Historic roundabouts, photos by J. Kevin Foltz
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history
if history is the collective narrative of a people’s journey through time, the authorities in st. Maarten/ st. Martin have encouraged over the past two decades the dissemination of a narrative that is alternative not only in its focus but also in the means used to spread it: through the construction of monuments in a number of roundabouts across the island. Commissioning statues to celebrate significant figures of any given community is hardly a revolutionary concept, but the choice of subjects is not only unusual, but also commendable. he island’s most famous sculpture is Lady Liberty by Bulgarian artist theo Bonev in the Agrément roundabout. the lady in question is a beautiful black woman well into adulthood who leads the way guided by the light from her gas lamp. Unveiled on July 12t, 2007, on the 159th anniversary of the final abolishment of slavery in all French territories in 1848, this deeply symbolic work occupies a special place in the hearts of s’martiners. the issue of slavery was particularly complicated on st. Maarten/st. Martin since the Dutch did not end the exploitative practice until 1863. Along the same lines is the statue of onetété Lokay in the Belair roundabout. it depicts an idealized image of a brave young woman who, legend has it, escaped from a plantation on the Dutch side and was recaptured and mutilated. one of her breasts was then cut off as punishment, hence the nickname, “one-tété.” resilient and determined, Lokay confronted the cruelty of her oppressors with dignity and escaped to the hills above Cole Bay, where she lived the rest of her life. one-tété Lokay’s is one of the most beautiful and widely spread legends in st. Maarten/st. Martin passed down through oral tradition. in 2006, the government acknowledged this narrative by commissioning Nigerian sculptor Michael Meghiro to produce this statue. it shows young Lokay carrying a bundle of cane sticks on her shoulders, racing toward the hills. the history of st. Maarten/st. Martin is also the subject of one of the most attractive sculptural groups on the island, the salt Pickers in the roundabout on Walter Nisbeth road with D.A. Peterson street, opposite the Great salt Pond in Philipsburg. this group composition, also created by Michael Meghiro, depicts five figures: two of them gathering salt, two others transporting it, and a man in the middle with a shovel in VISIT S TMAAR TEN.COM