Caribbean Ties opened on St. Eustatius at the Simon Doncker Museum in Oranjestad on May 11th, 2019. Its exposition and the opening were made possible thanks to the Historical Foundation in collaboration with the Caribbean Netherlands Science Institute at St. Eustatius (CNSI) and the St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research (SECAR).
Photo left: Mervyn Stegers, deputy commissioner, speaking at the opening (photo: Twich Studio).
Photo below: Rosabel Blake, president of the Historical Foundation, speaking at the opening (photo: Twich Studio).
Photo left: Corinne Hofman, principal investigator NEXUS1492, speaking at the opening (photo: Twich Studio).
Photo right: Fred van Keulen, SECAR, speaking at the opening (photo: Twich Studio).
The opening was celebrated with a dance performance by the Simon Doncker club (photos below: Twich Studio).
St. Eustatius, Saba, and Sint Maarten/Saint Martin were once home to a succession of different Indigenous cultures. The earliest Indigenous site of these three islands has been found on Saba, dating to around 1950 VC. The Golden Rock site on St. Eustatius has a well-known Saladoid Amerindian settlement site dating between 200 - 1000 AD. On Sint Maarten, small coastal villages of Indigenous peoples are known at Cupecoy and Philipsburg, while on Saint Martin, larger Amerindian villages are found both along the coast at Grand Case, Red Bay, Orient Bay, and in the interior at Hope Estate. Material remains, such as pottery, shell, bone, and stone tools, that were left behind by these various Indigenous groups an can still be found at many of these sites.