St. David's Islander Jean Foggo Simon (pictured) can take credit for adding a wealth of new, well-researched elements to the body of Bermuda history with special reference to the country's Native American ancestors as well as its black populace.

It appears in The First and the Forced: Essays on the Native American and African American Experience, a publication supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation. Jean's extensive essay is titled Their Voices Are Not Silent: The Legacy of St. David's Islanders, Bermuda.

Jean Foggo Simon was educated at Bermuda College, Wilberforce University, and Kent State University. She is an internationally certified municipal clerk and serves as the clerk of council/city clerk for the Oberlin, Ohio, City Council. She also is the chair for the City Records Commission and volunteers community service with the Oberlin Heritage Centre, where she serves as the executive board's second vice-president.

She is the principal researcher for the St. David's Island Indian Committee in Bermuda. It was while doing a personal genealogy and family history as a hobby, she found a connection from her family to the Native American tribes in New England.

After several additional years of research, she made connections with the Pequot Tribe of Mashantucket, Connecticut; the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island, and the Wampanoag Tribes of Mashpee and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. She was invited to meet with members of the tribes and consequently arranged for them to visit Bermuda.

In addition to educational exchanges, three Native American festivals have been held on St. David's Island and a reconnection has been made with the Native Americans of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Mrs. Simon has researched and made numerous presentations on Native American slavery in Bermuda.

Before we get around to a review of her essay, this writer asked her what she considered her responsibility to her ancestors.

She stated: "My answer to that question is to tell the truth about their journey on Earth. I must ensure that even though their 'voices' are in the ocean, they can still be heard through me.

"Early on, my grandmother, Helen (Fox) Foggo, a midwife and healer, taught me that when a baby is born, the placenta is buried in the ground, so a spirit will always know where home is. Babies were born in their homes and placenta was planted in their gardens on St. David's Island.

"I buried plenty of placentas for her for many years! HOME for me is St. David's Island! I am merely keeping memories alive by remembering my ancestors. Spirits guide me.

"I am Eugene Foggo (Jean) Simon, born of St. David's Island parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great grandparents. Like many other Native people, we preferred not to be integrated with outside blood. This was our stigma, but it is now our homecoming.

"I was educated in St. David's schools, starting out with Mr. Hilly Richardson at St. Luke's Church School, went to Howard Academy under the influential tutelage of Edward H. deJean, Miss Eva Robinson, Braxton Burgess and Dr. Paul de la Chevotiere.

"Education was intense; sport was necessary and fun was an added blessing. I loved being a student at Howard Academy. The school was for the underdog, but produced many successful and influential people of our society.

"Life was great! I went on to Wilberforce University with a Bermuda Government Scholarship (£300!), wasn't much, but it gave me the opportunity to leave Bermuda and pursue further education. I proceeded to Oberlin School of Commerce, the Institute of Supervisory Management, Bermuda College and most recently Kent State University in pursuit of certification as an International Municipal Clerk for government administration.

"My work record has been with the Ford Motor Company (car manufacturer), Gilford Instrument Laboratories (spectrophotometers research labs), Faculty of Arts & Science, Bermuda College (under Dr. George Cook), City of Oberlin, Ohio (as a government official), owner of two businesses in Bermuda (Rainbows at The Wharf, St. George's; Mary Kay Cosmetics, Reid Street, Hamilton). It was almost time to retire, so I asked myself: 'Now what?'

"With the fruits of my labour under my belt, I thirsted to know why St. David's Islanders had been considered 'outcasts of society' in their own country for many years. The stigma that followed us throughout life had to come to a stop so I set out to find out (for my own personal gratification) how we got to St. David's Island initially.

"It was time to plant a lemon tree!

"I initiated my personal slave journey from St. David's Island back to New England, USA. In doing so, many stones were unturned, doors opened, and I tossed away a bad memory into the sea. When I wrote the "Libation" and a "Proclamation" honouring the St. David's Islanders for the first St. David's Island Reconnection of our families in 2001 with the Natives of New England who attended, it was more of a cleansing for my own soul and an awakening of my ancestors souls.

"It was for them to be honoured for their contributions to the island home they had inherited so far from their own land. It was not for frivolous attention as it has become. We are not a tourist attraction. Our history is not meant to be stolen, misused and misinterpreted by others who choose to 'assume identity as Native St. David's Islanders' because it is popular to do so at the moment.

"I want to give honour to our ancestors, to our elders, who would now rise up in disbelief and possibly anger as to what has happened in newsprint and in person about the laborious lives they led. hey suffered, did without and planted gardens, fished, whaled, built boats to make a living and to give their descendants a chance in life. Their souls are disturbed, and I am hoping to bring calm back to them by telling their story and allowing their 'voices' to speak through me and to be heard truthfully.

"We have blessed our space at Dark Bottom, St. David's Island, we have burned sage to take away bad energy, but their spirits are still speaking to those of us who are connected. There has always been a sense of dignity about St. David's Islanders and Their Voices Are Not Silent is my contribution to my ancestors.

"I encourage and also challenge individuals to stop, read, think and research ¿ know who you really are. Identify with your own ancestors and family members. Assimilation is not the order of the day, TRUTH is! Who is the silent voice in YOUR family's story?"

Time and space do not allow for an adequate review of Jean's essay. It will appear in next week's column.