Old Slave Huts

Old Slave Huts – witnesses of Bonaire’s difficult past

Off the south coast of Bonaire, near the salt flats, stand the Old Slave Huts. Small stone huts that once served as sleeping quarters for slaves working in the salt fields. Today, they are among the island’s most powerful historical sites, reminders of the rough past and the harsh conditions in which these people lived and worked.

Here you will find information boards that tell the story of the life of the slaves on this beautiful island and their inhumane conditions. It was hard just to read the descriptions, let alone experience even a small, insignificant part of their lives for yourself.

There are two locations with slave houses, situated a short distance from each other

You will find not just one, but two groups of historic Old Slave Huts. One site has white houses and the other yellow, and the colours are not random. They are related to the place where the slaves worked and the salt they collected.

The white huts are located by the main salt pans, where pure white salt was extracted by evaporating seawater. Salt was one of the island’s most valuable raw materials. The slaves who worked here lived right next to the salt fields so that they could start their hard work every day without having to commute. This type of salt was mainly for export to Europe, where it was used for food preservation and industrial purposes.

A little further south, near the Red Slave site, you’ll find the yellow shacks that served slaves working in other parts of the salt fields. Here the water contained a higher mineral and iron content, giving the salt a slightly yellowish tinge. Although this salt was used in a similar way to white salt, it was of a lower quality. And therefore was often sold more cheaply or used for other purposes, such as industry.

The hard life of slaves

These Old Slave Huts were built in 1850. Just a few years before the abolition of slavery in the Dutch colonies. The huts provided shelter for slaves who worked to harvest salt, one of the main raw materials exported from Bonaire.

The entrance is so low that even if you squat down, you can’t get in or out comfortably. Not to mention that you can’t straighten up inside either, and you have to be constantly hunched over. Looking at these huts today, it’s hard to imagine that more than a dozen people must have slept in each one of them. They are low, with a small entrance and a single window to let in at least some light and air.

It is thanks to the opportunity to experience these “houses” for ourselves that we can better imagine how miserable the conditions were in the past. And more importantly, how important is the freedom that we take for granted today.

The conditions were inhuman. Most of the slaves lived in Rincón and walked to the salt fields every Saturday, taking up to seven hours to get there. Here they spent a week in these small houses, each separated by only a few metres from the next. And on Fridays they would return home again on foot to their families.

Obelisks as navigation points

Near the huts stand tall coloured obelisks, which played an important role in ship navigation. Dutch ships coming for salt could already see these coloured landmarks from a distance and knew where to anchor. Each obelisk was a different colour – red, blue, white and orange – to indicate the different salt harvesting areas.

They are a symbol of the island’s colonial history and are still a reminder of how important salt mining was to Bonaire – and at what price the slaves obtained it. Along the road from Salt Pier to the lighthouse, you can still admire their grandeur and the importance they once held.