Sablika (fl. 1795), or possibly Sablica, was a free black woman who lived on Curaçao at the time of the Slave Revolt of 1795. Little is known about her with absolute certainty. There are no historical sources to confirm accounts that she was a resistance fighter and a close associate of Tula, the leader of the rebellion. In the 21st century, she has become a symbol for female resistance fighters who remain invisible in recorded history
Biography
editIn the Dutch historical records of the Curaçao Slave Revolt of 1795, a woman named Sablica is mentioned three times. After the revolt was put down, she was described by Dutch government officials in an interrogation report as “a free negro woman who is a conniving and infamous thief, and the so-called wife of Nicolaas Valentijn, who has already been executed. She can be brought to no other confession than that she buried a petticoat, a camisole and three children's shirts, but afterwards returned them.” Nothing is mentioned about her having played a prominent role in the rebellion.[1]
Tambú song is one of the ways in which Curaçao's enslaved community preserved and passed on its own history. In the song Rebeldia na Bandabou (Revolt in Bandabou) a woman named Sablika is mentioned together with Pedro Wacao and Louis Mercier as the fighters by the side of Tula, the leader of the revolt. Wacao and Mercier are known to have been lieutenants of Tula. It cannot however be said with certainty how old the song is, nor is it clear whether this Sablica is the woman mentioned in the archival documents. Rebeldia na Bandabou is still sung on Curaçao.[2][3][4]
In the 21st century, interest in Sablika grew, and previously unknown stories about her began to circulate. She is claimed to have been Tula's romantic partner. Father Jacobus Schink, a roman-catholic priest who maintained contact with the insurgents during the revolt, is claimed to have written Sablika a letter to which she replied with wit and self confidence.[5] However, no historical sources confirm Sablika's relationship with Tula, or her correspondence with Schink.
In the Netherlands and on Curaçao, the figure of Sablika has become a symbol for female resistance fighters who remain invisible in recorded history.[6][5]
References
edit- ^ Paula, A.F. (1974). 1795 : de slavenopstand op Curaçao : een bronnenuitgave van de originele overheidsdocumenten [1795 : the Curaçao slave revolt : a source edition of the original government documents] (in Dutch). Willemstad: Centraal Historisch Archief van Curacao. pp. 157, 185, 202.
- ^ Jong, Nanette de (2012-04-24). Tambú: Curaçao's African-Caribbean Ritual and the Politics of Memory. Indiana University Press. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-0-253-00572-4.
- ^ Callahan, Mat; Kelley, Robin D. G.; Akuno, Kali (2022). Songs of slavery and emancipation. Margaret Walker Alexander series in African American studies. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-4968-4017-2.
- ^ Rendel Rosalia (2008-08-28). Rebeldia na bandabou. Retrieved 2024-09-10 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b "Tula taught us..." Afro Magazine (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-09-10.
- ^ "Herdenk met Tula óók deze vier verzetsstrijders". OneWorld (in Dutch). 2023-08-15. Retrieved 2024-09-10.