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Dr Menno Hougland hopes that St Lucia will see the profit potential of its rich archaeological history before it all gets swept into the sea.
Does the St Lucian government really want to profit from heritage tourism? The bones of Amerindians at Cas en Bas will tell the story in just one day. On Friday morning the Government of St Lucia was expected to sign a memorandum of understanding that will tell just how far they are willing to go to protect the island’s natural and cultural history.
There seems little hope that a government that just emerged from a fight with civil servants about a $25 million annual increase would shell out money for an archeological dig at the site of a new hotel development. But on Friday the Prime Minister’s Office, Dutch researchers, St Lucian historians and the government should have signed a document that should, at the very least, try to protect the Cas en Bas promontory from heavy vehicles, horse riding and other destructive human activities—at least until the Raffles hotel development starts in earnest. What are they protecting?
Professor Corinne Hofman (L)head of the dig team and a local journalist, discussing how the bones could help retell the history of the Caribbean.
Almost two dozen skeletons were discovered at Cas en Bas since last December and they could hold secrets which could help change the way the history of the Caribbean is told.
“The problem we have now is that the site is so damaged that there is no possibility of preservation,” said Dr Menno Hougland, one of the senior archaeologist who first identified the Amerindian burial ground back in December. “The site is being eroded so quickly that I think a lot has already been lost. So it is important to do a rescue excavation to salvage and document what is left.”
Even more might be lost, if funding is not found to fully excavate the site. Currently, the researchers are funding their visit with money donated from a number of other projects around the Caribbean.
The accidental discovery of the Amerindian burial ground at Cas en Bas last December is one half of the developing story of the conflict between big developers and heritage tourism. Not far from the beach a small, but famous beach bar operator, Majorie Lambert, is facing a government-backed challenge to take away her lease of 5,000 acres of beach front land and give it to the super-successful St Lucia Golf Club. It is a discouraging sign to researchers and cultural activists, who want the government’s help to protect the site and fund an excavation that could help preserve this part of the island’s history.
Leading politicians have been aware of the newest known Amerindian site since its discovery. Tourism minister Allen Chastanet and communications and works minister Guy Joseph visited the site when some Cabinet ministers, including the Prime Minister and district representative Leonard ‘Spider’ Montoute paid a visit to Majorie Lambert’s beach shack in February of this year .
“Both agreed it was a very important site,” said Hougland. Education minister Gaspard Charlemagne visited the site more recently.
“Maybe we can sit with the developers,” Hougland said, hopefully, “and work out some partnership to document the cultural heritage in this place and make it accessible to both St Lucians and visitors as an exhibition. It can add value to the Raffles development. It can be a win-win situation.”
Hougland is hopeful that St Lucia is as interested in the profits of cultural heritage as, for example, Curacoa, where a developer recently contracted the same archaeologists to excavate a suspected Amerindian site at the eighth and ninth hole of a golf course under development.
“The Santa Barbara Plantation called us in when they suspected they had Amerindian ruins at the place where they were putting a golf course,” he told the STAR. “Once we confirmed it, within 10 minutes, they had committed $100,000 to excavation and documentation, because they realized the value of having a unique historical aspect added to the golfing experience.”
It could cost only US$60,000 to $100,000 to fully excavate and document the bones buried on the promontory. According to Hougland, it would take three months or less to complete the work that needs to be done to save the site from total destruction due to the effects of erosion and human development.
But the archaeologists are leaving St Lucia this weekend and for the next few months, the site will have very little protection from the nearby developments at Raffles and the St Lucia Golf Club, not to mention horse riders and other agents of erosion.
“Erosion is very severe,” said Hougland. “It is too late to preserve it. It should have been preserved since the 80s or from the 60s when the first dig found pottery here. But when the vegetation was removed, erosion accelerated.” When the trucks started crossing the beach and driving over the site to get to the (Raffles) development, that’s when you could actually see the bones coming up from the ground.
The archaeologists—who have done a south coast archaeological survey of the island—are aware of what has happened in St Lucia when Amerindian pottery and bones are found on the site of a major hotel development. In the 1980s, at the construction site of what is now Jalousie Plantation Resort, workers reported that large amounts of pottery and bones were dumped by bulldozers into trucks and transported far from the site in order to avoid having to stop construction to do a dig. In that case, there was no consideration of adding value to the tourism development by adding an archeological component to the design. The surrounding area later won World Heritage Site status, but recently, St Lucia was warned that if excessive and insensitive development in the area is allowed to continue, St Lucia could lose World Heritage Status. The process of revoking St Lucia’s World Heritage Site status begins next month.
“It is interesting to me,” said Hougland, “that developers like these come from places where if archaeological ruins are found, then development must stop until there is a complete assessment of what is down there. They know what proper standards are but they are come here and act in such a manner . . . In America, they would have to ensure that the material findings are repatriated to what native group previously occupied the site.”
The government may not care, but over 500 local people have visited the site to have a look at the truth about the people who were here before Columbus ‘discovered’ the Americas.
Will the researchers who discovered the site get any money to continue excavating and documenting this disappearing portion of St Lucia’s history? By Friday afternoon, the Amerindian bones will tell their first secrets, not about the past, but about the truth about whether the St Lucian government really means to make money from cultural and heritage tourism, or whether they just want to turn it into another mega-tourism sell-out.
in the profits of cultural heritage as, for example, Curacoa, where a developer recently contracted the same archaeologists to excavate a suspected Amerindian site at the eighth and ninth hole of a golf course under development.
“The Santa Barbara Plantation called us in when they suspected they had Amerindian ruins at the place where they were putting a golf course,” he told the STAR. “Once we confirmed it, within 10 minutes, they had committed $100,000 to excavation and documentation, because they realized the value of having a unique historical aspect added to the golfing experience.”
It could cost only US$60,000 to $100,000 to fully excavate and document the bones buried on the promontory. According to Hougland, it would take three months or less to complete the work that needs to be done to save the site from total destruction due to the effects of erosion and human development.
But the archaeologists are leaving St Lucia this weekend and for the next few months, the site will have very little protection from the nearby developments at Raffles and the St Lucia Golf Club, not to mention horse riders and other agents of erosion.
“Erosion is very severe,” said Hougland. “It is too late to preserve it. It should have been preserved since the 80s or from the 60s when the first dig found pottery here. But when the vegetation was removed, erosion accelerated.” When the trucks started crossing the beach and driving over the site to get to the (Raffles) development, that’s when you could actually see the bones coming up from the ground.
The archaeologists—who have done a south coast archaeological survey of the island—are aware of what has happened in St Lucia when Amerindian pottery and bones are found on the site of a major hotel development. In the 1980s, at the construction site of what is now Jalousie Plantation Resort, workers reported that large amounts of pottery and bones were dumped by bulldozers into trucks and transported far from the site in order to avoid having to stop construction to do a dig. In that case, there was no consideration of adding value to the tourism development by adding an archeological component to the design. The surrounding area later won World Heritage Site status, but recently, St Lucia was warned that if excessive and insensitive development in the area is allowed to continue, St Lucia could lose World Heritage Status. The process of revoking St Lucia’s World Heritage Site status begins next month.
“It is interesting to me,” said Hougland, “that developers like these come from places where if archaeological ruins are found, then development must stop until there is a complete assessment of what is down there. They know what proper standards are but they are come here and act in such a manner
. . . In America, they would have to ensure that the material findings are repatriated to what native group previously occupied the site.”
The government may not care, but over 500 local people have visited the site to have a look at the truth about the people who were here before Columbus ‘discovered’ the Americas.
Will the researchers who discovered the site get any money to continue excavating and documenting this disappearing portion of St Lucia’s history? By Friday afternoon, the Amerindian bones will tell their first secrets, not about the past, but about the truth about whether the St Lucian government really means to make money from cultural and heritage tourism, or whether they just want to turn it into another mega-tourism sell-out.
RSS
sad situation…. that should be turned into some kind of museum or something.
What does the opposition party has to say about all this? Finally a legitimate issue but the hounds have gone silent. Perhaps they need a pair of huevos or maybe they’re all bought and paid for.
Maybe the dead will be pissed-off and start haunting parliament and every public office, that would be fun.
Alive and pissed.
A very important article on a very important issue! The surrounding bays in that area should also be investigated, pottery has been found there too.
We need to protect our heritage, we have been blessed with an island rich in history and culture, yet we take it for granted. Sustainable development, not mass destruction of our beautiful island for a quick buck. Both are possible!!! We need to put some effort into it.
no..after what we did to the pitons what do we expect.when we loose our heritage status then and only then we will wake up and smell the lashawine……we treat the pitons,cas en bas and our few heritage sights just like we treat pigeon point no money no love….
Mr. Prime Minister and those in charge do something, stop selling out St.Lucia’s heritage to the highest bidder, enough!!!!!!! Our history is a rich one let us preserve it, it would be a shame to take away the status of World Heritage from St. Lucia. If this happens , shame on the government
This has been ongoing issue since whenever. Its quite obvious that the government likewise the investors could care less about any type of archeological discovery or the impact that those developments have on our natural resources and environment.
http://www.imeem.com/sarvanproductions
I realize that there is not much discussion on that very important subject by the nationals, I wonder why. I can assure you if it was the gossip type there would be more interest. Most of the people just like the government don’t see to care either. That’s a shame
Heritage too must have ‘constituents’. Not until St Lucians stand up and OWN these sites, will any politician jump on the bandwagon. No foreigners can do it, only Lucians.
after we made the pitons private property for a hand full of jobs,raped pigeon point for jazz now we busy selling our history at cas en bas…heritage who? what?…i hear rat island for sale 10 million ec dollars
Does St.Lucia have a museum? I don’t think I know of any…
St. Lucia thrives on chaos and unaccountability. It is a reactive culture, I still can’t believe we have two Nobel prize winners who shine from such a dark hole of distortion. We seem to portray an image that we believe the outside world craves, we do not have a genuine identity, so the bones of Cas en bas await for some invented story, some new imagination.
The concept of Heritage in St. Lucia is only in the love of money, there is no passion or love for nature. I have seen two hundred year old mango trees destroyed by cutlass and fire, in order that the sweet potato yield be increased . This is a hand to mouth country, so the belly comes before heritage.
This issue really bothers me. In one tone the government speaks about sustainable development of our environment and then when opportunities show themselves they do something else. Its heart breaking what is happening to our country by persons who claim to love our island.
Matt there is a museum on Pigeon Island, in fact St. Lucia has one of the greatest Historians in the name of Robert Devaux.
They are busy selling st. Lucia’s soul for future so -called profits that very few st lucians ever get to see. Those who profit from these hotels are certainly not st lucians, some menial jobs that barely pay the rent are what our people get from the hotel industry. What country has ever truly developd from tourism? The government should think of selling less of st lucia’s land to foreigners and concentrating on the entrepreneurial side of the economy, where every -day st lucians can truly benefit. These guys do not care about the future of this country but their pockets. They lack foresight and vision and we have paid for this dearly. Ask the Asians how they developed and became a force to be reckoned with, it was not through selling their land for so called tourism but developing their entrepreneurial skills of their people. But sadly, we will continue to be governed by ineptitude and allow fools to run the country and barely speak when its in our favour too and allow decisions that are certainly not for the good of st. lucia in the long term.
Where is the beautiful “Helen of the West” going to end up? Our history is being erased by people who only have financial interests in our island and no true love for its mere existence. Those who are spearheading these projects, as mention by the archeologist, are familiar with the protocol since they are from countries when they are enforced all the time. It’s sad when you have a government that care solely about financial gains and are afraid to make moral decisions against foreigners. If they government is not going to find some way of excavating the site and or protecting it then they should have stayed in the comfort of their offices and never went down there. The Caribs in St. Lucia are gone and the least we owe them is some respect. Bob Marley said “a people with no regards for their history are like a tree growing with roots”. You cannot know who you are unless you know where you came from. The few Carib descendants that still reside in parts of St. Lucia and the Caribbean deserve proper respect and treatment of their ancestor’s burial sites.
This should not be left for the government to decide. The people of St. Lucia should take pride in their country. Destruction of such treasure is irreplaceble. St. Lucians, wake up and smell the coffee it is your tomrrow you are throwing away.
Another Concerned citizen: To love anything cannot be verbalized in any form, much less for your country (all it’s inhabitants). Doing so destroys any hint of love and makes it a profanity.
please let us start a fund or a facebook group to raise money to help excavate. my great-grand mother was Amerindian…watched her die when I was three…history at school helped me appreciate what her death meant and what I had lost that day but she taught my grandmother and mother alot about herbal medicines and farming on the seaside. I also watched my friend’s great grand mother die of old age she was half amerindian…..please save this it is par to our past and part of who we are..gone but not forgotten a formiddable people…I cried when I saw the picture grave…both joy and sadness
ok everyone i know someone who can bring this story to the attention of the UN Committee on the elimination of racial discrimination (CERD) they also deal with indigenous people’s rights and this issue falls under them. St. Lucia is a signatory to the UNCERD treaty but we have never fulfilled our reporting responsibility. My friend alwasy jokes about this with me…we should pressure th government to report…..and if they say they don’t have money they are lying…CERD has funds to help small developing countries without big bureacracies to report…and just by reporting we may be able to get help to locate the funds for the excavation. the summer session of CERD is going right now…St. Lucia is not up for review this session but its high time…our report is overdue…and it may give indigenous descendants and st. lucians in general the hope of seeing this excavation go ahead to save our heritage…people my people developed countries do not sell their heritage…they preserve it so they can rember how great they were or even the agony of defeat so it may never happen again. The genocide of the Amerindians over 500 year is the biggest the world has ever seen…the entire Americas wiped out and repopulated with other ethnicities in 500 hundred…an entire peopl near extinct…please this is not only for st. lucia it is for the whole of the americas!!!
KK, I sent this page to UNCERD, thanks for the info.
you’re welcome simon I have also fowarded this to article to my friend.
My soul is not at peace. It seems that our national pride is being stripped off our very bones. We as a people will have NOTHING left, if we let this desecration of our nature & culture sensitive areas continue. I lament on the Le Paradie development, the Raffles development and now Jalousie Enclave, amongst a host of others.
I am currently pursuing my degree in tourism, and will specialize in Ecotourism and sustainable development, and Law. I only wish that I was now in a legal position to make some changes. But I believe that each St. Lucian still has a voice and should use it. Sign the petition on the SLNT Site to stop the Jalousie enclave development, and we as a people must unite and take a stance. Some persons who have political and social status with also the financial backing should take up the mantel to start an environmental march to stop this destruction of our national heritage. I hope I’m not too old and grey before we see some changes.