On October 3, 2009, Fundashon Rehabilitashon Tula hosted a symposium with a dual purpose. The first objective was to establish a resolution to rehabilitate Tula. The second aim was to declare Tula a national hero of the Curaçao community.

Tula was a slave who on the Monday morning of August 17, 1795 organized a group of fellow slaves at the Kenepa plantation who resolved not to work as slaves anymore. The rebellion lasted for more than a month, but in the end the colonial forces crushed the revolt. Tula was interrogated and tortured, convicted and executed all for demanding freedom for himself and his people.

The symposium was opened by Mr. Don Martina, a former prime minister of the Netherlands Antilles and now president of Fundashon Rehabilitashon Tula. In his opening he welcomed all present to the symposium and expressed his aspirations for the event. Ms. Marylin Alcalá-Wallé, Curaçao Commissioner responsible for culture, education and sports, officially opened the symposium saying that “Tula is alive and he will go on living forever”

The history of slavery in Curaçao, and in particular the rebellion led by Tula and his companions in 1795, forms an essential part of our common heritage and also of the emancipation process of our people. This part of the history of the enslaved people received some recognition for the first time in the year 1963, when one of the great politicians of modern Curaçao, dr. Moises F. da Costa Gomez, inaugurated a memorial stone pillar. This pillar was erected at Rif, the site where the heads of Tula and Carpata were displayed on stakes. This single act of inauguration ended a long period of silence about the revolt of the enslaved.

On October 3, 2009 (the day on which Tula was executed in 1795) the Fundashon Rehabilitashon Tula (FRT) will organize a symposium to discuss the rehabilitation of Tula. The symposium is organized in cooperation with NiNsee, the Dutch National Institute for the Study of Dutch Slavery and its Legacy.

The main goal of Fundashon Rehabilitashon Tula (FRT), established on February 18, 2009, is to rehabilitate Tula, the leader of the great slave revolt of 1795 in Curaçao. The foundation also aims to have Tula declared a national hero, in the broadest sense of the word. The efforts of the foundation are to lead to furthering the emancipatory process of the Curaçao population and increase self esteem of the public at large.

The foundation will publish the relevant emancipation history of Curaçao, Tula’s philosophy to accomplish its objectives and cooperate with other organizations that share its goals.

On the following video Don Martina, president of the foundation elaborates on symposium, the first large scale activity of the organization.

While researching the concept of slavery we looked at numerous resources on the web. An interesting article we ran across is posted on the website of the New York Times. While searching the newspaper's electronic archives we looked for articles related to Curaçao.

The oldest article in the New York Times' online archives that refers to “Curaçao” dates back to 1857. The article describes Dutch policies regarding slave emancipation and both criticizes and praises Holland. The Dutch are criticized for taking longer than their neighbors to abolish slavery. On the other hand the Dutch Government is praised for being the only ones to “pay a fair equivalent to the slaveholder for his slave”.