ORANJESTAD, St. Eustatius:--- A group of concerned citizens from St. Eustatius’ descendant community has launched a petition urging the Executive Council to ensure that the 69 ancestral human remains excavated in 2021 from the 18th-century Golden Rock Plantation burial ground are reinterred on or before November 13, 2026.
Posted on the Facebook page Statia Lets Debate, the petition reflects concern that, after more than five years above ground, further delay would prolong a painful chapter for a community that has repeatedly asked for its ancestors to be returned to rest with dignity. Instead of the long-awaited reburial moving forward, another postponement is now possible. What began as an archaeological excavation has become an emotional community issue involving dignity, descendant rights, scientific research, and one urgent question: how much longer should Statia’s ancestors remain unburied?
The Statia Cultural Heritage Implementation Committee, SCHIC, recently updated the community on the reburial and memorialization process. Established in 2022, SCHIC was tasked with helping implement recommendations of the Statia Heritage Research Commission, SHRC, formed after protests by Statians at home and abroad over the handling of the remains and concerns that excavation proceeded without sufficient community consent. After years of discussion, planning, delays, and setbacks, land behind the Old Church Cemetery near the Statia Hospital was identified as the preferred reburial site. Recent testing reportedly confirmed the site is suitable, and November 13, 2026, was proposed for reburial. The date reportedly reflected SCHIC’s own concern that the ancestors had remained above ground far too long. That timetable is now uncertain. During a recent meeting involving SCHIC and members of the Executive and Island Councils, participants reportedly expressed interest in further DNA analysis using samples collected from the remains in 2021. SCHIC reportedly questioned why the issue was being raised only two months before the planned reburial, after years of consultation in 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 for further consultation.
For petitioners, the central request is for the Executive Council to “rebury their ancestors now.” They believe “scientific questions, research, policy discussions and recommendations can continue after reinterment.” The remains do not need to stay unburied while every outstanding matter is debated. According to the petitioners, the Executive Council and Island Council have every right to ask questions and consider whether additional research could deepen Statia’s understanding of its history. Respect for those institutions, however, does not require the community to accept another delay without scrutiny. Government has dealt with this matter since 2021. The SHRC reported in 2022 that SCHIC has worked on implementation for years, consultations have occurred, a site has been selected, and preparations have advanced. After more than five years, petitioners say a temporary postponement must not become another open-ended period of uncertainty. Important questions also require transparent answers. Samples were reportedly sent to Leiden University for testing. If that testing did not proceed or was stopped, who made that decision, when, and on what basis?
During a SCHIC radio program, the community was also told that a delegation traveled to Benin, where a spiritual adviser advised against DNA testing of the bones. That raises further questions: who formed part of the delegation, how the trip was funded, what official status that advice carried, and how it was weighed against the wishes expressed by Statia’s descendant community and a majority of Island Council representatives. The petitioners say their questions are not attacking spiritual or cultural beliefs. They are questions of transparency, accountability and decision-making in a process involving public institutions, public funds and ancestral human remains. As an advisory body, SCHIC has a responsibility to present the facts, its professional advice, and the recorded wishes of the descendant community to government clearly and independently. While there is no evidence that SCHIC changed its position to satisfy political wishes, the petitioners believe they should be able to distinguish between what descendants requested, what SCHIC professionally recommends, and what elected representatives now wish to explore. Unanswered questions also remain about the remains themselves. Those questions include a request for an official account of where the 69 ancestors are kept, who has custody, whether all are accounted for, their present condition, what samples were removed in 2021, where those samples are held, and what research has already been completed.
Earlier reports said the remains were stored on St. Eustatius in labeled containers under climate-controlled conditions, but an updated custody and condition report is warranted. The Golden Rock burial ground is no longer only a local heritage matter. 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. The treatment of these ancestors therefore speaks to wider standards of remembrance, descendant participation and respect for human remains. Petitioners also warn that even a short postponement could push the issue into the election period, where political priorities may overtake the reburial, and another delay could follow. After five years, they argue, Statia should not risk another year passing. Science may still have questions. Government has responsibilities. Committees have procedures. But the petition’s message is simple: “five years is long enough.” The petition asks the Executive Council to proceed with reinterment on or before November 13, while allowing consultation, research, and unresolved questions to continue afterward. The ancestors can be laid to rest without placing Statia’s history, research or discussion to rest with them.
