~ The research of Felicia Fricke ~
By Lisa Davis-Burnett
What was life really like for the people who came to the islands in the holds of boats, manacled in chains and forced to live out their lives far from their homes, working for owners who thought of them as little more than livestock? We can imagine; we see movies; read books; but how do we really know what their lives were like?
Understanding that truth is what motivates archaeologist Felicia Fricke from the University of Kent. This 26-year-old English researcher is delving into the history of our region’s slavery culture through artefacts, human remains (skeletons) and the all-important oral histories that are passed on through the generations. Fricke visited St. Maarten last July during the IACA (International Association for Caribbean Archaeology) Conference and she discussed then with WEEKender that she would be returning to the island to continue her research. Her goal is to compare the archaeology of slavery between Curaçao, St. Eustatius (Statia) and St. Maarten.
Working on her PhD at University of Kent, Fricke has set her focus squarely on the Dutch Caribbean islands. Her intense interest is at least in part due to family history. Fricke’s grandfather went to Bonaire to be the minister of the Protestant Church. Her father was born there and the family still has relations in Curaçao, so she feels the deep ties to the region and wants to develop those relationships even further. She recalls that her father introduced her to the island of Bonaire when she was 19, and he showed her the small huts where the enslaved salt workers had spent their lives. It made a strong impression on her, which she still thinks about, even commenting as we drove past the Salt Pickers Monument in Philipsburg, “Harvesting salt is one of the most difficult kinds of work one can do.”
Fricke earned her undergraduate degree in archaeology from Durhan University, then went on to study human osteology and paleopathology at the University of Bradford. This basically means she is an expert in human bones and how ancient diseases can be recognized in human remains. She enjoys teaching and she works in the summers as an instructor at the University of Reading summer field school for archaeology students.
But above all, she is hoping to use her work to make an impact on the lives of people living today and ultimately to tie the results of her research back into the local community. “I want to engage with the people whose culture this is,” she shared. Toward this end, she and other archaeologists take great efforts to share the results of their research, with the goal of “giving people back some of their forgotten history.”
Fricke points out that when studying the archaeology of slavery, it’s important to look at the evidence from multiple data sources. That is why she is looking at artefacts and oral history as well as the actual human remains. In her work, she uses a qualitative technique called Thematic Analysis that ties together details such as nutrition, injuries, diseases, and a myriad of other factors. An osteobiography is created on each skeleton and then this information is linked to themes such as hardship or subversion, or some other interesting aspects of the enslaved people’s culture. This allows the researchers to produce a narrative that is based on observations in the data.
Fricke comes to The Friendly Island this time after spending five weeks in St. Eustatius. There she researched the island’s archaeology from the slavery era. “I looked at two slave villages there: Fair Play Plantation and Schotsenhoek Plantation. While there, she also collected numerous oral histories by speaking with long-time residents about the memories they recall from their grandparents’ stories, echoes from past generations still whispering in the present.
She hopes to do the same while on St. Maarten and asks if anyone does have family stories they can share with her related to the slavery era to please email her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (or alternately call The Daily Herald at 542-5253 and ask for Lisa at extension 279.) A meeting time will be set up where you can relate your information directly to her. Be aware that Fricke’s time here is limited, so those with historic stories about the slavery of the island should contact her right away. Fricke is leaving St. Maarten on April 28.
While here, she will pop over to Saba to investigate a recent discovery of a mother-and-foetus skeleton from the 1700s which was unearthed in December 2015. Fricke will eventually travel to Curaçao to collect data on the archaeology of their history of slavery, with plans to examine artefacts and skeletons from the Veeris Plantation, and the Fleur De Marie District.
Her focus is on these islands because these are the only ones found to have human remains from the slavery era. She examined six skeletons on Statia and will see three in St. Maarten and three in Curaçao. The St. Maarten finds were uncovered on Zousteeg in Philipsburg during routine street repairs in 2010 and were determined to be of African origin.
The data that can be gathered by seeing the actual human remains is profound, she explains, but she understands that some people feel it’s disrespectful or poor manners or ill-fated to disturb the dead. She emphasized, however, that – in a way – these remains have all been rescued because “otherwise, they would have been destroyed by equipment at a construction site.” By rescuing the remains, she feels at least the people are being given a chance to tell their story. “Their bones tell their story, and if this isn’t done, then their story is lost.” She shared one example of one African woman whose skeleton Fricke had studied, and she could see from the bones that the woman had succumbed to syphilis. She pointed out that the disease was endemic in slave populations. “It’s a poignant reminder of that era’s abuse of African women.”
(Photo by Kevin Stadage.)
