Towards Country Saint Martin 2010

I am forwarding you this email, wherein surprisingly, I don't see you included. I like to hear your remarks. Did the SPA not win in 1994/1995 - when you were the president of the SPA- board? Do you share the opinion that the victory of the NA in 2002 was due to The National? Do you believe, that the present NA board should be more 'pro-active', rather than sitting back waiting for incentives or information from the commissioners and other elected officials? After all, effectively, the Board has at its disposal the force of the Party Council. This is a mighty force if properly activated and honed to function accordingly. I refer here, particularly, to the district leaders and their district members. When the Board meets that challenge the elected officials must get in line or else........

This will be the crux of the democratic procedure in action. This action is the only manner, in my mind and experience, to get rid of "Claudism" - the political system that seriously confuses electoral campaigning with proper governance. "Proper governance" of a country, in my opinion, means managing and administrating the country in accordance with the laws of the land (our constitution) and the rules/regulation of public administration. There is a principled difference between business administration (private) and public administration (every body) - because there is a different consequential accountability.

In my view, our (NA) mind-set ought to be as a government leading this island-territory of the Netherlands Antilles towards country status, a legal entity within the Kingdom. However, country status is not only a legal frame work related to the Kingdom, but more importantly, a consciousness of a concept of country that has yet to be realized. If every citizen has to participate, then every citizen ought to be in sync with this concept. So, what is this concept?

Concretely, this concept is predicated upon the constitution which must entail more than the legal frame work of country status. It simply has to be rooted in the history and cultural experience of the people of the island-territory to date as well as it ought to project a preview of what this country is all about. Well, we don't have a constitution which is known to the people of Saint Martin and we don't have a governing program which is known to the people of Saint Martin; and to be sure, there was none, that I know of, previous to this government that was known to the people of Saint Martin.

What is known, though, and what has been brought to the mind of the people of Saint Martin for the first time and since then is the Manifesto of the National Alliance. I submit, for your serious consideration, that this manifesto of which areas are being introduced, be (re)visited and used together with the constitution as the basic information, to inform and sensitize our members and district leaders to the concept of Country Saint Martin. As if this is not daunting enough, you ought to consider as well as where we are in this moment. A moment of putting in place recklessly overdue infra-structure, resources (human as well as material) to establish a tangible basis to support the transfer and management of responsibilities of country Saint Martin. We have newly, some inexperienced, elected officials on both central as well as local levels, having to deal with the severe challenge of it all.

The point here is how do we acquit ourselves of our responsibility in this web of intangibles and maze of ways of approach to urgent preparation of country Saint Martin? Nobody knows with any certainty, since this a historical and political situation unique to our experience here inSaint Martin. Not only as a Party, but also as a people. and yes! It is much more than to us, than it is in Curacao or the Central government. Certainly, we will not be effective in confronting this unique challenge by complaining, by being frustrated due to others behavior who already in the fray of things and having to push themselves to the limit.

My position is, and has always been in these matters, taking pains to finding a way to cooperate with others and coordinate what forces you can find in order to get the job done. If not possible, then step aside and some body else who can get the job done. Of course, I must accept that the lateness of the hour and the established target date of country status is prohibitive of introducing this process of conscientization toward country Saint Martin. Therefore, what is of the greatest urgency in going forward, is the introduction of the Party platform (its manifesto updated to the circumstances) for the purpose of launching our electoral campaign. Due to the urgency of the moment, there is little room for the accommodation of actual opposition within our ranks. We need to be creative rather than divisive. Herein, we have been dreadfully remiss, even in the face of the challenge of leading a coalition government. Let us be very mindful of the fact, that we are the government - not the opposition.

Here's a vital area of the Board's pro active participation in assuring victory in whatever election. I submit this position to the Board for its serious consideration. The critical element in any action, especially in the area of public relations via the media, is MONEY. I agree. 'Money', however, without creativity in its application has proven to be not necessarily effective. I submit, that commitment, dedication, selfless cooperation to the democratically chosen cause (accepting the responsibility of fulfilling the promise of the 2000 referendum to our people) must be our driving force and the launching pad. Money, we can not ignore, is the important facility. The greatness of the challenge, establishing the process of becoming country, that confronts us, demands that we close our ranks.

Our Board, elected by the highest authority of the Party, the NA Congress, comprises many serious and competent people, let us get together to reach the elected officials, its political leader and our constituents - I believe, more effectively, will be the 'bottom-up' approach, our district leaders and their members. A tough assignment? To be sure, yes! Then, again, nobody says, that the task of the Board is an easy one, especially where we presently stand.

The most important responsibility that I submit for the Board's consideration is, to obtain one way or another, the governing program that was proposed since June 2009. We ought not to wait for the approval of the two independent members in our government. This governing program, I must believe, is geared towards preparing for and transition toward our country Saint Martin.

While it would have been tweaked in terms of priorities, in consideration of the independent partners in government, the actual governing program must be ours - where we need to go, what we need to do to get there, based on what we stand for. It is our responsibility to our constituents as well as all the people in Saint Martin to have them properly informed.

This documented platform (NA manifesto based governing program) will inform the Board sufficiently to embark on conscientizing the citizens of Saint Martin. The NA - PRO will then also have sufficient manna to feed our people without having to go to which ever elected official for the necessary information.

That perspective of him/herself/themselves is what you validate through your campaign - that validated perspective which you would have confirmed through his/her/their acceptance of the relevant areas of the NA manifesto is the perception, you need the number, the constituent, the citizen, any body living on the island with which to enter the polling station - and vote for it.

The candidate who can achieve that, the district leaders who can achieve that, the Board that can establish that environment, the political leader who can promote and coordinate that will get the greatest number at the polls, consequently the National Alliance party will win. That's how simple the game of politics is. In fact, it is the game of life where you assume the responsibility, enticed or entrusted to you by fellow human beings as citizens in an environment, we call a island-territory, a country, you pledge to establish for them.

Let's continue to go forward - Together!!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

The Monument
This monument - also, called The People’s Monument, located exactly on the border of the French and Dutch Antillean section of the island depicts in essence what is politically taking place in this uniquely cosmopolitan island we call Saint Martin. The historical context of the political development of the people resident on the island is an amazing one. The people living on each section of the island has been politically administrated by the two nations, Holland and France, who had a battle about this size-wise insignificant island territory. Whereas in 1648 the French and Dutch agreed on a treaty, which has never actually been signed by any of the parties here is a situation, 358 years later when the people who, in effect, maintained peaceful coexistence between the nations, have signed a “Final Declaration’ with the Netherlands Kingdom on November 2, 2006 to insure a new constitutional status. Prompted by the outcome of two referendums, serious consideration was given to the recommendation of the so called "Jesurun Report. The framework of the Final Declaration is supported by the following considerations.

- that on October 22nd 2005, an Outline Accord was agreed upon between the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and the Island Territories;
- that it was agreed upon in the Outline Accord that the Country the Netherlands Antilles shall cease to exist
that during the starting-Round Table Conference of November 26th 2005, agreements were made with regard to the intended final perspective and the target date for the new political structure;
- that during the starting-Round Table Conference, it was agreed upon that criteria and standards shall be established with which the constitutions, legislation and the government apparatus of the entities within the Kingdom must comply, taking into consideration the provisions of the Charter;
- that the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, Curacao and Sint Maarten want to make agreements as regards the specification of the intended final perspective;
- that the agreements which the Netherlands and the island territories of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius made during a mini conference on October 10th and 11th 2006, as regards the constitutional status of the island territories Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius are acknowledged within the Dutch polity;
- that the Netherlands, Curacao and Sint Maarten, endorse the criteria with which the constitutions, legislation and the government apparatus of the new entities within the Kingdom must comply, on which the preparatory committee Round Table Conference has reached agreement, as laid down in the letter of March 7th 2006 from the General Secretary of the Round Table Conferences to the Chairman of the Round Table Conferences.

The historical-cultural importance of our present day condition is noteworthy when we consider our own movement as a people from the seventeen century throughout the twenty-first century. The vibrancy and resilience of the people in the Caribbean, even more so in Saint Martin, has come about as a consequence of the lust for expansion of Europe and its need for cheap and sustainable labor in order to satisfy it.
Ever since, there has been movement of slaves throughout the Caribbean and the Americas. True – this movement has mostly been forced. After the emancipation of the slaves had been proclaimed in the Caribbean and in the Netherlands Antilles (July 1, 1863 for the Dutch section of Saint Martin and for French Saint-Martin in March 23, 1848) the movement had become more intense. Immigration has been the order of the day for all of us at some point in time of our economic development.
We, as a people, have had to fend for ourselves without the benefit of economic, financial or political capabilities. We have had to resort to our creative memory to survive and develop ourselves. The so called support for these efforts were utilized to frustrate rather than truly help, with the aim to keep freed people subjugated within the historical and cultural reference of their control and for their own benefit: I speak of the colonial masters, such as the French, Dutch, English, Portuguese and Spanish.
Saint Martin has had its days of immigration. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century we did seasonal work in the cane fields of Santo Domingo, Haiti, Cuba; more recently It was in the oil refineries of Aruba and Curacao and in the United States of America.
It is ironic, that today Saint Martin’s socio-economic status and as a consequence thereof, its cultural disposition reflect a historical event that is symbolized by the monument at the frontiers.
I perceive this monument as a historical reference with regards to people coming together and being able in the process to create a culture of peaceful co-existence through an innate sense of hospitality. Yes, it is the characteristic of friendliness, respect for each other, hospitality of a people who lived in an officially divided geographical area with less than 40-square miles by two nations who proposed peaceful co-existence and “unity” by way of a document, called: “The Treaty of Concordia”.
Most of you, probably, know the anecdote of how the division of Saint Martin came about. That is exactly what it is… an anecdote: A brief story of an interesting event. The recorded history of the so called division, as it is now represented by the stone monument at the frontiers has come about as a consequence of the waging of war against each other - Holland and France.
The obelisk shaped monument marks the history of the presence and activity of many European countries that have led to the encumbrance of our island’s proper name. Officially, the island is alternately called: Saint Martin (French Saint-Martin or Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, depending on which side of the monument you hail.
The monument at the frontier of both sections of the island draws your attention to the middle of the seventeenth century, away from the sun, the pristine beaches and our vibrant tourist trade. It takes you to the period of explorers, gold mongers, privateers, buccaneers, pirates, exploitation, sugar and slavery, revolt, abolition, emancipation, emigration, Kingdom Statute, tourism, repatriation, and presently the constitutional change – Country Saint Martin.
The Monument stands now as the symbol of the spirit of the simartn people. I believe, I can call it the “Peoples' Monument." It is a relevant signature of the people of Saint Martin who lived here peacefully since the emancipation proclamation of 1848 and 1863. It is ironic that the constitutional move of the simartn people of the South coincides with the simartn people of the North. It stands to reason, though, that it is the consequence of a common experience of a similar political administration. Here's a new beginning - a new beginning demanding a new attitude, a new sense of Self, the simartn self. It is our responsibility. We owe it to our ancestors and to our future generations - our country simartn.

A New Beginning
This is an open letter to our new and veteran candidates who are committing themselves to the task of establishing a Country Saint Martin when they would have been elected on April 20, 2007. Under the banner of "A New Beginning" of the National Alliance the members of government will need to be up to date with the responsibilities of government and governing. "A New Beginning" must be seen in the light of a relevant and effective approach (strategy) to be applied to achieving the sense and being of country. It must be a government that appreciates conscienticized citizens of a country of which every one can be proud and who must be given the opportunity and develop capabilities to express that pride and participating, enhance and maintain conditions of pride.

Government can not continue to administer the business of government as usual. Political strategy for the last 50 years - the era of Claude Wathey and the ensuing political culture in Saint Martin - has been effective in achieving the rule of government but destructive of a sense of country.
The combined consequence of this political strategy and government rule has been divisive and alienative to the integrity of the Saint Martin people. Government, therefore, as such has been a political strategy that has become synonymous with the DP government. Today, we live with the results, counter productive to building a country. We have signed The Final Statements for a new constitutional status and therefore, a new beginning. In order to break the teeth of that kind of government, we have got to educate ourselves in the best and most ample manner in order to be prepared as viable and capable citizens of country Saint Martin.
The key to that kind of education is to provide ready access to "information", relevant information in various forms and in all aspects of this country Saint Martin. In this age of information technology, we have no excuse to remain ignorant of issues and events that affect our lives and livelihood.
My advice, not only to our new and veteran candidates, but to all the members and supporters of the National Alliance who in turn ought to see to it that the whole population (voters and non-voters alike) on the island have the necessary information. As such a sense of belonging, of willingness to make a meaningful contribution to their country Saint Martin can possibly be achieved. Let us all work toward "A New Beginning".

Posted by Camille E. Baly, Esq. at 9:30 AM 1 comments

Cul-de-Sac People

Last night I attended the book party for the publication of 'Cul-de-Sac People', a book written by Mathias Voges, relating the genealogy of the families from the various districts of St. Martin. I was invited as the guest speaker of the evening by the House of Nehesi's CEO - Lasana Sekou. The attendance was wonderful. It was heartening to be part of a full house of off springs of families, who could be traced from even before the official emancipation of the island enslaved Africans. It was ironic, to say the least, for such a book to come from a Simartner with such a somatic appearance.

I spoke, therefore, in particular to the historical circumstance to the Simartn families and honestly with regards to the importance of such a documentation. I perceived this publication as a celebration of the enslaved Afrikan's spiritual resilience, dignity and self consciousness. Here follows the full length address of that evening.

CUL-DE-SAC PEOPLE -

A St. Martin Family Series

January 14, 2006

As we come together here this evening to celebrate the book Cul-de-Sac People - - A St. Martin Family Series, written by Mathias Voges, allow me a quote from Lasana Sekou, also used in said book which, in essence, celebrates the vibrancy, resilience and creative memory of the enslaved Afrikan people in St. Martin.

It reads: “The St. Martin people through their own hard work and dignity of spirit and conduct, transformed the names that were forced on them or they obtained by cruel or unusual circumstances or by choice, to proudly represent their new construct of self and of family”

This quote speaks directly to the importance of this book for the St. Martin family and to the character of the people of St. Martin. The celebration of Cul-de-Sac People is in fact the recognition of the fortitude, dignity and resilience of the St. Martin People; a people who came forth from the most inhuman and nihilistic circumstances and accomplished more than just their survival.
That the genealogy of our people can, at all, be traced is not only a tribute to Mathias Voges, but indeed, to an innate resilience that resulted in the presence of these families today.-
I gladly highly commend the work and commitment exhibited by Mr. Voges in the process of his research and documentation of this phase in the history of the St. Martin people as a reference in the future.
The enslaved Afrikan became a St Martin person after July 1, 1863, when the emancipation of the slaves was proclaimed throughout the Dutch territories having had the choice since April 27, 1848 when it was decreed by the French Republic. The enslaved Afrikan, however, did not become such by that act alone, more so, essentially, the Simartn people through their own hard work and dignity of spirit and conduct transformed themselves into worthy recognizable citizens.
The people were free; a sense of independence became a troublesome commodity in the lives of the former slaves. They were left without skills in management and without a market for their products. What heightened the difficulty of survival and the development of an economy was the absence of any participation in the promotion of sugar or salt. There was no political freedom and a sense of self hood had long ago been rendered dubious.

It is important to note here the basic concept of a slave society, according to Dr. Paula. “A people bound together in serfdom for an end imposed on them: the performance of coercive labour. Consequently, a slave society is a part of a community, a unit, distinguishable by the fact that it is subordinated to a dominating power and has an imposed standard of living, resultant conduct and identity.”

The functioning of a slave society, as we understand, in St. Martin as well, is how entwined the slaves were with all aspects of life. For the functioning of the community, slaves were indispensable for the community. Slave labour had become all embracing within the society as did the slaves themselves. The Afrikan impact on the society was therefore indelibly made.
St. Martin being a small scale slave society, it featured a pseudo-unity, based on family ties, bonds of friendship and loyalty which often ran across all racial differences. It was socially conditioned and race prejudice became a cultural element as a consequence of children being born with one white and one black parent. The psycho-social effects of that phenomenon in our society have not yet been resolved.
The period of planters and merchants shipping large quantities of sugar, molasses and rhum had ended. The abolition of slavery, ownership of property by former slaves, labour agreements with former slave owners being now possible, meant the breaking of a new era.
The story of the enslaved Afrikan in St. Martin depicts the challenges throughout their being elevated from the status of slave hood to subjects of the colony, to citizens with limited rights, to autonomous status with political rights, but subjects of economic deprivation.
The dignity, pride and enterprising spirit of the freed Afrikan chose for emigration to respectively the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, Panama, Aruba and Curacao, the USA and consequently repatriation for many St. Martin families in the late fifties.
In this light, I agree with Dr. Yandi Paula, that the emancipation of July 1, 1863 and of course, for St. Martin of April 27, 1948 was the greatest social revolution in the history of the St. Martin families.
When we comprehend how they were facilitated to maintain themselves, now free from the yoke of slavery, we – today in the throes of gaining the status of a country within the Kingdom – must honor their spiritual resilience and their great inner self consciousness. The essential catalyst was a culture of self preservation and recovery.
In the “The Village Simartn”, an unpublished work in progress, this same power and spiritual resilience is most present in the noble initiates of the village. Cul-de-Sac People, first in the St. Martin Families series is, in fact, a response to the plea, if you will a poetic lamentation of the impending lost of our name, of our autochthonic culture as a people. Cul-de-Sac People seriously addresses a very important aspect in the positive authentic development of the St. Martin people.

It tells you, “It is not true, that nobody knows my name”. The St. Martin families, as they come forward, researched and documented, like Cul-de-Sac People will continue to testify to that.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am hopeful and encouraged by the appearance of Cul-de-Sac People as it responds to my poetic exhortation some twenty years ago. In the context of the Village I called ‘the families that survived the plantation economy and its slave society “Noble Initiates of the Village”.

The Village of which I spoke, is not a narrow standard definition of a small community of people, located and developed spontaneously by settlers into an island or country, rather, it is a semantic reference to the creative memory of our forefathers. A creative memory, put into action, that has recalled truths of our existence, here in Simartn.

The village is the cultural context within which the noble initiates are our memory which has been so painfully and blatantly forgotten. The noble initiates are the creative basis of our imagination; they are the continuum of our original creative memory.

The noble initiates are the Simartn we fail to recognize in true relevance with our authentic development and in forfeiting this experience we are doomed to exist in a vacuum, not being able to really rediscover or recreate ourselves.

So now, when drum beat, goatskin don’t tremble and when eye hurt nose don’t run water.

The heart beat of our real development is our cultural development and our cultural development finds its source in the village. That source is you, who in our modern day St. Martin are now called the St. Martin Families.

But when I address you in the village I name you with utter reverence "the Noble Initiates." You are to us the source from which we are to draw our cultural sustenance, in order to survive as Simartners, as vicarious inhabitants of the village.

Noble initiates of the village, I recall saying at the time, we will not be able to find the means to re-establish the link with our past, with our creative memory without your help. As you utilized oral tradition to communicate your life, to consolidate your kinship with the co-habitors of the village, it seems to me that we are left to ourselves to look at the brutal experience of our history, to find our own footing in the scribal experience of today.

Cul-de-Sac People is the scribal experience of the village; National Symbols of St. Martin is the scribal experience of the village; and The House of Nehesi is a noble initiate of the Village.

The publication of matters essential to St. Martin in whatever form by artists whether they be musicians, calypsonians, dancers, craft people, researchers or writers --- I pronounce St. Martin as Simartn to include all the people living in the North as well as in the South, --- are, in fact, contributing to the St. Martin families.

However, unless, the work of these noble initiates becomes the body politic for establishing a country, the importance of these very valuable efforts and contributions would have been unforgivably trivialized.

Therefore, I recommend that the widest range of popular creativity be used in formal education from the very early years as part or the central core of the curriculum in our schools.

After all, the school is the basic element in the recovery and dignification of the basic values of each community; the formal educational system should be used to support and strengthen the authenticity, integrity and cultural identity of the island.

Cul-de-Sac People- A St. Martin Family Series: is a very important contribution to the cultural and educational process of identification of all of us, as Simartners. Please, I invite you to stand as you salute the author, Mr. Mathias Voges.

I thank you.

Camille E. Baly, Esq.

What's in a name...?!

What's in a name...?!

This water color painting of Simartn, the local name for Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin, is of 1820. It's name was not yet precise. The name of this web-log is the first naming of this island "Oualichi" which means "Land of Women". Our subsequent article "What's in a name...." with subtitle: "From Oualichi to Saint Martin" will elaborate further.

WHAT'S IN A NAME...

"From Oúalichi to Simartn"

Dr. Jay B. Haviser tells us in "An Archaeological Survey of St. Martin-St. Maarten" that it was the Suazoid peoples - the last prehistoric peoples - who lived in St. Martin before European contact. Whereas we learn from Johan Hartog of Carib Indians being on the island from time to time, Haviser quotes Allaire (1977) and Lathrop (1970) in pointing out, that there is no evidence of Carib inhabitants being on St. Martin. As a matter of fact, evidence of the "Island Carib" language being a Maipuran branch of Arawak casts further doubts whether there was ever a real Carib migration into the Lesser Antilles.
The first European contact with St. Martin reports that no people were living on the island. Yet, the Amerindian name for the island is somewhat confusing, continues Haviser, because the pre-Columbian name for St. Martin - Sualouiga: land of salt - can only be traced to Sypkens-Smit and Versteeg (1987).
The first pre-Columbian name - Oúalichi - we find in Breton's Carib-French dictionary of 1665. Even though this name is included among the four different names for the islands of St. Martin, Saba, St. Barths and Anguilla and specifically for St. Martin, yet we are inclined to accept that he meant St. Martin. We rule out the other names: Oüanalao, Amonhana, or Mallioúhana for St. Martin.
Menno Sypken-Smit, in his anthropological research of St. Martin in 1983, mentions a 'Greater St. Martin' during the glacial period. This Greater St. Martin comprised St. Martin, Anguilla and St. Barth. As archaeologically or as historically uncertain these names might have been applied, we have chosen "Oüalichi" land of women as the most original of the lot for our island. Therefore, we name our website: Oúalichi.
The island that is Sint Maarten has continued to insinuate, "nobody knows my name". Ever after the fifteenth century the Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, English and Scandinavian countries traversed the Caribbean. The end of the fifteenth century sees Christopher Columbus sailing by the Leeward Islands and giving names to them left, right and center.
St. Martin was not spared, since it is highly disputed among the historians whether Columbus even saw the island of St. Martin on his second voyage on November 11, 1493 that he began on September 25, 1493. We should note here that Juan de la Cosa, who accompanied Ojeda en Vespucci on their voyage to Bonaire and Curacao in 1499, came along with Columbus to gather information for his Mapamundi.
In this Mapamundi we notice how San Martin is being confused with Nevis; an anonymous map of 1512 notes S. Marta where Nevis is located. Columbus' son, Ferdinand confuses the issue even more by mistaking S. Martin -Nevis for Antigua.
Already, we are seeing the confusion of naming St. Martin as an island, not correctly mapping it. In the Mapamundi of 1500 it is registered as San Martin, in the anonymous map of 1512 it is indicated as S. Marta, and in Reinel's map of 1516 noted as Sam mtim. We further encounter the name of St. Martin in the Portuguese Atlas Ricardiana as Sa Marti. In 1556 on the map of Angelus Eufreducius next to Estaxia (St. Eustatia\us) we find San min.
In the Spanish literature, we see the island of St. Martin consistently being called San Martin. The Dutch, however, had not officially named St. Martin until 1636. In 1631, seven years after they set foot on St. Martin for the first time, it was St. Martin, in 1634 mention is made of St. Martijn; in the Chamber of Zeeland variably St. Martin and St. Martyn.
In 1936 - Official Gazette, nr. 105 - it was officially established that the Dutch section of St. Martin would be Sint Maarten, Nederlands gedeelte (Dutch section). The French section of the island was called Saint-Martin, Partie francaise. To date, officially these names stand for both sides of this island.
'What's in a name………' Shakespeare may find that "a rose by any other name will smell just as sweet., but those of African heritage understand that 'any other name' will not suffice. James Baldwin, the great African American writer of the sixties, essays the plight of the Blacks because the powers that be, purposely did not recognize them as a significant entity. He named the book "Nobody knows my name".
Camille E. Baly, Esq. - educator, folklorist, concerned with the cultural identity of the people of the island, states his consideration of its name. In a short historical reference concludes that in order to identify the people of Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin as one people, it should be called as the people speak: "Simartn". The word 'Simartn' will be ever present on this website to denote the sense of the oneness of the people of the island.
Lasana Sekou, poet, literary activist, writer, concerned with the cultural consciousness of the people of the island has coordinated and led a movement for the actual unification of both sides of the island. It was determined that the name of the island should be Simaatn.
Quite recently, the government that is concerned with the realization of the separate status of the island - a country within the kingdom - within the Netherlands Kingdom, has determined that the name should be officially spelled in the English language. The spelling for that matter resembles the French spelling of Saint Martin (Saint-Martin).
From our perspective, the development of Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin has grown through the consciousness of the first peoples from land of women - Oüalichi - to a cultural identification of the people, inhabiting the whole island - Simartn.
Copyright ©2002 Oualichi.org Development. All Rights Reserved. E-Contact:info@oualichi.org - tomkaly@gmail.com
posted by Cambrun @ 8:29 PM

posted by Camille E. Baly, Esq. @ 9:03 AM