CREATING A COMMEMORATIVE SPACE AT A CEMETERY LOCATED ON A JESUIT SUGAR PLANTATION IN FRENCH GUIANA

Abstract

This paper reflects on the creation and development of a commemorative space within an archaeological site, the Loyola plantation in French Guiana. We created this space to recognize the enslaved people who lived and died at the plantation, to attempt to show compassion towards descendants of enslaved people in French Guiana, and to prompt a discussion on the history of the colonial period. The memory of slavery is a sensitive issue among residents of the region, most of whom are descendants of enslaved people. We use the experience working on the cemetery of the Loyola plantation to present the various questions with which we are confronted in order for the local population to appropriate their own history through the spirit of place.
The plantation is located 10 km from Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana. Under Jesuit rule, the plantation measured more than 1000 hectares, and at one point, nearly 500 enslaved people toiled there to produce sugar, coffee, indigo, and rum, among other products, under the supervision of a handful of missionaries. Following the discovery and sampling of burial pits in the cemetery, where approximately 1000 enslaved people of African descent, indigenous people, settlers, and missionaries were interred, we decided to create a memorial space to commemorate the enslaved people who lived and were buried at the plantation. As a tool to launch meaningful exchanges with the local population, we erected a calvary cross in the centre of the cemetery, as was depicted in an illustration dating from the 1730s. This action resulted in a positive response from the local population, and the cemetery became a focal point for discussion. Curiously, our intention provoked a visceral reaction from local agents of the French government.