January 24, 2025 • 34 mins
In “Shadows of Suffering in Buccaneers Paradise,” we travel to St. Eustatius (1700–1750), an era of booming trade, shifting European alliances, and the exploitation of enslaved labor—particularly women. Fragmented records reveal how free women inherited property and shaped local economies, sometimes defying rigid colonial norms. Meanwhile, enslaved women bore the dual burden of forced labor and reproductive exploitation yet preserved cultural traditions and asserted agency against all odds. Most intriguing is the island’s mysterious blue bead—initially just a piece of currency, it became a hidden emblem of defiance and survival. Join us as we unravel Stacia’s paradoxical prosperity and the quietly courageous acts that challenged a system built on human suffering.
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Produced by Simpler Media
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
>> Dr. Sahidi (00:00):
Because enslavement wasn't just physically abusive, it was also
psychologically abusive. And as a form of
psychological abuse, it was reliant on the alienation
of African people from their homeland,
but also from their languages and their families and their communities and
their traditions.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (00:18):
Welcome to Whispers of the Past. I'm your host,
Fi de Vit. In this episode, we
journey into the paradoxical chapter of sint
Eustacia's history. We find ourselves in
the time period between 1700 to
1750, a, ah, moment when the
island's history began to gain fame as a
bustling center of commerce and trade,
(00:41):
celebrated by colonial narratives as a symbol of
progress and prosperity. But
history is never one sided, and beneath
this glorified portrayal lies a distressing
reality of enslavement and the continued
suffering of those who endured it.
While Stacia's harbors was filled with ships and
(01:01):
goods and its streets bustled with trade,
its prosperity was built on the backs of enslaved
individuals whose lives were defined by
unimaginable hardship. This
period also illuminates the profound resilience
of women, both enslaved and free,
whose stories of survival and empowerment
(01:21):
challenges the colonial narrative. From
women who inherited property and wielded influence
in unconventional ways, to those who
preserved cultural traditions, defied
oppression, and led acts of resistance,
their legacy is a reminder that even in the darkest
times, there is strength and hope.
(01:42):
As we delve into this era, we'll uncover
Syntastacia's rapid growth, its role in
the chaotic web of European conflicts, and the
layered experience of those who lived here.
Together, we'll explore the complexities of history
often celebrated for its colonial triumphs, while
exposing the human costs that these narratives
(02:03):
so often overlook.
Historian and teacher Dr. Alain provides us
with the insight into how plantation economies
and their accompanying structures began to
solidify, setting the stage for both its
island's booming trade and the systematic
exploitation that underpinned it.
>> Dr. Anna Hanslin (02:24):
Well, 1700 to 1750 is when
we start to see these plantation
economies really.
>> Dr. Sahidi (02:30):
Take off and there's a big boom.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (02:33):
Right.
>> Dr. Anna Hanslin (02:34):
Uh, and then in the latter decades.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (02:36):
Of the 18th century, we have these.
>> Dr. Sahidi (02:37):
Very mature plantation societies with a
very distinct, distinct kind of culture.
>> Dr. Anna Hanslin (02:43):
And the first, you know, five decades.
>> Dr. Sahidi (02:46):
Of the 18th century is not a
period that I think much has been.
>> Dr. Anna Hanslin (02:50):
Written about with regard to gender
specifically.
>> Dr. Sahidi (02:53):
So I would say this is a pivotal period in which these
plantation economies are growing and,
you know, a, ah, sort of plantation society is
emerging, but it's not quite fully formed
yet.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (03:07):
As, uh, Dr. Lane highlights the first decades of the
18th century was a critical time in the
establishment of plantation economies.
While the system was expanding, its cultural
and gender dynamics were still taking shape,
setting the stage for the entrenched inequalities
and systematic exploitation that would
follow. While the plantation
(03:29):
systems expanded, Syntostacia's role
as a strategic trading hub was growing in
equal measure. We now turn to Mrs.
Sutakao, long term resident of Sintostatius
and one of the founders of the island center of
archaeological research. She
explains that this period saw the island's
development shaped not only by trade, but
(03:51):
also by the ripple effects of European wars and
the diversity of its residents, fostering a, uh,
complex and ever changing landscape.
>> Ms. Sutekau (04:02):
Well, you have to remember
when there were wars in Europe,
just Europe wasn't affected. Often
the Caribbean was affected too. So if the Dutch
were at war with France or England,
those people were often coming here to try to
capture this island. So station changed hands many
(04:23):
times, and that period of time was especially
active. Also during that time, Stacia
began to grow. We began to add more
warehouses. As Stacia grew, more
people came to the island. People here on
Stacia were a mix of people
from many different nationalities because we were a trading
island. Unlike the English islands around
(04:45):
it, where you would find mostly only English
people, here you had people from all
over. The station was
part of the Dutch West Indian trading, but
the Dutch East Indian trading company had been in existence for
many years. Even people as far away as
Asias were actually living here. So
Stacia was growing and we were building more and more wire
(05:08):
home. We were also at
that same time establishing ourselves
as a trading nation among the Caribbean
islands. So it was a busy time.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (05:22):
During the first half of the 18th century, Sinto
Statius found itself at the center of a growing
trading network shaped as much by the
European wars as by local commerce.
As Mrs. Tsutakao explains, the island's
strategic location and growing infrastructure
drew people from across the globe, creating a
(05:42):
unique, diverse population, but also
making it a target during times of conflict.
Synthesia's diverse population mirrored
its growing trade networks with records revealing
the breadth of its connection to other European
and Caribbean colonies. As Mrs.
Tsutakao shares, tax records provide
(06:03):
glimpses of the island's bustling economy,
but leaves much unsaid about the lives of the
people, especially the enslaved
individuals who lived and labored here.
>> Ms. Sutekau (06:16):
If you look at the records and you look at the
names of the people on the record, the
tax records, which are the best records we have,
you'll notice a lot of English, French,
um, Dutch, possibly German
name, other people's names. We were trading
with the Danish colonies. We were trading with
(06:37):
Swedish colonies. So those people may very
well have been here. So looking at the records of the
tax records tells you something about
the owners of properties that are here, but it doesn't
tell you about the whole population.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (06:53):
Synthastacia's tax records reveals a
kaleidoscope of culture and national identities
evident of the island's vibrant trading community.
As Mr. Soutakau notes, these records
hint at the complexity of life on
Cintastasius, where property ownership
tells us only part of the story,
leaving the lives of many, particularly
(07:15):
enslaved, in the shadows.
Yet within this fragmented history, we
find hints of women's significant roles,
both as inheritors of property and as key
figures navigating societal
constraints.
>> Ms. Sutekau (07:32):
The only things that we know are from
the records that we have of, um,
death records and records of
birth and stuff like that. And so we don't
have a lot of information, but we're beginning to compile
some. In many cases, the men were
dying young and their widows were
(07:53):
inheriting property, which would then
go to whoever they remarried
later on. But most often, the
property was actually passing through the women,
not through the men.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (08:10):
The fragmented records offers glimpses into
women's agency during this time. Whether
through inheriting property or participating in
localized economies, women, both European
and free women of color, played crucial roles in
Stacia's social and economic fabric.
This echoes earlier traditions seen in
(08:30):
Amerindian societies, where land and
influence often passed through female lines,
illustrating how women's resilience persisted
across cultures and eras.
Simultaneously, this era on Sintostatias
saw a marked increase in the transatlantic
and interisland trade of enslaved
(08:51):
individuals. As Mrs. Soutika
explains, the island's role as both a direct
importer of enslaved people from Africa
and a, uh, hub for smaller Klein bar trade
place it at the heart of a system of human
exploitation.
>> Ms. Sutekau (09:09):
A lot of slaves coming through Stacia,
but the number of slaves in Stacia itself that were
actually living here, that grew
much later than that period of time.
And I don't know a whole lot about it because,
again, we haven't had the research that we
should have had done here.
There may be research done, but a
(09:31):
lot of those records are just now being digitized,
and we're beginning to get hold of them. Dacia
was a major slave trading island. There were
two types of slave trade that were going on here.
The ones where the people were actually being brought
from slavery. Africa then sold
from here to other places, the United
(09:52):
States to other islands
around the Caribbean. Then there
was what, uh, was called the Klein Bar, a
small island trade where slaves
were being traded. Say you had slaves that you wanted
to sell or buy, you would bring them or
come to station to buy them. So
(10:12):
the small island trade between the
island was being done on station, even if
it was with the France and the French islands
or the Dane, who were also slave
traders, they were actually bringing slaves in from Africa
also, or the Swedish or the
English or other islands.
So there was two
(10:34):
different, although they were all the same
in that they were all putting people into
bondage.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (10:45):
Sintostatia's role in the transatlantic and
slave trade was multifaceted. The
Kleinbar trade, also known as small
island trade, functioned as a regional market
for enslaved individuals who had been transported
from Africa or neighboring colonies.
Enslaved individuals were brought to
Syntostatias not only to be sold directly to
(11:06):
buyers from across the Caribbean, but also to
facilitate exchanges with between
islands, including those under
French, Danish, Swedish
and British control. This
practice often meant breaking apart families and
communities, adding another layer of cruelty
to an already dehumanizing system.
(11:28):
Despite these horrors, Syntostatius also saw
acts of defiance and resistance. These stories
remind us that even in systems designed to erase
agency, individuals found ways to assert
their humanity. As we delve deeper, the dual
roles of commerce and exploitation on this
island become impossible to separate.
(11:49):
Sintostacia's strategic location and natural
harbor not only facilitate its role as a major
trading hub, but also sets the stage for its
participation in the transatlantic and slave
trade. In episode one, we touched
upon the natural landscape of Sinterias as a
key factor in its historical significance.
(12:10):
And again we turn to Dr. Ruth Stelten, an
archaeologist with first hand experience working here
on Sintostatius. He will elaborate
further on this topic. His insight will help us
understand why Sintostatius Bay was so
influential, shaping its rise as a bustling
center of trade and a pivotal player in the economic
(12:30):
and social systems of the Caribbean.
>> Dr. Stelton (12:35):
What's perhaps most interesting from,
uh, a historical point of view is the
area to the west of town, basically Oranya Bai,
and especially the area basically going from
lower town out for about
two and a half, three miles, that area is a
very shallow, sandy,
(12:56):
submerged area landscape on the leeward side
of the island. That's very important. So on the relatively sheltered
side of the island, um, and that area
was used back in the
1600 and 1700s for ships to anchor.
Right. So one of the problems that you have as
even Though, like on Stacia, right, The social
(13:16):
and economic conditions were very conducive to turn it into a free
port and to receive lots and lots of trade and to become a big
emporium. The landscape also needs to cooperate, not
just terrestrial, but also marine. And it did so on Stacia,
because in order to house that many ships at a
time, you need a large bay. You need
either a large enclosed harbor or a large bay of some sort. Uh, what they call
(13:37):
a roadstead back in the day, right? That's the area where all these ships were dropping
anchor. And that roadstead needs to be pretty sandy as well, because
those anchors, they need to hold right anchor. If a ship drops an anchor,
it needs to bury itself in the sand. You need
a sandy sea floor for that. It cannot be
covered in coral reefs and rocks and things like that. The very
good thing Stacia is that it had just that it had
(13:57):
a large sandy area right in front of
Lowertown on the leeward side of the island. That
doesn't mean that it's always nice and calm there, because
if you're doing a nice sunset cruise close to the
waterfront, you know, in Lowertown, you'll be all right
usually. But if you go one and a half,
two kilometers out, it can get pretty rough because the island is not
perfectly oriented north, south, but also it is not
(14:20):
very big. So it doesn't provide a whole lot of shelter. It
provides some, but not a whole lot. So the further out you go, the rougher it
gets. So I'm sure, like a lot of people on these
ships, you know, that were there sometimes for a few days, but sometimes
for weeks or even months on end, like they were not having a good time.
If you're. If you're anchored further out and it's choppy and
it's constantly rough, like you're not going to have a good time.
Um, but you could still anchor there, and so that's
(14:42):
important, right? So in the Caribbean,
we have a few very, like, specific, like,
ports. Basically, if you look at St. Barts in the town of
Gustavia, you have a very nice enclosed area. That is
the harbor, right? So over there, yes, you can sail a number of
ships in, but it's not that many. Not as many as you would have on Stacia,
but you would be in a very nice, calm,
controlled area. But on Stacia,
(15:05):
there's all about volume. And so there is. There's
eyewitness accounts from the late 1700s, for example,
Admiral Rodney, but also Dutch sailors mentioned that There
are at Any time between 150 and 200 ships
anchored in Stacia's roadstead. That's a
crazy number of ships.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (15:23):
As Dr. Stelton illustrates, the natural
features of Sinta, Stacias provides the perfect
condition for a bustling maritime trade.
The sandy seabed and the sheltered roadstead
offered a haven for hundreds of ships to arrive
each year, making Stacia a vital point
of connection in the Caribbean economic web.
(15:43):
But this trade was not only for goods. It was
also about enslaved people whose
life were commodified and uprooted. With
this context, we turn to the island's heritage inspector,
Mr. Richardson, who paints a vivid picture of life on
the island during the early 18th century.
>> Mr. Richardson (16:04):
So it's, uh, 1720, um,
first of all, around 1720, I must say,
um, in the spatial development
plan, you see that the city
Oranya, it's blooming. They develop a spatial
development plan of 1720, which kind of
gives street names to new places,
buildings. The population is extremely high. It's, I
(16:25):
think it's around, it's past 8,000 at that period of
time. There's lots of people living on the island,
lots so much that the one people that are
visiting Sint Eustatius are referring to the
island back then as one of the ugliest islands in the
Caribbean. And that's because the minute you
set foot, put on the horizon.
(16:45):
One description from a French gentleman and his
family and his wife then that are touring the Caribbean describes
the island as a floating European
city, that the, uh, houses are
stories high and you can hardly see any green, that it's
over cultivated, it's overpopulated, and there's
commerce of everything and every sort happening
(17:06):
on the island. And then later on you see other letters
from a lady of quality called Janet Shaw, for example, who
also writes about the island's
unattractive appearance and also quite
smelly, but also quite noisy. And then
there's also another British gentleman who also
refers to that he has never seen
the extent of such debauchery and
(17:28):
trade on St. Eustatius. He hasn't seen it anywhere
else. So you already get an idea of what the
island is like. So he kind of visualize the
noise, the sounds, the street, and of course
the trading. There's a lot of trading going on.
The island is blooming, it's way before
this. American independence will be coming later on.
(17:49):
But the island is really trading and booming. And it's also trading,
of course, in people, in porcelain, in
opium. Everything that is possible is being
Traded. But what's also interesting is the
amount of plantations. The amount of plantations around then
are about 30. This would eventually
skyrocket. When, of course, the British come in
and plunder the islands, et cetera, it will eventually go up to
(18:11):
higher numbers.
But then when you look at the demographics
of the island's population of free and
colored, you also see, for example, free
people of color, 1200. What are they doing? Who
are they? But you also see on the list
Chinese immigrants, two Japanese immigrants living
on Hindu stations. What are all these people doing here?
(18:33):
But what's also interesting is that
when it look at the enslaved people, for example, many of
them are working in the custom houses. Many of them are working in
the warehouses. Of course, not under the best of
circumstances, of course, because if you look at the letters that are being
wrote about the island and the stench that you can also get
out of these letters, you know that the work, um,
(18:54):
on floor isn't the best place. The island is really
blooming. It's expanding and it's growing.
And in all of this time, like I said in the beginning, from
1636 to where we are now in the 1720s, the
island is still changing hands already. So in that
period, it's already been British, it's already been French, it's already
been Dutch, and it's going back and forth.
(19:14):
It's very chaotic.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (19:17):
Mr. Richardson's account reveals the paradox
of the 18th century. Stacia, a place
bustling with life and commerce, yet burdened by the grim
realities of enslavement and exploitation.
From the chatter of people to the noise of bustling
warehouses, the streets of Oranjestad hummed with
activities. But amidst the activity, the human
(19:37):
cost of progress loomed large.
Enslaved individuals labored in custom houses
and warehouses, enduring unimaginable
conditions. Despite this,
stories of resilience and defiance began to
emerge, offering glimpses of humanity
within the chaos.
>> Mr. Richardson (19:59):
And one of the interesting things is that, of
course, all of the abolitionists, people are starting to speak
out about the slave trade also. But
no one ever will abolish slavery on St.
Eustatius until 1816. So
let's keep that in mind as we go through these episodes. You
will see that it's going to be a long period where
(20:19):
the French capture Saint Eustatius, the island becomes
French, and the French continue the trade where the Dutch
left off and the British. So it was just the fast money.
And that also reflected how people of color,
um, were being treated. But in that period, there's
also some, you know, very interesting stories
of People defying the odds. And I will,
(20:39):
of course, as we go on, expound on these very
interesting stories.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (20:45):
By 1720, Oranjestad was a
hive of activity, its economy
thriving amidst the constant movement of goods,
people and ideas. Mr. Richardson
vividly illustrates this boom, from bustling
warehouses to sprawling plantations that
defined life here on the island. Yet beneath
the veneer of prosperity lay the stark realities of
(21:08):
human exploitation. These
untold stories of resilience and defiance
challenges the colonial narratives of unbridled
progress. They remind us that
Syntostatia's flourishing trade and wealth
was built on the labor and endurance of those who live through
unimaginable hardship, leaving traces
of their humanity in the shadows of
(21:30):
history. While the
bustling streets of Oranjestad and the booming trade
painted a picture of growth and prosperity,
the experience of women under enslavement continued to
reveal a harrowing and often overlooked
reality. As we keep taking a
closer look of the profound difference between the lives
of men and women, we see the
(21:52):
unique burden women bore within the systems of
slavery, one that extends far beyond
forced labor. Their roles as mothers and
their ability to bear children place them at the very core
of a system's perpetuation,
subjecting them to a cruel and calculated
exploitation of humanity.
Historian Dr. Anna Hanseln helps us explore
(22:14):
further this profoundly gendered dimension of
enslavement.
>> Dr. Anna Hanslin (22:22):
I think women's experience under enslavement was always
fundamentally different from men's, and that is
irrespective of place and time. And that's partly
because in this system of transatlantic
African chattel slavery that rose
up in the 17th and 18th centuries in the
Caribbean in particular, as one of
the central focus points of where millions of people
(22:44):
were sent and lived, um, women
were the ones able to naturally reproduce
more enslaved people. And so
their bodies were seen as property, but
also as property that had the potential to create more
property for their enslavers. And
this, of course, puts women in a terrible dilemma
of knowing that any children they have, if they themselves
(23:07):
are enslaved, will be legally born enslaved as
well. And so this makes them
obviously the focus of, in some cases,
deliberate rapes, um, by enslavers
who want them to reproduce. And this doesn't just
happen in the Caribbean. We have a documented instance of it happen
happening in 1630s Massachusetts. So,
you know, this is not something that's, that's limited to the
(23:29):
Caribbean. But I think women did have this,
um, this potential within the eyes of enslavers.
And then, of course, they themselves, as human beings and
as mothers, this puts them often in the terrible
predicament of what would normally be one of the great
joys of most women's lives, which is having children.
Knowing that they're bringing children into this horrible
system, um, I think would have been an extra
(23:52):
burden that women had to bear, um, that
men did not in the same way. Because if men were raped
within the system of slavery, um, it was not
to impregnate them, which is often what happened to
women. And women, of course, uh, were
able to also have unique, um,
forms of resistance apart from men, in
(24:12):
the sense that, you know, sometimes these sexual relations
were not entirely coercive. And we do
have, you know, examples here and there of
couples who were intimate where there seems to have been real
affection. Although, of course, it's always hard to say if a woman is
enslaved, um, how much she is able to
exercise free will in that respect. But so you do have
instances of families being created. Um,
(24:35):
some enslaved women are able to parlay
that into freedom for themselves or freedom for
their children eventually. And so I think that is
something that, um, is a road that's more commonly available
for enslaved women than men. Although, of course, these
are, you know, a tiny, tiny fraction
of the experience of enslaved people, um, in
(24:55):
the Caribbean, but it's still there. Nevertheless.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (25:00):
Dr. Anna Hanslin offers a profound exploration
of a deeply gendered experience of enslavement,
highlighting the unique burden bore by women.
Their ability to bear children, cruelly reframed through the
lens of colonial exploitation, turned them into both
laborers and commodities. Yet
amidst such dehumanization, women
(25:20):
displayed remarkable resilience and found ways to
reclaim agency, leaving behind legacies
of strength that defy the colonial narrative.
This narrative of resilience is further reflected
in the story of Cintastatia's mysterious
Bluebeet. These small objects that
we have spoken about in previous episodes
(25:41):
were initially used as currency,
evolved into powerful symbols of resistance,
identity and cultural preservation.
To help us understand their profound
significance and their impact on the lives of the
enslaved here on Syntostatius, we now turn to
archaeologist Dr. Sahidi.
>> Dr. Sahidi (26:02):
The bluebead economy
was not
a static system.
The value of the beads was most likely
determined by the person who owned the bead. Um,
it wasn't like the type of official
currency that other people were using.
(26:22):
And so they might have used the beads for many
different things. I mean, of course, we know the story about,
um, a man needing to have enough beads to go around
a woman's waist to marry her, which would be a form
of dowry. People might have
also used beads for certain provisions,
um, if they weren't producing enough in their gardens
for different skills, all sorts of things.
(26:45):
Because within the wider
economy of the island, Enslaved villages and enslaved
communities had their own communities,
their own economies, where they were producing their own
goods. So it was. It was kind of like a smaller
economy within the larger economy,
if that makes sense.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (27:07):
Blue beads, while primarily associated with the
enslaved population as a form of currency for
labor, May have also had a broader
role on the island. Questions linger about
whether these beads also facilitated exchanges
between free individuals and the enslaved,
Hinting at a more intricate web of economic and
(27:27):
social relationships here on cintastasius.
Unfortunately, much remains unknown about
these interactions. The use of bluebeads
in this context is still a mystery, and further
research, Particularly into free villages and their
historical records, could provide crucial
insights. But for now, this gap in our
(27:48):
understanding highlights the ongoing effort of Required
to fully uncover the complexity of life
here on stacia during that time.
To delve deeper into the connection between blue beads
and women, Dr. Sahidi continues to explore how
these seemingly simple objects carried profound
significance. Rooted in west African
(28:09):
traditions, the beads symbolize fertility,
femininity, and identity, Elements that
enslaved women brought with them to cintastasias.
But how did these beads shape their lives?
Were they merely relics of cultural memory?
Or did they transform into tools of resistance and
empowerment Within a system designed to
(28:30):
deny their sovereignty? These
questions guide us as we unravel the layered history
of bluebeads and their enduring impacts of the lives
of enslaved women on the island.
>> Dr. Sahidi (28:44):
There's a prevalent story on Stacia that, uh,
for an enslaved man to marry a woman, he had to have enough
beads to wrap all the way around her waist.
And that tradition of wearing beads around the waist
or the hips Comes from west Africa.
It's an ancient adornment practice.
That practice was brought to the Caribbean and the
(29:05):
Americas. And the most famous example of that is from a grave
in the African burial ground in New York city, where
African women were buried with their waist beads.
So the waist beads symbolize fertility,
sensuality, femininity. And
that practice being brought to Stacia
is, I would say, in itself, a symbol of
resistance and self empowerment.
(29:28):
Because enslavement wasn't just physically abusive, it was
also psychologically abusive. And as a form of
psychological abuse, it was reliant on the alienation
of African people from their homeland,
but also from their languages and their families and their communities and
their traditions. And that cultural genocide
was a way of controlling people that was often more
effective in meeting colonial
(29:50):
objectives than physical violence. So even though we think about
something like waist beads as maybe even, um, like a kind
of fashion, from a contemporary perspective,
the truth is that these ancestral
feminine practices that were
brought to the Caribbean are anti colonial
through the preservation of tangible and intangible heritage
tradition. So when we look at the colonial
(30:13):
order, which depended on keeping enslaved people at the
bottom of the social hierarchy, which is why the
Dutch gave blue beads to enslaved people instead of money. They didn't
want them to participate in the wider economy. They didn't want
them to benefit from the prosperity experienced by members of the
elite. But enslaved people resisted that
too. They created their own economies.
Um, for women to then play a role
(30:36):
in how the blue beads as a form of currency were
valued is also a form of resistance, not only
against colonialism, but also as a way of exerting
feminine power over a patriarchal system.
So a woman who is well fed with a curvaceous body can then
have the self agency to determine her own value.
She can say, you don't have enough beads
(30:56):
to go around my waist, so go get more, and then maybe I'll marry you
if you're lucky. And that's empowering. I
think on a different level,
we can also look at, um, the way that
beads are worn in the contemporary period. So a lot of women on
station now have established new
meaning with the beads. They're not a symbol of oppression. They're
a symbol of cultural preservation
(31:19):
and ancestral connection.
So, um, people wear beads in
their hair. They wear beads as necklaces or as
bracelets. And that's also a way
of entangling the past with
the present and bringing those stories to life
and honoring women of the past.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (31:40):
As we conclude this episode, we
reflect on the paradoxical history of sinter
Statius between 1700 and
1750, a period defined by
immense growth, bustling trade, and cultural
exchange, yet underpinned by the
harrowing realities of enslavement and
systematic exploitation. Amid the
(32:02):
noise of Oranjestad streets and the sails of
countless ships in the harbor, stories of resilience
and defiance are starting to emerge,
offering glimpses of humanity within the
chaotic and often brutal world.
We've explored how Syntostacia's natural harbor
made it a vital hub of global commerce,
with its plantations and warehouses fueling
(32:24):
an economy built on the backs of enslaved
individuals. At the heart of this
history are the women whose strength and resilience
challenges the colonial narrative.
Enslaved women, burdened by the dual
exploitation of labor and forced
reproduction, resisted through acts of cultural
preservation and empowerment.
(32:46):
Free women, both white and of
color, navigating societal constraint,
asserting influence in unconventional ways,
inheriting properties, and shaping Stacia's
social fabric. These stories remind us
that even the darkest chapters of history, women's
courage and agency, served as a quiet,
yet powerful act of defiance.
(33:09):
But Stacia's story is far from over. And, uh, in
our next episode, we'll step into the latter half of the
18th century, a time when the
island earned its name, the Golden Rock. This
era of extraordinary wealth and influence brought new
opportunities, heightened tension, and profound
challenges, both with the island and on a global
stage. Join us as we continue to uncover the
(33:32):
rise of Asia's Golden Age and the complex
legacy it left behind. Until
then, let us continue to carry the lessons of
history with reference. And we leave you
to ponder on these questions.
How do we reckon with the prosperity built on human
suffering?
How do we honor the resilience of those whose stories
(33:54):
remain in the margins of history?
And most importantly, how do these
reflections challenge us to, uh, critically engage
with the legacy of colonial power that is still
being celebrated today?
As we confront these questions, let us
recognize that understanding the past is not merely an
(34:15):
act of remembrance, but a call to confront
injustice, to challenge inherited
narratives, and, most importantly, a
catalyst for meaningful change. Sa.
Because enslavement wasn't just physically abusive, it was also
psychologically abusive. And as a form of
psychological abuse, it was reliant on the alienation
of African people from their homeland,
but also from their languages and their families and their communities and
their traditions.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (00:18):
Welcome to Whispers of the Past. I'm your host,
Fi de Vit. In this episode, we
journey into the paradoxical chapter of sint
Eustacia's history. We find ourselves in
the time period between 1700 to
1750, a, ah, moment when the
island's history began to gain fame as a
bustling center of commerce and trade,
(00:41):
celebrated by colonial narratives as a symbol of
progress and prosperity. But
history is never one sided, and beneath
this glorified portrayal lies a distressing
reality of enslavement and the continued
suffering of those who endured it.
While Stacia's harbors was filled with ships and
(01:01):
goods and its streets bustled with trade,
its prosperity was built on the backs of enslaved
individuals whose lives were defined by
unimaginable hardship. This
period also illuminates the profound resilience
of women, both enslaved and free,
whose stories of survival and empowerment
(01:21):
challenges the colonial narrative. From
women who inherited property and wielded influence
in unconventional ways, to those who
preserved cultural traditions, defied
oppression, and led acts of resistance,
their legacy is a reminder that even in the darkest
times, there is strength and hope.
(01:42):
As we delve into this era, we'll uncover
Syntastacia's rapid growth, its role in
the chaotic web of European conflicts, and the
layered experience of those who lived here.
Together, we'll explore the complexities of history
often celebrated for its colonial triumphs, while
exposing the human costs that these narratives
(02:03):
so often overlook.
Historian and teacher Dr. Alain provides us
with the insight into how plantation economies
and their accompanying structures began to
solidify, setting the stage for both its
island's booming trade and the systematic
exploitation that underpinned it.
>> Dr. Anna Hanslin (02:24):
Well, 1700 to 1750 is when
we start to see these plantation
economies really.
>> Dr. Sahidi (02:30):
Take off and there's a big boom.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (02:33):
Right.
>> Dr. Anna Hanslin (02:34):
Uh, and then in the latter decades.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (02:36):
Of the 18th century, we have these.
>> Dr. Sahidi (02:37):
Very mature plantation societies with a
very distinct, distinct kind of culture.
>> Dr. Anna Hanslin (02:43):
And the first, you know, five decades.
>> Dr. Sahidi (02:46):
Of the 18th century is not a
period that I think much has been.
>> Dr. Anna Hanslin (02:50):
Written about with regard to gender
specifically.
>> Dr. Sahidi (02:53):
So I would say this is a pivotal period in which these
plantation economies are growing and,
you know, a, ah, sort of plantation society is
emerging, but it's not quite fully formed
yet.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (03:07):
As, uh, Dr. Lane highlights the first decades of the
18th century was a critical time in the
establishment of plantation economies.
While the system was expanding, its cultural
and gender dynamics were still taking shape,
setting the stage for the entrenched inequalities
and systematic exploitation that would
follow. While the plantation
(03:29):
systems expanded, Syntostacia's role
as a strategic trading hub was growing in
equal measure. We now turn to Mrs.
Sutakao, long term resident of Sintostatius
and one of the founders of the island center of
archaeological research. She
explains that this period saw the island's
development shaped not only by trade, but
(03:51):
also by the ripple effects of European wars and
the diversity of its residents, fostering a, uh,
complex and ever changing landscape.
>> Ms. Sutekau (04:02):
Well, you have to remember
when there were wars in Europe,
just Europe wasn't affected. Often
the Caribbean was affected too. So if the Dutch
were at war with France or England,
those people were often coming here to try to
capture this island. So station changed hands many
(04:23):
times, and that period of time was especially
active. Also during that time, Stacia
began to grow. We began to add more
warehouses. As Stacia grew, more
people came to the island. People here on
Stacia were a mix of people
from many different nationalities because we were a trading
island. Unlike the English islands around
(04:45):
it, where you would find mostly only English
people, here you had people from all
over. The station was
part of the Dutch West Indian trading, but
the Dutch East Indian trading company had been in existence for
many years. Even people as far away as
Asias were actually living here. So
Stacia was growing and we were building more and more wire
(05:08):
home. We were also at
that same time establishing ourselves
as a trading nation among the Caribbean
islands. So it was a busy time.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (05:22):
During the first half of the 18th century, Sinto
Statius found itself at the center of a growing
trading network shaped as much by the
European wars as by local commerce.
As Mrs. Tsutakao explains, the island's
strategic location and growing infrastructure
drew people from across the globe, creating a
(05:42):
unique, diverse population, but also
making it a target during times of conflict.
Synthesia's diverse population mirrored
its growing trade networks with records revealing
the breadth of its connection to other European
and Caribbean colonies. As Mrs.
Tsutakao shares, tax records provide
(06:03):
glimpses of the island's bustling economy,
but leaves much unsaid about the lives of the
people, especially the enslaved
individuals who lived and labored here.
>> Ms. Sutekau (06:16):
If you look at the records and you look at the
names of the people on the record, the
tax records, which are the best records we have,
you'll notice a lot of English, French,
um, Dutch, possibly German
name, other people's names. We were trading
with the Danish colonies. We were trading with
(06:37):
Swedish colonies. So those people may very
well have been here. So looking at the records of the
tax records tells you something about
the owners of properties that are here, but it doesn't
tell you about the whole population.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (06:53):
Synthastacia's tax records reveals a
kaleidoscope of culture and national identities
evident of the island's vibrant trading community.
As Mr. Soutakau notes, these records
hint at the complexity of life on
Cintastasius, where property ownership
tells us only part of the story,
leaving the lives of many, particularly
(07:15):
enslaved, in the shadows.
Yet within this fragmented history, we
find hints of women's significant roles,
both as inheritors of property and as key
figures navigating societal
constraints.
>> Ms. Sutekau (07:32):
The only things that we know are from
the records that we have of, um,
death records and records of
birth and stuff like that. And so we don't
have a lot of information, but we're beginning to compile
some. In many cases, the men were
dying young and their widows were
(07:53):
inheriting property, which would then
go to whoever they remarried
later on. But most often, the
property was actually passing through the women,
not through the men.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (08:10):
The fragmented records offers glimpses into
women's agency during this time. Whether
through inheriting property or participating in
localized economies, women, both European
and free women of color, played crucial roles in
Stacia's social and economic fabric.
This echoes earlier traditions seen in
(08:30):
Amerindian societies, where land and
influence often passed through female lines,
illustrating how women's resilience persisted
across cultures and eras.
Simultaneously, this era on Sintostatias
saw a marked increase in the transatlantic
and interisland trade of enslaved
(08:51):
individuals. As Mrs. Soutika
explains, the island's role as both a direct
importer of enslaved people from Africa
and a, uh, hub for smaller Klein bar trade
place it at the heart of a system of human
exploitation.
>> Ms. Sutekau (09:09):
A lot of slaves coming through Stacia,
but the number of slaves in Stacia itself that were
actually living here, that grew
much later than that period of time.
And I don't know a whole lot about it because,
again, we haven't had the research that we
should have had done here.
There may be research done, but a
(09:31):
lot of those records are just now being digitized,
and we're beginning to get hold of them. Dacia
was a major slave trading island. There were
two types of slave trade that were going on here.
The ones where the people were actually being brought
from slavery. Africa then sold
from here to other places, the United
(09:52):
States to other islands
around the Caribbean. Then there
was what, uh, was called the Klein Bar, a
small island trade where slaves
were being traded. Say you had slaves that you wanted
to sell or buy, you would bring them or
come to station to buy them. So
(10:12):
the small island trade between the
island was being done on station, even if
it was with the France and the French islands
or the Dane, who were also slave
traders, they were actually bringing slaves in from Africa
also, or the Swedish or the
English or other islands.
So there was two
(10:34):
different, although they were all the same
in that they were all putting people into
bondage.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (10:45):
Sintostatia's role in the transatlantic and
slave trade was multifaceted. The
Kleinbar trade, also known as small
island trade, functioned as a regional market
for enslaved individuals who had been transported
from Africa or neighboring colonies.
Enslaved individuals were brought to
Syntostatias not only to be sold directly to
(11:06):
buyers from across the Caribbean, but also to
facilitate exchanges with between
islands, including those under
French, Danish, Swedish
and British control. This
practice often meant breaking apart families and
communities, adding another layer of cruelty
to an already dehumanizing system.
(11:28):
Despite these horrors, Syntostatius also saw
acts of defiance and resistance. These stories
remind us that even in systems designed to erase
agency, individuals found ways to assert
their humanity. As we delve deeper, the dual
roles of commerce and exploitation on this
island become impossible to separate.
(11:49):
Sintostacia's strategic location and natural
harbor not only facilitate its role as a major
trading hub, but also sets the stage for its
participation in the transatlantic and slave
trade. In episode one, we touched
upon the natural landscape of Sinterias as a
key factor in its historical significance.
(12:10):
And again we turn to Dr. Ruth Stelten, an
archaeologist with first hand experience working here
on Sintostatius. He will elaborate
further on this topic. His insight will help us
understand why Sintostatius Bay was so
influential, shaping its rise as a bustling
center of trade and a pivotal player in the economic
(12:30):
and social systems of the Caribbean.
>> Dr. Stelton (12:35):
What's perhaps most interesting from,
uh, a historical point of view is the
area to the west of town, basically Oranya Bai,
and especially the area basically going from
lower town out for about
two and a half, three miles, that area is a
very shallow, sandy,
(12:56):
submerged area landscape on the leeward side
of the island. That's very important. So on the relatively sheltered
side of the island, um, and that area
was used back in the
1600 and 1700s for ships to anchor.
Right. So one of the problems that you have as
even Though, like on Stacia, right, The social
(13:16):
and economic conditions were very conducive to turn it into a free
port and to receive lots and lots of trade and to become a big
emporium. The landscape also needs to cooperate, not
just terrestrial, but also marine. And it did so on Stacia,
because in order to house that many ships at a
time, you need a large bay. You need
either a large enclosed harbor or a large bay of some sort. Uh, what they call
(13:37):
a roadstead back in the day, right? That's the area where all these ships were dropping
anchor. And that roadstead needs to be pretty sandy as well, because
those anchors, they need to hold right anchor. If a ship drops an anchor,
it needs to bury itself in the sand. You need
a sandy sea floor for that. It cannot be
covered in coral reefs and rocks and things like that. The very
good thing Stacia is that it had just that it had
(13:57):
a large sandy area right in front of
Lowertown on the leeward side of the island. That
doesn't mean that it's always nice and calm there, because
if you're doing a nice sunset cruise close to the
waterfront, you know, in Lowertown, you'll be all right
usually. But if you go one and a half,
two kilometers out, it can get pretty rough because the island is not
perfectly oriented north, south, but also it is not
(14:20):
very big. So it doesn't provide a whole lot of shelter. It
provides some, but not a whole lot. So the further out you go, the rougher it
gets. So I'm sure, like a lot of people on these
ships, you know, that were there sometimes for a few days, but sometimes
for weeks or even months on end, like they were not having a good time.
If you're. If you're anchored further out and it's choppy and
it's constantly rough, like you're not going to have a good time.
Um, but you could still anchor there, and so that's
(14:42):
important, right? So in the Caribbean,
we have a few very, like, specific, like,
ports. Basically, if you look at St. Barts in the town of
Gustavia, you have a very nice enclosed area. That is
the harbor, right? So over there, yes, you can sail a number of
ships in, but it's not that many. Not as many as you would have on Stacia,
but you would be in a very nice, calm,
controlled area. But on Stacia,
(15:05):
there's all about volume. And so there is. There's
eyewitness accounts from the late 1700s, for example,
Admiral Rodney, but also Dutch sailors mentioned that There
are at Any time between 150 and 200 ships
anchored in Stacia's roadstead. That's a
crazy number of ships.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (15:23):
As Dr. Stelton illustrates, the natural
features of Sinta, Stacias provides the perfect
condition for a bustling maritime trade.
The sandy seabed and the sheltered roadstead
offered a haven for hundreds of ships to arrive
each year, making Stacia a vital point
of connection in the Caribbean economic web.
(15:43):
But this trade was not only for goods. It was
also about enslaved people whose
life were commodified and uprooted. With
this context, we turn to the island's heritage inspector,
Mr. Richardson, who paints a vivid picture of life on
the island during the early 18th century.
>> Mr. Richardson (16:04):
So it's, uh, 1720, um,
first of all, around 1720, I must say,
um, in the spatial development
plan, you see that the city
Oranya, it's blooming. They develop a spatial
development plan of 1720, which kind of
gives street names to new places,
buildings. The population is extremely high. It's, I
(16:25):
think it's around, it's past 8,000 at that period of
time. There's lots of people living on the island,
lots so much that the one people that are
visiting Sint Eustatius are referring to the
island back then as one of the ugliest islands in the
Caribbean. And that's because the minute you
set foot, put on the horizon.
(16:45):
One description from a French gentleman and his
family and his wife then that are touring the Caribbean describes
the island as a floating European
city, that the, uh, houses are
stories high and you can hardly see any green, that it's
over cultivated, it's overpopulated, and there's
commerce of everything and every sort happening
(17:06):
on the island. And then later on you see other letters
from a lady of quality called Janet Shaw, for example, who
also writes about the island's
unattractive appearance and also quite
smelly, but also quite noisy. And then
there's also another British gentleman who also
refers to that he has never seen
the extent of such debauchery and
(17:28):
trade on St. Eustatius. He hasn't seen it anywhere
else. So you already get an idea of what the
island is like. So he kind of visualize the
noise, the sounds, the street, and of course
the trading. There's a lot of trading going on.
The island is blooming, it's way before
this. American independence will be coming later on.
(17:49):
But the island is really trading and booming. And it's also trading,
of course, in people, in porcelain, in
opium. Everything that is possible is being
Traded. But what's also interesting is the
amount of plantations. The amount of plantations around then
are about 30. This would eventually
skyrocket. When, of course, the British come in
and plunder the islands, et cetera, it will eventually go up to
(18:11):
higher numbers.
But then when you look at the demographics
of the island's population of free and
colored, you also see, for example, free
people of color, 1200. What are they doing? Who
are they? But you also see on the list
Chinese immigrants, two Japanese immigrants living
on Hindu stations. What are all these people doing here?
(18:33):
But what's also interesting is that
when it look at the enslaved people, for example, many of
them are working in the custom houses. Many of them are working in
the warehouses. Of course, not under the best of
circumstances, of course, because if you look at the letters that are being
wrote about the island and the stench that you can also get
out of these letters, you know that the work, um,
(18:54):
on floor isn't the best place. The island is really
blooming. It's expanding and it's growing.
And in all of this time, like I said in the beginning, from
1636 to where we are now in the 1720s, the
island is still changing hands already. So in that
period, it's already been British, it's already been French, it's already
been Dutch, and it's going back and forth.
(19:14):
It's very chaotic.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (19:17):
Mr. Richardson's account reveals the paradox
of the 18th century. Stacia, a place
bustling with life and commerce, yet burdened by the grim
realities of enslavement and exploitation.
From the chatter of people to the noise of bustling
warehouses, the streets of Oranjestad hummed with
activities. But amidst the activity, the human
(19:37):
cost of progress loomed large.
Enslaved individuals labored in custom houses
and warehouses, enduring unimaginable
conditions. Despite this,
stories of resilience and defiance began to
emerge, offering glimpses of humanity
within the chaos.
>> Mr. Richardson (19:59):
And one of the interesting things is that, of
course, all of the abolitionists, people are starting to speak
out about the slave trade also. But
no one ever will abolish slavery on St.
Eustatius until 1816. So
let's keep that in mind as we go through these episodes. You
will see that it's going to be a long period where
(20:19):
the French capture Saint Eustatius, the island becomes
French, and the French continue the trade where the Dutch
left off and the British. So it was just the fast money.
And that also reflected how people of color,
um, were being treated. But in that period, there's
also some, you know, very interesting stories
of People defying the odds. And I will,
(20:39):
of course, as we go on, expound on these very
interesting stories.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (20:45):
By 1720, Oranjestad was a
hive of activity, its economy
thriving amidst the constant movement of goods,
people and ideas. Mr. Richardson
vividly illustrates this boom, from bustling
warehouses to sprawling plantations that
defined life here on the island. Yet beneath
the veneer of prosperity lay the stark realities of
(21:08):
human exploitation. These
untold stories of resilience and defiance
challenges the colonial narratives of unbridled
progress. They remind us that
Syntostatia's flourishing trade and wealth
was built on the labor and endurance of those who live through
unimaginable hardship, leaving traces
of their humanity in the shadows of
(21:30):
history. While the
bustling streets of Oranjestad and the booming trade
painted a picture of growth and prosperity,
the experience of women under enslavement continued to
reveal a harrowing and often overlooked
reality. As we keep taking a
closer look of the profound difference between the lives
of men and women, we see the
(21:52):
unique burden women bore within the systems of
slavery, one that extends far beyond
forced labor. Their roles as mothers and
their ability to bear children place them at the very core
of a system's perpetuation,
subjecting them to a cruel and calculated
exploitation of humanity.
Historian Dr. Anna Hanseln helps us explore
(22:14):
further this profoundly gendered dimension of
enslavement.
>> Dr. Anna Hanslin (22:22):
I think women's experience under enslavement was always
fundamentally different from men's, and that is
irrespective of place and time. And that's partly
because in this system of transatlantic
African chattel slavery that rose
up in the 17th and 18th centuries in the
Caribbean in particular, as one of
the central focus points of where millions of people
(22:44):
were sent and lived, um, women
were the ones able to naturally reproduce
more enslaved people. And so
their bodies were seen as property, but
also as property that had the potential to create more
property for their enslavers. And
this, of course, puts women in a terrible dilemma
of knowing that any children they have, if they themselves
(23:07):
are enslaved, will be legally born enslaved as
well. And so this makes them
obviously the focus of, in some cases,
deliberate rapes, um, by enslavers
who want them to reproduce. And this doesn't just
happen in the Caribbean. We have a documented instance of it happen
happening in 1630s Massachusetts. So,
you know, this is not something that's, that's limited to the
(23:29):
Caribbean. But I think women did have this,
um, this potential within the eyes of enslavers.
And then, of course, they themselves, as human beings and
as mothers, this puts them often in the terrible
predicament of what would normally be one of the great
joys of most women's lives, which is having children.
Knowing that they're bringing children into this horrible
system, um, I think would have been an extra
(23:52):
burden that women had to bear, um, that
men did not in the same way. Because if men were raped
within the system of slavery, um, it was not
to impregnate them, which is often what happened to
women. And women, of course, uh, were
able to also have unique, um,
forms of resistance apart from men, in
(24:12):
the sense that, you know, sometimes these sexual relations
were not entirely coercive. And we do
have, you know, examples here and there of
couples who were intimate where there seems to have been real
affection. Although, of course, it's always hard to say if a woman is
enslaved, um, how much she is able to
exercise free will in that respect. But so you do have
instances of families being created. Um,
(24:35):
some enslaved women are able to parlay
that into freedom for themselves or freedom for
their children eventually. And so I think that is
something that, um, is a road that's more commonly available
for enslaved women than men. Although, of course, these
are, you know, a tiny, tiny fraction
of the experience of enslaved people, um, in
(24:55):
the Caribbean, but it's still there. Nevertheless.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (25:00):
Dr. Anna Hanslin offers a profound exploration
of a deeply gendered experience of enslavement,
highlighting the unique burden bore by women.
Their ability to bear children, cruelly reframed through the
lens of colonial exploitation, turned them into both
laborers and commodities. Yet
amidst such dehumanization, women
(25:20):
displayed remarkable resilience and found ways to
reclaim agency, leaving behind legacies
of strength that defy the colonial narrative.
This narrative of resilience is further reflected
in the story of Cintastatia's mysterious
Bluebeet. These small objects that
we have spoken about in previous episodes
(25:41):
were initially used as currency,
evolved into powerful symbols of resistance,
identity and cultural preservation.
To help us understand their profound
significance and their impact on the lives of the
enslaved here on Syntostatius, we now turn to
archaeologist Dr. Sahidi.
>> Dr. Sahidi (26:02):
The bluebead economy
was not
a static system.
The value of the beads was most likely
determined by the person who owned the bead. Um,
it wasn't like the type of official
currency that other people were using.
(26:22):
And so they might have used the beads for many
different things. I mean, of course, we know the story about,
um, a man needing to have enough beads to go around
a woman's waist to marry her, which would be a form
of dowry. People might have
also used beads for certain provisions,
um, if they weren't producing enough in their gardens
for different skills, all sorts of things.
(26:45):
Because within the wider
economy of the island, Enslaved villages and enslaved
communities had their own communities,
their own economies, where they were producing their own
goods. So it was. It was kind of like a smaller
economy within the larger economy,
if that makes sense.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (27:07):
Blue beads, while primarily associated with the
enslaved population as a form of currency for
labor, May have also had a broader
role on the island. Questions linger about
whether these beads also facilitated exchanges
between free individuals and the enslaved,
Hinting at a more intricate web of economic and
(27:27):
social relationships here on cintastasius.
Unfortunately, much remains unknown about
these interactions. The use of bluebeads
in this context is still a mystery, and further
research, Particularly into free villages and their
historical records, could provide crucial
insights. But for now, this gap in our
(27:48):
understanding highlights the ongoing effort of Required
to fully uncover the complexity of life
here on stacia during that time.
To delve deeper into the connection between blue beads
and women, Dr. Sahidi continues to explore how
these seemingly simple objects carried profound
significance. Rooted in west African
(28:09):
traditions, the beads symbolize fertility,
femininity, and identity, Elements that
enslaved women brought with them to cintastasias.
But how did these beads shape their lives?
Were they merely relics of cultural memory?
Or did they transform into tools of resistance and
empowerment Within a system designed to
(28:30):
deny their sovereignty? These
questions guide us as we unravel the layered history
of bluebeads and their enduring impacts of the lives
of enslaved women on the island.
>> Dr. Sahidi (28:44):
There's a prevalent story on Stacia that, uh,
for an enslaved man to marry a woman, he had to have enough
beads to wrap all the way around her waist.
And that tradition of wearing beads around the waist
or the hips Comes from west Africa.
It's an ancient adornment practice.
That practice was brought to the Caribbean and the
(29:05):
Americas. And the most famous example of that is from a grave
in the African burial ground in New York city, where
African women were buried with their waist beads.
So the waist beads symbolize fertility,
sensuality, femininity. And
that practice being brought to Stacia
is, I would say, in itself, a symbol of
resistance and self empowerment.
(29:28):
Because enslavement wasn't just physically abusive, it was
also psychologically abusive. And as a form of
psychological abuse, it was reliant on the alienation
of African people from their homeland,
but also from their languages and their families and their communities and
their traditions. And that cultural genocide
was a way of controlling people that was often more
effective in meeting colonial
(29:50):
objectives than physical violence. So even though we think about
something like waist beads as maybe even, um, like a kind
of fashion, from a contemporary perspective,
the truth is that these ancestral
feminine practices that were
brought to the Caribbean are anti colonial
through the preservation of tangible and intangible heritage
tradition. So when we look at the colonial
(30:13):
order, which depended on keeping enslaved people at the
bottom of the social hierarchy, which is why the
Dutch gave blue beads to enslaved people instead of money. They didn't
want them to participate in the wider economy. They didn't want
them to benefit from the prosperity experienced by members of the
elite. But enslaved people resisted that
too. They created their own economies.
Um, for women to then play a role
(30:36):
in how the blue beads as a form of currency were
valued is also a form of resistance, not only
against colonialism, but also as a way of exerting
feminine power over a patriarchal system.
So a woman who is well fed with a curvaceous body can then
have the self agency to determine her own value.
She can say, you don't have enough beads
(30:56):
to go around my waist, so go get more, and then maybe I'll marry you
if you're lucky. And that's empowering. I
think on a different level,
we can also look at, um, the way that
beads are worn in the contemporary period. So a lot of women on
station now have established new
meaning with the beads. They're not a symbol of oppression. They're
a symbol of cultural preservation
(31:19):
and ancestral connection.
So, um, people wear beads in
their hair. They wear beads as necklaces or as
bracelets. And that's also a way
of entangling the past with
the present and bringing those stories to life
and honoring women of the past.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (31:40):
As we conclude this episode, we
reflect on the paradoxical history of sinter
Statius between 1700 and
1750, a period defined by
immense growth, bustling trade, and cultural
exchange, yet underpinned by the
harrowing realities of enslavement and
systematic exploitation. Amid the
(32:02):
noise of Oranjestad streets and the sails of
countless ships in the harbor, stories of resilience
and defiance are starting to emerge,
offering glimpses of humanity within the
chaotic and often brutal world.
We've explored how Syntostacia's natural harbor
made it a vital hub of global commerce,
with its plantations and warehouses fueling
(32:24):
an economy built on the backs of enslaved
individuals. At the heart of this
history are the women whose strength and resilience
challenges the colonial narrative.
Enslaved women, burdened by the dual
exploitation of labor and forced
reproduction, resisted through acts of cultural
preservation and empowerment.
(32:46):
Free women, both white and of
color, navigating societal constraint,
asserting influence in unconventional ways,
inheriting properties, and shaping Stacia's
social fabric. These stories remind us
that even the darkest chapters of history, women's
courage and agency, served as a quiet,
yet powerful act of defiance.
(33:09):
But Stacia's story is far from over. And, uh, in
our next episode, we'll step into the latter half of the
18th century, a time when the
island earned its name, the Golden Rock. This
era of extraordinary wealth and influence brought new
opportunities, heightened tension, and profound
challenges, both with the island and on a global
stage. Join us as we continue to uncover the
(33:32):
rise of Asia's Golden Age and the complex
legacy it left behind. Until
then, let us continue to carry the lessons of
history with reference. And we leave you
to ponder on these questions.
How do we reckon with the prosperity built on human
suffering?
How do we honor the resilience of those whose stories
(33:54):
remain in the margins of history?
And most importantly, how do these
reflections challenge us to, uh, critically engage
with the legacy of colonial power that is still
being celebrated today?
As we confront these questions, let us
recognize that understanding the past is not merely an
(34:15):
act of remembrance, but a call to confront
injustice, to challenge inherited
narratives, and, most importantly, a
catalyst for meaningful change. Sa.
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