Whispers of the Past sets the stage for a series that reframes history through voices that have long been in the shadows. We begin our captivating journey into the early history of St. Eustatius, revealing how the island’s unique cultural identity was shaped by natural forces and the lives of women too often omitted from traditional narratives. 

Experts discuss how St. Eustatius' volcanic landscape and strategic location fostered a rich tapestry of economic exchange, linguistic diversity, and cultural resilience. By exploring the significance of history from a woman’s perspective and examining the enduring impacts of colonial shifts, this episode unveils the mysteries behind the island’s evolving names and its complex colonial legacy.

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Produced by Simpler Media

>> Dr. Anna Hanslin: If you look at women's history in the Caribbean, it

forces you outside of that very narrow

Eurocentric box of looking at history as defined

by wars and empires and political changes

that are dominated by white men.

>> Unidentified (Podcast Host): Welcome to Whispers of the Past,

a podcast that takes you on a journey through

history told through the voices often left

in the dark. Here we stand at the crossroad

of historical storytelling and women's

history, shedding a light on

synthesias from a perspective

rarely explored. Our goal is to

approach history through a different kind of lens.

We'll use the concept of a canon.

A canon is a structured, chronological

walk through history that lets us

trace each step in order it happened,

revealing how one event flows into the

next. With this approach, we

begin by laying the groundwork of

introducing Stacia's location,

its early history, and its linguistic

roots. From here, we start with

indigenous history and move forward each

episode into Ostatia's rich

history to the present day.

Due to the gaps in historical records,

we also embrace a concept called

braiding knowledge, combining

insight from regional sources and

lived experiences. You will hear from

historians, heritage experts,

regional scholars, and local residents,

each helping us weave together Stacia's

story as we walk the timeline

together. And at the heart of

this podcast is the reason for our name, Whispers

of the Past. Women's voices were often

silenced and were seldom recorded in

history. And here we listen to those

whispers and bring them to life, the stories

that history has almost forgotten to

mention. Together, let's

uncover these voices to

start our journey. We delve into why it's so important

to tell history from a women's perspective.

>> Ms. Sutekau: The world doesn't exist without women,

and it's about time that the

world understood

that we are as powerful

and strong, as intelligent,

and much more

proactive, particularly when it

comes to the education of our children,

the welfares of our family, and the

welfare of our community. Those

are things women have always stood

for and stood up for.

A woman should have the

exact same opportunities as a

man, and she should be given

the same rights and privileges.

>> Unidentified (Podcast Host): Ms. Sutekau, a local resident of St.

Eustatias and one of the founders of the island's

center of Archaeological Research,

reminds us of the essential strength and

role women have played in shaping society.

Reflecting on women's contribution in the past

does more than show us where we've been.

It also illuminates the path ahead.

Historian Dr. Anna Hanslin will take

us deeper into this idea, explaining

how a greater understanding of women's role

throughout history helps us shift our perspective

into the present.

>> Dr. Anna Hanslin: I think that, uh, a

greater contemporary understanding of the richness

of women's roles in the past allows

us to really appreciate and

justify a richness of women's roles in the

present. I think that one of the key

reasons we need to look at women in the past

is to empower women in the present and the

future. Because if we think of the past, for

example, as a place where

women were never politically important,

it makes it a lot easier for a

patriarchal society to argue that they should continue

to remain unimportant. You can pick pretty

much any area of human

life and think about the fact that women

traditionally have done it all. They've been doctors, they've

been rulers, they've been diplomats, they've

been merchants, they've been

makers of beautiful and utilitarian things.

And to think that they have only

traditionally been wives and mothers

is something that, I think, um, has led to a

lot of assumptions about what women

can and should do. That has

led to some, a distinct lack of

empowerment and also to recognize the fact

that being a wife and a mother is also a

job. Right. And that it's something that is labor, and that

for far too often in Western capitalist

society, it's not valued because it's not commodified in the

same way that other labor is.

>> Unidentified (Podcast Host): Dr. Anna Hanslin points out that

assumptions about women's roles have

long shaped what we think women can or should

do today. This also speaks to the

importance of telling a, uh, full history.

Dr. Anna Hansling continues, sharing how

women's histories often bring new, overlooked

layers to our understanding of the

Caribbean.

>> Dr. Anna Hanslin: That history begins with European contact

and settlement in the Caribbean. We know that's

false and does, uh, severe injustice to

the many indigenous people who lived in the

Caribbean before Europeans made contact

and then settled there. So I

think it's parallel to what happens with

women's history in general. If you look at women's history in

the Caribbean, it forces you

outside of that very narrow Eurocentric box

of looking at history as defined by wars, empires,

and political changes that are dominated by white

men. Focusing on that type of history

which glorifies the

European exploration and what

we for a long time erroneously called discovery of the

Caribbean drives that narrative. That history

is only important if it deals with things like

conquest, economic systems

and political settlement

patterns and wars between nations and

empires. I think that is the type of history that

dominated a Eurocentric viewpoint of the

Caribbean for a very long time. And if you

put women's history into that picture,

it reminds you, first of all, that there is

a history that is outside of the

existence of empires deciding that they want

to nominally say this island now belongs to another empire

rather than the previous one, et cetera. And

St. Eustatius obviously is in many ways

one of the best examples in the Caribbean of that, since it changed

hands among empires so many times. And I think

also it's a good reminder that there is

a really crucial human

history of

indigenous and enslaved people whose

lives are not defined so much by big

imperial structural changes like war and

transfer of deeds, et cetera, but defined by

things like raising children and

caring for people. So histories of medicine, histories of

family, cultural history, you can learn

a lot about people in their past by looking at what they

choose to eat over time and how that

changes and how it stays the same. There is an

emotional valence to something like food history. Right. A

lot of people will have a very emotional response

to a food that they associate with their childhood or a

very emotional response to a, uh, food that reminds

them of their cultural heritage. And I think

that's something people don't usually have quite

the same emotional reaction to learning about a battle that took place on an

island they'd never been to. Right. So I think that

is partly true. I also think, though, that

thinking about women's history in the

context of the larger history of the Caribbean, for

example, reminds us that you can't

separate women from things that have traditionally

been told in a male dominated way, like the

history of commerce and capitalism and histories of war and

empire, because without women,

you don't have successful commerce. Women

are making a lot of the things that men are also making.

They're certainly buying. And that's just

one example of how it is

again, even within these, what have traditionally been dominated

by male centric histories. If you look a little deeper

and think about it, you'll understand that women are integral to

those histories too. They just haven't been folded into it

traditionally. And so I think again,

uncovering and appreciating the richness of women's

historical roles in the past really allows us

to think, what is the limit for

women? There's no limit for women besides what patriarchal

systems choose to put on them.

>> Unidentified (Podcast Host): Dr. Anna Hanslin reveals how deeply

women's histories can reshape our understanding

of the Caribbean, reminding us to consider

perspectives often left out of the mainstream

narratives. The broader approach

allows us to connect with the personal, cultural

and everyday lives of those who shape the

region. With the same lens,

we turn to the origin of synthustatia's name,

a name that carries centuries of layered

history. Historian and

Syntustacea's Heritage Inspector Mr.

Richardson will guide us through the mystery

surrounding the island's evolving identity,

from Columbus

misinterpretation to the name that

has defined Statia for centuries.

>> Mr. Richardson: It's very interesting because the island wasn't originally

named Centustatius by Christopher Columbus,

um, when he was actually sailing through

the Caribbean in his so called Age

of Rediscovery. Let me just call it

that rediscovery, because there are already people living

here. One of the interesting things is in

1493, I think it was his third voyage

actually, he sailed by St. Eustatius

and he named the island Santa Maria

de la Nive, which is English

for Saint Mary of the Snow.

Where. Why would he name it that? But that's what he

called the island, St. Mary of the Snow. It's quite

interesting because I have looked through many records

in different countries, especially the ones from

Columbus in his journal. I think it's a huge

mystery because why would he name the Island

St. Mary of the Snow? But

then it goes back to his journals and that

while traveling he thought the island was covered

in snow. He thought the quail was

covered in snow because it was all white according to

his description, not in clouds, but the top of the mountain was

white. That made me think of

transforming into today. If I'm on a

ship in 1493, never seeing a volcano with

ash before, could he have mistaken

volcanic ash on the quill at that

time for an eruption that happened maybe a

few centuries earlier, a thousand years earlier? And when you look

at all the layers of soil, especially at the airport area,

because I'm not an archaeologist, I'm, um, an historian, it makes me

wonder, could those two things, you know, have coincided

with each other? And then fast

forward in around

1523, Francis Drake, who

starts using Stacia, he picks up from

a French missionary, we found out that the island's indigenous

name was Aloi. And then you're

going down the line, the island is still being referred to

as Statia or

Estacia, still no saint in front

of it. And the island, the name that Columbus gave the

island, eventually ended up going to Nevis.

So that's where Nevis Nive got its name from. And

then we're stuck with Thasia or East Asia

for a very long time and or Aloi

on many old Spanish maps that you see in Spain

or in Columbus's old ship logs of his

journey, his journals. But anyway, after the

British or the English at the time. Then it

disappears and then it reappears as Santa

Anastasia again. Where did that one

come from? It's not labeled. And then Santa Anastasia

is dropped. And then there's St. Eustatius.

And what's interesting about our name is that most

Caribbean islands, even like St. Martin, has St. Martin's

Day on November 11, which is actually the day of the

saint. Most Caribbean islands, like St. Lucia, et

cetera, in the past, their national feast day at the height of

colonialism was linked to the day of their saints.

But St. Eustatius was never linked to any of those

days because I think St. Eustatius Day is the 24th

of September or the 25th of

September, and our national day is in November. So you see that

the name was just, I don't know, attached to the island, but

then we started being known as, uh, St. Eustatia

Stacia, right up to now. But I tend to

think that the name Statia is actually

interesting because we don't quite know

where it came from because it doesn't come out

of the word Saint Eustachians. It was used before.

So that makes our name quite unique. In the Caribbean, we m

were named after saints, so Santa Maria, St.

Mary of the Snow, that was Columbus's first name. Santa

Anastasia, Saint Eustatius. We were

named after saints. And like I

said, Columbus's journey to the

Caribbean, on the day that he was naming the

islands, like the 6th of January, he was in the area of

Trinidad, so that's why he became La Trinidad. He was

really naming places on the feast day of many

Catholic festivals in Spain when he was

traveling. But on the day when he

comes by Saint Eustatius, it's also not Saint

Eustatius feast day. So it's a whole

mystery of who really gave us their Saint

Eustatius name. And. But eventually it stuck.

And it's quite unique because it's quite long.

>> Unidentified (Podcast Host): From the layers of history embedded in

Cintastatia's name, we turn now to the

island's physical presence, its

geography and location within the

Caribbean. To help us understand

how Synthastacia's unique landscape has

shaped its history, we welcome Dr.

Stelton, an archaeologist who has

worked extensively on Stacia.

>> Dr. Stelton: Stacia is basically located, um, right in the middle

of a cluster of islands in the Lesser

Antilian, uh, the arc of Lesser Antilian islands, basically

in the northeastern Caribbean. It's a very interesting

location because it is very close to a

lot of other islands. Right. Whereas stone straw, away from

Ceiba from St. Martin, from Anguilla,

from Saint Barts, from St. Kitts and Nevis, and even Antigua

is not that far.

>> Unidentified (Podcast Host): You know, being part

of this close knit cluster of islands,

Cus occupies a prime

location for both cultural and

economic exchange. Its

proximity to these neighboring islands has long

influenced its identity, impacting

everything from trade routes to cultural connections

over the centuries.

>> Dr. Stelton: In the 18th century, it became such an important

trading hub. In the 1970s and 1980s,

a large oil transshipment facility was set up

there. And both of those reasons are very similar

because St. Eustace is located at what is called

a point of minimal deviation. And that means

that it is very close to the location

where a lot of shipping routes intersect. What that means

is that if you, um, are doing business on St. Eustacia,

you're very easily accessible from established shipping

routes.

>> Unidentified (Podcast Host): This strategic location was key not

only during the 18th century when Stacia became

a bustling trading hub, but also in the

20th century because of its deep water

ports, making it an ideal location for

oil transshipment facility.

One of Stacia's unique features is its

diverse landscape. Stacia has

three distinct regions.

We have the towering Quill, the volcano

which dominates the southern skyline,

the rugged northern hills, and then the

relatively flat plains that lies in

between. This very terrain

has a profound influence how the island's

history and settlement have evolved over time,

shaping both its natural beauty

and its story. But how

did the unique landscape come to be? And

what role did the volcanic activity play in

forming the island's distinct regions?

>> Dr. Stelton: Quite a bit of geological and volcanological research

has been done on Stacia, especially by

Rubel and Smith. Back in the early 2000s, they figured

out that Statia originally

consisted of the northern hills. That's an

extinct volcanic cluster that formed

probably between 1 and 2 million years ago. It is still

relatively young, geologically speaking. That was the original

Statia. There was nothing else around it. It was just

that. Now, what happened sometime between 40

and 50,000 years ago, according to volcanologists, is that

the quills started forming. That starts forming as a submarine

volcano. That submarine volcano grows and keeps growing. It breaks

the surface and it forms a separate island.

So there was a period of time, several tens of thousands of years

ago when there was two Statias.

There was one in the north and one in the south. That was to become the Quill, and

then eventually the Quill. Um, after several periods

of volcanic activity, it grew into what it

is now. And at some point it connected, um, the

northern and the southern and, uh, became one. For such

a small island, it has a few very distinct

regions. You go up into the Quill and, um,

you hike inside the crater, and it's a completely different world. I really

like that, that you have these places. Even though it's such a small island

and you're always around people, there's ways to

escape it.

>> Unidentified (Podcast Host): The unique formation of Sinta Statius tells us a

story both above and below the surface.

Initially, Stacia was a single landmass.

But tens of thousands of years ago, a new

volcanic event began shaping the southern part of

the island. The Quill,

our volcano, emerged from the sea as a

separate island, eventually connecting the

northern hills to create Stacia as we know it

today. Together,

these distinct regions offer incredible

diversity. Beneath the waves,

Sintustasia has its own dramatic

landscape. Sitting on a shallow submarine

bank shared with Tsunkitts and Nevis,

the water around the island ranges from only

40 to 60 meters deep. But

venturing further out, and the seafloor drops

off sharply. The

underwater topography mirrors the island's

striking surface feature,

especially around the Quill, where the terrain rises

up from the depths, creating a dramatic

spectacle both above and below.

But it's not only the island's physical features

that have evolved over time. Its history of

changing hands between colonial powers has left

a unique mark on Stacia's identity,

even down to the names of the mountains,

bays and landmarks. Dr.

Stelton will explain to us how these

shifting names tell a story of their own,

reflecting the island's composite, complex colonial

past and its blend of languages and

culture.

>> Dr. Stelton: This is also an interesting kind of thing about

Stacia's history, how certain place names have

been corrupted over the years. So the island

changed hands 22 times in about 180 years

between the Dutch, British and French throughout the colonial

period. So what happens is that initially the

Dutch, they name certain geographical features, such

as bays, mountains and roads

even, and things like that. And the French come in and they give their own

spin on that. Uh, yeah, and then the British come in and they do

the same thing, and then the Dutch come in. So all of these names are

a very interesting mix. So the Dutch, they

initially named the Quill, which they called the

Vilberg, the Fire Mountain. That was the kind of the term in the

17th century for a volcano. They initially called it the

Kyle. So the crater was called the Kyle, which means the

pit, right, the pit of the mountain. And when the British

at some point took over, they thought, oh, Kyle, oh, uh, that's a Quill.

Right. So they just corrupted that into Quill.

Basically the way that they could pronounce it, you see

on some old maps, you'll see the name Kyle. And then again it

changes a few years later to Quill. And that's the name that has.

Yeah, that has stuck. There's numerous examples like that. For

example, the bay where the oil terminal is located. Where you have

the long jetty going out. That used to be Tomoelen

Dijk. That was the Dutch name. And the British, they call it Tumbledown

Dick. I don't know which one is first, actually. They sound very

alike. So one must have been derived from the other, I would

say.

>> Unidentified (Podcast Host): As synthastaceas has changed hands and names

over centuries. The landscape itself was also

transforming, Shaped by both natural

forces and human impact. From the

island's lush tropical forests. To the limited

freshwater resources, Stacia

presented a unique set of challenges for those

who settled here. Dr. Stelton

explains how these environmental factors

not only influenced daily life, but also

dictated the way in which people adapted to the

land.

>> Dr. Stelton: So if you, um,

would be sailing by St. Eustatia five,

600 years ago, it would be a very

different island from what it is now. And from what it was

maybe 200 years after.

Um, because the island initially was

probably covered in a very thick tropical

forest. And that has been almost completely cut

away. Mainly in the early period of

colonization. Just to make room for sugarcane and other

cash crops. Humans have had a significant impact

on the vegetation. There is still a little bit of native

vegetation that is. That is preserved, especially

on the crater rim. But I guess terrain impacted the

humans a lot more. The water situation on Stacia is

very interesting. There's a lot of islands around there

that have fresh water sources, such as

sinkheads. Now, in Stacia, that is not the case. Yes, there

are many wells around the island, especially along the

coast, which produce brackish water. The main way that

people got water is collecting rainwater in cistern.

And so that has had a significant impact on the island as well. For

example, think about ships back in the day were coming to Stacia

to trade in those historic ship logs. That a lot of

these ships, they would be getting their water from neighboring St. Kitts, actually,

because there was such an abundance of water there while on

Stacia. Even though there are plenty of large

cisterns, especially in Lower Town as well, that were being

constructed. I think 14 or 15 known

historic cisterns that were in Lowertown. Um,

so obviously they would be supplying not just the island,

but most Likely also some of the ships in port to some

extent. But the fact that these ships go to a neighboring island

to get water shows that there's probably not enough.

It was never an easy island to settle, I think even though people made

it work.

>> Unidentified (Podcast Host): The environmental challenges of

synthestaceas ranged from deforestation

to limited water supplies. This really shaped how

people adapted to life on the island.

Yet, uh, the social landscape was also

evolving, especially as colonial

powers competed for the control of this

small but yet strategic island.

With each shift in power, a blend of

culture and languages emerged, leaving a

mark on the community.

Dr. Stelton explores how these colonial

transitions shape the linguistic and

cultural identity of Stacia, a

legacy that endures to this day.

>> Dr. Stelton: With the island being conquered several times by the British, and then the

French, and then the Dutch again British, et cetera, et

cetera. Um, you

would expect that there would be, like,

at least a bit of a mix or different languages on the island

historically as well. Um, but what's interesting is

that even though for most of its

colonial period history, Stacia has been

Dutch, especially The last, um, 208 years,

it's been Dutch continuously. And Dutch is

the official language and the language in government.

Right. But on the street, there's not a whole lot of

people who speak Dutch. And even the ones

who do know how to speak Dutch, they usually speak

English anyway, because that's the general language on the island.

Right. And I think that partly has to do with the fact that,

of course, the island changed hands so many times over the years.

Back in the day, a lot of people were trading with the British

colonies, such as St. Kitts and Antigua.

But also nowadays, a lot of station people, they

have their family on those islands, especially in places

like St. Kitts, for example. And so, um,

obviously, as a former British colony and part of the

English Caribbean, they speak English. So I think

all those reasons combined make it so that

officially the language on Stacia is Dutch,

but in reality, everybody just speaks English.

>> Unidentified (Podcast Host): As Dr. Stelton has explained,

Sintostatias was a cultural

crossroad, its identity shaped by the republic.

Repeated shift in colonial rule. But

unlike many European powers of the time,

the Dutch colonial approach was notably

different. See, for the Dutch colonies

were often established not to spread Dutch

culture or religion, but to create

trading hubs. This emphasis on

commerce rather than cultural assimilation

meant that the Dutch allowed diversity of

influence to thrive,

focusing more on economic opportunity

than enforcing a, uh, singular national

identity. This approach left a, uh,

lasting legacy on synthastatius,

creating a cultural fabric that

Blended regional and European influence in

both visible and subtle ways.

In the public sphere, we see the Dutch

influence in the official language and

governmental structures. Yet everyday

life on Synthastatius reflects a

multilingual and multicultural blend

shaped by the practical need to trade and

communicate across colonial lines.

Even religion was often secondary to trade

interest, allowing the Dutch to form

unique alliances and networks within the

Caribbean. Dr.

Morsinks, an archaeologist with over

two decades of experience in the Caribbean,

including Centustacious, explains

how the Dutch prioritized trade over

cultural dominance. And

this influenced not just the language, but the

very foundation of the society on the

island, impacting its economic

systems, cultural practices, and even its

social structures in ways that are still very

evident today.

>> Dr. Morsinks: Yeah, I think that the colonial effort

by the Netherlands is very different from

other countries like Spain, France or

England. The Dutch emphasis was

always on trade. The Dutch were targeting these

relatively small islands. Other countries

were really establishing new portions of

that country elsewhere. So they

wanted to engage with these larger islands. They wanted

to incorporate that into their territory.

The background of the colonial effort, I think for the Dutch was

very different from these other European powers.

For example, you can see in

Suriname, um, but also in Stacia that you have one of the

earliest synagogues there,

because these other countries were really

Catholic or the church of

England, and they were really establishing

the countries as well as the religion.

If you look at the history of, for instance of Stacia,

it gets changed so many times. And it's because the

Dutch want to set up this trade network on

this, um, tax free harbor.

But the French and the English are finding their own

fights right in the middle of that. But the

Dutch are just like, let's keep trading. It didn't matter

that much what kind of relation or, uh, background you were as long

as you were trading and making money. The Dutch were happy.

For instance, the French are very proud of their

own culture and their language. And if you're

establishing these other islands as part

of your country, then you do a lot of effort about

cultural education, cultural recordation.

And I think you can still see that the

French islands are very French

at the same time as they are Caribbean, but they're very

French and everything is French. And there's

a lot of emphasis on culture, There's a lot

of emphasis on education, which also

means that a lot of things are just written down

and, ah, more recorded where if your

main emphasis is on trade

and your governors are more focused on ensuring

that there's money to be made than

establishing this hallmark of Dutch

quote unquote culture somewhere else,

then there is less reason to educate

people locally. There's less

emphasis on that. There's also less emphasis on

recordation because you're trying not to establish

a hallmark of Dutch culture, but you're establishing

trade posts to make money.

>> Unidentified (Podcast Host): The Dutch approach to colonialism left a

distinct mark on Stacia, creating an island

of unique cultural dynamics. Unlike, um,

other European powers, the Dutch prioritized

trade, allowing a blend of influence

to flourish. The result was a trading

hub, which created a fusion of languages and

cultures shaped over centuries of

exchange with neighbors near and far.

But what of the island's culture itself?

The island's heritage inspector, Mr.

Richardson, reflects on Stacia's culture

the everyday customs, language, and

memories that have lived on through its

people.

>> Mr. Richardson: The culture on Scintustius I would describe

as almost being Phoenix like. I think

it's a culture that continuously

evolves, continuously changes. But I

think there's still a lot of things rooted in the colonial

past. But there's also a lot of things that

people are not yet aware of, that a lot of the things

people do, the way people speak, the way people

pronounce things, is a lot of things, uh, came out

of Africa. You know, it's like the

enslaved ancestors may not have been able to travel with

their belongings, but they did travel with

memory. And memory is very strong. That's

how we, as people, we learn things through memory. And, of course,

out of the memory of the enslaved ancestors, many of

that, many of those things became statistical

culture. So I think stacious cultures are kind

of unawarely

doing stuff that we can explain, or we do not know where

it comes from because it wasn't properly studied.

>> Unidentified (Podcast Host): As we bring our episode to a close, we

stand on the threshold of, uh, Stacia's rich, layered

history. A, uh, history that pulses with

resilience, transformation, and the power of

memory. From colonial shifts to

deep cultural exchanges, the island story

is one of constant reinvention that reflects

both its struggles and triumphs.

These stories are more than just marks left by

empires. They are also the subtle, profound

contribution of women who have built,

preserved, and nourished life here.

Their voices, their whisper

that history has almost forgotten. They called

to us, urging us to see the

island not just as a relic of past

empires, but as a living canvas

where women, families, and

traditions have left its mark.

Thank you for beginning this journey with us.

In our walk forward, we look back to the

indigenous communities of Stacia, and we

meet the women whose wisdom, strength,

and leadership were woven deeply into their

communities. These were the first

voices of the land who set the stage

for all that was to come.