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LOCAL Friday 1 July 2022

Today marks 159 years since the Netherlands abolished slavery in

colonies of Surinam and Netherlands Antilles

Aruba has its own slavery history

Aruban minister of Culture, ers for animals or in farms. slave and from whom vari-
Xiomara Maduro informs In 1863 during the slave ous families in Aruba are
that today, 1st of July marks emancipation, around 500 descended. In the Neth-
159 years since the Neth- slaves managed to obtain erlands there is a street, in
erlands gave the slaves in their freedom in Aruba. Rotterdam, dedicated to
Suriname, Aruba, Bonaire, Even though this is a limited her name, Virginia Gaai-
Curaçao, St. Maarten, St. quantity, it is part of the his- pad.
Eustatius and Saba their tory of slavery in Aruba.
freedom. The history of History of slavery is a cur-
slavery in Aruba is not well Various investigations on rent theme in the Kingdom
known, and for this reason, slavery in Aruba In July 2020, minister of In-
as part of the formation of There have been various ternal Affairs and Kingdom
our own identity, it is impor- experts who investigated Affairs of the Netherlands
tant for the people of Aruba slavery in Aruba and our formed a commission with
to find out more about the colonial history, which re- various professionals in the
less pretty aspect of the sulted in documents, books Kingdom and Suriname to
history of our country and and documentaries. The organize a social dialogue
of the Kingdom of the Neth- minister of Culture invites on the subject of the slav-
erlands. the people to visit the Na- ery past and its impact on
tional Archive of Aruba, the present. This dialogue is
Aruba has its own slavery Sala Arubiana of the Na- directed on connection, on
history tional Library of Aruba, and recognition, and for slavery
On Aruba there were also the National Archeological to receive its place in the
slaves, although in a smaller Museum of Aruba to find shared history of the King-
quantity than the other is- out more about the history dom of the Netherlands.
lands in the Kingdom of the of slavery on the island.
Netherlands, where there At the National Archive of The commission produced
business was being made Aruba, for example, there the report “Ketenen uit het
in the sale of slaves, and are various stories of slaves, Verleden” (Chains from the
the big plantations where and there is a registry in Past) in which they formu-
the slaves labored. Ac- which there are last names lated some recommenda-
cording to investigations, which are descendants of tions for the Dutch state,
slaves in Aruba worked slaves. A well-known story is among others, to recognize
within homes, at the store that of Virginia Dementricia and offer apologies for the
of their owners, as caretak- Gaai, who was a rebellious slavery past in the Kingdom
of the Netherlands. This
apology would help heal
historical wounds and also
helps to work together to-
wards a shared future. The
intention is not to blame
anyone, but for the Dutch
state to recognize the pain
caused by slavery, and
to assume responsibility in
the relationship with each
other in the Kingdom of the
Netherlands.

Importance of knowing our
history
As Arubans it is very impor-
tant for us to know our past,
since this knowledge is nec-
essary for us to understand
the present and helps us
determine where we want
to go in the future, as peo-
ple and as country. Slavery
also is a part of our past and
it is for this reason important
for us to know the stories,
so we can avoid repeating
them in our present and fu-
ture. In the coming period,
the ministry of Culture will
dedicate attention and
provide information on this
part of our country’s history.