The Boni Trail : on the trail of Surinamese fighters

Also read: Parliamentary delegation ‘must be on the plantations’

Slave market

The Boni Trail was recently discredited during a visit to Suriname by Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema. One of the parts of the tour is the depiction of a slave market. Pictures have been hung in an open space showing a black woman with her child being offered for sale. Around it, European men in top hats inspect mother and child while smoking pipes. “We want to convey the feeling of a slave market. Visitors are also briefly given a necklace. “To get an idea of ​​what it was like to be chained,” Zalman says.

The commotion arose at this station during Halsema’s visit. “The mayor felt uncomfortable with the chain on. She was ashamed and criticized. The word Disneyfication of slavery was mentioned, very insulting,” Zalman says, looking back on the event. He is silent for a moment. The buzz of mosquitoes breaks the silence as Zalman slides the necklace around my wrists.

Halsema’s criticism had major consequences for the Frederiksdorp plantation. Visitors canceled their visit. The delegation members of the House of Representatives who arrive this weekend for a working visit in Suriname to orientate themselves about the slavery history, initially canceled the Boni Trail after Halsema’s negative statements.

“While we want to tell the story of slavery from the Surinamese perspective, it seems that we are still treated colonially,” says Zalman. “As if we can only tell the story as the Netherlands wants us to have experienced slavery. Apparently it shouldn’t be too uncomfortable.”

According to Zalman, it is precisely this experience of slavery in Suriname that differs greatly from the experience in the Netherlands. The processing in Suriname, where slavery and colonialism has taken place for centuries, is different from that in the Netherlands. “For a long time, the subject of slavery was taboo in the Netherlands. It is not taught, and a process of processing is only now beginning. Many Surinamese have both ancestors who lived in slavery and ancestors who were slave owners. We had to do it together after slavery. In the Netherlands, this process has been artificially initiated. Here it happened automatically, without naming it”.

The focus of the Boni Trail is therefore not on victimhood, as is often the case in the Netherlands when it comes to slavery, but on the strength of the enslaved. Boni, who with his men waged war against the Dutch settlers for almost forty years and who seemed unbeatable from his legendary Fort Boekoe, is an example for many Surinamese.

horrors

Although the horrors of slavery and torture are also depicted during the Boni Trail, the story is also about survival. Zalman, and others in Suriname, including Armand Zunder, chairman of the National Slavery Repair Committee, argue for a major role for Suriname in the discussion about the slavery past in the Netherlands. Zunder recently said in NRC that the Netherlands should make excuses for slavery in Suriname, including a recovery program.

According to Zalman, Surinamese should be involved in the commemoration of slavery in the Netherlands. “For example, a slavery museum is being built in Amsterdam, but no experts from Suriname were consulted. The Surinamese perspective also relies on oral narration and spirituality. Much of it you won’t find in historical documents, but it does give a broader picture of history. In Surinamese culture, spirituality is part of life and history”.

A month after the withdrawal of the Dutch MPs, Zalman has been informed that the delegation will visit Plantage Frederiksdorp after all, he says. “I hope they are also open to the Boni Trail experiences.”