"We still lack the debate about colonial practices in Dutch archaeology. So stop when asked by descendants."

This was a public comment posted below this petition on July 5, 2021. The sentence stuck with us, and we decided to contact the author. This turned out to be marjolijn kok, an artist and independent researcher in the Netherlands with a PhD in archaeology. Her work concerns protest movements and postcolonial issues, including the 90 habitation camps of Moluccan people in the Netherlands after the independence of Indonesia.

She is now our ally in the 'St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance' for almost six months, and we learned a great deal from her about archaeology and community collaboration. Although marjolijn was not familiar with archaeology in the Caribbean, she wrote a very insightful article about the controversial Golden Rock excavations in St. Eustatius. You can read it here: https://www.academia.edu/69494206/A_Future_That_Does_Not_Forget_Collaborative_Archaeology_in_the_Colonial_Context_of_Sint_Eustatius_Dutch_Caribbean_

The report of the 'Statia Heritage and Research Commission' has also been published last week. We will share our response to this shortly.