The human remains and cultural items—collectively known as the Versteeg collection—were originally unearthed during an archaeological excavation led by Dutch researchers in the late 1980s. The dig took place near the F.D. Roosevelt Airport at a location known as the Golden Rock site. Following their excavation, the bones and artifacts were transported to Leiden University in the Netherlands for preservation, curation, and deep scientific study. The repatriated collection features:
The remains were transported in a glass hearse, and as the convoy passed the 17th-century ruins of Fort Oranje—once a hub of the Dutch slave trade—a collective wail rose from the crowd. For many Statians, whose DNA may carry traces of these same ancestors, the return felt deeply personal.
The repatriated remains were originally uncovered during extensive archaeological excavations between 1984 and 1987 at the , located near what is now the Franklin D. Roosevelt Airport. The human remains and cultural items—collectively known as
This return acknowledges the pre-colonial history of St. Eustatius, locally known as Statia. The Repatriation Process and International Cooperation
: For over 30 years, the remains were housed at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Following their excavation, the bones and artifacts were
Zuwena Suares, a member of the Statia cultural committee, described the return as a spiritual healing for the community.
The successful return of the ancestral remains required years of diplomatic negotiation, legal framework adjustments, and community activism. Eustatius were decimated by disease
But that prosperity was built on a foundation of Indigenous genocide and African slavery. The original Kalinago and Taíno populations of St. Eustatius were decimated by disease, forced labor, and outright massacre by Spanish, French, and Dutch colonizers in the 16th and 17th centuries. By 1700, very few Indigenous people remained alive on the island. Their descendants, however, lived on through intermarriage with African and European populations, preserving oral histories, botanical knowledge, and burial customs.
The repatriation ceremony was not merely administrative. Following the formal signing of transfer documents, the three wooden crates containing the remains were wrapped in white cloth and carried by local rangers along a procession route through the historic Lower Town. Elders from the local community, joined by representatives from the wider Caribbean Indigenous diaspora, sang traditional songs of return and offered tobacco and sea salt.