Tijdschrift voor Historische Geografie - Volume 5, Issue 3, 2020

Even if it is not obvious at first, a closer look reveals that Curaçao is actually one large plantation landscape, with the exception of Willemstad’s inner city. This landscape can be read as a history book with the old plantation houses as its most recognizable elements. But there are many more elements like cactus hedges, palm copses, stone walls, wells and (dysfunctional) waterworks. This landscape is most recognizable in the western part of the island. The central area around Willemstad has suffered from uncontrolled urbanization and industrialization, while the eastern part has basically become an extensive leisure landscape. The owners of plantations used several strategies like a multitude of crops, the creation of saltpans where possible and trade in the city (just a few plantation owners focused exclusively on agricultural production). At the end of the 19th century, several plantations were explored for extractable minerals. Throughout the 20th century, almost all plantations were gradually sold and abandoned. The abolishment of slavery in 1863 gave the first impetus for this, but the final blow was the exodus towards the city when an oil refinery brought new perspectives for the island. Paid employment in the city was much more appealing than an uncertain existence in the countryside, where years of failed crops could eventually lead to starvation. An overall problem is the ongoing privatization of public space, which results in the transformation of old plantations into gated residential areas and resorts, creating an unrecognizable landscape and a growing inequality between rich and poor. A future nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage List will possibly create new perspectives for this cultural landscape (see next article).

The possible nomination of the western plantations for the World Heritage List of UNESCO offers a possibility to safeguard this rather unique - but eroding - relict landscape. However, an important precondition for a successful nomination is consensus on a clear strategy and goals of a nomination. The strategy could involve a new nomination, but also an extension of the existing site of Willemstad. This latter option retroactively gives the opportunity to clarify the (architectural) wealth of Willemstad and to explain why people from different continents came together in this port city. Another precondition is popular support, which is rather shallow due to the centuries-long connection of plantations with slavery. A nomination definitely should acknowledge the dark pages of history, including the intangible aspects of this past. More systematic research into the various aspects of the slave society could help to fill such ‘knowledge gaps’. It seems wise to diminish the traditional focus on the architecture of the plantations and to consider them as a cultural landscape, as well as to focus on the ingenious ways people tried to make a living in this dry landscape. This implies that the selection needs to be revised, taking into account other modes of production, like salt, water and mining.

As the least populated of the ‘Benedenwindse Eilanden’, Bonaire still has many special landscapes. There, archaeologist Claudia Kraan is involved in drawing up policy documents in the context of the implementation of the Malta Convention for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage. Part of this is a nomination file of some cultural-historical landscapes on Bonaire, based on the existing archaeological sites. Claudia is formally employed by the National Archaeological Anthropological Memory Management (NAAM), a nonprofit organization that is committed to the conservation, identification and research of the material and intangible heritage of Curaçao and Bonaire in a Caribbean perspective. In this interview Claudia Kraan gives us an insight in her work and the opportunities and barriers she sees in the protection of heritage of Bonaire.

On the island of Aruba, traditional houses are often decorated with unique symbols. Houses with these decorations are called ‘cas floria’, meaning decorated house. The origin for this style of building and the meaning of the symbols presumably stem from the culture of the native inhabitants of Aruba (Indians). Over the course of time, the Dutch colonial power had influence on the residential culture on Aruba. They introduced stone houses and building materials such as roof tiles and cement. The native population gradually started replacing their loam houses for stone versions. In the 19th century, the building style of cas floria arose. These houses were found mostly in the historic native settlements. For the colonial settlers, these symbols had no special meaning and so they did not live in decorated houses. Nowadays, a lot of cas floria and traditional kunuku houses have become ruins. However, many of those historic houses have remained and are still inhabited to this day. The Monumentenbureau Aruba has been lobbying with the Aruban Government to grant the traditional kunuku houses and cas floria a protected monumental status, so that this part of Aruban heritage and identity will be preserved for future generations.

The isolated Caribbean island of Saba is affectionately called ‘the unspoiled Queen’, due to the unaffected character of its natural environment. European colonists from Zeeland (The Netherlands) and the British Isles occupied the island four centuries ago and partially changed it into a cultural landscape with an outstanding character and a vernacular architecture that is worth to be well protected.

The inhabitants – still no more than 2000 – had to adjust to the rugged and mountainous landscape. This is expressed by the location of the villages, the network of paths and stairs connecting them, the construction and size of the wooden cottages and the cisterns and burial sites on their properties. This combination makes Saba unique in the Caribbean region. The Saban architecture which is rooted in a Victorian-British building tradition, has hardly changed over the years, though building in concrete is a serious threat nowadays.

Saint Eustatius, a small Dutch Caribbean island, was one of the busiest transit harbors in the 18th-century Atlantic World. While its importance as an entrepot in colonial trade networks has been well researched, much less is known about the less visible past on the island, which includes its plantation landscape and the lives of people belonging to the lowest social classes. Recent archaeological and documentary research have produced valuable data that sheds more light on these topics. This article discusses the significance of various elements in the island’s rural landscape, how they affected the experiences of the people living in it, and how these have shaped the history of the island.

A map of 1859 shows a huge project to produce salt in the Great Salt Pond (St. Martin, Dutch West Indies). It was a failure. Nevertheless, far into the 20th century salt-making continued to be an important industry, just as it was in former days. Nowadays, the Pond has been partly filled up to accommodate the extension of the town of Philipsburg. It is also used as a refuse-dump.

During the 17th and 18th century indigo has been cultivated on the island of Curaçao. This article gives a description of the production of indigo using purpose- built basins and contains pictures of some of the indigobasins still to be found on the island.