Page 15 - AHATA

Friday 14 July 2023 locAl
A10

Episode 20

A Nobel Native Heart II

A slave for who his freedom After an hour walking we
was purchased by the Fis- could hear that more peo-
cal of the church of Alto ple was joining our group
Vista in Noord. guarded by some twenty
This slave was telling about armed men. There I could
his trip over the Atlan- see that the plateau below
tic Ocean and how he was filled with many people
reached Curacao: “There lined up in chains. Woman bags full packed with resin Miguel to have freed me,” ibo en route to the Domini-
are good and bad people and children separated of for incense on their heads. Crisostomo says, probably can Republic, ran aground
on this world,” Crisostomo the men. Approaching the We followed behind this they would have killed him in the South Western part
started saying: “That one multitude we could start enormous trading caravan in Curacao. of the island. People of
sad day these bad people hearing the noise mixed that soon left us behind. Noord came over to give
armed with sabers and with crying and begging Our group was getting larg- All this revelation was assistance. Among the
rifles came to our small vil- for compassion. I could not er by the day.We reached heard by Father Pedro passengers was certain
lage, Arabs slave traders, watch how they were bru- the outskirts of the port city Ramirez, a Catholic priest Mr. Morales, a Colombian
who were grabbing any- tally whipped and others of Oran at dark. The ago- who lived in Caracas, who gentleman, together with
one they set for to trade were freed of their suffer- nizing trip took us five and occasionally visited Aruba. his family and two servants.
them for gold at port. They ing with a shot. All this cre- a half days which I have Since he could understood They all were taken to the
broke in to my farm and ated a paralyzing shock. made in two day many some French, he could fig- town of Noord. One of the
into our house. They de- Flabbergasted and totally times before. The cargo ure out wat happened to servants who were travel-
stroyed everything in it and terrorized we had no other caravan camped town Crisostomo`s son and wife. ing with the Mr. Morales
had us chained up”. Crisos- choice than to survive and two days before, close to and family was Crisosto-
tomo had to stop telling for keep together. a lake where we all had to The following year Father mo’s wife and Anastacio's
a while for all emotions re- enter, where all the animals Pedro Ramirez wrote a let- mother Helena Petronilia.
turns with sad memories: I could count over two were drinking, it was a bless- ter to Crisostomo telling This is how an Algerian fam-
hundred people, captives, ing having a chance wash- him that in Caracas he ily reunites in here on our
“We were treated worse traders and hundreds of ing up and clean ourselves had found his son Anasta- happy island.
than animals, made us walk camels packed with dates, a bit before they took us cio and that he would
the old road to the port. salt and others carried through the city. There we send him by ship to Aruba Meanwhile, the ship had
reached the plaza and so that they could reunite been repaired, ready to
loaded immediately on again. Anastacio could not continue its voyage to the
a ship packed all ready wait for him to reunite with Dominican Republic with
with people to be shipped his father and to tell his sto- all its passengers. Morales
out to the new continent. ry, how he had arrived by and his family proposed to
Many people died during boat to La Guajira where Crisostomo and Anastacio
the long march” the priest Francisco bought to travel with them. There,
his freedom and gave him he gave Helena Petronilia
Crisostomo was transport- a place to live in the mon- back to Crisostomo, and
ed on a ship called the astery in Caracas. they lived happily together
Jupiter, along with 2,000 again.q
other slaves to Curacao, One year after Crisostomo
40 or more slaves were lost re-encountered his son, a Source; Island Insight col-
at sea, from which many ship sailing out of Maraca- umn by Etnia Nativa.
jumped in to the ocean
to be swallowed by the
waves. “If it was not for Mr.