Reflections on Statia America Day

It really was a hoot being an American on Statia/America Day yesterday. To see 4 flags flying over the fort, including the American flag was exciting. To see the U.S. Coast Guard in Oranjestad Harbor was amazing.

Statia / America Day was celebrated in grand style on Sunday. It is amazing that St. Eustatius was the first "nation" on earth to acknowledge the independence of the United States in 1776 with a cannon "salute" to a passing U.S. warship way back when.

Early Sunday, uniformed troops marched to historical Fort Oranje in Oranjestad for the opening ceremony. Many dignitaries from Statia, other Netherlands Antilles islands, the U.S. and Holland witnessed the festivities.

The highlight of the Sunday program was a recreation of the now famous cannon exchange salute. It started with the first shots by the U.S. Coast Guard cutter. A return volley of shots rang out from the fort a short time later. I've never actually heard the gun fire from a Coast Guard vessel...a first for me.

The day wouldn't be complete without speeches from the various political dignitaries. This is a transition time for Statia as it goes Dutch once again, and the speeches reflected both the excitement and pure fear that is here. This is, for some, a huge step backward for Statia as they progressed closer to independence over the last 200 years. But becoming a "municipality" of the Netherlands makes Statia little more than a "city" of a larger, more dictatorial system called the Netherlands. While it's been "Dutch" for some time, as a protectorate of sorts, Statia was not really subject to the stringent processes and rules, and regs. Now they are.

Some some of the speeches were...defiant. They proclaimed a strength to resist the negative effects of the "motherland" Netherlands. The changes were enumerated by many....constitution, rules implementation, land purchases and transfers, budget reorganizations, etc. Statia wants the economics benefits of the new union, but they are very cautious about the effects of being part of a large, capitalist nation...Holland. One politician from the island proclaimed "Obama" as a battle cry, that anything is possible from a small island nation's people. The meaning was not lost.

This was then the last Statia / America Day where Statia is not fully integrated into Dutch society. Next year will likely be somewhat different and it will be interesting to watch over the next year. I'll be almost done with this phase of my education by then, but I'll leave with a sense of "Statia Pride" even if I don't really "belong" here.