Ascencion – Rais.cw

Pueblo de la Madre de Dios de Ascención. That is the original name of the bario on Bándabou that we now know as Ascencion. In old Dutch writings the spelling Asjoensjon was also found, which in the 17th century itself was corrupted to San Sioen, and in popular speech it is called Shenshón.

It is one of the oldest barios on Curaçao: as early as the Spanish conquest in 1499, an indigenous population was found here. When the Dutch arrived in 1634 their number was 450, of whom 250 had been baptised by the Spaniards. Around 1540 they also built one of the first small chapels on the island here, and the local population even got its own parish priest.

Names such as Padiki, Charomba, Bachuri, Busumúru (alias Seru Kunuku kas) and Ro'i Indjan, north of Seru Magasina, still recall these first inhabitants. The priest/archaeologist van Koolwijk found an indigenous settlement site here, and research by the ethnologist Brenneker and the biologist H.E. Coomans in 1958 and 1959 also showed that Ascencion was an important dwelling place of the Caiquetio Indians.

Ascencion means Ascension (Hemelvaart) and lies on the Weg naar Westpunt, south of Barber. It is further bordered by the former plantations Fontein, Patrick, San Pedro and Sumbu, and the small kunuku's Duinkerken and Caridat.

History

Today Oliba and Pal'i lele dominate the former hofje (small garden estate) of Ascencion, as do the Wabi and the Indju, which twist in every bend to catch the sunlight between the tall manzaliña trees. Remains of various faha's can also be seen in the area. These small dams were built to break the strong flow of rainwater in the rooien (dry stream beds). This forces the water to seep into the ground for the benefit of the vegetation, and also prevents erosion.

Networking

After the Dutch conquest the indigenous population remained living at Ascencion, but — as turned out afterwards — maintained good connections with the Spaniards. Trade was still carried on between the two groups. And at the end of January 1635 a canoe came from Coro into the bay of Sint Marie and carried off 7 Indians from Ascencion. A larger group would even have left if more canoes had landed. The director of the island felt compelled by this incident to move most of the Indians from Ascencion to the Ruiterkwartier on what is now Schouwburgweg. This was done "to prevent alleged espionage, incitement, clandestine visits and even 'abduction' by the Spaniards".

Ascencion was later set up as a quarter for the army, and the remaining Indians moved with their leader, Bartolomeo, to what is now Bartol in nearby Wacawa.

The Battle of Ascencion

Plantation

Ascencion is also one of the oldest plantations on the island. It was established in 1672 by Juriaan Jansz-Exteen. A daughter of Exteen, Barbara, later took possession of the neighbouring Kabrietenberg and founded a plantation that no longer exists as such. The village that is derived from her name is located there, however: Barber.

In 1695 plantation Ascencion was about 490 ha in size and produced maize, beans, cotton, fruit and indigo. The indigo vats of Ascencion were discovered in 2011 by the Archaeological Working Group, close to a watering place and heavily damaged by erosion. From 1840 to 1870 Ascencion also had aloe cultivation and an extensive herd of livestock, and phosphate extraction was also used as a source of income.

Phosphate mine

In 1886 an attempt was made to find phosphate at Ascencion. The phosphate mine lies in the north-western part of the Seru Maishi (70 m). The various trial mines, a railway embankment, heaps of phosphate stones and the ruin of a small building are silent witnesses to an adventure that lasted only a short time.

The plantation was often forced to be sold or auctioned by its successive owners because of failed harvests and a worsening economic situation. An exception was the merchant L. Namias, who was the owner of the plantation for a long time, namely from 1869 to 1902.

The Ascencion plantation house was the setting for an important part of the novel Mijn zuster de negerin by Cola Debrot (1935), who lived here for a short time during the 20th century.

Restoration

In 1960 61 hectares of land with the plantation house standing on it were bought by the Stichting Monumentenzorg Curaçao (Curaçao Monument Preservation Foundation) to prevent it from falling into disrepair. The house was fully restored in 1963 under the leadership of Serge Alexenho, including the ceiling, which was made in the original style from Surinamese mahogany. Two mangasina's (storehouses) right next to the house were also restored. Since 1965 the house has been in use as a training centre of the Royal Netherlands Navy.

In 1967 Tom Janga designed a simple chapel and a free-standing bell tower, where ecumenical services are held.

Shon Martin

Opposite the entrance of the Ascencion plantation house, on a small hill, lies the Graf di Ascencion (Grave of Ascencion). It is the cylindrical grave of Shon Martin, one of the last overseers of Ascencion. He was a brute and behaved as if he were the Shon (owner, master) of the plantation, which is why he was called 'martin' (hammer). As a punishment he was therefore buried on his stomach, so that he would remain involved in life at Ascencion forever and his soul would never find rest again.

According to another version in Sambumbu by Brenneker, it was in fact Shon Martin's last wish to be buried here on his stomach so that he could see how things would go for Ascencion.

Brenneker also spoke with the then 85-year-old Louis Felipi, also called Louis Sambo or Om Wie. Om Wie was a former vitó (overseer) of Ascencion: a tall, upright-walking man with a phenomenal memory who knew many stories from the time of slavery as he had heard them from older people. He was one of the best experts on Gené, the language of the enslaved. He also told that enslaved people on large plantations were not branded, but received a certain notch in the ear or a knife cut in the face as proof that they were the property of the shon.

Boka Shenshón

Boka Ascencion, or Boka Shenshón, is the large inlet on the north coast of Ascension, where passing turtles feast on turtle grass and manatee grass before undertaking a long journey to Venezuela or even Honduras. Manatees also pass by here once in a while.

The entrance of Boka Ascencion merges into a shallow bay, formerly called Charomba by the Indians. They used it to make a small salt pan. Today it is known as Plastic Bay: Boka Ascencion, but especially Boka Padiki, lie in a large bend of the north coast. Because of this turn of the coast towards the wind direction, more waste, especially plastic, is deposited ashore at Boca Ascencion.

The hinterland of Boca Ascencion is brightened up by strikingly green fields of Sanseli, which does well on swampy, salty soil.

In recent years there has also been a strong increase in washed-up Sargassum seaweed, which sometimes fills the entire bay. To prevent turtles from suffocating in it and to reduce the stench of the rotting seaweed, it is periodically removed by volunteers.

Fort Bachuri

This is a completely unknown fort of which only a small part remains. It lies right next to Boka Ascencion along the road to the plain of San Pedro. Like Fort Kloof, near Fontein, it had to check passers-by for contraband. Fort Bachuri was more of a police post and, unlike Fort Kloof, had no real military value.

Patruli

The border with Patrick is marked by a patrol road — patruli — which can still be clearly seen in several places, especially close to the coast, by the stones piled up on both sides. The patruli was built in the 18th century by the government of the time so that patrolling soldiers could ride to the coast (undisturbed by surrounding landowners). A narrow coastal strip is also still government land, so that local fishermen too could / can reach the coast via the patruli.

From Sambumbu: Old names in Ascencion

Pos di Patu is the duck well in Ascencion.
Seru di Malora, 45 m (Malora = misfortune), is a hill west of Ascencion. It stands on the Weg naar Westpunt and was formerly inhabited by various families. But a dwarf Indian also lived here, who had been shipwrecked and, swimming in the wild waves, managed to reach Boka Ascencion.
South-east of Seru Malora lie Cunucu Largu (long plantation) and Seru di Mangasina (hill on which a maize barn was built).
Duinkerken, in popular speech Dònkèrki, is a place in the west of Ascencion.
Seru Bazján, 61 m, lies in the north-west of Ascencion and is named after Baas Jean, who lived there.
Chawán Baka is a place in the south of Ascencion. It is the nickname of a man and means: Jan the cow.
Busumúru, alias Seru (di) Kunuku (di) Kas, 61 m, is the ridge east of the plantation house. It is a coastal hill between the Ascencion plantation house and the sea. A well-known Indian site lies there, and the Archaeology Working Group also found two phosphate-mine trial pits here.