reburial, more than five years after the remains were excavated in 2021. Petitioners say another postponement would prolong a painful chapter for a community that has repeatedly called for the ancestors to be returned to rest with dignity.

Posted on the Facebook page Statia Lets Debate, the petition argues that what began as an archaeological excavation has developed into a wider community issue involving dignity, descendant rights, scientific research, public accountability and the treatment of ancestral human remains.

The Statia Cultural Heritage Implementation Committee, SCHIC, recently updated the community on the reburial and memorialisation process. SCHIC was established in 2022 to help implement recommendations of the Statia Heritage Research Commission, SHRC, which was formed following protests by Statians at home and abroad over the handling of the remains and concerns that the excavation proceeded without sufficient community consent.

After years of discussion, consultation, planning, delays and setbacks, land behind the Old Church Cemetery near the Statia Hospitainer was identified as the preferred location for reburial. Recent testing reportedly confirmed that the site is suitable, and November 13, 2026, was proposed as the date for the reinterment.

According to the petitioners, the proposed date reflected SCHIC’s own concern that the ancestors had remained above ground for far too long.

That timetable is now uncertain.

During a recent meeting involving SCHIC and members of the Executive and Island Councils, interest was reportedly expressed in conducting further DNA analysis using samples collected from the remains in 2021. SCHIC reportedly questioned why the matter was being raised only two months before the planned reburial, following years of consultations during which descendants repeatedly called for the ancestors to be returned to rest.

Despite those concerns, SCHIC has proposed postponing the reburial by one to two months to allow for additional consultation.

The petitioners are asking the Executive Council to proceed with the reinterment instead.

Their central message is to “rebury their ancestors now,” arguing that scientific questions, additional research, policy discussions and recommendations can continue after the remains have been laid to rest.

They maintain that the remains do not need to stay above ground while every outstanding issue is debated.

The petitioners acknowledge that the Executive Council and Island Council have the right to ask questions and consider whether further research could deepen St. Eustatius’ understanding of its history. They argue, however, that respect for those institutions does not mean the descendant community should accept another delay without scrutiny.

Government has been dealing with the matter since 2021. The SHRC reported in 2022, SCHIC has worked on implementation for several years, consultations have taken place, a reburial site has been selected and preparations have advanced.

After more than five years, the petitioners say even a temporary postponement must not be allowed to become another open-ended period of uncertainty.

They are also requesting greater transparency surrounding previous and proposed research.

Samples were reportedly sent to Leiden University for testing. Petitioners want to know whether that testing proceeded and, if it did not or was stopped, who made that decision, when it was made and the basis on which it was taken.

Additional questions arose following information shared during a SCHIC radio program that a delegation travelled to Benin, where a spiritual adviser reportedly advised against DNA testing of the bones.

The petitioners are asking who formed part of that delegation, how the trip was funded, what official status was attached to the advice received in Benin and how that advice was weighed against the wishes expressed by St. Eustatius’ descendant community and a majority of Island Council representatives.

They stressed that the questions are not intended as an attack on spiritual or cultural beliefs. Rather, they say the issues concern transparency, accountability and decision-making in a process involving public institutions, public funds and ancestral human remains.

As an advisory body, petitioners say SCHIC has a responsibility to clearly and independently present the facts, its professional advice and the recorded wishes of the descendant community to Government.

They also stress that there is no evidence that SCHIC changed its position to satisfy political wishes. However, they argue that the community should be able to clearly identify what descendants requested, what SCHIC professionally recommends and what elected representatives now wish to explore.

The petition also raises questions about the present custody and condition of the remains.

Petitioners are seeking an official account of where all 69 ancestors are currently being kept, who has custody of them, whether all remains are accounted for, their present condition, what samples were removed in 2021, where those samples are being held and what research has already been completed.

Earlier reports indicated that the remains were being stored on St. Eustatius in labelled containers under climate-controlled conditions. Petitioners say that after several years, an updated custody and condition report is warranted.

The significance of the Golden Rock burial ground has also extended beyond St. Eustatius. In 2024, Godet and Golden Rock were included in UNESCO’s Network of Places of History and Memory linked to Enslavement and the Slave Trade.

Petitioners say the treatment of the 69 ancestors therefore raises wider questions about remembrance, descendant participation and appropriate standards for the handling of ancestral human remains.

They are also concerned that even a short postponement could push the issue into the election period, when other political priorities could overtake the reburial and create the possibility of another delay.

After five years, they argue, St. Eustatius should not risk allowing another year to pass before the ancestors are laid to rest.

Science may still have questions, Government has responsibilities and committees have procedures, but the petitioners say their message is straightforward: “five years is long enough.”

The petition is calling on the Executive Council to proceed with reinterment on or before November 13 while allowing consultation, research and unresolved questions to continue afterward.

The petitioners argue that laying the ancestors to rest does not require St. Eustatius to bring its historical research or discussion to an end. The ancestors, they say, can be reinterred while the work of understanding and documenting their history continues.

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