The most vigorous debates in the Virgin Islands tend to be dominated by St. Thomians and Crucians. And depending on which island you are from the accusing finger of “who run things” is pointed away from where you live.
Many Crucians assert that St. Thomians dominate the political system and economic power rests in privileged groups in Charlotte Amalie; and many St. Thomians respond by insisting that the most vocal, assertive political leaders are Crucians.
They would insist that no St. Thomian governor can lead without the benevolent nod of the Crucian electorate; in fact, no Territorial position can be secured without the support of the Big Island. Thus, there is a need for a Crucian in any gubernatorial team. Since we have begun to elect governors in 1970, we have never elected two St. Thomians on the same ticket, but we have elected two Crucians on several tickets i.e. Cyril E. King-Juan Luis, Juan Luis-Julio Brady, and Alexander Farrelly-Derek Hodge.
In concrete terms, this shows the balance of power in the Virgin Islands electoral system. Yet, the smaller islands are ignored. It is understandable that Water Island is considered a subunit of St. Thomas, but it is unjust to St. Johnians to lump both St. Thomas and St. John into a single district in every context. The history of St. John has been forgotten.
Similar to St. Thomas and St. Croix, St. John was inhabited by Indigenous People (i.e. Tainos) before the European Encounter of 1493. By the time Danes were seeking to settle permanently in 1718, the Indigenous People were no longer present.
As in the case of St. Thomas and St. Croix in 1733, the Danes colonized the Islands with European planters and West African slaves. St. John and St. Croix were the plantation units of the Danish West Indies–1718 until the eve of the Transfer.
However, unlike St. Croix, St. John evolved into a relatively homogeneous culture with an overwhelmingly African-Caribbean demographic base. By the end of the Labor Codes in 1878, St. John was on a different path from the other two larger Islands. Like Danish West Indian St. Thomians, St. Johnians spoke two Creole languages—Negerhollands/Dutch Creole and English Creole. Negerhollands would eventually become extinct in 1930 and the last speakers were all St. Johnians.
In the East End Community, St. Johnians had developed a free society even during slavery (`1770-1848). Here, I refer to a tight knit cluster of clans with surnames such as George and Sewer. They were of mixed origin—African and European—but over time they become more Africanized due to intermarriage with the African-Caribbean majority.
This community was noteworthy due to its extensive maritime traditions which linked St. John to the neighboring British Virgin Islands, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the rest of the Eastern Caribbean.
This maritime tradition continues to this day in the Sewers, Boynes, and Varlack families who are living testament that modern entrepreneurial conquests are inspired by the example of ancestors. Many St. Johnians were small scale farmers in the last decades of the Danish colonial era. As everywhere, land is sacred for farmers and our ancestors made immense sacrifices to acquire land.
Most of the land were bought from former slave masters or even acquired as inheritance. As new crops such as bay leaves emerged, these new farmers paid their land in blood, sweat, and tears. My great grandfather Lancelot Sewer acquired an entire estate for his children during the Danish Era. The price was an impressive $37.00 for 120 acres. Other members of his clan struggled to acquire property as the US Transfer loomed. And then in 1917, the Danish West Indies were acquired for $25 million in gold bullion—a hefty price. Within a decade the East End Community was permanently transformed and St. John continued its separate path.
I must fast forward this evolution so that you do not forget the true victims of history. It is the late 1940s, and St. Johnians are suffering like their brethren in St. Thomas and St. Croix. However, mysterious individuals emerged with fistful of dollars seeking to purchase their lands.
At the time no one truly understood what the full ramifications of selling their land to these newcomers would mean. To be honest no one knew the negative implication of selling apparently non productive farms to friendly people with bags of dollars. However, there was an extensive campaign to sell land and leave the Island.
By 1950, it was successful with only a handful of families holding onto their ancestral properties. A National Park was established which had the positive impact of protecting the flora, fauna, and ecosystem of St. John, but it had the negative impact of removing 70% of Native owned land from local growth.
Worse, for some families we witnessed new jumbis who seem able to move boundary posts whenever the Natives were not looking. These jumbis seem to spare the National Park but stalk older Natives who had land in their families for generations!
I must take yet another fast forward; Native St. Johnians were similar to Native Americans. They historically welcomed all newcomers with open arms. We used to love strangers, but our love is lost.
Some Native St. Johnians wisely invested in the private sector; they are contractors, ferry owners, realtors, professionals, educators, and restaurant owners. If they were blessed with vast amounts of ancestral property, they had a crucial advantage. If not, today they are facing difficult days.
The modern St. Johnians—both Native and transplanted—are in a non-sustainable stage. The Natives must witness the most outrageous increase of cost of living under the American flag. The very land their fore parents shed blood to liberate from slavery is sold for at minimum a million dollars per acre! For those who own land, again both Native and transplanted—their property taxes is nothing less than massive exploitation and grand theft. Government services have been provided as an occasional gift from government officials who consider a ferry ride a trip to purgatory. Political representation is at best an aspiration that may be achieved if voters on St. Thomas and St. Croix find the St. Johnians’ candidate acceptable.
Lastly, what will be the voice of St. Johnians for the 21st century? Why hasn’t this Territory even considered St. Johnians as a unique group who deserve extra attention due to the extra burdens tied to the National Park? The answer is obvious: they are the forgotten ones who only seem to matter around election time or when some unusual crime has been committed. St. Johnians cannot be forgotten forever.
Editor’s note: Malik Sekou teaches history and political science on UVI’s St. Thomas campus.
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