“MWM .AW.‘-....~W..

W ‘
M, “kw”...whw’fiw W
“ “fl, mm‘pm, “a ‘ n f a «,4 «.1 ‘ 9W. , A w“ »
‘ V .. W“, .1V‘ . ‘ Q “ .1,A H‘3‘
26 November 1973
Aan mijn Surinaamse leaers;
Daze samenvatting over de culturela levcnswijzen van de 503
Negers‘;erd geschrefien voor ik ooit Suriname bezocht had. fiat zal
U daarvoor niet verbazen dat bet werk zekere problemen te weinig, en
andaren te veal aandacht geeft.
fiat werk is verder onvolledig o? drie wijzén:
I. Bet weerspiegelt de vale publikaties na 1969 niet;
2. flat vermelat de enige nooit-bestudeerde stam (fie Coppename Kwinti)
niet; en
3. Kat heart verschillende theoretisghe besehouwingen niet nix“. “.1.
Voor Engelswlezende, Nedarlands~sprekende onderzoekers w“
eerste punt misschien hat minst belangrigk.
Wat de tweede opmerking betreft, mijn vrouw Kathleen en ik
hebben gedurende de zomer Van 1973 een "pilot study" afgelegd onéer
de Kwinti van Bitagron. verder onderzoek is natuurlijk nodig, an
wordt verwacht voor de volgende jaren.
Zodra mijn nieuwe infarmatie uitgezocht is, zullen versch%‘hsa¢e
theoretische posities-zoals de rollen van het kaenoe begrip-verder
behandelt warden in publikaties in de Engelse taal.
In de tussentijd, een ieder die in het Hollands cf Engels
wilt corresponderen over "Bosnegeriana" wordt uitganodigd om me te
bereiken aan het onderstaande adres: * {7
Pgof. D. H. van der Elat 2?” Mame”
Anthropology, CSUF CC/Eé f-i
Fresno, Califbrnia aggfli§
USA 93?40
‘c
.‘m “WW MWWA-wmw. « w ‘ < n r A wv M “w
 . .‘ ' g I
Lo‘s of Extended Fdfiiiges ah the Surinam River
{after sggfidur t. barnes)
a.
3

Vilaages g
1. ?ckigron‘
2. NjoeKondre I (Gengeston)
3. GansaKondre (Gengenston)
4. Kapasikele (Famboko) .hf
5. Biriéoematoe (Pambokc) T
a. Abinaston
7. Lame (AmakaKondre)
8’ Kadjapati (Bedotier
90 Lomhe
10. wakibasoe 59. Babe 1 gr
11. Jawjaw 60. Tanloekoe
12. NjoeKondre II 61. Stonhoekoe
13. Kadjoe
A. Pikienpada , 0

14. Ladoeanie B. Baikoetoe 1..

15. MatrosiKondre C. Doewatr-.. 1.
16. TjaliKondre 11»(31)'34
17, NerAurora 1~15-17*(18)-19
13. Goejaba
19. Grantatai 7~(21)~22~23~24
20. Binikwai LAngo 16—53 to (61)
21. Pikienslee
22. Foetoenakaba MAtchow 6-Sw32w33wéfi to 52
23. Debike MIetoe (30)”‘C'
,‘24. Botobasi
:4

a'.25. Kambaloea NAssy 2~20-(25} t6 28

u

“a
;?§352 Dang PApato 37 to 44
#5: .27.“ Granyapa
28. Levanti VAnDyk 3*12~(35)-36-38
29. MoejeAndoe YOnei
30. Malobi
(10)
31. MarsjaKriki
32. Hekoenoe
33. Toemaripa
34. Djabaxondre
35. Simoisie
36. Simoisie Post
37. Dawmame
38. Penpen
39. Granslee
40. AkwauKondre
41. Bofroekoele
42. Solang
43. Godo
44. Djoemoe
45. Asawbasoe
46. BindiKondre
47.. Paloebasce
48. AsidonhOpo
49. Akisamau
50. Dangogo
51. Njoe ondre III .4(Mother of L0. and location
52. Kampoe of
53. Biniwatra
54. Kroetoetin
55. Mooitori
56. Lingerie
57. Begron
58. Kajana
«wk W

fiLW+QaM¢hL {y

tasan
& «3E ERRATA
FOR:
LINE READ:

long
Ionger Arowak
Arawak ca11
ca11ed
underline Gauzen
humane not capitaIized
thd
last the Manca
2 Manna fact
15 face
hold
19 901d Eikins
E1kins‘
17 marked "2.“
ast marked “1" for
of
‘E 4 up Archii1es
AchiITes 1ike1y
2 _
1iking
10 in quote among
8 along cemma after Demerary
5 up under1ine Granman
I, 4, 8, 12 privide
8 provide they are
3 in qucte they are no longer throught
4 throughout when the
1ast quote 2 when after the inspored
last quote 3 inspired countains
8 up mountains fact
face
15 some expiained
8 some unexp1ained king
kind
10 capitalize_Kfibben
4 period after perform
3 under1ine ecciesiastical
13 dead
death d
5 period after misunderstoo
14 underTine Eikadu
4. 12 as
are
7 up and quote with ”
quote underTine kunu
6 change , to ;
15, 17 Renew
Renew
’9 undefi1ine amba
14 do not underiine Ewe
14 “Fearbook” ~
4 up “Fearbook") was so much
was as much
6 Skrekibuki
footnote Skrekibuku underiine wisiman
16 Renselaar
quote 6—7 van Renseiaar there
15 their

4...,” , Aw. ,. M_
VIMXR
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Since anyone caught in the trap of

indexing his obligations finds
that any $ist is horribly, unforgivabiy
incompiete (“How in the name of
Justice coqu I have anssedafle?“), an
Acknowledgements page can be
interpreted as an exercise in sado~mas
ochistio expression. as a reminder
of group-shared responsibilities, as an
equivalent to public confession,
or as a ringing reaffirmatfon of fait
h in no~win strategies. As with
romance and Christmas cards, the prob1em
is not where to start, but where
to stop: one recognizes one's debt to veritab1e 3egi
ons of individuals,
but one recognizes also the limitatiOns
of space and memory. In spite of
foily, I shall fo11ow-customo

Obviously, I "owe" everyone I‘ve ever read

” If my awareness of
some debts is sharper than of some othe
rs. this may say more about my
attention span than about the relative valu
e of those who have influenced
my thinking. Even the most condensed inventony must
incIude Dr. Paul B.
Porter for introducing me to Behaviora}
Science, Dr. Jesse D. Jennings for
initiating me into Anthropology, Dr» Warren
L. d‘Azevedo for~converting me
to the fie1d, Dre Paul Bohannan for teac
hing me to live with it, and the
late Dr. Meriiie J. Herskovits for sugg
esting this area of research.
I am atso gratefu? to my co1ieagues at
Fresno State College for
to1erating and supporting me these 1ast few months,
and to Mrs. Geri
Mora¥es for patience and diiigence beyo
nd the c311 of duty in the typing
of the manuscripts,

But most of all I feel a debt to my ment

or, Dr. Frances L. K. Hsu,
and to my wife and editor, Kathieen, for
the tenacity with which they
engineered and pursued that comp1ex prog
ram of cajoieny, b1ackmai1,

M. w».m,....,......m.ww \ ,M. m...» a." . . . ., _.

 mm t?””fi”"‘v.o“‘flemvww . * waspmfiiwv w»

encouragemt, indifference, promise and naked threat which elicited this

C.) effort from me.

Thank you both, very much

ii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. N k u u y . a t . . * x . w n a
. “

PART 0N8: THE THREADS FROM THE PAST

CHAPTER I: AFR}CA IN TRE NEW NORLD g a . a a y . , . .
. . . . . .
Intreduction, « a n fl w r . . u u g a ‘ » M .
. t . . . . .
History of Bush Negrn Studies G n . . b . . .
. . . . . .
American Studies. ¢ p , a ” . . r . .v . . .
. . . . .
Dutch Studies , . a n . a n a . . « a . . . t
. . . .
French Sources.. , a g. . .. . w . . a . fi fi , . a
. . . .
Recent Trends . . . ‘ . ‘( . n . v a . . . . a, .
. . . .
Notes on Language and TransIation . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sranan Tango“ . . fl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Modern Nin re Tungos. , » . . . . . . . . . a . . . .
Afaka and ais Djuka Scrfpt. . . . . . . . t . . . . ‘
n v a, a o g aa v n c 9 a’ Q '

CfiAPTER II: THE CULTURAL FIELD . . . . . a . . . . . . . . 16

Surinam: The Physical Setting. a . . . . . a . . i . . . 16
Surinam History . . § . . , . . . . * . . . . . . . . .
. . 18
’9 O t 0 {I

Spanish Dec¥ine . . a . . a . . . . . . . . . . . .
4‘ 0 a i v- . . '3 ‘e Q l ‘O I I D Q 0 19
E1 Dorad
. . . . 2}
o and the Adventurers . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The MIC in Africa and America . . . . . . . . . . . 25
. . . . . . 26
CompanyColony..H.M...... . . . . . .
31

I : g g a O o a Q a I G O I l I Q I I O i 0 35
Factors Reievant to a TypOIOQy of Slaveries , . . .
Legai Factors a . . . . . Q . ‘ . . 38
. . 3 . . . . . . . ! .
Econamic Factors. a ¢ , a . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4O
Socio-Psycho?ogica1 Factars . a . . . q . . . . . . 41
i v (.3 Q E I“ O i C will ‘ Q . I O I I 3 44

CHAPTER IV: KONDRE, THE TRIBALIZATIGN OF THE MAROONS . .

58
In The Lontem g , . . . . . . . . . . . . . , .
. . 58
The Surinam Opportunity . , . . a . . . 3 c . . .
. 63
iii
 “:1
< M
rm 4 m «

TABLE OF CONT
ENTS (CONT"D)
“Wm/n. .flvw

Independence
. . . . . . Page
. . . . . .
Federation . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . .
. , . . . . . . 66
. . . . . .
. . . . . .
CHAPTER . . . 77
V: ORIGINS . . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . .
The Search f . . . . . .
ar Anteceden . . . . 87
ts . . . . .
Physica) Deri . . . . . . . . . .
vations . . . . 87
. . . . ‘ . .
E? Dorado Re . . . . . . . . .
visited: My . . . .
thos and Etho 88
s . . . . . . . . .
. . . .
PART Egg: ‘Ifig‘LOO 92
MIQE ORGANI ZATION
CHAPTER VI:
THE HOUSEHOL
D . . . . .
. _. . . . .
Marriage . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
Widowhood, . . . . . . .
Divorce, an
d Remarriag
. , . ’
e . . . . . . . .
Residence . . . . . . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . . .
Interpersona . . . . . .
l Reiations. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . .
CHAPTER VII:
THE SUBTRIBE,
ggg AND 59 .
Incest and E . . . . . .
xogamy . . . . . . . .
. 718
. ‘ . . . .
’ Vestigia? Patriiin . . . . . .
. . . . . .
eage . . . . . . . . . . . . 718
Bee and Lo . . . . . . . . .
*~"'Djuk3f;g. . . . . . . . . . . . 120
” . .
Sargmacca 5&1. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 122
. . . . . . .
Sii‘éfixgxxxx: . . . . . . .. . . . 127
. .
ParamacchL_,.
. . . . . . . . ::::::::::::" 133
137
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
:: 144
CHAPTER VIII: 146
TRIBAL RELATI
ONS. . . . .
Notables and . . . . . .
effices . . . . . . . . .
. . . 148
. .
. . . . . .
Paramount Chie . . . . . .
. . , .
ftainqy. . . . I48
. . . . . . .
hwdeandem . . . . . Q .
mmm . . . . . . . . 152
.. .. .. ..
Warfare . . ..,.. ..
. . .. ...
167
. . . . . .
. . ..
iv
 TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONT'D)
Page
PART THREE: THE NEAVE 9f {GEOLOGY
CHAPTER IX: THE ORGANIZATION OF IDEOLOGY . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 174
Cult Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T74
Ideology as Institution. . T T . . T .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

CHAPTER X; THE ECCLESIASTICAL WARP . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . 182
The Supreme Being. . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . 182
The High Gods . . . . . . . . T . . . . .
. . . . . . T. . . . . . 185
Akra and Yorka: The Link Between the Woers . . . . . .
. . . . 195

CHAPTER XI: KUNU, THE KNOTTING OF WARP AND WOOF .

. . . . . . . . . 207
Anxiety and Contra}. . _. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . T . . . 209
Triggering Kunu u . . . . . . . . . . . T
. . . . . . . . . . . . 215
The High Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 216
Other Supernaturals, . . . . . . . T . .
menBfinw . . . . . . . . .... . . .. . . . . . . . . . 218
Reflex Kunu. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . .. .... . 2%
. . . T . . . . . . . 224

CHAPTER XII: THE COMMUNAL WEFT. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . 229
GOdSu u ‘a 9 o a a m a n a q n a q n v d Ir u o n i a C

Possession and OracuTarfty . . . . . .

. . . . T . . . . . . . . 233
The Voices of the Dead . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Pronouncement ef Death . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 241
Socia? Commitment of the Living. . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 242
Preparation of the Carpse. . . . . . . . .
Firgt Test for Wisi
. . . . . . . . , 243
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
K15 mans . T . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. :2;
EstaEIishing the Cause of Death. . . . . T T , . . . . . . ‘
. . . . . . . . . . 247
v a t o w o t do ¢ 0 I v a n a n a a a u u p c
Grave and Diggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . c Iv .

The Burial . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . 251
. . . . . . . . . . 252
Posthuneraty RituaTs. . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . 253
EccTesiastics Versus Revelation. . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
V
 TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONT‘D)
Page
CHAPTER XIII: THE SHAMARISTIc-PATTERN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
9212a. a . ‘ w , ‘, . . . . . . . 272
Egggg . , . k . . .. . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . .
277
Hagtmi. ‘ n ,. . « fl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 280
§§g§i_§g§i. a . fl . . . fi . . . . . . . . . . ‘ . . . . . . . . 281
Fioffiofl , . w . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

CHAPTER XIV: THE INDIVIDUALISTIC TEXTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Kina and Trefu. a . a a a c i n a n o o u u u a i a a g a n I O 289
Names and Naming Fear . . . . 1
295
Reincarnation a . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Kandu and Muiap . é . fl . . . . . . . . . .
30]
The Mystique of Firearms . . . . . . . . . O n i r n a i s 9 t o 304
Obias as Amulets. . . . . . I l A a o i o a n g ir u ¢ a x- g 307
The Deciine of Superstition . . . U a o i v a g i a 310

PART FOUR; TfiE SHUTTLE 95 CHANSE

CHAPTER XV: THE wesrm REALITY. I Q j c D I a 0 q I O a 6 o I o 314
The Temptation of Christianity. . . 317
True Conversion . . . . . . . . I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Opportunism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
325
Reinterpretation: Continuity in Change . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

CHAPTER XVI: THE VIEW FROM THE BUSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

weitanschauung: An Inference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
The Test of the Fabric. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
V?

w.“ ,,W,W...WHW.._. w. "mm." ,

 TABLE OF CDNTENTS (CDNT‘D)
Page
APPENDIX I: AFAKA’S DJUKA SCRIPT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

APPENDIX II: TflE BUSH NEGRO CABIR . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . 351

BIBLIOGRAPHYiE'lt‘Ot‘QpI
ottcont‘!‘fi¢llttl¢l354
THE THREADS FROM THE PAST
o W gemdmRWw-mémm . >~Aswua §W~ .. m «- m- Jr-wm a». My ‘1‘ MW

CHAPTER I

AFRICA IN THE NEW WORLD

The Negro outside of Africa is neither a nation

nor a
nationalit , and, with the exception of Brazil,
there is no
country outside of Africa. so far as I know, where
a
African origin has sought to preserve African custo people of
ms or African
cu tore.

Park, in Pierson, l942:xx

INTRODUCTION
Ever since Melville J. Herskovits returned from his first
field
work, students of the New World Negro have been
aware that the baseline of
the Afro-American culture continuum lies in Surin
am (Dutch Guiana), where
the only tribal societies of Negro Americans are found
. These are the
Bush Negroes, after the Old Dutch “Boschnegers”
or “Forest Negroes," the
descendants of runaway slaves from the Dutch,
English, and Jewish1
plantations in the coastal areas of Surinam. Along the rivers of the
hinterland of what is today the southeastern part
of Surinam, including
the western border of French Guiana, these runaw
ays or Maroons developed
a number of similar societies out of African,
European, and Amerindian
culture traits.

There are by modern reckoning five tribes and an indet

erminate
number of lesser organizations: the Djuka, Sare
mocca, Matuari, and
Paramacca live in Surinam; most of the Boni are citiz
ens of French Guiana.
It has been the practice to describe these tribe
s as relatively

TPortuguese Jews who had escaped the Inquisition

asyium in Surinam. Their community, which boast in Brazil found
s the oldest synagogue in
America (still in use), was joined by Jews from the
and other countries, some of which here already
Netherlands, Italy,
operating independently
in.the colony. Until the nineteenth century, the Jews in Surinam
as a distinct and separate society. operated

-1-
 -2-
static African survivals, and muc
("fl‘ h energy and ingenuity has been
spent in
efforts to demonstrate their dir
ect descent from some existing Afr
ican
tribe. In the U.S.A., especially,
the popular image of the Bush Neg
rn~~
when he is not confused with the
Bushman-~55 still a mixture of Nob
le Savage,
backwoods bumpkin, and Black Pow
er advocate, and this is not sur
prising“
Except for the too few scholarly
efforts, about the only deseripti
ons of
Bush Negroes have been printed in
the sensationalist press. At the
very
time when the Herskovitses pub
lished their geggl.nestiny, far
instance, it
was possible to read headlines suc
h as:
Black Lords of the Bush: Dutch
nation of whites is subserv1ent Gui
a
to~
ana, the only place where a
a nation of blacks (15g
Toronto Star. June 7, 1934)
which demonstrates a certain
lack of journalistic objectivi
ty and veracityq
Nor have there been many effort
s to enlarge our knowledge:
until l969 not
a single American reported fieldw
ork among the Bush Negroes. In
the meantime,
however, Dutch scholars continued
to demolish the caricature we had
oF these
peoples, by enlarging a body of
information about them which is
of inestimable
value to students of the Negro
in the New world, history, cultur
e change,
stratification, social organizat
ion, religion, race relations, etc
c Unfor-
tunately, this material is sca
ttered over two centuries, dis
persed in a
plethora of publications not eas
ily available in the U.S.A., and
mostly
Written in Dutch.

My introduction to the field

came when the late Professor Her
skovits
suggested that I use my native
knowledge of'Dutch to write a
term paper on
the Bush Negroes for one of his
courses. Three years went by
before I
recognized the benefits to be
derived from a wider awareness
of this culture
complex. It took another four years tO'col
lect, translate, organize, and
interpret a sample of the litera
ture sufficiently broad to allow
this

“W “mm. an...
 introductony synthesis.

HISTORY OF BUSH NEGRO STUDIES

Until the end of the Second florid War, there had been few studie
s
of the Bush Negroes by trained sociai scientists. As far as the English~
speaking world was concerned, Herskovits had described the Sarama
cca and
mentioned the other two [sic] tribes. About the Same time, 1ess
accurate
reports were circulated by Kahn, a medicai practitioner with a
Tess—than-
perfect understanding of the concept of cu1tere, and a fine
disregard for
the rules of scientific evidence. And that, basicaily, was that. After
the war, an occasional speciaiist's report came out in Engiis
h such as
Bank‘s (1951;3954) studies of Busthegro art, but this was rare.
Such
cavalier indifference about the baseTine cultures of Afro—American
studies
was due in part to a general ignorance about the peopie and, mare
import—
antiy, to the lure of Africa and the research grants avaiiabie
for study
there. Certainiy this condition was not heiped by the fact that
the
Dutch, who "rediscovered" Surinam after Indonesia’s independence,
generally
reported their research in their own language, which is not among
the
common second tongues of other enthropoiogists.

Sti11, an imposing body of knowledge has grown up around these

Surinam societies, much of it dating back to the eaniy nineteenth
centunyc
English is being used increasingly as the ianguage of public
ation for
presentudey studies“ Unfortunater, most of‘today‘s articles assume the
reader'to be aware of the socioehistorical background of the peopTe
in
question, and fon'the‘task of imparting this backgroundg‘the existing
EngTish literature is quite inadequate.

American Studies. As noted before, the (minor) anthropological

we,

introductory synthe
sis.

HISTORY OF BUSH NEGR

O STUDIES
Until the end of th
e Second Worid War,
there had been few
of the Bush Negroe studies
s hy tr ained socia! scie
ntists. As for as the Eng1
speaking worid wa ish~
s concerned, Hers
kovits had descri
bed the Saramecca
mentioned the other two [sic] and
tribes. About the same ti
reports were circ me, Iess accurate
uiated by Kahn, a
medical practition
er with a less-tha
perfect understand n-
ing of the concep
t of cuTture, and
a fine disregard
the rufes of scient for
ific evidence. And that, basicall
the war, an occasion y, was that. Afte
r
al speciaiist‘s re
port came out in En
Dark's (1951:1954) giish such as
studies of Bush Ne
gro art, but this
cavaIier indifferen was rare. Such
ce about the baseli
ne cultures of Afro
was due in part —American studies
to a general igno
rance about the pe
opTe and, more im
antiy, to the 1ure port-
of Africa and the
research grants ae
a??ab1e fer study
there. Certainly th
is cond ition was not helped
hy the fact that th
Dutch, who "redis e
covered" Surinam
after Indonesia's
independence, gene
reported their re raITy
search in their ow
n Tanguage, which
is not among the
common second tong
ues of other anth
ropo1ogists.
Still, an imposing
body of knowledge ha
s grown up around th
ese

presentndqy studie
s. Unfortunately, mo
st of today'S‘arti
reader to be awar CIes assume the
e of the socioehist
orica] background
of the peopTe in
question, and fer
thetask of imparting th
is background; the
EhgTish literature existing
is quite inadequate
.

American Studies.
As noted before, th
e (minor) anthropolo
gicaI
 -4-

interest in the Bush Negroes resulted almost

exclusively from the writings
of Melville J. and Frances S. Herskovits. Their l934 ggggl Destiny was a
popularized account of their fieldwork among
the Saramacca, and their
monumental Surinam Folklore (1935) is still the
definitive text. Ms J.
Herskovits wrote a number of essays on such
specialties as Bush Negro
social organization (1928), language (193l),
and derivation (1933), but some
of’these were in a Dutch~language journal and othe
r relatively obscure
sources.
The principal American in the field, Herskovi
ts viewed the Saramacca
as a displaced African society. In retrospect, he was somewhat handicapped
both by his reaction to the temper of the time
s and by his inadequate
knowledge of Dutch. These factors led him to exaggerate the bell
igerent
independence of the Bush Negro, as when he writes:

In l825 the Dutch government concluded a treat

y of peace with the
Bush Negroes whereby, in consideration of
their agreement to
refrain from pillaging the coastal region and
masters such runaway slaves as came to them,
to return to their
their own freedom
was guaranteed in perpetuity (Herskovits, i958:
92).
In fact there were three treaties, the last one
in l762 with the Saramacca.
These were reviewed in the 1830‘s when cont
racts more advantageous to the
whites were signed. None of these pacts
guaranteed freedom “in perpetuity";
they dealt prosaically with such matters as
trading rights, bounties, and
visitors' quotes on Paramaribo~bound trib
esmen (see Chapter IV).
If Herskovits was not perfect, neither was
he mundane. Aside from
minor errors such as the above (which actu
ally do not pervert one‘s under«
standing all that much), there are only two
relevant criticisms which
could be made of him. The first concerns his theoretical position:
Herskovits apparently considered the Bush Negro
es as a typical West
African civilization which had remained almos
t completely unchanged by its
mewswm m. . ‘ Mpwmm, .v ,e o _

-5.

isolation in the jungTes, while its ance

stra1 societies in Africa had
deveioped much further through both inte
rnal change and external pressures
(Herskovits, 1933). The modern (Dutch)
View is that net oniy are these
societies not static. but they are surp
risinQIy adaptive (Kfibben, 196?,
1968). The second comment concerns his
pioneering position in Negro
studies in general: the Engiish~speaking part of the professi
on wouId have
welcomed his elaboration on other Bush
Negro tribes.
Where Herskovits was unequivocally admired
by his Dutch colleagues
(e.g., van Panhuys, 1934; van Lien and de Goej
e, 1940, etc“), Kahn‘s writing
was so eccentric as to raise the hackIes
of almost 311 Dutch cognoscenti.
He was attacked on a large number of issu
es, not the least of which was that
his major work, Djuka, the Bush NegroeS'gfi Dutc
h Guyana (793?), dealt with
the Saramacca. He stoutly maintained that Djoke was a gene
ric term for Bush
Negroes, which e1icited the observation
(Benjamfns, 1930; Junker, 1932; etc“)
that'this was true only in Paramaribo,
and then only'among peop1e who cooid
not tel? one tribe from another. Kahn was also given to the writing of
more Iarfd prose, as in his description'
of Sorinam: "Where black men look
down on civifized’whites“"(titera§x gfigg
sg, October 29,‘T927). Unfortunateiy
his sensationalism stuck long in the"pub1
1c conscience'than Herskovits'
more“fectual‘descriptions.

In p1aces, Kahn is usefu1, as in his pers

onai“observatfons of
certain Saramacca treft5;‘ But his imaginat
ion was unfettered by knowIedge
‘0f‘the‘area‘S‘histohy,'and one is forc
ed to suspect‘that the‘iocaTS used
him't0”practice'their‘equivoient“of"our'
“snowejobs““or “potaons.” Often
hiS’descriptionS"of the reiationship betw
een Dutch and “Djnka” recai? the
“Bestiariums"”of‘the'1700‘s,‘when”8ritis
h traveler5"pubiished fantastic
‘accounts of Guyana; ‘For"instanee; he“w
rite3”that 1n“the interior viIIege
 -5-

of Kabeistation the Dutch government

keeps a speciai train, compiete with
its crew, ready at all times and eagerly
awaiting the time when the Saramacca
Paramount Chief should deign to visi
t the Governor...

Egggh_5tudies. Descriptions of the land and people of

Surinam are
legion, and date back to Cabeiiau's desc
ription of the "Wilde Kust." The
older materiais, having been written
in various diaiects and orthographic
variations from contemporary Dutch, are
difficuit for even a native speaker
to read. The latest work by social
scientists shows a far greater awar
eness
of American, British, and French auth
ors than is common among monoiingual
Americans, and is often summarized in
Engiish, German, or French.
A bibliography of the older works occu
rs in the Encyclogedie gen
Nederiandsch West~1odie (hereafter ENWI
) under Boschnegers. A list of more
recent authors can be found in Thoden van
Veizen's dissertation Poiitieke
Beheersiog in g2 Djuka Maetschaggij (1966,
to be trans1ated in the near
future).

french Sources, Bush Negroes have existed in French Guiana

since
the Boni or nwinti, under their rebel chie
ftain Bonni, were driven out of
Surinam in 1789. French articles deaiing with Boni hist
ory have been
collected by Hurault (1954, 1957), who
has written numerous books and
articles about these people and is generail
y considered to be the finest
Bush Negro ethnographer and the single ackn
owledged expert on the Bani.

gggggg Eggnog. There is an interesting though covert distinct

ion
between the eariy reporters and the rece
nt Dutch ethnographers. It is
especiaily pronounced in the degree to whic
h the tribesmen are viewed as
“victims” of their cuiture. I refer here not to the increasingly comm
on
practice among anthropologists to emphasiz
e the addictive quaiities of
 -7-
culture in genera}, but to the
propensity among early students—
~who can 32;
all be written off as 1acking
in sophisticatioo--to bewail
the unhappiness
of “these poor people," and to
bemoan the debi1itating effect
s of a "witch—
rfdden" existence in general.
The moderns (explicit1y or imp
3icit1y)
describe the ability of the Bus
h Negro to deal with the psycho
logicaI roe?-
ities of the supernatural on
a matter-of-fact ieve1, and
to quite soberTy,
even cold-b1ooded1y; manipulate
this aspect of life for private
or social
gain. (This generationa} differ
ence is remdniscent of early ver
sus 1ate
interpretations of the potiat
ch, and one wonders when oth
er standard
wexamp’leS‘of'institut‘ionafized
“bizarre” behavior, such as Aztec
sacrifice,
wil! be reviewed in_a simiTa
r vein.)
The distinction appears to ori
ginate in the differential pre
occu—
pation with professional objectivi
ty that marks the two groups. Early
writers, even Herskovits, wer
e primariiy c011ectors of traits
and observers
of behavior. Though committed
tO'a laudabie re1ativism in the
ory, they
were in fact unable to avoid
humanistic reactions to suffer
ing, and derived
their definitions of such suffer
ing impiicitly from cause—andvef
fect inter—
pretations which in turn were
based on empathy and judgments
of outward
behavior:‘ that is, nonereTat
ivistica1ly. The very object
ivity which
protected them from the more
obvious soaioecuiturai misinterp
retations,
seems to have made them'suscept
ible to*a sort of psycho-socia
} ethnocentrism.
3y contrast, the moderns appear
‘aImost cynicai. They are pre
occupied
’with the social importance of such
concepts as triaTs and gogg, and evi
dence
a much more jaundiced‘interpretat
ion of private meaning'of‘behavior.
A
representative exampTe of this
is the work of H. U. E; Thoden
van Ve1zen
with its aimost casua? descripti
OHS‘of actfen'and“1t3‘exhaustive
attention
to underlying relationships.
InteIIectoaTTy, his work is cle
ariy distin-
 ~3.

guishable from that of J. Hurault. who does

M, _‘ er

not reverse these traditional

priorities. Both approaches are fruitful
, and both are necessary to ear
understanding. Unfortunately, almost the
only works in English are the
abstracts and summaries of recent Dutc
h works.

NOTES ON LANGUAGE AND TRANSLA¥IGN

The primary justification of this work lies
in the Fact that while
Dutch is not a common second language for
social scientists, the vast
majority of works dealing with the Bush Negr
oes is written in that tongue.
Considering the interest in the tribal and
of the spectrum of cultural
adaptations of the Negro in the Americas,
an English summary of the
existing knowledge about some major aspects
of these cultures is held to be
long overdue.

Dutch is acknowledged as the closest linguistic

relative of modern
English. One might therefbre surmise that its
translation, especially by a
native speaker with some 20 years of English
practice to aid him, would be
a simple matter. Such a View would overlook
one of the real difficulties
in any attempt to transcribe languages:
changing fashions in usage.
Consider the astonishingly Victorian circ
umlocutions in a typical sentence
by an author of the early lQOO's (L. C. van Panhu
ys, in ENWI:160) in his
description of a Bush Negro saying:

"Mama kaw broke a plesi," woordelijk: de moeder

uit de pen, d. w. z. gij laat owe kaarten zien koe breekt
;
de moon. Hat woord “mama ken" bevat den eene voor de aap komt uit
Boschnegers verborgen hulde aan de steviggeboaw alle niet-
toegesproken vrouw. de lede o van da

This translates:

"Mama Raw broke a plesi," literally the moth

er cow breaks
out of the pen, e.g., you are showing your
cards; the monkey
comes out of the sleeve. The term "mama kaw" cont
—- to all non-Bush Regroes hidden -~ homage to the ains then a
built limbs of the addressed woman. sturdily~
 .9w

Obviousiy certain liberties must be taken with

such statements if the
meaning is not to be inst forever. Yet meaning is subjective. Therefore!
g11.transiations wiii be marked "Tr. mine."

Where French sources are quoted, I was aided

in their transiation
by my wife, Kathleen Smith van der Eist, native
Engiish speaker and teacher
of French, now working on an advanced degr
ee in that subject.

§g§ggg_lggg_. The effects of the unique piace of the Engiish and

the Portuguese Jews in Surinam history (see Chap
ter II) Wed to the deveiop»
ment of two creoiized tongues among the sieves
of Surinam: flingggztgggg
or NegrowEnglish, and Dju—tongo or Jew tongue.
As Herskovits noted, the
latter remains important in the language of the
Saramacca tribe. Both
languages did, of course, retain a rich Afri
can terminoiegy. In the graduai
ascendancy of the British planters aiong the
downstream coastai areas of
Surinam, flingggytgggg_increased in usage at the
expense of the Portuguese
Creole, whose iegacy can be traced mainly in the
vowei~ended words of
modern Creoie-Engiish. Today, the vernacuiar of
Surinam is caiied Sranan
(Surinam), and it is the direct descendant of fiiflgggytggg_.
It is a true
Creole Tanguage, in which a number of infiuenc
es have been recognized.
ENWI (503~505) recognizes Engiish, Portuguese, Dutch, Frenc
h, and Spanish;
from Africa primarily Ewe, Niger~€cnge, Tshi and Yorub
a; and some Amerindian
infiuences from Carib, Arowak, and Warren. Sranan is the coastai 1anguage,
the sowceiled "civilized Negro-Engiish;“ It is noteworthy that eitheugh
the territory has been held almost exciusiveiy by
the Dutch for 300 years,
Dutch stii1 is not its majer ianguage. ENWI sugge
sts that the persistence
of Engiish is partiy due to the historical effer
ts of the Herrnhutter
missionaries to teach the Gospe? in the vernacuiar:
rather than using
Dutch, these Germans used the Ningre~tongo, and
even raised their own
 «J 0..

children in that dialect. Also, it was customany (possibly as a status—

related behavior, always a safe guess with colon
ials) for the Dutch to
address the natives in the Creole language. Simons and Voorhoeve (1955)
have demonstrated that the Dutch element in the coast
al Creole has
increased steadily since 1850. Today in Sranan many
English words are
being replaced with Dutch terms.

fig§g§fl_fliggrg;fgnggs: Bush Negro languages retain much more of the

slave~perlod vocabulary than does Sranan. As might be surmised, the
Saramacca have the most difficulty in adapting to the local
speech patterns
When they visit the City, since their speech still
retains a large nunber
of Portuguese-derived terms now nfissing in the coastal Creole
. It is not
clear whether all the Bush Negro languages are mutually
intelligible,
although it appears that the term Ia§i7lg§i for speech appli
es to all the
tribal dialects other than Saramacca EQQQQ, Morpurgo (1933) lists four
basic differences between Taki-Takl and general Sranan
: usage, pronunci-
ation, accentuation, and tonality. De Goeje (1908:1000) insists that
"flrum language exists among the Djuka as much as among their
relatives in
Africa,“ which would tend to support Morpurgo's contention that
the Taki-
Taki variations are tonal languages, which Sranan definitely
is not. Van
Panhuys (in ENwlzlSQ) reports that various pidgins have
developed between
the tribes and the whites, and between black and red
tribesmen. Around
the turn of the century, the Djuka and Saramacca boatsmen
engaged in the
river traffic on the Marowine and in French Guiana, often
learned quite a
bit of French; and Hurault (1961:9) notes that the modern Boni
use a French
Creole'patols-wthat of St. Lucia«~exclusively to address
Europeans. The
Bani vernacular he gives as Taki~Taki, and he does not differentiat
e it
greatly from that spoken by the Djnka and Paramacca.
 -1]-

One is struck furthermore by the variety

of secret ianguages or
specie] languages which the Bush Negr
oes empioy. Occasionai remarks such
as "The Opo~Negroes always say the word
‘Ja‘ before any answer they give"
(van Lier, 1921:222. Tr. mine), or repo
rts that the Djuka have deveioped
a specie} trade pidgin consisting of Indi
an and Djuka terms (de Goeje,
1906:109~Iii; 1908 passim), the repeated
references to Iiturgicai
languages such as Kromanti “stiii pure Afri
can in usage" (de Goeje, 1908:
58. Tr. mine) which seems to be empioyed not
only in rituai but in certain
songs, a1} indicate a general preoccupatio
n with Iabeis and their referents
which strikes a surprisingly modern Amer
ican note. When one considers that
on the Danish Antiiies a Creoiized Dutc
h was long the major language, that
in Surinam a Creoiized French is often
used instead of typicai Creoiized
Engiish Sranan, and that there is no
Creoiized Dutch at aii in any of the
territories under Dutch contra}, then
something of the-mysteriousness
associated with communication becomes
evident. Then, there is this start-
}ing observation by Hurauit:

The ciass of young neopie, unku same

activities invoiving "fashion," hat is to, has distinctive
dancing and singing. It has a special iangsay, elegance,
from taki—taki by the transposition or uage contrived
addition of syliebies.
As soon as this ianguage begins to be unde
the youth—group, it is abandoned and rstood outside of
a new one is invented.
For the past few years, the language
of Djuka extraction. It gave rise to ina vogue‘was ekoo ina,
songs (Hurault, 1961:68. Tr. mine). whole foiklore 0?

The obvious analogies to “Pig-Latin.“

“Donnie—Butch," and other language»
games of North America raise a whoie seri
es of specuiations and unanswerabie
questions regarding youth5 African infiuenc
es, and secret ianguages. Is
this seif—conscions obsoiescing of the vern
acuiar, evidenced in siang,
musician’s lingo, criminal jargons, pato
is, etc., reiated to the perish»
abiiity of popuiar songs, as the U.S.
and Surinam observations seem to
 -12-

indicate? If so, what is the function of

this terminoiogicai consumption?
7.
J‘s

And how general is this trait,

is it perhaps wide-spread but unn
oticed
because most fieldworkers do
not remain in one area long eno
ugh to observe
the changes? Are we deaiing
here with African derivatives,
carried by
sieves throughout the New florid,
or is the phenomenon stiii wider;
a psycho-
logical theme in pan-human youth?
Even in the supposediy sacred 1an
guage
caiied Kromanti, there are obviou
s efforts to obfuscate meaning:
van
Panhuys in 1895 recorded over 40
Kromanti terms (ENWI:160), three
of which
are terms for or about whites
: Egg: (normaiiy the name for
the easternmost
Bush Negro tribe), Brofoo, and
Kenkantu. The usuai Takiuiaki term for
white man is Qggrg, "Indian" was given as fjggtgiggrg,
and in Taki—Taki
gigg§g_means Negro. Van Panhuys notes that in TShi 533
§§g_is giitter, and
grgh§g_is white man, but this does not
explain gggi or £19; giggfg. It is
possibie; of course, that the
term gigggg refers more to “tr
ibesman” than
to Negro, Under certain circumstances the
Djuka refer to city Negroes as
gegra; cuiturai versus racial reaiit
ies seem to be recognized.
Recently a major news magazine
(11mg, March 14, 1969:42) descri
bed
the Bani as "...siave—descende
d bush Negroes [who] speak a ian
guage of only
340 words sailed t§§j_t§§j,"
In this, lime probably took its
one from the
latest issue of the Guinness Boo
k of Records, whioh stiii expoun
ds the same
Tudicrous “fact.”

Afaka and his Djuka Script.

Bush Negro fascination with lan
guage
is more tangibiy attested by
the independent development of
writing, The
first report of this innovatio
n was pubiished in the Dutch
iiterature in
1921, and since then a number of
students have uncovered various
examoies
of this script and pieced togeth
er its history.
Its originator was a Dj’uka tri
besman named Afaka. In the ciessicai
 -13-

tradition of native inventors of writing, he received in

dreams the impetus
to create the symbols of his script and instructions the their
used After
an indeterminate period of this development, Afaka was
given a heaveniy
sign (Halley's Comet of 1910) to spread his knowledge, and
he first taught
the 56-syliable script to three male and six female Djuka.
By 19l6, a
physician named C. Boone observed his informant using
the script to write
to friends along the Tapanehoni. Boone published a report in 1921, complete
with a key to the characters, and the observation that the
consonants in
this writing were more important than the vowels: the some symboi could
mean gig,or Egg; for instance. Boone reported that the script was becoming
quite widespread among the tribesmen.

Afaka, who died in 19l8, left a number of papers with his

friend
and mentor, the Catholic Father Morsink. Recently these have come to light
(Gonggryp & Dubelaar, 1963), illuminating

not only the sympathy of this originally unlettered njuke with

the
Catholic Church, but also his obedient subjection to ’the Lord
God,
the Almighty Father' who rules evehythihg, and likewise ‘modern‘
points of View, such as acceptance of technical progress,
including
the banking of money, and rejection of corporal punishment.
In
reading Afaka, who suffered for many years from a painful diseas
e,
one is reminded of the Biblical story of Job (Gonggryp &
Dubelaar,
1963:254, from'their English Summary).

Early speculation about the origins of Afaka‘s script (Ratelband,

l944) found certain sihnlarities between it and the Vai script

of West Africa"
Later Writers have rejected any possible connection between
the alphabets,
arguing that the 164 characters of Vai and the 56 of Afaka couid
not help
but have certain statistically predictable similarities. Gonggnyp (1960)
has an interesting footnote to the “winti~writing" report
ed by Herskovits
and Herskovits (1936) as received from an unnamed informant:
he feels
that since the wintiwwriting could be read by neither Vai nor
Afaka readers,
the Herskovitses' informant may have seen Afaka's Djuka script
without
 "14”

understanding it.

Bush Negro interest in the script seems to have died

out soon after
Afaka's death, and there are no recent reports of
its use. Father Morsink
did trans1ate the principal prayers and religious formu
1as of the Catechism
inte Djuka script, but it is not knawn whether the bookt
et was ever actuaIIy
used. There is at present no effort to teach the Bush
Negroes to write
their own language: what literacy is instiIIed in
the gevernment~run schools
deais primariiy with an abiitty to read and write
Dutch. It wouid, of
course, be difficuit to adapt the Roman alphabet to
any tona1 Tanguage, It,
therefore, the taste fer writing gagglg become deveIoped
among the tribesmen,
the script of Afaka may have a renaissance.

An examp1e of Afaka‘s writing, transIated by Father

Morsink, can be
fbund in Appendix I.

Speiling g: yetigg.gg§g§. No attempt has been made to reproduce

Bush Negro termino1ogy witp tinguisttc fideiity. Shou1d their 1anguages
ever be written in a recognizabie Latin~based scrip
t, the prevaittng Dutch
speIIings wt]? probab1y be continued by both the peopl
e themsetves and
Surinamers in genera}. There appears to he 1itt1e vaIue
in generating
spurious Angiicisms. Some exceptions wtil be made on the
basis of
existing custom, standardization. pronounceab11it
y, or a11 of these.
The spelling of the various tribat names wii? be standardiz
ed as
fellows:

"Djuka" repIaces Ndjuka. Djoeka, Auca, Aukaner, Aukae,

- etc. ' Awka,

“Matuari” replaces Matoewari, Matuwarier, and is the gener

name for Besoe or Besu and Moesinga or Musinga, etco ic

"Bani" replaces the tribal name Benet, Bonnie. Kwinti,

Aluku, etc. A1oekoe,
k
 “Paramacca” repiaces Paramakkaner, Paramaccaner, etc.
"Saramacca" repiaces Saramakkaner, etc.
For ease of pronunication, the f6110wing ruTes are adopted:
The "3“ in Dutch is pronounced as the "y" in the Engiish
xgu, and retained throughout.

The Dutch "i5" is pronounced approximateiy as "y" in b ,

and usually changed to "1" as in “Marowine” for "Marowijne.

The “0e” is cIose to "on" in rggw, and changed to “u”

herein, as in “koanoe” which becomes "kunu."
 CHAPTER II

THE CULTURAL FIELD

w SURINAM: THE PHYSICAL SETTING

Surinam is the centrai of fiv
e Guianas which are, from wes
t to east,
Venezuelan Guiana, the (since
1966 independent) country of
Guyana, Surinam,
French Guiana or Cayenne, and
Braziiian Guiana. The whoie is
actuaiiy a
vast island, bordered on the nor
th by the Atiantic Ocean and the
Orinoco
River, on the east by the Atiant
ic, on the south by the Amazon
and Rio
Negro, and on the west hy the Ori
noco and the Rio Negro.
Like the Amazon Basin, Guiana
is tropicai forest country:
a high
annual rainfall, Iow eievatioo
and nearness to the Equator
combine to
create a iand of rivers, hum
idity, and dense jungie. The
coastal areas
are mostly aliuviai piains, lar
geiy covered by fiood tide.
The actuai
coastiines are continually bei
ng reshaped by the western sea
current which
has forced the mouths of rivers
to face west. Oider coastiines
can be
recognized in the sand and shell
mounds which are now iniahd.
The goldering
or damming-in of this fertile
coastai piain aIIOWed the deveio
pment of
plantations. The major rivers cut Guiana
into a number of separate poi
iticai
entities, and are aiso the maj
or transportation routes. In the past.
coionies were settled along and
named after these wetenwoys,
and hence were
often not continuous aiong the
coast. Today the major rivers in Guyana
and
Surinam are connected with num
erous canais which aid draina
ge and traffic.
Until their articiai creation in
this century, there were no iak
es in the
area. aithough there are vast swa
mps (ENNI:340-341).
The origin of the name Surinam is
uncertain but definitely go; to
be found in "Surreyham“ as cid
er writers suggest; In'the ear
ly expioration
.15w
u” ’ 3/

t”

$‘“‘
.,
ayai‘w
3c

sr‘ -37- 5

period, Guiana was usualiy calted the wiIde Kust or the Nde Coast, and

:9...“ c
.
' ‘50..
Surinam had a pTethora of names from Saername to Zuriname; "SuTinama"
seems to be the 01d Arowak term for the river Surinam, after which the
coTony was named, and the modern “Negro~Eninsh" or Surinam—Creole name
used throughout this part of the Kingdom of the Nethertands is "Sranan."
The country now covers a11 the 1and between the Corantine and

Marowine rivers from.about the Second to the Sixth Para11e15. The

neighboring areas of Berbice, Essequibo. and Demerahy in what is
now
Guyana were aiso Dutch during the time when the Bush Negroes deVeioped,
and
were similar jungle-river'co1onies with coastal p1antation areas.

The c1imate a10ng the coast is not uaneasant: the first settlers
recognized warm Dutch summers there, and the coastal settlements such as
Paramaribo in'Surinam and Nieuw Amsterdam in Guyana have fared weli.
But
the area beyond the coasta] piaio (usuaIly referred to as that “beyond
the Falls,“ that is, above the area in which the rivers have sea tides) has
stubborn1y refused coionization by whites. Dozens of attempts have failed
there, and even the Indians now shun the central Surinam terrain. This is
due in part to the endemic ma1aria introduced by the runaway Africans.
Sti11 further south, towards the mountainous borders with Brazi1, the
terrain is so forbidding that the territory was unexplored by Europeans
anti} the beginning of this century. Today, a major new co1onization
attempt is in progress, a man-made Take dominates the middIe-range of the
Surinam River, and Project Sprinkhaan (Grasshopper) has begun to open

many areas to bush pilots. Roads and raiTroads are sti11 scarce beyond
the coastal strip, but tourists visit some of the most accessible Bush
Negro vi13ages, and the Surinam Tourfist“Bureau dispenses giossy photogr
aphs
of Bush Negroes and their art and dwe11ings, which probab1y depict the cIan
 -13“
of Djuka that iiveS'aiong the Cottice
river nearest Paramaribo. Isolation
is ending for these tribes as it is endi
ng for Surinem. It would appear.
however, that it ends more rapidiy for
the Djuka than for any other group.

SURINAM HISTORY
Five years is a lot
Twenty years is the horizon of most peop
le
Fifty years is antiquity.

Winston Churchii]
In the case of the Bushwhegroes, howsver,
entire histony of the peopie, from their the
arrive? in their present habitat, is know
n.
Herskovits, 1928:713
Today, any materiai deaiing with flegr
oes is, of course. topicai.
Today also, there prevails in North
America a tendency to View the past
through the eyes of the present, and
to roundiy demo the ancestors for
atrocities they committed or aiiowed
themseives to suffer. This readiness
to give twentieth century responses
to eighteenth century stimuTi can be
particulariy confounding when one cons
iders questions such as: "How
could toierance, humanism, and indu
strial sieveny have been so comforta
biy
compartmentaiized in one email European
culture?" Or, "How couid the
Victims of that age have restrained them
seives from bioody revoit?" The
obvious, the satisfyingiy simple, the cont
emporany answer is "Racism."
Understanding demands a iess "chronoc
entric" approach.
Time, in the Western mind, flows as the
river. Perception is
obscured‘oy bianks on our cognitive mans
: some weiisprings of the Present
are known, but many have been iost or are
not yet suspected. Tote?
understanding of the Present of the Bush
Negroes requires thorough histories
of the native peopies of Africa, Western
Europe, and Guiana; complete
comprehension of the interdependence betw
een the economies and ideoiogies
 -19...

of constantiy changing societies; and fuii knowieoge of the movement of

peoples and the decisions of individuals. Total understanding therefore

must remain in the sphere of the Omniscient. Nevertheiess, it behooves

us to examine some obviousiy relevant tributaries to Bush Negro history.

Aithough Herskovits greatiy exaggerates the completeness of our

data, we do know approximateiy where the Bush Negroes come from, we know
a iittie about their pre-triba1 existence, we know roughiy how and in

some cases when their tribes developed, and we are 1earhing how they
iive today. The mainstream of their history can be traced to a few
known tributaries. This is more than can be said about other "primitive"
peop1es, and in this sense the Bush Negroes are unique.

But histories are not separate entities, and if we are to be

made aware of more than the mereiy exotic in these cultures, some expioration
of the “few known tributaries" is necessary. A whoie continentai watershed
of reievant materials can be imagined, but the relevance of such histories

is no more unifbrm than their documentation. There has to be a functional

iimit, which here means that we nil} trace the major factors in the compiex

of Dutch-Iberian confiict, the interdependence of Africa and America, and

the political relations between the Dutch and the hush Negroes in eariy times.

Iberian ggglggg. In 1492, Cristoforo Coiombo. in the service of

the Spanish Crown, discovered some isiands which he beiieved to be Antii1ia,
the gateway to Cipang0'(3apan), China, and the long-sought India. These
Caribbean Antiiies are stiii commoniy referred to as the West Indies'by
most Europeans. This and ali foilowing discoveries were possessions of
Spain, to be coionized, ruled, and Christianized. By papa? decree, all the
discoveries in the Eastern half of the giobe were Portugal‘s, to be deait
with sinfiiariy. The dividing line was the meridian Nest of the Azores.
 -20-
This decision followed the Treaty
of Alcacovas of 1480, which had
given
Spain the Canary Islands and lef
t to Portugal all rights to Mad
eira, the
Azores, and the monopoly on the
trade with the coast of Africa
.
From the Antilles, Columbus and
his captains sent expeditions to
ascertain the extent of the new
domain. The coast of the contin
ent was
reached, and from the Spanish
settlement in the Orinoco delta.
Alfonso de
Ojeda in l499 discovered the coast
of Guiana. In l500, Vincent Juan
Pinzon visited the shores of the
Maranon river, which, after a
battle with
the local Indians, he call the Ama
zon. Guiana, the territory stretfihing
from the mouth of the Amazon to
the mouth of the Orinoco, had bee
n
bracketed, and was now Spanish.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese king

had insisted that the dividing
line
between the Spanish and Portugues
e spheres be moved further West,
to which
the Spaniards, then seeing only
ocean, didn‘t object. In 1497,
King Manuel
of Portugal, jealous of the wea
lth and honor brought to Spain
by Coiumbus,
commissioned Vasco da Game to sail
around Africa to India. India was
reached on May 20, 1498, and the
first step towards a modern imperi
al state
had been completed (Durant, i957,
VI:l94).
In lSOO, a second Portuguese fle
et set out for India, with orders
to bear still further Nest than
its predecessor under Vasco da
Gama. Driven
off course, Pedro Alvarez Cabral
found a country which was not Afr
ica (for
there were no Negroes) and not Asi
a (for no one understood Arabic,
which
was common in India). Cabral took this land, which fell in the
new
Portuguese Sphere of influence, nam
ed it Terra do Santa, or Terra do
Verra
Cruz, and Portugal owned Brazil.

In 1503, Amerigo Vespacci, who

was to lend his name to the who
le
continent, explored the Rio Piata
and the Paraguay under the Portug
uese
 .2}-
flag. Other discoveries in the area follow
ed: King Manuel's fhrosight
had been demonstrated. His government kept tight control ove
r the India
trade, which was so lucrative tha
t by l520 the Portuguesa empire
was the
world‘s largest, followed only by
Spain‘s American treasuryt But Portugal
saw little profit in an expansion of
its Brazilian holdingss
The exact line where the Spanish and
Portuguese inte rests in the
New World met remained a moot poin
t. The Portuguese claimed all territ
ory
to the Rio Plato and settled the Orin
oco delta; the Spanish rejected this
claim and settled the Amazon delta.
The coast between these outposts of
expansionist empires was not clearl
y the property of either power:
the
maps were, at best, cothSlng. Nei
ther side desired to settle in terrai
n
which was difficult to defend and
whose legal ownership might hav
e to be
conceded. As a result, the Iberians generally
avoided the whole area, and
for a century the Guianas were in eff
ect a colonial no man‘s land. Spain
grew still wealthier on alien gold,
and Portugal too protected its monopo
lies
from intruders by denying foreigners
the right to trade.
As long as the Netherlands were
dynastic parts of the Spanish Emp
ire,
the merchants of Holland and Zeelan
d were effectively curtailed from ove
rseas
adventures: the risks were too great. The British, too, although no par
t
of Spain, were kept from visiting
the Guianas until l595.

*§E§§i§h Decline. The end of the Guiana‘s isolation

resulted
indirectly from the Reformation and
the religious wars which followed it.
Spain‘s King Philip II had already
offended the Dutch by placing almost
universally corrupt Spanish officials
in charge of the Low Countries.
Although the vast majority of the
se subjects were Catholic, theirs
was a
humanistic, Erasmus-inspired Cathol
icism which clashed with the somber
religion developed over the centuries
of Moslem wars in Spain. The few
 -22-

Ceivinists, aithough not encouraged,

were not suppressed, which aiarmed
Philip and led him to introduce the
Spanish Inquisition in 311 its seve
rity.
Soon he became embroiled in a matter of
what present—day Dutchmen would
cai] Prineige, principle, a concept
reminiscent of the Oriental “face”
as
much as of the Occidental "ethics," and
perhaps as cruciai to an understandin
g
of the national character of the Low
Countries as Machismo is to that of
Latin America. Princige and the mercanti
le interests of Calvinism ultimateiy
speiied the end of the Iberian monopoly
in the New florid.
Phiiip ii, unlike his father, Emperor
Charies V, had not been reared
in the Low Countries, and was distrust
ed as a foreigner, disliked for his
excessive taxation, and despised for
his reiigious intoierence. His
continual financial demands drove away
foreign trade, and ultimately angered
even the mercantile ciass. After a brief respite from the Inqe
isition,
Philip reinstituted it with predicta
ble resuits: the Protestants, their
ranks swoiien both by adversity (for that
, too, is Princige) and victory
in the shortwlived suppression of the
Inquisition, revoited in the
“Caivinist Fury" of 1566, and Hiiiiam of
Orange-Nassau, the richest and
abiest landowner in the country, went
to Germany to recruit men and money
fer the impending struggle. Phiiip sent the Duke of Aiva with 10,000
men
to eiiminate heresy. Aiva estabiished the “Council of Bioo
d," which
began as vicious a period of reciproc
ating inhumanity as any the Wohid has
seen. Eight thousand Protestants were kiiied, 30,0
00 peopie lost their
lands and goods, and 100,000 emigrated.
Soon minor batties were fought,
but William the Silent was repeatediy defe
ated.
To finance his military expioits, Aiva ievi
ed a 3 per cent property
tax, which increased opposition to him from
both Cathoiics and Protestants.
Engiish property in the Netheriahds was
seized, and Elizabeth retaiiated
 -23-

my diverting Engiand‘s trade to Hamburg.

The merchants now aiso opposed
Aiva. Smaii armies of Geuzen (“Beggars,“ a bast
ardized French term fer
the rebels) and a fieet of Watergeuzen
fought a continuous guerrilla war
against the Spanish, and succeeded
in cutting off Alva's suppiy Tines.
The cities of Hoiland, Zeeiand, Geid
eriand and Friesland gave Wiiiiam
their
aiiegiance in 1572, and the Eighty Year
s‘ War for Dutch Independence
(1568-1648) had officiaily begun.

A succession of Spanish governors trie

d in the succeeding years
to gain control over the territony, in
a struggie which was remarkabie
chiefly for its crueity and the repudiat
ion of treaties. Extremism answered
excesses, and by 1581 ali Cathoiic wors
hip was firehihited in Antwerp and
Utrecht.

In 1579, the union of Hoiland, Zeeiand,

Geideriand, Friesiand,
Groningen, Utrecht, and Gverijssei~~the
Seven Provinces-—estah1ished the
basic outline of today's Netheriands.
The remaining provinces of the
Spanish Netheriands were to become Belgium
in the 19th century.
In 1580, Phiiip II inherited the Portugue
se throne, uniting the
weaith of Iberia against the Protesta
nt North.
In 1581, representatives of the Provinciai
States signed the
cruciai "Act of Abiuration,“ which renounce
d the States‘ aliegiance to the
king of Spain. Wiliiam of Orange was acce
pted as Stadhouder (iiteraiiy:
city hoider; Chief Magistrate).

In 1584, Niiiiam was kiiied hy Baithaza

r Gerard, iast of a long
iine of assassins sent by Phiiip.
In the resuiting confusion, most of
the
Netheriands south of the Mass river
feii back into Spanish hands. Maur
ice
of Orange-Nassau succeeded his father as
Stadhouder, and in a series of
briliiant campaigns reversed Dutch losses.
 -24..

Meanwhile, the wealth of the Dutch merc

hant ciass had increasingiy
turned to the business of building and
financing fleets that harassed
Spanish shipping and threatened Spain‘s
goiden umbilicns with the Americas.
Ail this time, too, trade with Spain
continued in certain items, which
resulted in a breakdown of the miii
tarily promising reiationship between
the Netheriands and England.

Shortly before his death in11598,

Phiiip gave the Netheriands over
to the Humane ruie of Albert and Isab
el, who succeeded in negotiating a
truce between the Dutch and Philip III.
For twelve years (1609—1621) there
was time fer pursuits more profitable than
war. And although internal
reiigious conflicts deveioped and trag
ic injustices were perpetrated for
a while, the seed of tolerance was
nurtured in that period, so that by
the
end of the century Holland was to
be a haven for the heretics and oppr
essed
from many lands.

When Archduke Albert died chiidiess in 1621

. the Southern Netherlands
reverted to the Spanish throne, and Spih
oia attacked the border towns. Nar-
weary Maurice died, to be succeeded
by his brother Frederick Henry, who
retook most of the Scuthiand.

The war was ultimateiy won at sea.:

Spain, which had despised
mercantiiism and was dependent on aiie
n gold for the cost of her wars, was
successfuiiy cut off from her Indian
and American wealth by increasingiy
aggressive Dutch merchant fleets: every victory expanded Dutch trade, and
merchants cannily reinvested in ever
more ships. In 1639, Tramp utterly
destroyed the Second Armada in the Engiish
Channel, sinking, disabiing dr
capturing 70 of its 77 ships at the cost
of 15,000 Spanish Tires. This
,~ «ruin;
a g,‘ Afii’x”
“Bettie of the Downs " ended s11 pretense
of Spanish covgfiffi‘! tfieéseas,
and, with the French victory over the r, ,« ~. . .
Spanish at Rocrgigin 1643, ciosed thd

(y; i '1-
3‘2
fixes; (' ' 5’9: ‘
_ A ,5,“ Vt
I

“Q-n «V’x
 -25-

era of Spain's ascendancy in Europe. In 1648, she relinquished all claims

to the Netherlands, recognized all Dutch conq
uests, and guaranteed Dutch
freedom to trade in the East and West Indies.
“So triumphantly ended the
longest, bravest, and most cruel struggle for free
dom in all history"
wrote the Barents (l96lz461). Military imperialism was about to be
replaced with mercantile imperialism (Durant &
Durant, l961:435~461;
Wallbank §§;§l,, 1962:3l5-318).

Eltfiorado and the Adventurers. Until the middle l700's, the vast
terrain between the wild cocoa forests of
the Upper Orinoco and the mouth
of the Amazon was Terra Incognito, whose imag
inary features were slavishly
copied from one geographer to the next. One of these features Was Lake
Parima, which was to be found in New Grenada, a count
ry ruled by gl_figggrg
gorggg, a man whose body was covered with gold dust.
According to the
earliest tales of this country circulated by
one Don Luiz Daze around 1535
(Simone, l956), §1_figm§rg.gg§§gg took periodic ceremonial
baths in the
great salt lake Parima. Later versions of the myth (Coudreau, l886,
1:4-5)
have the ruler living in a palace covered with
gold foil, still later
amended to be a city with solid gold roofs on
the houses, to which the last
Inca with all his treasures was to have fled.

De Geeje (1934) and Simone (1956) point out that

there have been
at least two glunoradoes. The first or Western
Eldorado was in Colombia,
which was then called Castilla geldg§g_on the old
charts; the Eastern
Eldorado dates from around l566 and was to be found
on the right bank of
the Orinoco, which according to two maps of
that period was a mountainous
area labeled gx“gr§_ggggx’(here is gold Guiana). And after three trips
up Guiana‘s rivers, Antonio de Barrio felt secur
e in writing Philip II in
l593 that this Guiana, once called gl.Dorado
and before that Nueva
 ~25-

Andaiusia, was definiteiy the country behind whic

h iay g] gggagg and the
capital city of Manca (do Goeje, 1934).

Eidorado, wherever it was sought, added

nothing to the coffers of
Europe or the size of Surinam‘s settiements.
But it did serve to expand
the knowledge of this vast terrain, as governme
nts and adventurers hunted
the elusive metai in the uncharted interior.

There was first a number of journeys by

Sir waiter Raieigh and his
captains, which resulted in a manuscript
"The discoverie of the large, rich
and bewtifui Empyre of Guiana," which Raleigh
(he speiied it various ways,
inciuding Raiegh) published in 1596 (Sturcke
n, 1967). Between 1598 and
1747, no fewer than six Dutch editions of the
book appeared, to lure
countiess fortuneehunters to the "hiid Coast"
(Thompson, 1936:114). His
description of the iand (which has been accl
aimed as one of the first
truly great real estate swindies), land “that hath
yet her maidenhead,
never sacked, turned. nor wrought, the fact
of the earth not torn, nor the
virtue and salt of the soii spent by manuranc
e,” aimost 1ed the Piigrim
Fathers to steer for Guiana instead of Massachu
satts (Roberts, 1948;159).
Long after the territory had been parceied out
among European powers the
lure of hoid attracted adventurers. The government of French Guiana
supported all expeditions to the city of gold
untii 1720. A number of
simiiar journeys were financed by Surinam
governors, notably by Van
Aerssen in 1686;1687, de Goyer in 17i4
~1716, and Gautier in 1720. Eventuaiiy
goid Egg found in Surinam, but that was in
1870, long after Lake Parima
and the Golden City of Manna had been 1aid
to rest by Schomburgk (184i) and
von Humboldt (1841), when El Dorado had comp1ete
d its function.

The MIC jg‘Africa and America. As a reaction against Phiiip‘s 1581

 -27-

edict against Dutch trade, the end of

the sixteenth century witnessed an
unprecedented explosion of Dutch trading
interests as merchantmen expiored
uncharted seas for possibie economic
or miiitary advantage. In 1584, Dutc
h
merchants reached Archangei in an attempt
to reach a “Northern Passage" to
China, and to win the 25,000 guilder priz
e offered For that feet by the
Hoiiand governments Many such adventures resuited in the formatio
n of
powerfui companies which. armed with gove
rnment-granted monopoiies, exploited
some area or its trade“ Their ships reached the East indies in 1595
, and
in 1601 the Dutch East India Company was
founded with 44 times the capitai
of the (three months cider) Engiish East Indi
a Company. In 1609, there
was a Dutch “factory” at Hirado, Japan,
and Henry Hudson explored another
possihie Passage to India and China, this
time in North America. In 7513,
trade was opened with Siam; in 1615 the Moiu
ccas came under Dutch controi,
Formosa became Dutch territony in 1623,
the same year that the colony of
Nieuw Nederiand (comprising today's Conn
ecticut, New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and Deiaware) has founded“
A vast isiand empire in the Far
East was built during one generation, and much
of the unoccupied land was
virtualiy c1osed to competitors because of
trading monopoiies. In 1641
For instance, a trading treaty with Japan made
the Dutch the onTy Europeans
ailowed on Japanese soii (at fleshima in
Nagasaki). This ban stood untii
1853, when Americans under Commodore Perry
anchored in the mouth of Tokyo
83y (Masselman, 1963L
Meanwhile, in 1580 a Society of Zeeiand Merc
hants' fieet had
opened trade with the Indians of the Guianas.
In 1593, when Phiiip's
aScent to the thrones of both countries made
the Tine of demarcation
between the Spanish and Portuguese spheres
of infiuence acedenfic, Guiana
had been officially taken into Spanish poss
ession. But when no Dorado
 -zge

was found, the Iberians again deserted the Wild Coast

. In 1595, the
Engiish took possession for Elizabeth, when Sir Walte
r Raleigh sent three
ships from his Orinoco River stronghold to look
For E1 Dorado. In 1597,
Cabeliau took the first scouting trip For the States
General to the Wild
Coast and Trinidad. In l597, a Dutch settlement was reported at the
Orinoco, and merchants from Viissingen (Chamber Zeela
nd) began the first
Zeeland settlement, 73 miles above the mouth of the
Amazon River. In 1600,
they built two forts, Oranje and Nassau, which were
soon destroyed by the
Spaniards. A small Amsterdam factory was reported on the Surin
am River in
1613, and one on the Corantine was destroyed by
the Spanish in that year.
(de Jonge, 1892:l53-160; Durant & Durant, 1961:
477n478; ENWI, 342~343g
Menkman, 1953; Surinaamsche Almanak, l893:40~63).
The Dutch Tricolor first flew on Africa‘s coast in 1590,
when
Barendt Erikszoon, returning from Brazil, lost his
course and was captured
by the Portuguese on Principe, an island in the Eight
of Biafra. Erikszoon
alone escaped back to the Regubliek, and later used
his hard won knowledge
of the area to make the first successful journey to
the Said Coast in 1593.
Other ships from the Low Countries followed, forc
ing the Portuguese from
their trading posts and capturing their ships.
In retaliation, the
Portuguese offered a bounty on every Dutchman
brought in by an African, but
to little avail. Trading with the Dutch was
more profitable than hunting
them. By 1598; at least twenty Dutch ships were
plying the coast of
Guinea at all times, and ivory, hopper, wood,
wax, gem, amber, leather, and
especially gold were flowing into Dutch trading cente
rs (Ratelband, 1947;
Lawrence, 1964) .
On June 3, l623, at the resumption of hostilitie
s with Spain, the
States General of the United Netherlands granted the
New World octroi to
 -29-

the newlwaormed West India Company for

24 years, specifying that a general
and united company was to strengthen
and maintain the various positions
which Dutch citizens of the Dutch Repu
blic had achieved in the various
quarters of America and Africa. Although
the octroi only specified trade
and mercantile shipping, it implied that
the Company was to render services
to the States General during the period
of hostilities with Spain (Menkman,
l953).
This concept of octroi, at least for the United
Provinces of the
day, appears to be an organizational elab
oration of the older concept of
Privateering, which was the business of
licensed warfare and harassment of
enemy shipping, for private profit by a priv
ately owned warship. After a
few generations of war with Spain, two thin
gs must have become very clear
to the Dutch: l) war on land was much more
costly to the civilian popula-
tion than war at sea, and bad for business;
2) War at sea could be made
profitable, if not immediately, then certainl
y through the expansion of
trading networks. Furthermore, the observation is inescapable
that until
the business sector of the Dutch population
became embroiled in the nor,
the rebels were losing.

In any case, the principal function of the

West India Company
(hereafter MIC) at its inception was to halt
the flow of American gold
into Spanish war chests. By l6l0, the Portuguese had already lost
control
of their trade routes with the New World.
The MIC now concentrated on
attacking Spanish shipping and colonies
in the New World, and eliminating
Portuguese power in West Africa. In this endeavor, the WIC operated quite
independently from the States General.
It maintained its own armies as
well as naval forces, made treaties with
native peoples fOr both trade and
war, and exercised judicial and administrati
ve functions. Its “Offensive
 - 30..

Role” was emphasized in its early attemots to conquer Brazii, and in Piet
Hein's 1627 capture of the Spanish Silver Fleet off the coast of
Florida.
Uitimateiy, the cost of these miiitary ventures exceeded the profits which
were made from trade and sugar, 50 that the Company faced bankruptcy when

its charter began to run out. Peace with Spain was near, and a war with
England was envisioned. The MIC would not be useful in battie then; such
was the task fer a navy. Sailing the territory captured in Brazil would
have turned a fine profit, but Chamber Zeeiand insisted that the charter
be renewed, aided by the East India Company which also faced an end to
its
monopoly. In 1645, the WIC‘s octroi was renewed untii the end of the

century, and the WIC and its reorganized successor were to centre? the
Dutch territories in west Africa and America for another century-and-a-
haif (Menkman, 1953:207~209).
In 1630, Loncq conquered Pernombuco in Brazii, and the Dutch sieve
trade began in earnest as aii efforts were bent toward suppiying the
Brazilian planters with sieves. Until this time, the Dutch orivateers had
usually released the slaves on captured Portuguese ships, or attempted
to
seii them back to the Iberians eisewhere~~a dangerous business. Dutch
imports of sieves never satisfied Braziiian needs, and the trade very soon
became the r§1§93_§;§§gg_for the MIC. Tremendous expansion of factories
and trading posts took piece in West Africa, in direct competition with

the Portuguese, but to littie avail. In 1654, Brazii was recaptured by the
Portuguese.

Meanwhiie, the HIC‘s martini exploits were a major drain on the

Iberians: by 1642, according to reports of that time, the number of WIC»

captured Portuguese and Spanish ships had climbed to she, with 67,000
soidiers and saiiors captured or kiiied.
 -31-

In l669, the octroi was renewed, and the MIC enter

ed another period
of financial difiiculties, mainly because of its
loss of Brazil, which made
the slave trade much less profitable: the Portuguese and British had their
own African factories. In 1674. a new W1C was organized, one which never
waged war, but sought wealth and power through trade
and colonization. In
l682, the new NIC bought Surinam outright from Chamber
Zeeland for 260,000
guiiders, and Surinam became a company colony under
the States General.
The history of the Dutch possessions including Surin
am is more
understandable once it is recognized that colonization
was not seen by the
Dutch as an end in itself, but only as a necessary means
for ensuring the
maintenance of growing commercial advantages. The goal, in other words,
was not to make the Netherlands larger, but to make indiv
idual Dutchmen
richer. Insofar as actual colonies were created as the bypro
ducts of the
flow of trade, we may speak at most of “commercia
l colonization"
(Menkman, 1940). This misguided commercialism is now widely recognized as
a prime cause in the decline of the power of the Netherlands:
The West India Company had failed its colonists; now they,
little to lose. repaid it in kind.... and on September having
New Amsterdam became New York (Trelease, 1960:l73-174).8, l664,

An extreme laissez fairg capitalism underlies much of

the unique character
which Surinam acquired in such particulars as the treat
ment of slaves, the
variety of irresponsible colonization attempts, and
the development of
treaties with the Bush Negroes.

Comeanz ngggx, When the NIC took possession of Surinam, the

Guianan territory had already accumulated a forbidding
history; The first
Europeans to settle in actual Surinam territory were sixty
Englishmen under
Captain Marechal (or Marshall) sixteen miles up the Surinam
River. This
colony failed before l640. In 1632, David Pieterszoon de Vries settled in
«Maw w». h

-32-

Demerary with some Cayenne Indians. In the same year, the first Jewish
settlement in Surinam was begun, which beca
me the oldest continuous Jewish
settlement in America. In l636, de Vries
and his colonists gave up. In
l645, another attempt by Marshall was
destroyed by Indians. And so it went.
In l650 Lord willeughhy, Earl of Parham, took
over Surinam as a British
possession, and that year the first Negr
o slaves were brought over to work
on the British sugar plantations. At the end of the Second Dutch~Ehglish
Mar (1665-l667), Admiral Abraham Krynsseh
conquered the colony, and at the
Peace of Breda in l667 England surrendered
its claim to the territory.
By this time, there had been fourteen colo
nization attempts in
Guiana, almost all of which were failures
. Since this period, there were
at least fifteen more. Most of these tries were foolhardy, and many
-why
today's ethics~—were indefensible. In 1684, colonization with crinfinals
was attempted; in 1690 and again in 1692
, young orphans were tried; Swiss
colonists were introduced in l748; Dutc
h farmers in l845; Germans in 1896;
etc. Most of these added their substance to the
sail; a few succeeded in
adding to the permanent population of Para
maribo (Dudschans Dentz. 1943;
van Alphen, l960).

Almost the only successes were along the

coast. It was here that
the large plantations sprang up, here that
the impart of slaves reached
its peak. and it was from this narrow
region that the first Negroes«-in
the felicitous cold war phrase-—"voted with
their feet“ and became
runaways, marrons, Maroons.

When Surinam was sold by Zeelahd to the

States General, this gave
the MIC the monopoly of exploitation on
Guiana, but the MIC (possibly
because it needed money to pay off Zeel
and) entered into an equal
partnership with the City of Amsterdam
and the family Van Aerssen van
 -33-

Sommelsdijk, creating the company

"De Geoctroyeerde Societeit van Suri
name“
(hereafter "Societeit" or "Society”),
with each shareholder having a one-
third interest. Until l795 (that is, until well after
the treaties with the
Bush Negroes), the exploitation, cont
rol, and administration of the colo
ny
remained in the hands of this Society,
whereafter the second partner
acquired the shares of the third, and
Amsterdam became two~thirds owner of
Surinam (ENWI:667; do Greet, l96323-4).
In l683, the Society sent its partner
Cornelis Van Aerssen van
Sommelsdijk (usually called only Van
Aerssen) to Surinam to take over
control. Governor Van Aerssen pacified
the Indians, suppressed the
unrest among the population. introduc
ed numerous refugee French families
to the colony, and succeeded in maki
ng the colony a profitable venture.
In 1688, he was killed by mutinous sold
iers. Succeeding governors continued
his work, but became increasingly
hampered by the conflict between the
ir
roles as representatives of the Societ
y and therefore as “Protectors of
the Slaves,“ and the Council of Poli
ce--an oligarchy made up of leading
planters which felt itself to be gg‘fgggg‘mes
ters of the colony and
resented the Society‘s paternal interest
in their work force. This
diSpute reached its high point unde
r Governor Mauricius (l742-l75l),
who
was released from his post "for the good
of the colony," although a Court
of Inquiry from Holland had declared
him justified. Still, after this the
friction between Society and local planters
subsided.
Several interrelated changes took plac
e over time‘ Whereas in the
beginning of the Society’s rule most of
Surinam’s plantations had been owned
by Surinam families, control of thes
e enterprises slowly drifted into the
hands of Amsterdam mercantile hous
es. The plantations gradually beca
me
directed by Administrators, who by
the nineteenth century formed a rich
 .. 34..

and powerful cTass in Surinam. The colony itse1f remained rich on1y until
1863, when Emancipation sudden1y removed the cheap
labor, and Surinam
entered a protracted period of economic decline (ENNI
:667~668; Simons,
1934). At the same time, the number and the boidfless of the Maroo
ns
increased to the point that in the first half cf the seven
teenth century
they became a grave threat to the very surviva1 of
the co}ony.
As a resuit of this series of changes, $1aveny in Surin
am became
something different from that in other Dutch coTon
ies, and indeed, dif$erent
from a1} other Western siaveries.
 CHAPTER III

SLAVERY

3652 ...
The Dutch Government agreed to export Negro sieves to New
Motherland. in that co1ony strict Iaws prevented the
nfistreotment of slaves. Whipping was forbidden oo1ess the
owner received permission from the authorities.

Bergman, 1969:15

There were, brieny speaking, three s1ave systems in the

Western hemisphere. The aritish, American, Dutch, and Danish
were at one extreme, and the Spanish and Portuguese at the
other. In between these two feii the French.... If one
were forced to arrange these systems of sieveny in order of
severity, the Dutch would seem to stand as the hardest, the
Portuguese as the hfiIdest. and the French, in between, as
having eiements of both.

Tannenbaum, 1946:65
“S1aveny“ is among the Ieast precise and the most emotionai concepts

with which socia} science dea3s. The very term stimuiates such revo1sion
in the Western send that it has appeared a}? but impossible to investigate

the subject rationa¥1yg Most Americans can give no meaningfui definition

of sievery, few can distinguish it from such other forms of servitude as

bondage or the military draft, and almost none can devise or imagine a

typo1ogy of sieveriesi. Yet the 1iterature abounds with examp1es of cross~

cuitural and diachronic variations in the conditions of such servitude,

/with at the one end of the continuum the sIave-viziers of the Ottoman

empire or the s1ave~generals of the Ashanti, and at the other such wretches
as the galley sieves of Rome or Greece, and the sait miners of the Tuareg,

IFrom the hundreds of students whom I‘ve asked in various “Probiems”

c1esses to define or to type sievery, aimost the oniy response has been
righteous indignation at our ancestors. DiagnosticaIly, I‘ve found no
apparent differences between Negro and white students on this subject.
Kobben (personaI communication) insists that his Dutch students do not share
this inabi1ity. ’
-35-
 -35-

Rome, or Tsarist Russia” Part of the expianation for the horror which
(1‘

surrounds the concept of s1avery Egg gg Ties in the

area of perception,
In aoaiogy to the Western View of p03ygyny, "gag
slavery was evil, wicked
and sou1~destroying, hence allhslaveries are evil, wicke
d and soo1~
destroying. We know this to ye true because in our experience it gag
true."
As a typicai exampie of this psychoiogical set towards
historicaT se3f—
fiageiiatiOh, Nathan GTazer, in his Introduction to
E1kins hook STavery,
asks rhetorically: "Why was [North] American sievery the most awFuI
the
world has ever known?“ (1963:?x); and Bikins himself,
after ciaiming and
demonstrating fami1iarity with cross—cuituraf data,
stipulates that the
ciosest para31e1 to the s1ave system of the 8.5.A
. "was to be found in the
Latin~American coTonies of Spain and Portage?" (1963
:63). If a rationaI
comparative anaiysis of s1avery is to be deveT
oped, it may become necessary
to reaexamine and redefine the concept forn~and
in-«every society which
has practiced invoiantary servitude.

As is true for many other Negro peopies in the Ameri

cas. the Bush
Negroes” perception of their past is heaviiy influ
enced by their sieve
history. If‘their historica} perception is unique, so was Surin
am s1avary.
To demonstrate this uniqueness without exchanging
the ?How—wicked~we~were1"
American spirit for a “wickeder—than-thou" Dutch view,
is difficuTt. A
sca1e to measure the severity of a sociai condition
wouid, after all, suggest
a co1ossal arrogance about one‘s understanding of the
reIativity of
suffering.

Nevertheiess, we observe that human popoTations

have engaged in a
wide range of behaviors under this condition ca11ed “slavery,”
and that
the life chances and Tife styies of sieves apparently
were more directly
re1ated to particular times and pieces than to such
possibie factors as
 Figure l.

A Paradigm for Typing Systems of Slavery

SOCIOwPSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES

continua.
The Schema artifially éichotomizes a number af
which is markec
In each case, that en& ofi the continuum
ce and
"2“ denotes a probability ofi lesser life chan
lower life style than that maxkeé "1“.
 _33-

racial or individual capacities. Slavery has occurred under a vast range

m

of legal, economic, psychological, and historical variables in different

coloures, and to lump all these together under one heading is merely
obfuscatony. If we are to understand the unique set of parameters within

which the originators of the Bush negro cultures operated, we must acknow~

ledge that there are many kinds of slavery, and that each type has a

unique set of implications“

FACTORS RELEVANT TO A TYPOLOGY OF SLAVERIES

The following is a delineation of some of the factors which may
serve to differentiate slave—systems. Figure l shows the complex of

interrelationships between these factors as a three-dimensional panadigm

with 64 interactions and, on a gggyvalued scale, an ideal limit of 512
different system types, based upon the various combinations of valuevl

and value-2 factors. Although only the experiential anchors of each

continuum could be graphically indicated, none of the factors is understood

to be a simple on-off, either-or condition” In effect, therefore, there

is no ideal limit to the number of system types which can be based upon a

multi-valued interpretation of this paradigm.

Egggl_Factors. Legal descriptions of slave status are obviously

culture—specific, and may involve a great number of variables. Elkins

(1963:52) notes that the status of the UsS. Negro slave was subsumed under

four legal categories: Term of Servitude, Marrfiage and the Fenfily, Police

and Disciplinary Powers over the Slave, and Property and Other Civil

Rights. A cross-cultural listing of such variables is obviously unprofit-

able, but we recognize foo; diagnostic categories:

A. Recruitment.
 -39-

3. Ascribed status. The condition of slavery is ihherited from one

or both parentse Turney~High (1968:47) points out that “the

essential difficuity of s1avery is that humans do not free1y

reproduce under the regime," which imp1ies that condition A.1.
is mi1der than those under which reproduction is unlike1y.
2. Achieved status. The condition of slavery is assigned on the

basis of the capture, imprisonment, or punishment of free men for

reasons such as defeat in battTe, debt, paIitics, etc. Individua1s

have not grown up in the status, the r012 is not “naturai," the
individual’s viabiiity is in part a function of his adaptability,
unlike condition A.1« \
Term of Serritude.

1. Temporary bondage” A contractuai 0r other lega} 1imitation is set

on the period of servitude, with associated psychoiogica} benefits.

2; ‘Ferpetua3 bondage. The"slave'knows that his condition vii} most

probabTy be permanent, with 331 that this may impTy: hopeiessness,

worry about old age, etc.

Range cf'Servitude.

I. Definitive siave code. Rights and“ob1igati0hs of both sIave and

master are clearly set forth, and the expectations of both parties

”are mutua11y understand.

2. Ambiguous or one-sided‘s1ave code. Ro1es are not cfeariy specified,

or only the ob1igation5‘of the siave are speiied out.

D! MobiTity Potentiai.
1.‘ Se1f~redemptioh, manumission. The condition where the slave can be

“instrumentai in his own re1ease is quite different from one with

2. Possibility for manumission onIy. Regardiess of the actuai prob-
 -49-

ability of being manumitted, here the individua? is more dependent.

Economic Factors. The sexuafi division of 1abor for slaves is

different than it is for citizens. and the range of occupations or economic

roies open to sieves in narrower than it is for freemen. Economic variebIes

are therefore as immediate and important as the 1e9a1, for they determine

not‘the‘theoretice1 but the actual'conditions under which the 51ave must

' labor; At the very least, they invere:

A. Eccnomic Ecoiogy.

}. Ccmp1ex division of 1abor. Where s1aves are invoived throughout a

compiex system, the probabiiity is high that the individua! wiii

be able to fit into a task-niche or speciaity.

'Horker interchangeabiiity. where sieves are expected to perform the

same task and are therefore'dupTicating each other‘s production, the

‘possibiiity for viable individuaIity is sherp1y reduced.

Empluyment type.

1. Domestic er household. MAX'Weber"(in Rheinstein, 1967:339)‘d$s€?fil

guished between patriarchal or heusehoid slavery and that practiced

“en'piantations, and observes that “in the Near East, and sti11 more

in Central Africa,'patriarchai siavery approximated a free Iabor

'reiationship more cIoser than the 199a} ferm‘wouid 1ead one to

"suppase.”

Industria} s1aveny. Where profitaoriented rathethhan status-

“oriented sievehy'occurs, human Tabor is a heavyeduty toe} rather

‘ than an “appiiance.“ It is egonomicaIIy rewarding onTy uheer con-

ditions where the surpiuses preduced are so great as to make the

cost and upkeep of the slaves a mere'item'of’overhead: in mining

or’fiarge-sca1e'agricuIture.
Numb“ m. “I w New“. vedw-wan m“.3

-4}-

C. Labor Cost; RepiaceabiYity.

1. Scarcity. Where s3aves are scarce, they wi11 be expensive, and have

a greater probabiiity of survive} and/er of toierabie conditions

whiie a1ive; (one antes the rituai ki11§ng of‘slaves as a case in

point for the “or” Variable)»

Abundance” Conditiohs are worst where the economy demands that

“. . . the ensieving population must have access to a cheap source

of'manpmem Ordinarily, this infers a conquest'empire where the

army of the conqueror can draw on the birth rate of e militarin

3ess able peopIe“ (Turney~High. 1968:47), but this may of course be

achieved through trade. In either case, the sTeves «€11 be aiiens.
3. Ownership Type.

1. Individua? or kin-group ownership. Yhis is the norm in slave~holding.

2. Corporate non~kin ownership. ‘Bohannan has stated that "even the

pIantation sieves of the New florid were attached to the kinship groups

of their masters, although the content of the reIationships may have bees
Targeiy economic (1963:1813.“ This does hot, however, hon true for ‘
the pIantatien slaves of Surfinam, who, anti} the RIC turned the

coiony‘over to the Dutch'government, were uwned by e Xega1 entity onTy,

and worked by hireiings.

"Socioe?sych0109ica1'Factors.’ There'are a number of variables which

are neither primariiy iegai nor ecanomic, but which heTp‘determine the

“character of the relationship between master and s1ave, and hence ef the

s1aveny condition. Dominant among these are:

A. STaveny‘Tradition in the Master‘s Culture.

3. Ancient and continuous. Where slaveny‘is a standing tradition (as

in Iberia during the continence war against the Moors, which lasted
 -42-

anti} the discovery of America) a11 institutions in the total

society have a chance to become adapted to its reaiity, and homeostatic

adjustments may be deveioped to balance stavery‘s disadvantages.

Recent, nen~integrated sIavery. Where the use of sTaves is a recent

development, the chances are fawer'that compensatory social devices

wil? have been deveIoped to ease the siave‘s Tot.

‘ B. STave's Traditions.

IQ STavery present in sieve's cuiture of origin. “Cuiture shock" wouId

predictabiy be least if the slave came from'a“society which itself

had a 1ongestanding tradition of slavery, and went t0 one where

51avery was also an ancient institution, such as an Ashanti slave

going to a Spaeish master,

STavery absent in slave‘s cuituraI background. Cu3tura1 discontinuity
at its extreme.

Guitara1 Similarity of Slave and Master.

1. Identfity or near-identity. Where the goaIs‘and means of the master‘s

society are comprehensib1e, expectations are communicable and

viabiTity is high.
DissimiIerity. Difference of backgrounds may resuIt in cognitive

dissonance, a confusian of meanings; and uTtimate1y the lowering 0f

Tife‘chances‘

D. Seppertive Ideoiogy.
1. RighteouS"suffer1ng; Surviva1’potentfa1'is increased if the slave‘s
reTigion promises posthumaes rewards*for‘dob&1ike endurance, or

encourages the‘beiief that adversity is supernaturally advantageous

fe;g.,‘puriffies the soui).

Indignation. Viabi1ity is severely‘reéuced if the slave views his
 » ‘04..er , .\ c

-43-

status as an ego~destroyihg condition: as emascoTating and/or

.
RN»

poITuting. (One notes that, by hindsight, §11_forms of sTaveny come

under this rubric, according to the descendants of the survivors.

Nothing e?se can explain the hostile suspicion with which some young

European Jews and some young American Negroes witness the fact that

their parent lives.)

The traits enumerated above (idealiy) w??? deiineate 512 types of

sieveny. In actuality, of course, many of the factors tend to ciuster. For

instance, I. D. 2., se1f~redemption, is not a random factor, but c1ose1y

reIated to I. c. 1., definite slave code, which in turn is related to 111.

A. 1., 1on9 slave tradition; III. C. 1., cuItoraT near~identity; and II. B.

1. and D. 1., househo1d siaveny under private master. Thus although this

classification dichotomizes what are often continua, as an anaIyticaT device

it tends to ciuster'traits into a more manageeb1e number of types of sieveny

(which is not, however, the purpose of this paper).

From the foregoing, we may now estabTish the experientiaI anchors of
that range of servitude which is ca11ed “sieveny.”

Objectiver, that farm of slavery which embraced oi} the aTternatives

marked_33 under each factor wouId appear to be the least objectionah}e social

condition, one in which the sieve had the maximum persona} and genetic

survive} potentiai. This condition woo d exist where sYavehy is an inherited

but temporary bondage; where the rights and“ob1igetions of master and sieve

are CTearfly’codified and there is aiweys the possibiiity that the s1ave nay

escape his status through his own or through others‘ efforts; where the slave
is a member of‘a househo1d engaged in a variety of absorbing tasks. is
considered vaioabie both for his productivity and the status he confers on

hiS‘master; in a society in which both master and sieve have been socialized
 .. 44...

to an ancient role-system and share their vaiues, and the sieve feeis neither

anger nor shame at his position. This condition may never have existed

except in the-imaginations of sievery's apoiogists. But it may occasionaiiy

have been approached.
At the other extreme, the most 1ethai, the most heinous form of

sievery would exist where oniy the aiternatives marked g, are found: in
permanent ensiavement of freeborn individuals under conditions where the

rights and obiigations of master and slave are not codified and the sieve
cannot heip effect his own release; where the sieve is oniy incidentaiiy

human and is counted into the “overhead” as expendebie equipment by a

corporate ownership which directs his iabors through hired intermediaries;

where the slave is taken from a society which knew no slavery and thrust

into one where slavery is new, with no attempt to socialize him beyond the

point where he acknowledges superior power, whiie his very survive} impiies

to him a threat to his manhood or to his soul.

Few groups have undergone conditions of such unreiieved suffering,

and probably none have withstood them geneticaiiy. Among these uitimate
miserabies must be counted the shoe and gaiieysiaves of various Mediterranean

civilizations, the Jews in Nazi iaoor battaiions,and the red pientetion

slaves of‘Surinam,

ShRINAM SLAVERY

Untii the successfoi cultivation of sugar cane in the Americas,

sugar was so scarce in Europe that it was commoniy dispensed by apothecaries

in tiny and expensive quantities‘ The impact of sugar on the European diet
was as dramatic as that of spices, and probabiy the popniation became

habituated to it more eesiiy. The demand for cane sugar was practicaiiy

endiess untii during florid War I a substitute was found in beet sugar. As
 -45-

spices were the root of the East Indies trade and the consequent coTonization
of hundreds of miiiions of people, so sugar was the sufficient cause for

the virtue} extinction of the Amerindians in the west Indies, and for the
virutent forms cf‘slavery which developed in the Guianas.

The first reported Guianan agriculture by Europeans concerns the

tobacco ptantings of Captain MarshaYY‘s 60 Eagiishmen on the surinam in 1630.

Spurred on by the exampte of rich Brazil, English, Dutch, French and Jewish

(mostty Butch and Ita1ian) sugar piantations were to be found along the

Guiana coast by 3650. About this time, Surinam became an EnQIish agricu1tura3
colony under Lord Ni110ughby, the Earl of Parham. In 1666, the coIony was
greatly strengthened by many Portuguese Jews who entered via cayenne from
Brazi}, where they had been persecuted. These Pcrtuguese Jews Were more

familiar with tropica? agriculture, and became a major financia? force in

the colony (ENNI:663~670).

In the S1ave Era, the amount of Wand which was cuitivated by pIant~

etions was about 15,000 Hectares t1 Ha. equais 2,47} U.S. acres] or one

thousandth of the total colony. Surinam p1antations typicatiy consisted of

guiders, areas of }and beiow f1ooé lave} which are comp1ete1y surrounded

by man-made dams or dikes. The whoie coastal strip in which these plantations

were faund is fiooded by high tide and remains under water during spring
tide. Without a complex of dikes and siuices, cuitivation is impossibte.
Sugar cuitivation invoived not oer the usua} labor of pianting, tending.
and cutting the cane, but occasiona11y the extra~hard work of constructing

a new plantation, and the dangerous jab of crushing the cane to extract the
sugar. This was accomptished by running the cane, by hand, between two

crushing, mcving cyIinders.

It was primariTy in the method‘of powering these "mi115“ that the

 -45-

piantations were differentiated. 0n the 01d r plantations, sufficient

water entered the an}! race with the high tide to work the mi11 and to

grind the sugar. The rest of the time, and on the other piantations,
heestenwerk was catted fer. Beast works were driven by horses, mules, or

oxen, and occasionatiy by sieves. This was very uneconomicai, since the
mortality among the animals was very high, and they had to be imported.

(Beginning in 1764, a]? Engiisn ships pianning to visit Guiana were required

to bring at ieest six hersas for each such journey. Should the animais die
in transit, their heads had to be kept as proof. English skippers brought
about 400_1ive horses a year to the co1ony.) A team consisted of six anima1s

working and two “spares.” When mortaiity outstripped supply, the hap1ess

slaves were turned to beast work. (ENWI:76; 568; 637-643; Tutein No3thenius,

1955.)

Surinam p1antation slavery was in many ways simiIar to that of the

Caribbean isiands, or of the U.S.A. The basic economic conditions of slaves did
not differ much. NevertheIess, there are important specifics about Surinam

s§aveny which tend to differentiate it from 311 others. enwzeess) distin-

guishes some of the variations in sieve conditions as follows:
At the sale of the imported slaves~-who were exhibited in the
nude~~chi1dren were not eliowed to be separated from their mothers.
To forests}! escapes, husbands sometimes were not separated from
their wives. However marriage was out of the question. For a man
and woman to five together the consent of the master was needed,
of the master§_if the sieves did not beiong to one master.
worst off were those who were bought by the sugar plantations;
both the labor in the cane fields and that in the primttive mfiis
were heavy;.especie11y hard was the construction of a new p1anta-
tion. 0n the coffee p1antations. too, much was demanded for the
Negroes, especiaIly at "picking" time. Less heavy was the work on
the cotton p1antations. In the lumber camps, where the nature of
the work demanded that the sieves cut timber in the jungtes by a
 -47-

sort of agreement}, the slaves enjoyed a certain degree of freedom

and had enough free time to work their own garden plots. For the
women who had to carry the sawed planks on their heads out of the
bush, the iabor on the iumber grounds was heavy.

This difference in working conditions was the reason that the

siaves so strongiy objected to the transfer of a sieve complement
from one plantation to another; without permission from the governor,
this oouid not take place.
The piantation slaves “beionged to the soii,“ and must not be
said singiy or in fanfiiy groups, but along with the piantation.
Plantations which were sold without (or with few) sieves did not
bring much return ..»

Best off were the city slaves, who were kept as hooseservants.
served their masters as skiiied tradesmen, or who were hired out by
their masters. There were aiso some sieves who enjoyed a certain
freedom and had to give their masters a weekiy or monthly amount of
money. Many femaie sieves were in this position. As long as they
were young and beautifui, they wouid have 1ittie troubie in
acquiring the specified sum through prostitution. Many made their
living as washerwomeno In later years this "sending for work”
became iiiegai.

In comparison to the buying price, the rent gained from hired-

out or sent~out slaves of both sexes was very high. There were
whoie famiiies who had no other source of income than that which
their slaves deiivered. Worst off on the plantations were the
coiored sieves? who, being weaker than the Negroes, had to do the
same kind of.work. Since the white gentlemen—~0f ail nationaiities~~
did not turn up their noses at Regresses, the number of this type
of sieves steadiiy increased. The chiidren of femaie sieves
remained sieves uniess they were manumntted. The administrators
preferred not to have white women on the piantations, so that the
directors and "white officers“ had to seek their “housekeepers”
among the femaie sieves. Some of these worthies had complete harems,
regardless of the fact that the association of freeman with women

3For a description of sieve—iumbermen in the southern U.S.A., see

J. Redpath: The Rovin Editor, gr_Taiks with Siaves jg_the Southern States
(New York, 38§§732 -2 2; and F. L. Oimsted: ,A‘Journey jfl_the Seaboard
Sieve States (New York, 1856):153—155. Both are reprinted in L. H. Fishei
§8§é1Qoaries: Ihg_Negro American: 5 Documentary History (Gienview, 1967):

2“Coiored"in the Surinam tradition refers to the various degrees of

biack—white, red-white, or bieck—rediraciai combinations. ENWI does not
eieborate why coiored slaves shouid be weaker'than Negroes. If this was true
(and there is no reason to suspect it was not), oossibie expianations may
iie in differentiai disease resistance, especiai y to malaria; in some
psychologicai-disadvantage inherent in knowing one‘s powerefigure father
faiied to manumit one; or in the shock inherent in the status change from
an acknowiedged freeman‘s chiid to fieid hand.
 -43-

slaves was illegal, even to manumntted black males. Such edicts

remained dead letters (Trl mine).

Among the Surinam~spec¥flc conditions of slavery were thus some

positive factors such as the rule against the separation of mothers and
children, and some negative aspects such as the total impossibility of

slave marriages, which were considered harmless and useful in the 6.8.

and elsewhere. A certain feudal character pervaded this slavery, as

witnessed in the fact that the slavesw—like serfs-—belonged to the land,

and in the pseudo~noble titles such as Kofffiewsaron and Suiker~Freule

which were used even during the twentieth century for the various plan-

tation owners by a not-completely~facetious Dutch public.

Many Dutch sources document the variations in slave lifeustyles

in the different niches of Surinam‘s economy. Some city slaves, for

example, were attached to households primarily for their owner’s status

considerations, and these any well have lived more securely and comfortably

than such lower class whites as the sailors on the merchantmen and black—
birders, whose value was always less than the cargo’s, especially if that

cargo was slaves. Over time, too, as the society adjusted to the fact of

institutionalized slavery, conditions improved for the chattel, especially

when slaves became scarce after the trade had been abolished in lBZl. Even
before that, slavery in Surinam had been more visible, more difficult to

ignore than it was in North America, because it pervaded the whole of society,
not just one area. As a result. most of the variables of slavery delineated

in Fig. 2 drifted gradually from type-2 to type~l conditions: humanism evolved.

By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the legal rights of Surinam's

‘ slaves had been described more fully and their living conditions were usually

better than those of UQS. slaves. The Bush Negroes, however, sprang forth
from the old-style plantation slavery, and it is that which concerns as here.
 -49-

Plantation s1aves had many burdens. Some of these, such as the

absolute ban on shoes, which lasted anti} the Emancipation of 1863, seem

petty in retrospect, though they were not petty at the time. Others, such
as the legal precepts which surrounded siaveny, were more fundamentai.

‘Before Surinam came under the supreme direction of the Netherlands tn 1795.

there were no rea! laws on sieve treatment at at}. Once Zeetand 501d the
colony to the States Genera? in'1682, the “Constitution Crimina3is Caroiina,“
that is, the Dutch criminaT code of 1532, with some minor additions, became

‘the 1ega1 code of Surinam. This “to1lection of juridica? antiquities and

'coriosities“ remained‘in‘effect until 1869, thus throughout the sieve
period (ENWI:648-GSO). For the slave, this code was important only in the
‘peneities it provided for various=misbehaviors. The exact punishment to be
meted out was left to the judges:. the 1aw mereTy specified in most cases
that the accused were to be punished "with death,“ "on the body,” or "with
an arbitrary corporea? or pecuniary correction,“ ano more often “so as
to
be an exampie to others in such cases.“ The most common punishments exacted
were death, whipping with or without a noose around the neck, various

disfigurations, branding, forced labor, confinement, exposure at the

whipping post or biock, and "bread and water." There were also banishment,
fines, reduction'in status, public shanfing, and confiscation of property,

inctoding‘slaves. Slaves, of course, aTways received the more drastic

ponishment, a fact attested'to by numerous writers. Death setdom came
easiiy: execution techniques inc1uded burning over 530w or fast fires,
depeneing on the severity of the crime, breaking on the wheel, garroting,
deéapitation, and hanging. Whipping sentences, when prescribed by the code,
left the actual number of Tashes up to the Commissaris: the guide was
usually a prescribed nfinimom or maximum. Bisfigorfing penaTties incIuded
 -50-

the cutting off of noses, ears, feet and hands, puncturing of the tongue.

slashing the Archilles tendon, and more rarely, emasculation. Arbitroriness

perhaps more than anything else heightened the effect of cruelty. It must

be emphasized that ghg_1§g_made no distinction between freeborn and slave:

a notice of T687 announces that a man who had allowed his slaves to fish

on the plantations of the Society had been punished with the loss of his

nose. Bot Eng lodges did make distinctions according to person. An

announcement of 1698 informs us that slaves who do not step out of the way

of whites will be punished the first time with the whip, and the second time
with both a whipping and the loss of nose and ears. Another, dated l7ll,

threatens a slave who has carnal knowledge of a white woman (which means

actual sexual intercourse) with death.1 Torture was not uncommon for
runaway slaves, and included even "hanging from a meathook until death."

And though conditions improved during the beginning of the nineteenth century,

the benefits went predominantly to the freeman (£NNI:637~643; 648-850; 650-

658‘; 667-670) . \
Even when no laws had been broken, the life of the plantation slave

was nasty, brotish, and short. The work was often dangerous: protective

devices in the primitive mills just didn't exist. There were numerous

endemic diseases, parasites, and dangerous animals, and wounds not treated

IJohnston also gives a startling code to the origins of Surinam

Coloreds. Speaking of the vigor of European females and the lessitude
of their males in the tropical climate, he observes in an offhand
footnote:

“ With the curious inconsistency of the Saxon, local society in the

eighteenth century was veny severe on Dutch women who were unfaithful to
their Dutch husbands with white men, and expelled such women from the
colony; but winked at less avonable amours between white women and negro
sloves“(l9l0:l15).
 -51-

properly in a jungle ciimate may become severeiy infected. Of course

efforts were made to protect the valuable sieves, but the medicine of the

day was, as eisewhere, quite inadequate to the task. ENWI reports an

eye—witness description of the period‘s medical practices, after Dr. T. A.

Kuhn's "Beschouwing van den Toestand der Surinaamsche Piantagiesiaven"

(Amsterdam 1828):
The owners of course raised the usefulness of their laborers, so
that we must expiain the shortages in nursing at ieast in part
because of Tack of knowiedge. On each piantation there was a
haii which was termed the hospitai, but which was in a1} ways
inadequate. Light and air were not considered necessary.
Medicai treatment was in the hands of surgeons who ... generaiiy
were persons with insufiicient basic knowledge of their profession.
Daily care rested in the hands of the dresnegg; (dresi or drissi
[in Sranan] means “to heal“), a sieve who had spent several years
learning with a surgeon. If he proved amenabie, then in five or
six years he cooid be brought so far “that he could bieed with a
sne er [a smaii, muitibiaded, spring-driven instrument], clean
aha gandage an abscess, use plasters and ointments. bind up
sores, etc. Finaiiy he has aiso learned to perceive medicai
weights, so that, if necessary, he can measure off a porgative
and such minor things; some are aiso capabie of setting and
spiinting a simpie fracture” (Kuhnz40). There were also dresmamas.
usuaiiy older femaie siaves. "In the beginning they were chargea
with the care of yaws patients, siowiy they turned to the dis-
pensing~of medicines, so that now they run compiete hospitais, and
.ive treatments, and quarantines, etc." (Kohnz41). The ouarantine,
originally quarantaine), consisted of certain syrups boi e out
of herbs, roots, and sugar. aiong with a rigid diet, and the
incarceration of the patient; hence the name (ENNI:762, Tr. mine).
Simons (1934), in expiaining why Surinam‘s economy deciined so much
by 1930, iocates the source of this downward trend in the 1778’s, and
names siavery.as a major probiem. He quotes a number of unnamed sources
on the conditions of siavery, and mentions especiaiiy the high death rate

among sieves which he biames on their reckless indifference, abuse of hard

iiquor, poisons. mistreatment of the sick, but above ail, on the very

inadequate and insufficient diet. He quotes from “Emancipatie door

Koionisatie“ (Emancipation through Coionization) of 1847 (no other source
data):
 “52...

"The meager ration, which by custom is limited to two bunches of

bananas and two English pounds of fish per week, is, on the
impoverished piantations, often perceptibiy restricted if not
compieteiy aboiished.

0n piantations were there have been a lot of deaths aiready,

they stiii try to continue the same amount of cuitivation, which
necessarily resuits in an increasing state of sickness and
steadiiy greater deciine.
... The Sorinam slaves do not die of starvation, for they usuaiiy
satisfy themseives with bananas; but the race wastes away
through shortened Wives because they expend more iife energy
than)the food can return to them" (in Simons, 1934:299—300. Tr;
mine .
He cites another unnamed author:

“The sieves are driven to the utmost to turn out the prod cts.
If they coliapse under the burden, then the administrator presses
the absentee owners to buy others; if the sieve complement
decreases beiow a given point, then he makes certain that the
sievos are sold separately—-or transferred to another piantation.

In this manner we have seen some piantations swaiiow as many

as four siave co laments in the span of 25 years, and a nunber
of Eeautifui p ante ions ave become deserted because of this"
(Simone, 1934:300. Italics in origins}. Tr. mine).

Piantation sieves throughout the slave period were expected to

provide most of their own food by working iittie garden plots set aside for

them. Obviously, this was above and beyond the work expected hy the

administrator, and did not aiways successfuiiy raise the required food.

The usuai recreation aiiowed the piantacion slave was an occasional

ration of Kiithum or "kiiidevii," a cheap rum distiiied from sugar (ENWI:

403). Dancing, with its accompanying magic, witchcraft, and possession,

was usually too dangerous to be aiiowed. Stiii, some of the large private
piantations had iarge companies of Bahia-singers, and some vied for the

1Nine~teii¢hs of aii Surinam plantations were controiied by admin-

istrateurs, who were the business controiiers for absentee iandiords in
the Netheriands. These in turn often were not private individuals. but
corporations, which were in turd represented by some Dutch trade house.
(ENNI:31; Simons, 1934:303.)
 -53-

expense of supporting a 9g, According to Comvaiius (1935), the Du was

the highest expression of Negro song in the Surinam area: it was a type

of opera in which Banja singing was used to tel} steries. ggs were

started on 1arge plantations with the enthusiastic support of both slaves

and whites, who were traditionaliy inv01ved in a democratic organization

usuaiiy led by a slave who iiteraiiy had access to a1} social circles

because he was, after aii, irrepiaceabie as a culture? force: Qgs were

the oniy sophisticated entertainment in the ceiony. Their themes were

often the socio-poiiticai needs of the pianters in their struggles with

the government, and they were commoniy held in opera houses, buiit at

great expense fer that purposeg A1} performances were enacted by Negroes.

with emancipation, for various reasons inciuding the lack of money to

support them, the Qg disappeared, thoegh the figgig'survives.

Although Comvaiius does not say so, it is veasonabie to suppose

that this form of entertainment was rare, and a fairiy Tate deveiepment.

For the average sugar slave, the major hope lay not in entertainment, but
in escape. As Iong as that was a possibiiity, the danger of slave revoits

was fairly 19w, especieily when the first groups of runaways had success»
fuiiy established themselves in the bush. Nevertheless, there were

uprisings in Surinam as eisewhere in the New florid, a1thoegh the risk run
by a wouid-be rebei was truiy staggering.

Pieces where sieve treatment was as caveiier, but escape was more
difficuit than in Surinam, included the previousiy Dutch coionies in today‘s

Guyana: Essequibo, Demerary, and Berbice. According to Menkman (1940:209),

the difficulty lay not in any absence of'suitabiy extensive jungle, but in

the fact that here there were cioser reiatiens between the coionists and
the lose} Indians. This relationship frustrated escape, because the Indians
 -54-

would track the runaways down and return them to the Batch for the reward.

When the territory of Guiana was first coionized, the coastaI areas

'*so attractive to the pianters were heid by the soacailed LowIand Indians:

tribes of the Carib, Arowak, and Harem linguistic families, the last being

synonymOUS‘with“the‘GuaraunOS‘of‘the’flrinOCO‘deTta. The Caribs were then

~‘an‘expansionist'warfior peopie from what is now Centra1‘8razf3, and endlessly

' engaged in warfare with the Arowak and Warau. Most of the surviving Surinam
Indians are of the soscaiied UpiandS‘division: these inciode such Caribs

*as the Accawai, Yrio, and Ojana or anna.

indian‘sfaves had been in use'as early as the first Engiish period

“under Wi11oughby. The red slaves were'usueQIy‘prisoners of war 5016 to the

whites by the'capturing'tribes. when Zee1and'wrested the coiony from the

"Engiish,ithe’trade in Indian sieves continued throughout the whoTe'territory.

‘The'continuai warfare between the powerfoi tribes was so disruptive to the

piantations, however, that in 1686 Van Aersseng the governor of Surinam,

arrangedia peace between the coastal Carihs and the Arowak, deciaring them
to be free peopies, and unensIavabie except as punishment for certain

specified‘crimes. This treaty also appiied“to'the‘Warau, but not to the

Upiand Indians: 'captives taken‘in‘the‘hintevfland"hy the Caribs, or~«by

impiication-eby anyone inc1uding the Bush Negroes; coo d”be 501d into

sieveny‘to“the'coionists.‘ ENRI quotes a German report of the period (1720)

‘ aS'saying'that red slaves were cheap as long as they were untrained, and

that they were of limited usefuTness:

One can obtain an Indian for‘15 guiiders, but ifi he has first Iearneé
somethin one might‘haver 0 pay 206 gudeers for him.... When
[Indians ‘qoarrei they often‘attack‘each other, and whichever one
subfiues the other then se31s him‘tO'the"HoiTanders. These are aiso
known to befriend the savages by treating"them‘roya11y to brandy,
whereupon they [the Indians] catch a few of their countnymen to
give to the Relianders for a 1ittie drinking money.....The Indians
are so weak physicaily that they are [usefui] onIy for fishing; hunt-
ing;”and"that sort of thing (ENWI:612. Originai in German. Tr. mine).
 ~55-
Reports from as iate as 1832 mention that some Caribs were slaving in the
Upper Corehtine, which might heip account for the desertion of that area.

The extent of the trade cannot now be ascertained: the scarcity of reports

about the trade tends to bear out Mauricies' belief that these slaves were
so few as to barely justify expenses. Indian giris were much prized as

concubihes: at the time of the Peace treaty with the Lowiand Indians, Van

Aerssen gave the exampie by taking a beautifui Indian girl for himself.

But the Indians were not suitable for plantation work, and a ietter from

the colonists to the States of Zeeiand, dated March Ti, 1673, ciaimed
approximateiy 2500 black slaves versus 500 red in the colony. 0h Secember
3], 1684, there were 144 Indian sTaves (39 males, 67 femaies, and 38
chiidren over 12). This probabiy accounts for only part of the red sieves.

Later writers did not distinguish between red and black sieves, so their

numbers remain a mystery (ENWI:6iz-6]3; Menkman 1940).

Among the major reasons why the Amerindians were Tess suited than
the African Negroes to piantation iife, are those discussed by Kroeber

(1939:146~i49) and Underhii] (i952:67; 87). Primariiy these authors iomiy

that the Indians lacked two basic requirements for surviveT under the

piantation regime: experience with largeéscaie cooperative socia? organ—

izations, and experience with the technology of‘iotehsive agricuiture.

For eimost‘aii of the enslaved Indians, furthermore, continuous iabor was

psychoiogicaliy pooishing:* nothing" in their background prepared them to

perceive such iabor as anything out demeaning and emasculating. But

warfare and trade were something else; and it soon became ciear to the'

coionists in most of the Guianas that the Indians were more usefoi as
allies than as slaves. In 1686, the RIC commander Beekman ordered that in
the coiony Berbice no piahter‘was ailowed to buy any Indian'maie or femaie

sieves, much Tess to acquire such sieves by force, a prohibition which was
 -55-

repeated by his successor in 1699. These rules, which soon applied to both

Berbice and Essequibo, made amicable relations with the Indians more

possible than in Surinam, where under the government of Van Aerssen van

Sommelsdijk the Indians had been pushed back into the hinterland and lost

all contact with the colonists. Thus, where the Bernice and Essequibo

Indians could be counted on to return runaway slaves, those of Surinam had

left the territory wide open to the escaping hegroes. As a result, the
danger of revolt was always greater in the other colonies than it was in

Surinam (Kesler, l940b).

One trait which could be adapted to measure objectively the condition

of slavery is that of genetic loss, that is, the cost in non-reproducing

lives which the institution took. We will not here indulge in still another
pointless enumeration of the horrors of the slave trade1 as seen with the

chronccentric clarity of oon-reletivist hindsight. Let it suffice to note

that, although many Dutch authors have mentioned the unusual severity of
slavery in Surinam. none have been found who claimed that the conditions or

the Egagg were more brutal (or even as brutal) as that of the other slaving
nations, except perhaps as it affected white deck hands (De los Santos,

l956a, b; Kesler, l940a, b; van Brakel in ENWI:634-637). Van Brakel estimated

that the Dutch colonies in America needed about 7,000 new slaves each year,

1Without discounting in any sense the individual suffering associated

with this traffic, it bears emphasizing that such suffering was individual in
so far as succeeding generations cannot share it, and that 53??ering Egg so
is typically seen differently by the victim and the time-removed observer
(even when victim and observer are one). Since "being brought over" was
only one event in the life histories of some slaves more than a century ago,
the trade as such cannot reasonably be expected to illuminate the present
behavior of Bush Negroes, or of North Americans, except insofar as certain
hysterical persons willfully misunderstand the institution of slavery in
toto.
 -57..

and that this demand increased by the end of the eighteenth century because

of the effects on shfipping cf the four D_utch~Eng‘Hsh wars. Elsewhere, van

Rense‘iaar (1963b) judged that in the period from 1650 to 1820, Surinam

imported 300,000 Nest Africans, most of whom originated in the area stretching
from Senegal in the north to Angoia in the south. Final 1y, one notes that
the Emancipation of daily 1, 1863, liberated a mere 33,000 Surinam Negroes
(Getmuw. 1953).
 CHAPTER IV

KGNDRE: THE TRIBALIZATION OF

THE MAROONS
IN THE LONTEM

The Bush negroes,

or
part, from the ex~s “Bosch negers" of the Dutch. were
coast or along the laves of the English, abandoned on thderived, in
were expelled or wi rivers of Guiana, when the British by e Guiana
Negroes greatly dislthdrew from th15 region. These Engl degrees
them into the trac iked their new Dutch masters, and
ish-speaking
kless forests of
ghe inte
fl ed from
r1or, where they
Amerindlans were main-
concerned. Except
of Cerihs, the Am in regard to the
er co
very well inclined indians of Gu1ana were a gentle, peacast tribes
mingling to wa rd s th e white men, not eable race,
their bloo likely th
match for him as wa d much with his), but, on the other e negro (nor
the Dutch settlers rriors. The Bush negroes when hard~phand, no
the limits of Frenchor their Indian allies, would take ressed by
much associated, an or Sp an is h Guiana. With the re fu ge within
d wh en th e French forces inva Fr en ch th ey were
territories in 3711 de d th
could manage to es
-1 2 un de r Ca ssard, all the Dutc e Su ri ham
cape joined the Bu h slaves that
assisted the French sh negroes and wi
th
:3? Degchis§§tlement forces to inflict the most damaging them
s, many of which we attack on
0: 2~ 2 . re thus destroyed (J
ohnston,

some history. The literature on th

e origin of the figg
however, does not g Bush Negroes,
contain a more real
istic or believable
genesis. account of tribal

Throughout the pe
riod of Gulanan sl
avery, revolts an
occurred, d escapes
first among the red
slaves, then among
the black. But unli
Caribbean counterpar ke their
ts, the Guianan Maro
ons nowhere succeede
a revolutionary d in establishing
state. All the major revo
lts were failures
that they were quel to the extent
led. Since the Guianas,
unlike the Islands
or the U.S.A.,

runaways, the rela

tive scarcity of
large~scale revolt
s and escapes need
explaining, as does their general s
lack of success.
From the very first
days of colonization
under Willoughby. sl
aves
-53-
 -59-
outnumbered freeman throug
hout the Guianas. When Sur
inam was captured by
the Zeelanders, it number
ed about 400 whites and 170
9 slaves, and by l738
there were 25 slaves for
every freeman in the col
ony. Slave revolts we
re
not inconceivable, and wer
e realistically feared as
being not only bad for
business, but as real thr
eats to the colony‘s exi
stence. As such, preven
-
tive measures and the punish
ment for captured insurrect
ionists or runaways
were of a severity commen
surate with the age and
its morality.1
Although the Bush was the
re, and Surinam lacked the
Indians which
limited escape in nearhy
Berbice, although slavery
was a cruel lot and any
modern man imagines that he
understands intuitively the
call of freedom, the
fact of slavery peg §g_is
still an inadequate explan
ation for the escape of
slaves.

The reason far the many esc

the slaves and in the punishapes has been sought in the hard lot of
probably the antipathy tow ments to which he was exposed, but
if not heavier, than the
ards re ular hard labor wei
conditions of slavery, or ghed as heavy,
severe punishments on the the cruel and
the plantations. For plantations. For these pun
these punishments were ishments on
those which the Negro sla minor compared with
‘his own country, and whichve could expect from the Negro~despot in
greatest insouciance. Fur he had learned to tolerate wit
h
honored institution in Afr the rmo re, slavery was an ancien the
ica's Guinea, one from whi t and
ch no slave
W

ISurinam was Company ter

conditions and punishmen ritory, and the Com
ts to its employees which pany's laws often prescribed
those perpetrated on the were even more cruel tha
n
(aboard a slave ship, for plantation slaves. Especially on the High Seas
the "protection" of being instance), soldiers and sailors, who did not
enj
“correctives” which includ valuable property, were exposed to a range of oy
by 400 lashes," having a
ed suc h tor tur es as "triple keelhauling
followed
having a knife stabbed thrburning cannon fuse placed between the fingers, or
meted out almost casually,ough the hand (van Panhuys, ENNI:156). Death was
and seldom made easy.
To Moderns, the real horror
exploitation of the fan, whi of the age must lie not in
ch is aft the systematic
er all not very original, but
fact that in the very places in the
improvement in the human where the Industrial Retolo
condition, it became tion promised an
freedom over slaveny: All a mere sop
mercies of a tiny, legal”€fiihum an beings were functiona histry to expostulate
l captives to the
te.
 .59-
would Shirk. Th
e duty to work re
was not known to ularl for one’s
African slavery, master, however,
grave injustice. and thus must ha
ve appeared as a

bounty fer catching

was in l687 raised a runaway, which had been five
gu
guilders. After l7 to "300 pounds of sugar," and in 16ilders in 1685,
l7 , an yo ne was free to orga 98 to fift
against the runa
ways. In l?2l th nize expeditions y
changed to the de e punishment for
at ru
burned alive over h penalty: in l730 two captured nning away was
a sm al l fi re; the attempt runaways we
scare off other wo
uldnbe escapees in those days was re
mutilations, alth through cruel pu to
ni
used to cruel penaough African Negroes, as mentioned shments and
ltges in their own before, had been
country (van
Panhuys, ENWI:152.

or escape. Humans are, after

all, probability—or
iented creatures,
were many factors and there
which limited the
survival chances of
involved the secu runaways. These
ri
ty measures alre
ady mentioned, ti
between slaves, es of individual
and bush technolo loyalty
gy.
Those who would es
cape from Paramari
bo or the coastal
had to travel for plantations
considerable distan
ces through territ
for rest, food, ory where the need
and fr s
esh water were ha
rd to satisfy fo
because of the se r a strange slav
curity-minded co e
lonists, where,
in short, a strang
attracted unwanted e slave
atte ntion. Then too, coastal
slaves, more than any
enjoyed the priv others,
ilege of having
mates and families
, who must have
ase-at the minimu served
me-psychological
hostages. But mo
st of all, the ma
of slaves, especi jority
ally the Creoles
(in Sranan: any
creature born in
colony), simply lacked the woodcraf the
t, skills, and co
required for jung operative techniqu
le survival. es
We may therefore
assu
me that the probab
of successful esca ility
pe increased as (l
) the distance to
(2) the security me the bush decreased;
asures were tempor
arily ignored whil
were focused else e white attentions
where; and (3) the wo
uldube escapees-«
or their leaders-
~had
 -6]...

the stamina and the sk

ills to survive in th
e jungle.
The first and third
qualifications were
fulfilled early in
colonial the
period, when in Berb
ice in l687 the Indi
an slaves rose in re
killed a number of Ch volt,
ristians (Europeans),
and plundered the pl
(Beyerman, l934). Th antations
is occurrence was inst
rumental in the change
character in white~1n of
dian relations in th
e colonies outside of
led to the peace trea Surinam, and
ties with the Caribs
and Arowaks mentioned
From the beginning of earlier.
the eighteenth centur
y, the Indians in the
Essequebo, colonies
Demerany, and Berbic
e served as another
security measure fo
slave owners: they r the
killed or returned
any slaves which th
ey met in the
bush. which reduced
the probability of
successful escape fo
r succeeding
generations. There is further evid
ence that after 1683
, Indian slaves were
not used in most of th
e colonies.
In Surinam, the Indi
ans had been mistre
ated longer and more
than in the other co severely
loni es, and where at firs
t the Caribs killed
all runaways, red or or returned
black, by the 1670's
it became abundantly
clear to the

of Indians. The runa

deserters, however, anways who had joined the Indians were cons
d no peace or safe co id
persons. Stubborn
opposition was ther nduct applied to thei ered
efore to r
be expected. The
minded Indians with re
prisals (Buve, l966:2
4. Tr. mine).
 It is clear that in this
case at least, the esca
ping Negroes either fulf
all three qualifications illed
or learned the local wo
od lore from the Indian
this early in the colony s:
's history, almost any
place was close to the
the whites were at war bush;
with the indians so that
their attention was else
and the black slaves ei where;
ther learned enough from
Ganimet or from the Indi
to survive in the jungle ans
.
But after this Surinam
Indian war, which (unlik
e the experience in
the other colonies) di
d not result in improv
ed relations with the
Indians,
there arose considerable
differences in the viab
ility of escapees betwee
Surinam and elsewhere. n
In Surinam, the Indian
s slowly but steadily
withdrew
from the coastal terr
ain, and finally from
the major portions of
the interior
around the rivers. It
would appear that they
felt threatened not on
ly by
the repacious whites,
but~~although there is
no evidence for this~~
by the
aggressive black runaways wh
o, having added American
survival skiils to
African knowledge and
immunities, were even
able to survive in ar
eas which
the Indians shunned. Most of Surinam outside
of the narrow coastal st
and the faraway Indian rip
territory was thus open
ed up to would-be escape
And with the existence esc
of other free Negroes in
the bush as early as 167
in Surinam escape took prec
9,
edence over insurrecti
on, although, again,
soale escapes were ne large-
cessarily rare. In ot
her colonies, when cond
itions
became intolerable, th
e obvious answer was
not escape, but someth
ing much
more dangerous: revo
lution. One suspects
that in this as much
as in any
other factor, the explanation
of the continued cruelt
y of Surinam slavery
can be found, eSpecial
ly until the Bush Negroe
s themselves assumed
the
role the Indians had
played in the other co
lonies: after the trea
ties were
signed, the Bush-Negroes
too returned runaway sl
aves to the colonists.
Thus while the Britis
h and French were forc
ed by the specter of
revolts to
 ‘63..
humanize their
forms of slaven
y, the Dutch co
century in the uld continue fo
old ways: the r another
Bush was the sy
also Voorhoeve & stem’s safety~v
alve. (See
van Renselaar, 19
62.)
Even so, most of I
the time, for mo
st of the slaves
survive an esca
pe attempt were
, the ehanoes to
prohibitively sl
fhl runaways coul im. What was wo
d not become in rse, success-
dependent of th
needed salt, to e system they so
ols, weapons an hated: they
d ammunition, of
if they were to ten food, and al
su
rvive. ways women
It must be oEvl
ous that the person
greatest chance s with the
for survival in
the alien jungle
saltwater slaves would be young
: tough enough male
to withstand th
dependents, and e rigors, unencu
not yet handicap mbered with
ped by the tech
limitations of nolOQical and ps
the Creole. ychological
But when a slav
e escaped, prud
ence (so as to

Panhuys in ENWI
, some Negro ru
naways had alre
ady settled on
the Para Creek

made peace with

the "Bush Negroe
s of the Coppen
649). ame“ (Hertsinek,
l770, II:

The size of this

first group of
freeman soon gr
insurrection am ew. In l690, an
ong the slaves gۤ k
of Macnado, a Je
punished as th wish planter, wa
e Jewish s bloodily
planters caught
and killed many
of the slaves;
 . o. . Mo. WW, .- NW... .
"’" .. M1,... M
- «Nu. r“: , < , are» so

-54-
was l7l2. In this year, the
French under Admira
i Cassard attacked
colony several time the
s between June 8 an
d October 27. Afte
r creating confusio
and demoralization among the n
colonists, they coll
ected a tribute of ab
7.5 million Surina out
m guilders in sugar,
slaves, silver, an
d gold: one-third
of the value of al
l the goods in the
colony (ENwi:l77).
Since slaves were
a prime merchandis
e, Cassard took ma
ny with him. Some
planters therefore
thriftilyhid their slaves in
the bush beyond the
plantation until the
peril was past. Ma French
ny of th ese slaves took th
e opportunity to es
cape, and

usually freeing it
s slaves.
Immediately after Ca
ssard had been bought
off, the civil powers
horror at these ex , in
cesses , ordered armed bu
sh patrols out to
the escapees. kill or return
Captured runaways
were brutally puni
shed. But it soon
apparent that these became
snoll patrols had no
lasting effect on th
daring Maroon e ever more
s.
By 1730, the direct
ors of the Societei
t, reversing an or
of lTlY, decreed th der
at henceforth no pr
ivate posses could
be sent after
escapees. But by
1738, ten per cent
of the 60,000 slav
es in the colony ha
turned Maroon . Military expeditions d
were next sent into
restore order. the interior to
Their singular failur
e is attested in the
following quote:
Thus a patrol pene
trat
1739. With the help ed very deeply into the interior as
of the existing trad early as
able to reconstruc itions, the author
t its exact route was
patro} attacked a on
then already sizabl present~day maps. The
range of the Ouroew e community in the
ingre Creek, which middle
leadership of the Na had been started un
ssy Negro Tjeba. der the
This patrol, whic
force, brought back h returned with less than a fourth
a number of captiv of its
to death in most ho es
rrible fashion by or . All of these were out
der of the Court of
Justice.
The patrols, which
usually were forced
to return because of
 -55-
inadequate equipment, lack of
ultimately proved to be of
foo d, sickness, or casualties,
no use. he the contrary:
tion slaves who saw these mis plants-
erable, starving, dead-tire
soldiers return were encour d
aged by the spectacle, especi
when soon thereafter black ally
pursoers would show up to
the battle. resume

Hartsiock [an historian of

of these patrols cost around 100the time] discloses that each
,000 guilders.
Every abortive expedition res
it also occurred that whole ulted in renewed escapes;
slave complements escaped fro
plantations without seeming to m
have any contact with the
Care] called Ahsu in the dialec
Both slave com laments have devt, and those of Palmeneribo.
Aucaner [Djuka tribe: the Ans eloped into subtribes of the
latter name is a bastardizationu and the Misidjans. The
then director of the Palmen of Mister Jones, who was
eribo plantation and was mur
with his wife by the Negroes der
before they left the plantatioed
n.
Later expeditions brought no cha
number of escapees in the bus nge in the situation, the
h
ditions in the colony became mor gre w ste adily, and the con-
finally appearing to be comple e dan ger ous day by day,
could be saved, Governor Mauric tel y unt ena ble. To save what
ius (l?42~l75l) decided to
meke)peace with the Maroons (Junker, l93
mine . 2b:275*276. Tr.

There were other problems whi

ch resulted from the expens
ive and
successful military expeditio
ns. In the first place, the
heavy labor of the
early patrols was done by Kom
mahdo Negroes, slaves drafte
d hy the State
from the plantations, who did
the carrying and at other tim
es built the
fortifications or dug the can
als which government requir
ed. These men‘
soon learned the secret pat
hs by which the Marooos tra
veled through the
' jungle, and the knowledge was
not lost when they returned to
their plantations.
Wm

11o 1770 (ENNI:417) or l772 (de Groot, 1963:75), the

against the murders of whi need to defend
tes and the plunder and bur
the Cottiga garcons ugdee ning of plantations hy
force: t e orps of res gon ni, led to tge creaéion of
under the Swiss mercenary
egr oes :s_ an s Vrij orps or a Kor
specialiBush Patrol
Col ps Vr ‘ne ers
Negro between the ages of fouonel Fourgeofia. ny freeborn or manumitgea
period of service received
rteen and sixty could be drafte
two Dutch shillings per day d, and during the
of first one, then two com . The Corps, consisting
panies, Was cadred by “condu
ctors” and distributed
 a. w v¢.*9,mzww‘fi
.§wfi

-55-
0f greater effect was
:

the malaria which the re

'ww

turning sold1ers carrie

them. d with
Introduced by runaway
slaves, malaria became
endemic to the centre
region of Surinam,effe }
ctive1y denying the ar
ea to beth whites and
Indians.
The more bush patrols ente
red the interior, the mo
re uninhabitabie the ar
became. ea
And finaIIy, as the nu
mber of runaways increa
sed and the costly
expeditions seemed to
fail in their purpose,
the vaiue of the plan
tations
was Iowered as the inse
curity of their director
s increased.2 Other me
were called for (ENNI: asures
4}7; 420-432; Junker,
1932b; Oudschans Dentz,
1954;
van Panhuys in snw1:152~154).

INDEPENDENCE
At the urging of Govern
or Manricius, and after
the example of the
treaty which the Engi
ish signed with the Ma
roons on Jamaica in 173
9, attempts
were made to reach ag
reements with the “Bush
STaves" of the Saramacc
a River.
In 1749, this tribe of
1600 Saramacca under
chief Adu was deciared
a free
peopTe and given the
right to trade ence a
year at the mouth of
the Wanika
Creek on the Lower Sa
ramacca. They were aT
IOtted a vast territor
y, and in
exchange committed th
emse1ves to return, fo
r a fee, a7} runaway
W slaves who
by detachments among
the reguIar divisions.
recruited directiy fr Its cadre was genereii
om the militia. The co y
125 to 150 privates un rps typica11y numbered
der six minor and'six about
were added to the manpow major conductors. La
ter,
they saw combat against er. Stiii later, such sieves were mannmitted slaves
dispatches. the Bush Negroes. Some were if
mentioned in mi litary
ZLichtveIe & Voorhoeve (1953) have note
Dutch has been reported d that the history of the
gueriiia war with the
point of View of the
Europeans. Although tim aTmost echusiver from the
against the rebels, the e has softened the hatr
ed
Matuari Bush Negro Joha Bush Negre's own vision has been ignored. The
wrote a Negro-Engiish vennes King (1830-1899 ), the "Prophet of the Bu
opment of the societie rsion of the early days of the Maroons, the
sh,"
s, and their major na
of this worh can be foun mes and treaties. A fr de vel»
d in Li ch tv eI d a Voorhoeve (1958:92~1}9 ag me nt
else GottfrIed A. Freytag: ). See
Lebensbild aus der Miss Johannes KIng deg
Buschiand-Pro het. gig
eigenen hefzeichnungen ion der firnaer emeine in Sur1nam. ac seinen
aargesfeifi. aerrnfiutt‘
1§27.

«w..,s_._.._ws., -M»,.
V we. , .. W
 -67...

d such runaway slaves

sought to join them, and to aid the patrols who hunte
Lichtveld & Voorhoeve, l958:
(de Groot, l965; ENWI:153; Junker, l932b:276;

91).
with the Negroes
In the same year, Mauricius tried to nmke peace
failed when the Saramacca killed
of the Upper Surinam River, but this attempt

both his representatives. In 1759 according to Junker (l932b:277), in 1761

(l963:l0~ll), agreements
according to van Panhuys (ENWle53) and de Groot
. Hartsinck reports that:
were reached with the Negroes of the Djuka Creek
ent, and it was
Sixteen Captains of the Negroes signed the documis customary
necessary, in addition to the norma l oath that
Bush Negroes:
among Christians, to swear in the manner of the ies an opening
that is, in the arm of each menb er of both part
caught in a
was made, and the blood streaming therefrom was which the
calabash wherein was water and some earth; after Thereupon
re.
Christians and Negroes all drank from this nfixtu all who would
the priest of the Negroes utter ed the curse upon
11:800. Tr.
break or overstep this contract (Hartsinck, 1770,
ndne).

Hartsinck also tells us:

[white]
The making of this Peace required that each of the Negresses
delegates take unto him one of the comeliest of the the more
for the duration of his visit, that the Peace would be
stren gthened
assured and their faith in the whites be noticeably
thereby (Ibid.:798. Tr. nfine).
Auca, from which the
ENWI claims this treaty was signed at the plantation
‘ language. Junker claims the
tribe of lSOO Djuka took its name in theiuhites
ten days‘ march to the vall
the plantation Auca was the starting point for a
, and that the treaty was signed
of the Djuka Creek, a branch of the Marowine
Djuka supposedly originated
in the valley: (Junker’s view prevails.) The

s, which according
1At the ceremonial giving of gifts to the tribewas
oath repeated.
to treaty took place every fear-years, the blood iated himr-went.
Kappler (1881:236) recalls how the cerem ony-- which infur
was mixed with blood
“The earth (the sacred pembadotti or white pipe clay) n-
Negro chiefs and all the gover
from the right arms only, and all the Bush mixture. This dringi-sweri
ment representatives were expected to drink the nts were given
prese
(blood oath) was repeated until 1842 when the last
(ENWE:l4l. Tr. nfine).
 were led by two chiefs
: Arabi and Pambo. Focke later published
collected in the area a folksong
which supposedly date
s from the treaty pe
riod:
“Angel 139" Pamoo hen semi
hjoesoe: Soeseti: {33 Q593
ajlg‘jgg_kondrede ga‘reti 3 M g:
kaba.“ (Arahi and Pamho
have let it be known:
Society: don't break your hear
t over it: all of yo
ur country is again
orderly and calm.
Focke. l858, in ENWI
:153). In l762, pe
ace was made with
the Saramaoca of the
Upper Surinam, and in
the next few years1
with the
Moesihga or Matuari or
Becoe under chief Moes
inga on the Sarmacca
(Jun River
ker, l932b:279; van
Panhuys in ENWI:l53.
For a thorough discus
the treaties and the sion of
office of post~holde
r, see de Groot, l963
).
In all these treaties
it seems to have been
recognized that the
Moreons were ultimately depe
ndent upon white society fo
r their survival,2
and that either certain go
ods were delivered to
the tribes, or the colo
could expect them to be nists
taken. Every four year
s, 20,000 guilders‘ wo
“presents” were to be rth of
distributed among the
tribes, who in their tu
send hostages to the wh rn had to
ites. The hostages or
ostagiers had to come
lineag from the
e of the Brahman. an
d usually these were
the children of chie
captains, or other Bu fs,
sh Negro notables (E
NNI:54l). Furthermor
e, these agree-
ments determined that the free
Negroes would assist th
e whites whenever
necessary to quell revo
lts on the plantations,
as well as against fore
enemies. That they at ign
tempted to fulfill thes
e provisions was clear
_..c__._.._~_s_..~s
when in

1ENNI claims l7
& Voorhoeve give 1762 63, de Groot says 1767, Junker writes l7
63
has not been definite,lyThoden van Velzeh votes for l768. Clearl , Lichtveld
established, something y, th
much of the data on
the Matuari. which appears to be tre date
ue for
zBut see page 76
.
 178] an English invasion of
the colony was considered
imminent, and forty—
six ostagiers reported for
duty at a stronghold nea
r Nieuw-Amsterdam (van
Panhuys, ENNI:153; Homers,
3861:379).
These agreements have been
variously interpreted. Van Panhuys feats
that the Directors of the
Society of Zeeland surren
dered to a nfisplaced and
erroneous thrift in aTIowing
these treaties to take p1ace:
much of the
c010ny became. for a?! practi
cal purposes, a Reservation.
Junker points out
that even though the Tri
bes were treated as indepe
ndent peop1es, the coloni
sts
were at such a m11itary and
economic impasse that Mauric
ius had Iittle choicet
ENWI reports that after 177
1 there was no longer any att
empt at making con~
tracts with runaways, but tha
t in 1772 a corps of 800 men
was dispatched to
Surinam under Fourgeoud,
who had helped put down the
Great Slave RevoTt in
Berbice (1763-1765), a rev
ott which fatIed partly bec
ause the Negroes coqu
not estabiish themselves
in the Indien-contro11ed
jung1e (ENWI:154; Kesler,
1940b; Junker, 1932b).
In any case, aithaugh the
treaties returned some measur
e of peace
to many areas of Surinam and
ended the period of 1arge-sca
1e revoTts, the
probTem with runaways was
not yet soived. New att
empts were made, new gro
ups
formed in the jungle, and
the colony fought its bit
terest battles of the war
in the next twenty years.

In 1771, the nonmpacified

Cotttca Negroes under the
Ieadershtp of
Ronni, a mixed~bloed, and his
captains Jeff-Coeur and Bar
on, were driven
from their palfsade-surrou
nded stronghoid on the Cet
tica by Fourgeoud‘s
reguTar troops and the “Red
Berets," the cerps of Free
Negroes who were
Iater commended for their
unusual courage. Three or
four hundred Indians
were sent out to destroy
another camp. The Djuka
a1so attacked and destroyed
one of Bonni's settlements,
but in 1780 suddenly made pea
ce with the Bonit
 ey l778 the patrols ce
ased, for Bonni and his
captains had fled to th
e Lana
Riv er, where they were foll
owed by another army gro
up. Although Bonni
had
announced that like the
other tribes he was rea
dy for peace, the Direct
ors
of the Society of Zeelan
d, against the advice of
the Surinam colonists,
gave orders that the Aluk
u or Ronni Negroes were
to be driven out and
destroyed. Finally it was neither
Indians not white soldie
rs who spelled
the end far Bonni: in 1792 he was betrayed
and killed by the Djuka
under
their chief Bambi, with
the help of Bonni‘s own
lieutenant Ascaan. Th
e
Bonni (later Bani after
the French usage) then set
tled at the Marowine
Creek, battled the Tri
o Indians, and even pe
netrated to the anpoc
River~~
which forms the easter
n boundary of cayenne,
or French Guiana~~wher
e their
attack on a French outpos
t was beaten off (de Gro
ot, 1963:75-76; ENWIzl46;
Junker, l932b; Lichtvel
d & Voorhoeve. 1958:l20-
123; van Panhuys in ENW
I:154).
Sir Harry Johnston (l9l0:
l£5) claims that when Bon
ni and Baron
"established their headqu
arters on the Maroweyn Riv
er, ... they obviously
received succour at the han
ds of the French settlers
of cayenne." Hurault
(195l, l965) does not men
tion this possibility, and
Sir Harry does not inferm
us of the sources of his
assertion. He does go on to state:
“As to the
Bush negroes, they were
so completely satisfie
d with their treatment
once
peace was concluded wit
h the Dutch, that they
taught bravely and determ
inedly
against both French and
British to save Guiana for
the Dutch nation“ (lQIO:
l25).
These black refugees as
the French still refer
to the Bani (Hurault
calls them “Moira Réfugiés“
) at some point became “ve
ssels” to the Djukat
Their dependency was de
scribed hy the Djuka Po
stholder Kappler in 185
6 as
follows:
They [the Bani] are kept
Aucans [Djuka] and receiv in a certain state of confinement by the
e needed European articles
through the
 -71-

k for the Bush Negroes

For this they must wor
latter's intervention. ki ng
picking
duv gouts, and, I believe, in no way
fe ll in g tr ee s, ma
[Djuka], Negroes mistrust them,
they ma y
fruit. Since the Bush along the Lower Marneine
,
establishments
make contact with other lowed by the government in Paramariho (de
al
even if this had been ne).
Groot, 1963:80. Tr. mi
rts:
h sources Benjamins repo
From other official Dutc
on the left bank of
37 , it wa s no te d th at the Djuka, living i who lived on
In 18 n ascendancy over the Ban
ai
the Maronine, had a cert ed about 600 souis, as Well as over the
mb er
the right bank and nu ligudu (who were deserted guides and Kommendo
Rebels living on the Pu s living in t e
and over the many Indianuka by a sweri or
Negr oe s, ab ou t 120 sou ls) e Dj
e Boni were tied to th l
Marowine territor . Th to leave their land, to do something harmfu
oath, which forbad e th em runaways, or to
wh it es or the Djuka, to retain of
agai ns t ei th er the
an s. By th e ti me of the Maro ne expedition of
wi
visit the Akuri In di guardianship
e Bon i ha d been released from the
18 60 , ho we ve r, th
l91 5:3 72. Tr. min e). (But see also on. 82—83.)
the Djuka (Benjanfin s,
wine in
s co mb in ed Du tc h~ Fr en ch expedition to the Maro
Not until thi
that
ci al ly de cl ar ed to be free. ENNI reports only
l850 were the Boni of fi
lived under
red wi th the hel p of the Aucans [Djuke], and
they “had been conque
Tr. nfine).
Ancan control" (ENNIz399. French
th e Bon i (a lm os t all of when new live on the
The history of
First is their
ne} br in gs up a nu mb er of puzzling issues.
side of the Marowi
bes had taken
Djo ka; doe s thi s me an that the Treaty Tri
"betrayal" by the
re therefore indee
h wi th the Dut ch to heart, and that they we
their peace oat
lain the official
pu rs ui t of ru na wa ys ? If so, how do we exp
aiding in the
t (l965) which
rep ort s qu ot ed by Be nj emnns (l915) and de Groo
government of
of esc ape es we re re tu rned out of the hundreds
indicate that only dozens cc
y, the im pl ic at io n is that the Bush Negroes wel
sl
slaves who fled? Obviou od of
bu t in wh at ca pa ci ty ? Again, there is the peri
at least some slaves. t into
e Dj uk a, a pe ri od wh ic h seemingly ended withou
Boni "vassalage" to th
, a tit
it e au th or it ie s. Na m this a purification period
vention from the wh B
ectors for
Ma ro on s we re be in g prepared by their prot
span in which thes e
in feudalism which n
? Or was this an experiment
Negrorstyle independence
n
 -72-
discontinued?

One is forced to specui

ate that in the earIy sta
ges of triba1ization,
the unique histohy of
the Maroons must have
impressed upon them the
existence
of severe} different ave
nues of politica1 and eco
nomic development. The
obvious first possibili
ty was slavery. With two
minor exceptions noted
below, the Iiterature does
not mention whether the Tre
aty Tribes ever kept
sieves §§_§lggg§, yet there
is sufficient evidence that
(1) not a?! runaway
slaves were returned, eve
n with the bounty in effect
, and (2) not 311 the
sieves which were kept wer
e of the much«needed femaie
sex. Siaveny as an
institution of stratiffic
ation was, after a1], an
aid concept to these Afr
icans
and their descendants,
and slaveny as a ferm of
punishment had been pra
cticed
by the Maroons before the
ir independence.1 Sy1via
de Groot (1963:78) impiie
in passing that the quka s
Paramount Chief had the
Government's permission
keep the Ben? ensTaved, but to
does not explain this inf
erence. In a single
sentence Wong aiso acknow
ledges Boni slavery:
"The Bani Negroes remain
ed
subjected to the Aucans
as STaVes" (Wong, 1938:3
06. Tr. WfiHE), but ag
ain
there is no further ex
planation as to the for
ms or functions of thi
s relation»
ship.2
There is no doubt that
the Bond were subjecte
d to Djoka control for
some period in their ea
rly history. But in the
Iith of the comparativ
e
m

1For instance,durin the confused las

Revolt of Berbice (1763~ t stage of the Great Sl
been trying to reach an I765§ when Coffy, the chief of the Rebeis (whoave
defeated by his tribal honorable accord with the coiony's governor) washad
enemy, the Negro Atta.
provisions of his deta Coffy had a}? weapons an
suicide rather than let
chment buried
, kflied the Negro lab d
the supplies fa]? into orers and committed
3ieutenant Accara was the Atta's handso Coffy‘s
(Kesier, 1940b). n put towork as a sIaVe in the gar
dens of the Rebels
 -73-
ease with which a Govern
mental commission in 186
1‘s.

0 convinced the Bjuka

to
"cease their control ove
r the movements and act
s of the Boni" (see pag
e 71),
it appears unlikely tha
t any form of servitude
which may have been pra
cticed
in the hush ever approached
a level of dependence whi
ch Westerners stereo»
typically associate with
slavery. Certainly, if any
thing resembling the
conditions of Surinam sla
veny had been perpetrat
ed, it would still be
evidenced in folk tale
and tribal posture. Not
e instead that the Boni
still
live among the Marowine and
among the Djuka.
A second alternative whi
ch may or may not have
been investigated hy
the Treaty Tribes is tha
t of Empire. Certainly
, expansionist societies
were
for from rare in the Afr
ican heritage, and the his
tory of the slave revolt
s
makes it clear that their
failure was often hastened
or brought about by the
leadership's competition
for power. Political expansionism
may also explain
in part the sudden shift
in Djuka orientation fro
m Boni~protector to Boni-
ruler, which was evidenced
in the attack upon Bonni's
camp, his resulting
death. and the new Djuka~
Boni relationship which
I have called "vassalag
e.”
The many writers who mentio
n this incident in the per
iod of tribal—
ization have all credited
either the skill of the
Dutch politicians, or the
respect which the Djuka had
for the letter of the tre
aty, or both. with the
fact of Bonni's removal and
the pacification of the
Bani Maroons. This seems,
if not an ethnocentric,
then at least a superfici
al explanation. The bas
ic
facts are as follows:

The Boni Maroons had been

a threat to the Colony for
years; even the
French had lodged complaint
s with the government; the
Djuka and the Boni had
sworn a peace—pact by blood
oath (gringi:§§g§i); fearing
a coalition of the
groups and a return to war
fare, the Dutch government
pressed the Djoke to
honor the treaty and attack
Bonni; the Djuka avoided any
such action; the
 -74-
Bani attacked, plundered and
burned Anderblauw,a viliage on
the Sara Creek;
Bonni’s lieutenant schemed wit
h the Djnka to bring Bonni dow
n; and finally a
small fljuka group attacked the
Bani, burned their villages,
and killed their
chiefs Bonni and Cormantine
Codjo (Wong, l938:304~306).
If at first glance
these items add up to the imp
ressive fact of the combined
effect of the treaty
obligations and lust for rev
enge of the Djuka, the follow
ing considerations
should lay such interpretati
ons to rest: (1) Anderblauw
was composed of
people who had run away from
their ancestral Djoka villag
es to escape
punishments for such crimes
as poisoning and witchcraf
t, and was thus in fact
a village of hated outcasts;
(2) the Boni abided by the gri
ngirgwegi by
raiding no villages except thi
s one of "stateiess persons";
and (3) nowhere
are the Djuko reported to
ever have justified their
subjugation of the Boni
on the basis of Anderblauw.
There is thus a case to be
made for the propo-
sition that a culture which
was partly derived from the
expansionist societies
of West Africa may have experi
mented with expensionism in the
Surinam bush.
If there is a startling aspect
to this, it lies not in the rat
her obvious
suggestion, but in the fac
t that it apparently has not
been made before:
A third alternative, relate
d to that of "empire," is
that of
stratification. Boundary
maintenance was forced upo
n the Bush Negro community
for a number of reasons. The fact that Maroon and Creole
societies developed
in different environments and
in different directions made
the closing of the
bush to further newcomers
necessary.
It is possible that Maroons
were hunted oy the Treaty
Tribes and
returned to their masters;
it is possible that they wer
e reuenslaved by bush
blacks; but it is more likely
that they may have formed a
welcome lower
class, a group to be pitied
, a mirror for comparison,
an outlet for pateru
nalistic or exploitive urg
es. In short, the possibili
ty exists that to the
 -75-

oons were welcomed

tri bes ~~e spe cia lly to the Djukav-the later Mar
established
with us.“
as “the Poor who are always
onship between the
a fac tor may hav e bee n involved in the relati
Such
the area of
?ar ama cca , a sma ll tri be now living in and near
Djuka and the
upstream as well
Lan gat abi ki in the Ma rowine River, surrounded
the island
writers mention
m by Dju ka. The ir ori gin is not clear, and few
as downstrea
(l9l5:385)
con tra cts we re sig ned with thong which Benjanfins
it. No pea ce
h Negro tribe after
tes tha t the gro up Sep arated from a major Bus
felt indica
t territory in
I {l5 5) rep ort s tha t the y settled in their presen
l838. ENW
their chief Apehsa
t the y the n num ber ed about ninety, and that
1879, tha
and lgll, quoted by
. Colonial reports of 1909
converted to Christianity
sort of riff-raft).
ins , ref er to the m as “eene soort uitschot“ (a
Benjam
ing
ans men tio ns th em at all , and the recent writ
None of the early Americ
0. In short,
aul t (l9 65z ll) est ima tes thatthey developed around l82
of Hur
inadequately described.
the Paramaoca appear to be
Paramacca
ent that can be made about
The host consittent statem
al re~
m the wo rk of Wo ng (19 38:326-327), whose archiv
history derives fro
official
tin gs of var iou s gov ern ment Postholders and other
search in the wri
orts that
rie s ind ica tes a hig h degree of validity. He rep
journals and dia
but that the
esc ape d dur ing the sam e are as the oldest Djuka,
the Paramacca
Instead, they
the ori gin al set tle men t along the Djuka creek.
never joined
ary to the
r own gog grg 'el oog the Parahecca creek, a tribut
founded th ei
isolation, except for an
There they remained in
distant Upper Marowine.
about l830,
l Reb el (an y run awa y aft er the Treaties) visit until
occasiona
ama cca sou ght out the Djuka in order to ascertai
when a small party of Par
whites.
cou ld be tru ste d no t to hand them over to the
whether the latter
the’
wo ul d no t be bet ray ed, the whole tribe moved to
Satisfied that the y
 -75..

of the Marooine, where they wer

e reported by various officiais
in the
1830‘s. It thus appears that the Paramacca
are not recent Rebeis, but old
Maroons. a Bush Negro tribe which
was overiooked in the treaties pro
habiy
because their very isolation suc
ceeded in preventing confiict
between them
and the coiony. But this explanation brings up
as many questions as it
answers.
First is that of the survival of
the Paramacca in the johgies for
neariy’a century without the tra
de in necessary items such as sai
t and iron
artifacts. Supposediy the utter dependenc
e of the Treaty Tribes upon the
se
goods from the coiony‘s coast
led to the willingness of the
tribes to enter
into the treaties in the first pie
ce. Nevertheless it now appears that
at
least one group of Bush Negroe
s was so isolated that normal
trade in such
necessities wouid have been imposs
ibie: neither the whites nor the Djoka
knew where the Paramacca countr
y lay:
Second is that of the change fro
m isotation to interdependence
with
the Djuka. If the Paramacca man
aged to survive on their own for
neariy a
hundred'years, why did they‘sudd
eniy feei the need to ieave home
and live
: among strangers? was it popuia
tion pressure? Dfiet deficiency?
If so, why
did they join the Djuka rather
than find another river of the
ir own? Why.
in short, the renunciation of iso
iated independence?
Finally, there is the‘question”of
‘the“acceptance of aiiens in the
middie of Bjuka territory. The Djuka could easiiy have reiega
ted the
Paramacca to another tributary of
the Merowine, or at least have aii
owed
them to settle outside of the act
ualiy Djuka—occupied terrain.
Instead we
see the Paramacca safeiy enscon
ced-~isoiated from all but Djuka
contacts-~
in the middie of the Marowine Riv
er. There must have been some reward
in
this situation for the Djuka.
Power relations are impiicit in
the fact of
 -77-

Paramacca‘s life styl

e was beiow that of
the dominant fljoka;
the lack of
information on than
generally wouid supp
ort the hypothesis th
at even now
they are more isolated
than their Marowine ne
ighbors. One is ieft
suspicion that at some with the
time the Paramacce fo
rmed if not quite a mi
nority
group, then at least a
lower ciass in some almo
st successfu] attempt
social stratification. at

One factor can be agreed

upon1 for its saliency:
the variou
s tribes
Which were ancestral
to todeyis Bush Negr
o societies develope
d their structure
in strict privacy. Th
e Government preferre
d to keep the tribes
isoiated for
fear of revoits (de Gr
oot, 1963), and this
resulted in an extrem
e paucity of
information from the bush untii
the 1840’s. 3y that time, whatever so
ciai

lost to history.

FEDERATION

Three factors were resp

onsibie for the end of
Bush Negro isoiation:
(I) the migratory moveme
nts of the Djuka, (2) th
e continuation of sieve
escapes and the format
ion of new Maroon communitie
s, and (3) the unrest
among Surinam sieveS‘es
the resuit of the Britis
h (1834) and French (T84
emancipation of slaves 8)
in the Guianes borderin
g Surinam.
‘(i) Since the peace of
1761, the government tr
ied to contra] the
movement of the Djuka, espe
cially to keep them ou
t of the piantation re
gion

more especialiy true

for their present-da
tribaiization. y position than for th
e period of
 .. 78..

on the Cottica and Comm

ewine Rivers. The Djuk
a smuggled both with th
slaves and with the Maro e
ons, eroding the control
of the government and th
plantation directors, as e
well as the territory of
the colony (de Great. 196
Junker, 1942; Benjamins, l9l 5;
5).
(2) Although major uprisi
ngs had halted with the
peace treaty of l76l,
there was a continual
loss of profits throug
h runaways, and outlyi
ng planta-
tions continued to be pe
stered hy Maroon thefts,
assaults, robberies, and
kidnappings. The Bush Neg
roes, especially the Dju
ka, were committed to
return any runaways wh
o joined them, but thi
s rule was honored mor
e in the
breach than in the observ
ation. And if the Bush Negroes
did not discourage
the formation of non-pa
cified or Maroon groupi
ngs, then the very exis
tence of
such societies must hav
e been a magnet'for‘diss
etiSfied slaves
(3) And dissatisfication
there was, even though the
treatment of slaves
in the colony dramatical
ly improved. Conditions
had changed; During the
Dutch~£nglish war with Fra
nce, the British occupied
the western portions of
Netherlands Guiana to protec
t it against the French
. A year later, the
British busily built pla
ntations aiong the Nicker
ie coast; in l799 all of
Surinam was put under the
protection of George III,
King of England; in l804
the British occupied all
of Netherlands Guiana; in
lalu the Netherlands were
annexed hy France; afte
r the defeat of Napole
on, Surinam was return
ed to
Holland by the British, but
not the colonies Demarary
Essequibo, and Berbice~~
which in 1816 became perman
ent British possessions (un
til their independence
as ggxggg in 1966). Now there were three coloni
es along the Guiana coast,
and three slave tradition
s. When in 1834 British Guiana
abolished slavery,
the Surinam slaves eXpect
ed to be released too.
By l836, a Creole slave
named Colin led a slave reb
ellion against the Englis
h planters in the Surinam
District of Coronie (Voorh
oeve & van Renselaar, l96
2). av 1838, great
 numbers of slaves gave
vent to their disappoi
ntment by running away,
semetimes to Demarany,
sometimes just to the
bush. In 1848, French
Guiana
a1so abo1ished sIaveny, and
s1aves became scarce.
In the 1830's it thus
became necessary to re
new the peace contract
with the various “Pacified s
Bush Negroes.“ In 1835.
new agreements were
made with the Saramacca,
in 1837 with the Djuka,
and in 1838 with the Becu
and Musinga Negroes: the
Matuari. The comp1ete tex
t of these lengthy
documents was made puin
c by Benjamins in 1915.
The treaties are simi1a
r
but not identicaT: the
re are 23 Artie1es in the
Saramacca, 27 in the Dju
ka,
and 22 in the Matuari tre
aty. The major points conceded
hy the Bush Negroes
were the northern border
s of the tribes (no c1os
er than "two days hy riv
from certain specified er"
Army posts); a census of peo
p1e and rif1es; bounti
on s1aves returned, and es
a disc1aimer of the 01d
bounty on k111ed runaways;
quota 1im1t on the number a
of Bush Negroes who cou1d
visit Paramaribo at any
one time (15 for the Matuar
i, 30 for the Saramacca,
and 40 for the Djuka);
etc. (Benjamins, 1915; de
Great, 1965).
Three important new dev
e1opments were agreed to:
(1) Henceforth,
each tribe would suffer a
representative of the gov
ernment to 1ive in its
midst. This Postho'lder1 was to
check the comp1iance of
a11 ru1es, co11ect
runaway s1aves, interpret
the government‘s directive
s, be a go—hetween for
W

IUs
ua11y the PosthoIders wer
individua1s who exercised e retired mi1itany person
1it t1e 1nf 1uence on the tribe. The
ne1, uneducated
among the Djuka (on1y) had Postho1der
the repea1 of slavery. no an assistant whose t1t1e was B1 1e er. Since
more Posthquers were ass
the exception of the per
iod 1919-1926, igned : 9), with
among the Marowine River when h. F. van Lier was
Postho
con Djuka.
tinued in 1926, had made pos Thi s exp erimenta1 position, though 1der
sib1e the co11ectfo dis-
on the Djuka, culminating n of a vast be of data
e1aborate1y detailed accounin van Lier‘s "Aanteekehingeh..." (1940 . An
the Djuka and Bani, and t of the Postho1ders, their
with their own superiors re1ationships with
1 63. , can be found in de Gre
at,
 -80-
the Grenmans, etc.
(2) The four~yearly
presents which the Du
tch had in the
past delivered to the
tribes were henceforth
to be collected in Para
by two Captains (village maribo
chiefs) for each trib
e, to be shipped sepa
each chie rately to
f and Granmen, and to
be distributed by them
under the agreement
that none of the good
s would be given or
traded to slaves or
runaways. This
was considered a major
advantage by the Dutch.
(3) Although it contin
to be the tribe‘s own ued
affair whom it would se
lect to succeed a dece
Granman or Paramount Ch ased
ief, henceforth at the
death of the incumbent
official badges of gove his
rnment office, the Bato
n and Brassard, were to
returned immediately to be
the government, and wo
uld be conferred on hi
only upon official conf s successor
irmation hy the govern
ment, without whose ap
tribe would select anot proval the
her Granmen (Benjanfins,
lQlS).
These latter three co
ncessions in effect
reincorporate the th
tribes into the Surina ree
m community, and as su
ch, the treaties of th
begin a new era in Bush e 1830‘s
Negro history.
There were some meaningf
ul differences among th
e three treaties. The
l837 Djuka treaty stip
ulated:
8. They continue as
Rebels of 1835 [Parambe fore to guarantee to
eccaij will not act the government that
the
directly or indirectly
oath sworn with the
Rebels; and then the
be demanded of them-~ Auca
in all ways aid the wh ns wiil~-should such
ment should decide to ites, and if the gove
rn~
remain neutral, and ne attack the Rebels, then the Aucens will
it
that the Bani Negroes wi her hinder nor help; further, they guaran
il never act against th te
properties, nor freq
uent any of the colo e whites or their e
1915:376. Tr. mine). ny's districts (Benja
mins,
Note here that the Djuk
a are considered respon
sible for the Boni and
flhname the
d "Rebels of 1835“ an
d that the Bani are st
ill viewed with susp
if not hostility. Th icion
is must he understood
in any explanation of
the Boni‘s
decision in 1892 to co
nsider themselves Fren
ch subjects.
 -8] ..

0f the Djuka the treaty further

required:
9. Likewise in accordance
with the promises alread
Government's demand they wii y made, on the
necessary to kiii the sieve i undert ake to attack. catch, and
com ple men if
they may have revoited;_an ts on whatever piantetions
sieves from mixing with
d always to prevent the reb
the Rebeis or Boni Negroe eiiious
1915:376. Tr. mine). s (Benjamflns,

It was obviously planned

that the new treaties wou
ld see] the Surinem
bush to would-be escapees
in the same way that the pac
ified Indians had
forbidden the jungles of Ber
nice in the previous centur
y. Whether this
effect was achieved is deb
atable. De Groot (1965:145
) reports that Bush
Patrois after runaways were
continued until 1850, and
that most of these
posses were mounted by the
§§325_Vrignegers (the Free
Negro Corps) or by the
Bush Negroes. She indicates
further that a great deai
of confusion surrounded
the status of such Bush Neg
ro patrols, which as much
as any other factor may
expiain their cessation.

Regardiess of whether or
not the Djuka purposefuiiy
circumvented,
misinterpreted, or foiiowed
the directives of Articles
8 and 9, in effect
their treaty recognized the
m as the dominant Bush Negro
group insofar as
colonic? politics was concer
ned. It is possible that its
impiied Dutch~Djuka
military alliance”nay eve
ntuaiiy have affected rel
ations between the Djuka
and other tribes. It is
not necessary to suppose,
however, that Djuke per-
ceptions of the whites and
their worid would therefore
become measurably
more ienient than those
of the Boni or the Sarama
cca: the very fact of
increased contact, under
the rather demeaning con
ditions with which that
contact took place must hav
e been instrumental in enc
ouraging Dicks insularity.
There is no direct evidence
to boister these speculations
. Stiii, the higher
"visiting quote," the greate
r complexity cite}; agreement
s with the Djuka,
and their propinquity to the
whites cannot have been wit
hout effect.
It appears that the major
worry which the Djuke cau
sed was brought
 -82-

the
on by their habit of settiing near trading centers, which hindered
effectiveness of piantation adndnistration. No efforts to cause them to

return to their isoiated tribai grounds succeeded, and from 1845 to 7863
to settie
efferts were directed to teaching the migratory groups of Djuka

in the region of the Upper Cottica. It was expected that the abundant

hardwood forests here would encourage them to take up a more sedentary

into the
lifeway, and that the lumber trade wouid not only integrate them
coiony (the
community, but would privide a much—needed labor force for the

slave trade having been aboiished in 1808). This pian, too. failed. A
a pass
liberaiization of the regulations on trade and traders, coupied with
in the
or iicense system for Bush Negro movement was institutediin 1856,
hopes that this wouid make the Djuka or other tribesmen more amenabie to
economic integration. This final attempt had as iittie success as the

earlier ones.
ng
In October 1850, a commission was sent to the Djuka Grenman regardi

the “illegai or at Teast superannuated" contra} which the Djuka maintained

over the Boni. The major tasks of the nfission were the foliowing:

§_To tei] the Boni that ali that had happened with their ancestors
was now forgotten; that from this moment on, the privileges of aii
Bush Negroes are extended to them; and that consequentiy they are
subject to the Djuka, but their equais.
Q_To teli the chief of the Djoka, Byman, in the presence of his
Captains, that they, in accordance with subject a, are released
from e11 reai or imagined responsibiiities regarding the movements
and acts of the Boni Negroes, and may not keep them [Boni] in a
subject position.

§_To invite the Djuka as weii as the Boni to settie closer to the
deveioped portion of the colony, with the assurance that, after
receiving permission from the Government, they wouid be aiiowed
to build on Domain territory (in de Groot, 1963:82. Tr. mine).
tions wit?
After considerable and stubborn resistance, inc1uding three divina
Paramount Chiei
chicken entraiis which found for the coemfission, the furious
 -33-

ip to the
ac ce pt th e re co nnendations. A tr
convinced to
Symon was finally Dutchmen to
from suspicion of the
the Boni attitude
Lowe soon changed uka reprisals.
in es s, te mp er ed only by fear of Dj
and happ
acknowledged relief as useful
ught the colony
ha d be en to sp read the Bani thro
The plan e. They
fo rt s to the Bani in Cayenn
ke ep
French bent all ef
laborers. But the work on
nd in g th em br id es , hired Boni men to
by se
even helped the Boni s along the Lane Ri
ver,
r ow n co nc es si on
assigned them thei
French piantations, er eas Surinam had no
t.
he d sl av er y, wh
Cayenne had abolis
and emphasized that lcomed the Bani, an
d
s an d pr ie st s we
ne French hospital
On the Lower Marowi spute between the
two
e l8 91 bo rd er di
r III arbitrated th
when Czar Alexande ft bank of the Marowi
ne
e La ne an d th e le
of Sorinam, and th
colonies in favor their own reeognit
ion~~
th er e we re -v ap on
h, the Boni living
were declared Dutc de Groot, 1963:75~88
;
6;
be lo ng to Fr en ch Guyana (ENWI, 152-16
considered to
1955). e in to
he d in So ri na m; a period of declin
s abolis
In 1863, slavery wa s who
on s we re bo ug ht by the very ex-sleve
many plantati
plantations began; adennc
Bu sh Ne gr o pr ob le m became largely ac
ere; and the
once had labored th ay Fortman, 1931;
634-643; do Ga
t, l9 65 ; EN NI :l l?—138; l52~166;
(de Groo
er, 1932b).
Getrouw, 1953; Junk ntury. As
s la rg el y ig no re d for most of a ce
wa
Again the bushland lifted,
h fo ll ow ed th e ab olition of slavery
sion whic
the economic depres rce for the
ea te a su it ab le non-slave labor fo
d to cr
efforts were mounte d bEi
of Cayenne and British Guiana it ha
plantations. From the experience
in no mood
th at th e em an ci pa ted Negroes would be
ted
(correctly) anticipa l853 unde
free immigr ants imported in
tions. The first
stay on the planta ed by 2
e fr mm aa av a. These were follow
t were 18 Chines
plantation—contrac in 1858.
«5 4, an d 50 0 Ch inese from China
deira in 1853
innngrants from Ma
 -84...

Free co1onization was effered next; this was net sufficient to create the
necessary 1abor force. The Chinese government a110wed the recruitment of

immigrant labor eniy in Canton, FooaChow, Amey, and Shanghai. In 1856—1869,

another 1,828 Chinese entered the coiony, but then China and Eng1and c1osed

their ports to this emigration, as did Macao in 1874. Most of the Chinese

stayed in Surinam; a few returned to China. In 1873~1B74, another 100

Java~Chinese were introduced, but mest of these returned to Java when

their contracts were fu1fi11ed. Their main prob1em was the 8 to 1 sex ratio.
Sne11eman emphasizes that the Chinese were the most efficient 1aborers in

both the East and West Indies, but it was feared they wou1d “fiend the

co1ony" (ENWI:373—380; Sne11eman, 1921).

By 1869, there were in Surinam 46 British East Indians, or Hind~

ustani, who arrived from British Guiana, foiiowed hy another 24 from the

West Indies in 1870. A treaty with Great Britain, ratified in 1872, a11owed

the Dutch to recruit 1aborers in India, which resuited in the immfigration

of 2,5d1 Hindustani in 1873. Unfertunateiy, the Hindustani suffered from

an extreme disease and death rate: ENNI reports the 1atter at 17.25 per
100 in 1873, c1imhing to 18.54 per 100 in 1874. so that the British tempor-
ariiy prohibited emigration to Surinam. Most of the Hindustani were not

capab1e of fie1d 1aber; seven out of eight be1onged to castes which knew no
such 1abor or were from p1aces where agricu1ture cou1d not be practiced. But
after 1876, the hea1th factor among the Hindustani improved measurab1y
(deaths 4.27 per 100) and another 300 were introduced in 1877. In 1878,
their immigration was again approved by Great Britain, and by 1910 they
numbered 30,000*(ENMI:373—380).

Meanwhi1e, 94 Javanese were introduced after iong governmentai

hesitation in 1891. These proved to be good workers, and 11,000 entered
 -85...

Surinam as five~year contract iaborers

by lQlO. In the l87G's and '80‘s,
some 2,600 laborers were brought over
from the Dutch West Indies (Aruba,
Bonaire. St. Martin. and Curazao) as well
as Barbados, but almost all of
these returned to their islands (ENWI:379).
Surinam changed. The immigrants lent renewed vigor to the
economy,
and the proliferation of viewpoints
and culture~contacts led to removed
intellectual vigor. Surinam now had Hindus and Moslems, Jews
and Christians,
Confucianists and Taoists, as well as vari
ous Amerindian and Bush Negro
pagans. Most of the time, self~oonscious
separatism was the ruie fOr all
those peoples: Surinam is a cultural quil
t. not a melting pot.
With the twentieth century came an era
of expioration of the colony,
and numerous expeditions set out for ail
corners of Surinam. Traffic on the
rivers increased as the forests were fina
lly being harvested. Since the
Bush Negroes alone knew the rivers and
were superb boatmen. measures to
enlist their aid in the new transportati
on problem were soon forthcoming.
In 1909, Osesi, Granmao of the Djuka,
signed a complex agreement
regarding Djuka laborers and the river tran
sportation of persons and goods
on the Marowine. Tapanahoni. and Lawa Rive
rs and their tributaries. In l912,
a simpler transportation agreement was made
with the Matuari; in l913 a
similar agreement was reached with the Djuk
a of the Upper Coppename; and in
1914 the Government ratified an earlier
transportation treaty with represen«
tatives of the Saramacca tribe. Again, no account was taken of either the
Bani or the Paramacca (Benjamins. l915:401
-404; 407-410).
Slowly the isolation of the tribes was redu
ced. Trade and relations
with the City increased. More missionaries. traders. medical men,
and
ethnographers became interested in "America
‘s Africans." The implication of
the treaties of the 1830's became realized
: the Bush Negroes were-«with or
 -86‘

without their. volition-«becoming a part of the cunura‘! kaleidoscope that

is Surinam.

WWW»- MW « merw‘» unwm .N M , r,

 CHAPTER V
ORIGINS
“No exhaustive study has been made of the Awka [Djuka] tribe,
but what materiai there is suggests a predominating African
cuiture from Southern Nigeria.”
Herskovits & Herskovits‘ 1934:348
"It is not possibie to determine particular African tribes
among the Bush Negro tribes of today."
van Pannuys, ENNI:I46 (Tr. mine)
THE SEARCH FOR ANTECEDENTS
It is possibie to go farther than van Panhuys and to state that any
attempt to find causative reiationship between seventeinth century African
traits and twentieth century Bosh Negro traits must be doomed to faiiure.
The reasons are that (1) our ethnoiogicai knowledge of seventeenth century
West Africa is inadequate for comparative purposes; (2) Bush Negro cuiture
history incorporates contact with Indians, Europeans, and others; (3) Bush
Negro cuitures are most definitely gg§_static African survivaIs. but adaptive
and adapting systems; and (4) paraliei developments cannot be ruled out.
To those eariy students who hoped to be ahie to expiain Bush Negro
behavior on the basis of a knowledge of West African coitures, or converseiy,
who hoped that knowiedge about the Bush Negroes would iiiunfinate Africa-as-
it—once-was, it might have been pointed out that pizza pariors and chop suey
joints in Chicago throw little light on American culture roots and none on
nineteenth century Itaiy or China.
This does g9§_mean that history is bunk, or even that it is irrele—
vant. It gogg‘mean that history is a psycho-culture] phenomenon: the
gerception of an historicai fact is independent of its veridicaiity, and
this perception is cuiture-specific. Also, whether or not a perceived
~87...
 -33-
individual, ciass,
is a function of
behaviorally‘vaiid
historic datum is es sIavery is
ct of United Stat
factors: the historical fa
or even temporal
who have neither
haviora11ywreiev ant datum to peopIe
in this decade a be ites,
groes than for wh
re re1evant for he
aves, but it is mo d
owned nor been sI or and undereducate
the old, for the po
the young than for
more reTevant for reformers.
tionaries than for
sfuI, and for revolu
than for the succes to Africa,
as closely related
es View themseires
The Bush Negro trib
cred languages,
that continent~in sa
r cu1tnra] ties with
they emphasize thei gion, But it is
in legends and reli
of African names,
in the continuation psychoIogically
are cuitural1y and
nore the fact that they
not possibIe to ig are not
ianan people, they
oes, they are a Gh
unique: they are gosh Negr
Africans.
PHYSICAL DERIVAIIONS ntains numerous
Yiterature on Snrinam siavery co
The older Dutch
backgrounds were
om certain African
that the Negroes fr
hints to the effect reement
s very Titt1e ag
and that there wa
ose from others, her
preferred over th
to another. In ot
on‘s slave-owners
ces from one nati
on these preferen mobiTes
any more than auto
as all of.a kind,
re not perceived
words, slaves we
are today. ib es“ were
ra, in Surinam four
teen “castes or trph ysi cal
According to Teenst intermingled, many
hough these have can say with
distinguished. Mt extent that one e1 descrip~
retained to the
types have been s from African travcoionies
basis of photograph
certainty, on the ibes some hegroes in the West Indiant such were
tions, to which tr ed, impossibie, bu
ty debatable, inde ne the triba1 origin of the
beTonge [Extreme 19 17 .] At one ti in g or other
ta tt oo
the perceptions of e Ianguage, the dy Tabor
determined by th d be forced to stea
slaves could be
Not a11 tribes coui ure or a trade.
tribai markings. nor did a11 equa11y accept agricuit eteit dated
with equa1 ease, ctors of the Soci
Ietter to the Dire of the “excessive maiignity“
Van Aerssen, in a ed Ko lo ni e
aTready complain §.
Dctober 3, 1686, es e Te en st ra (§§_Landbonw in'§ r tr ad ts of
of the Calabari slav ac te
84 ) gi ve s a summary of the char ed to be stupid,
Suriname, 11:179v1ibes. The Dumaku
ku were consider and it was
the difterent tr nd to be cannibaTs, s1ave
abte; they were ha
wi1d, and nnmanage dug~up corpses. Whether the female
said they even ate
 -39-
butche red,
having htiiede, is not
to death for to this trib
1837 was put »
Semire(who in ten a Negro giri) belongedtribai scars on their fore ry
and partly ea e of swoiien on the contra
e men, becaus be very ugiy; the women
certain. Th
nsidered to of all sieves
. Because ofa
heads, were coto be the most beautiful name dnmakuku has become fig
were thought e maies, the eiingen over
ristics of th rinam. A. Biom (Verhana t at the
the characte “ says
briquet in Su ’
derogatory so
wiidering
iters add a be
r by other wr
ntioned furthe re
The tribes me the sieves we
s from which
of the harbor ,
s, many those ps, Kongoans
number of name v—Fanti grou
be determined
s far as can speakers.
inciuding-wa , Ewe and Tni
shipped, but weii as Yoruba
Bornuans, as
Ashanti, and ich the Dutch
Fuiani; Ibo; town names wh
e tribal and
eiling of thes
The random sh
nfusing. origins when
extremeiy co
practiced is the probiem of
iy compounds
916) indirect
Van Capeiie (1
e
he writes: t, Congo, an
d Sudan as th t
rges
the Said Coas by far the la
thors report certain that (1916:239. Tr.
While many au in, it appears to be Coast ...
ig
regions of orsieves came from the Gold
part of the
nfine).
es: to
and Tater stat so have sent
Negro sieves 1652,
in
pots must al of Parham [hiiioughby3 ofitabie
ish sieve de
But the Engi ciaiiy when the arrivai colony to pursue the pr s in
Surinam, espe coionists settied in our en Surinam wa
many Engiish the period wh 0. Tr. mine).
io n, an d not least in 6) (1 91 6: 24
sugar coitivat ..1799-1802...1804a181
(. naged
British hands‘ ioned have ma
sinckian Teenstra ment
d'
pennies Hart trib«
None of the tribes or sub-
of Bush Negro
in the names tribe
can identities ramacca subu
maintain Afri o non’form a Sa
e Loango; wh
ception is th a sub-tribe,
The singie ex her Saramace
e'Bahomey“ ningre, anot
an Rioi. Th th
(aiong the Gr iaiists rather
reiigious spec
scendants of
composed of de
appears to be
slaves. aders,
of Dahomean the Dutch tr
r slaves from
usoa11y bought thei
The Eng1ish‘
 .90-
until they achieved their own slave depots on the Gambia River (1618.
l664) and the Gold Coast (1618, l626, l668). A lively slave trade ensued
with Sierra Leone, western Liberia, and the countries of the Upper Niger.
The Surinam Jews had their own representatives in Sierra Leone, on the
Gambia River and in other West African areas, and were middlemen in the
slave trade until the repeal of slavery (van Capella, 1916; Johnston,
1910:112).
Among the first English students of the Negro in the New World
and among the first searchers for African origins, Sir Harry H. Johnston
noted that terms such as "Koromanti" or Cormantyne“ [also Kromanti] and
"Mines" referred to slaves obtained from the Dutch forts of Cormantijne
near Cape Coast Castle, and El Mina. He assigns to the Koromanti the
prominent role in slave revolts (l910:lll) and mentions that the name
Bonni or Boni “derived from the now—British settlement of Bonny or Obani.
in the Niger Delta“ (l910:125).
Herskovits (1933) traced a number of connections between terms
in the bush and in Africa. From these he deduced the existence of
Ashanti; Dahomey; Fanti, Togolese, Yoruban, Ewe, and other linguistic and
tribal ancestries, and determdned that the Saramacca were predominantly
of Ashanti origin, and that Ashanti were probably the most commonly en—
"coontered”ancestors of Bush and Creole Negroes in Sorinam. Considering
the fact that'tne Dutch for two centuries controlled the Gold Coast, this
is not surprising; Nevertheless, it must be pointed out that during the
very period when the first saltwater Maroon5”5et up the first Bush Negro
societies (around 1625-3725), the Dutch were at the zenith of power in
Africa and for a time monopolized the whole coast from Senegal to Bongo.
Their:primany interest was the slave trade, and since the territory
 -91-
"be1onged" to the East Indian Company, aTmost all s1aves bought in Africa
were sent to Dutch possessions. It is thus most improbable that the
Ashanti would have been so numericaIiy dominant as to determine the
cultural evolution of the Bush Negro societies, unless “Ashanti” is to be
considered a supratrfibat generic 1abelo It is possihie, of course, that
the Ashanti were important beyond their number by becoming the “sty1e~
setters" and/or decision-making é1ite among the Maroons. Certainly there
is as much reason to argue for such dominance by other groups: the Loango
were found to escape more often than slaves from other tribes (see B1om,
above), while the Papa Negroes seem to have left their mark on the dominant
religion in Pagagadu (Papa 60d) and Page Sneki (a venerated Surinam boa).
In her introduction to "The New Wor1d Negro“ (M. J. Rerskovits,
1966), Frances S. Herskovits reports:
In the Guiana Bush, among the Saramacca peopies [sic], he saw, as
he often ton his students, nearIy oil of Western sub-Saharan
Africa represented, from what is now M31? to Loanga and on into
the Congas..(1966:vii).
An Engiish~ianguage circular suppTied by the Surinam Government (n.d.) c1aims
probable Ashanti donfinance in Bush Negro ancestry on the basis of
Herskovtts' conc1usions:
Recently the French Africanist and ethnographer of the Bani, Horault,
was aiso struck by the physical makeup of the tribes:
If the Bush Negroes do not represent a [separate] race in the
strictest sense of that term, compared with the other black
popuTations of Amerioa they nevertheless give a striking impression
of physics] homogeneity. In fact, it must be noted that they
possess virtually exclusively African genes: MuTattoes were rare
on the p1antations of eighteenth century Surinam. Documents of
that age attest that most mulattoesv—because'they were more suscep—
tibie to malaria than the reguTar hiacks——were emp1oyed in
Paramaribo: they must have had few chances to escape, and even
fewer could have withstood the unusua} rigors of Rebel Iife. Seen
as representattVes of the African Macro-race, the Bush Negroes can
thus be considered to constitute a homogeneous popu1ation. This
observation in confirmed by a stony of their demography. which shows
 .92-
er
te different from those of oth
we11~defined characteristics qui of
is illuminated by the study
ethnic groups, a feet which
1:12. Tr, mine)-
their pathology (Hurauit, 196
n, any
interested in 311 things Africa
The Bush Negroes themselves,
m areas in
concepts and even behaviors fro
have acquired words and names,
rican tribal—
territories, and after their Ame
Africa beyond their ancestraI
ns a Djuka who named his infant
ization. For exampTe, Kfibben (1968) mentio
asked of Kobben: "But who is the rea1 Lumumba
son “Lumenba,” but who once
actually?“ (Kfibben, 1968:65),
EL DORADO REViSITED: MYTHOS AND ETHOS
s of the
for the psycho—socieT origin
At this 1ate date, a search
ristic but
but fruitless, a probab1y heu
Bush cultures is fascinating
es, and
certainTy pointIess quest. There are no documented genea1ogi
lain present
nor government publications exp
neither sieve ship manifests
1ves have no
ormations. The peoples themse
conditions or culturai transf
bush, and
the first generation in the
orai histories reaching beyond
their nanes.
these ancestors left nothing but
As
inspires African apoiogists.
Yet the tribes' Genesis still
distinctiveiy
t insists that he recognizes
have others before him, HureUI
s, even whiTe
al types among the Bush Negroe
Dahomean and Ivory Coast physic
slaves. He
ity of backgrounds of Surinam
acknowledging the great divers
pment of the
tor was invo1ved in the deveIo
'exp1ains that a se1ective fac
e to join
pes" among the‘s‘aves couid hop
*tribes: onTy reai “survival-ty
ive-that
on1y members of the most combat
the Maroon gueri13es; therefore
a fair
as the Coromantine (Ashanti) had
is, 1argest-—African groups, such
gene pool (HurauTt, 1961:12).
chance of adding to the tribal
for
on is, it is open to argument
Attractive though such a positi
descriptions
in its support. ‘The foregoing
some of the very reasons given
 -93-
S. counterparts,
demonstrate that Surinam planters, uniike their U“
of (presumed or
expiicitly differentiated between Negroes on the basis
differences
reai) tractabiiity and "maiignity,“ that they perceived such
that for certain
as a function of the slaves‘ regional background, and
n sieves. It
purposes Negro sieves were not considered superior to India
age as most
foiiows iogicaiiy that the slaves defined on the basis or herit
probabiy troublesome or stupid (read: “culturaiiy different") (1) wouid
wouid be nest
bé cheapest, least veined, and most brutaiiy expioited; (2)
est (that is
iikeiy to work at the ieast attractive jobs on the rough
styie and the
deepest inland) piantations; (3) would have the Towest iife
motivation and opportunity
shortest Tife span; (4) wouid have the greatest
s, from hunting-and~
to rebei and/or escape. Therefore saitwater slave
most 1ike1y escapees, and
gathering societies in Africa, most have been the
Maroons.
the host iikeiy guides on scouts for large groups of
ving Bush cultures
If such people ieft Tess of an imprint on the survi
ti, this cannot
than did the descendants of High cultures such as the Ashan
y among the eariy
be interpreted as proof of their numerical inferiorit
tance in the Bush of
Bush Negroes, It can only indicate a continued accep
Africa.
the previous social dominance of these High‘cuitures in
But even this argoment is unconvincing; The destruction of the
and the cuiturai
geneaiogicei record of the African slaves in Surinam,
in the Bush in the
exchanges, borrowings. and developments which occurred
eiinfinated the
seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries have
cuiturai origins of the
possibiiity of tracing either the physicai or the
an sources. In short, we
Bush Negroes to one (or even a few) known Afric
fic than "West Africa"
must insist that any source stipulation more speci
is unscientific.
 w
nozmzmuo Efiwom am

an" 1an
 CHAPTER VI
THE HOUSEHOLD
I The social organization of the Bush-Negroes is Tegaily matri~
iineai, spiritualiy patriiineai, resembiing in its double
exogamic féateres the principa1 autiines of the 601d Coast
type frnntwhich it derives.
M. J. Herskovits, 1934:144
The social institutions of the Bush Negroes depart markediy
from those of the African peopies from whom they descended,
They inciude neither age ciasses, men's clubs, nor initiations;
and marriage requires neither contract among the reiatives
nor “dowry.”
J. Hurauit, 1961:63 (Tr. mine)
KINSHIP
0n the basis of the (only) classification of kinship terminoiogy
availabie, K6bben's’1957 work on the Djuka (see Fig. 2), and in the
absence of any reports indicating other than minor and taxonomicaiiy—
irreievant variatians among the tribes (Herskovits, 1928; van Lier 1940;
Hurauit, 1963), we can state that the Bush Negroes empiqy a matriiineai
descent system and a Hawaiian type of cousin terminoiogy: a}! crass»
and parailel cousins are caiied by the same terms as those used for Ego‘s
brothers and sisters. Poiygyny is practiced, but sororai poiygyny is
fhrbidden.* Residence is matriiocal, though fer the peiygynous maie it
necessariiy varies. According to the taxononfic ruies of Murdock‘s
“Social Structure,“ these tribes are thus examples‘of'Normai Nankanse
kinship. Murdock expiains that this reiativeiy unusuai type of organiza~
tion (only five societies in his sampie of 250 Were NankanSe) is an
intermediary stage “between stabie bilateral structures and more mature
types of matriiineai organization" (1949:241). As his theoreticai
considerations predict; we do find among the Bush Negroes certain “servivais
.94-
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 any”.-
gial Patrilineage],
of biiaterai characteristics [see Chapter VII, Vesti
ruie of residence“
and special traits associated with the prevaiiing
(1949:242).
the deveiopment
Murdoch's schema for historicai reconstruction of
high probabiiity that
of'kinship ternfinoiogy (1949:323—352) indicates a
except where the edict
Djuka terminology derives from the Matri~Hawaiian,
i ancestry. But such
against sororai poiygyny testifies to Patriiinea
that among the putative
specuiations are inappropriate here, once we note
Guinea systems, whiie the
ancestors of today‘s tribes are many people with
vely Crow and Sudanese,
often invoked Ashanti and Dahomeans are respecti
the Loango are Omaha, and the Ibo are Dakota.
tribes assembled
Nor can we defend the biand assumption that the
izations} factors.
their sociai structures out of popeiar African organ
of marriage in Africa
Nonesororal polygyny is indeed the commonest form
can sampie of 62), but
(Murdock iists 45 such societies out of his Afri
o out of 33). Matrilocai
matri—cians are definiteiy not common (zer
i descent occurs but
residence is aiso rare (3 out of 65), and matrilihea
Finaiiy, the use of Hawaiian
once in every six societies (11 out of 65).
63 societies (Murdock,
cousin ternfinoiogy occurs but ten times in the
1949:193-194).
previous discussion:
we are left with two conciusions which boister
ing Bush Negro physicai
1. Kinship analysis offers very iittie hope fOr deriv
I
and culturai antecedents.
probabiy consciously created
2. Bush Negro sociai organization is a new and
ly has not been enough time
artifact of the Sorinam experience. There simp
raiiy" out of its varied
fer the present Nankanse system to deveiop "natu
their
antecedents‘ In organization, too, the tribes have demonstrated
 “97-
genius for innovation.
Legends reported of various cians and Iineages indicate that in
the Maroon days patriiineaiity may have been the norm fer many such groups,
as one wouid expect. Stiii, we do not have a coiiection of origin myths
from ali the tribes and subtribes, and it is possible that dominant fractions
of the tribes may have been matriiineal from the eariiest days.
Matriiineaiity is traditionaiiy associated with sooiai confiict,
for most societies organized along that principie have not been abie to
solve the problems created by the concept of inheritance. A man is closer
in space and in sentiment to his own son than he will normaiiy be to the
son of'his sister, that nephew who may even 1iVe in another viiiage and
who is in any case the son of a stranger. The man strives, and if the
matriiineage wouid but aiiow it. he wouid iikeiy assign the profits of his
striving to his own chiid. Among the Ashanti of Ghana, whose ancestors
were supposediy major contributors to the stock and cuiture of today‘s
Bush Negroes, the fact of matriiineai descent has been and is the major
cause of’intraasocieta'i conflict (Fortes, 1950:283-284). 'aattray (1929:20)
reported that the Ashanti had a proverb to the effect that a man‘s sister's
son is his natural enemy! Kobben documents that the Djuka, at least, are
that rerety, an exampie of matriiineaiity without conflict:
Djuka are matriiineai, and their offices (of viiiage head and
paramount chief) are invariabiy inherited throu h the matriiineage.
According tormy informants, formeriy this was a so true fOr
possessions: matriiineai relatives received everything, and a
father's chiidren nothing. This is no longer true; today the
inheritance is divided between the two groups. Unfortunateiy, we
do not know for certain whether in the past the chiioren reaiiy
were exoiuded. And, too, what is meant by “formeriy?“ The elders
say that it was stii] true when they were young...but that is .
diffiCUit to prove; It is remarkable that this [present condition]
is presented as a fait accompii, a compieted change, without any
reports of conf1ict.
 -ggc
And still more remarkable: the Djuka who quarrel over anything
and everything seem to have very few disagreements about inheritance,
and the subject doesn't very often come up in conversation. If it
had, it would not have escaped me, especially since my earlier
fieldwork among the Agni had focused my attention on this subject.
What explains this negative result? 0f importance seems to me
to be the principle of division which exists among the Djuka.
Possessions of the dead are distributed among as many people as
possible, so that each person gets only a trifling amount. Nobody,
therefore, can feel himself seriously damaged if the sons also
partake. Confirmation of this interpretation is afforded in one
of the rare cases in which there actually was an argument about an
inheritance. This case concerned two brothers, elderly men, who
had invested all their money in a tractor. They announced that
they wished their sons (the only ones able to operate the machine)
to inherit the tractor. In this instance, since the total
inheritance consisted of a single item, it was not possible to
divide, and the matrilineage felt injured. I am aware that this
explanation has a certain ad hog character, but I offer it until a
better one is available. one point here may be the fact that this
case concerned comparatively rich people, for these were the only
Djuka who had ever acquired such an expensive piece of equipment.
{in the other hand, even among still wealthier Djuka I have never
witnessed the preoccupation with the estate which exists among the
societies described earlier [Ashanti, Akin, Haida, Tonga, Trobriand,
and Tsimshi}.
In any event, we see from this example that although there is a
correlation between matrilinearity and a certain type of conflict,
this does not signify a rule without exceptions (deben, 1964:36~37.
Tr. nfine).
Marriage. Polygyny is the ideal norm in all tribes, though sororal
polygyny is forbidden. Van Metering (l966) notes a correlation between social
status and number of wives among the Ujuka, which probably is general for
all Bush Negroes. On the basis of her census in Dritabiki she finds that
about one out of every feur adult male Djuka at any one time is married to
more than one Woman, and that four out of every five polygynous men have but
two wives. Three is the typical maximum; although Da Akontu Valenti, the
Djuka Paramount Chief (195l-1964) had four wives. Van Lier (1940:248)
writes that one of Velanti's predecessors, Oseisi (lBSB-lgls), had seven
wives. but notes later (l940;249) that in those days a Granman simply did
 -99-
not get divorced: “It did occur that the Granman no longer vlsited an
older women, but she nevertheless remained married to him" (Tr. mine).
Changes in divorce practices may thus partly explain the change in the
number of households a man maintainsl Kobben warns, however, that such
assumptions may be unwarranted: from his own fieldnotes he concludes
that it is impossible to be Sure whether one is witnessing an ancient
custom or a comparatively recent innovation; he gives this example:
An approximately Gofiyear old informant philosophlzes
about polygyhy then and now: “Formerly only elderly men
took a second wife, that is, only when a son out of the
first marriage was already grown enough to help in
cutting a new plot“ In this manner, enough could be
produced for the two wives and their children, and new
body was shorted in any way, But the young men of today,
irresponsible as they are, immediately after marriage
start looking for a second wife” In the past, the old
men would have given them a tongue lashing, but nowadays
even they look the other way“
In fact, polygyny among comparatively young men is
not rare: of the 39 married males below age 30, seven
are married polygynously as against 13 of the 36 above
age 300 Such a development, From polygyny occurlng only
at advanced age to polygyny at a lower age level, would
be interesting enough. We must, however, pose the
question whether this change actually occurred. or whether
it reflects only an idealized perception of "the Good Old
Days". A sister’s son of the informant in question, who
at the age of 25 already has two wives. was present at the
discussion, and mockingly asked his uncle how old he had
been when he took a second wifea Palnful question?“ For
the uncle proved to have been even more precocious than
his sister's son is today (Kobben, l968:58).
Although polygyny is the ideally prescribed form of marriage, it
is a constant source of Friction between the sexes and between co~wlves.
The usually explicit division of labor along sexual lines disappears within
the household, and any husband who is not obviously already engaged in
some occupation may expect to be out to work by his wives, mothers~ln»law,
or his own mother. And when a man‘s wives compete with each other by
comparing his efforts on their behalf, he may be sorely tested indeed:
 ~100-
Usua11y the wives of one man wiTI live in different Vfifiiages, because
most viIlages are poeulated by a singie lineage” There are some major
centers such aS'Boniviiie'and Uritabiki where members of'several lineages
Iive together, and it is possibie that a man may‘have wires from different
Tineages in such a‘viiiagew’ If he does, then the‘f6ct of matriiecality
“predict51that‘they‘wi11 1i e“in dfifferent neighborhoods ef that'vfllage.
‘ A man may not marry even’ciassifiéetory sisters, which means that the
“ matriiineage”i5“pretectedxfrom'confTicts arising out of sexual jeeTousies
among its members.
*The“practfice‘of‘preferentiaT marriage'has been reported fer the
fijuka 'andmay‘occur among the other‘tr'ibes. The‘findingsere‘not' conclusive.
wFrom his anafysi5"0f'geneaiogic31 and historicaT‘data and from his own stay
among the*Djuka; Wong (1938:361-362) reports that formeriy there were
'reciprocai preferred marriages between”the"Missiedjan~lgv(c1an) and the
W GttronlgJ and between the Ansuelgand'thebjualg3 ‘He found that the Opo~
"*§iflg§§3‘that“is,"the“c}an5”1iving above the“3ranh6?1n“FaT15, sti11 preferred
' to marry'among'themseTvesfl He cautions that thiS'does not firmly that these
groups wereronce feufi1ies of"one‘lg_which“have‘grown into separate clans:
the fear of incest and the definiticn”of“the“1?neage*woaTd have prevented
“.such deve?npments: “Whatever special re1ati6n5”nay'exfst‘between or among
* z'certain*19§jregarding mete'preference;*are"based upon spirituai rather than
' '“ *geneaiogfca1“factorsfl ‘As the actuaificheice“0f“partners is compIetely free,
'and”apparent1y”a1ways has been, the"prob1em"of”preferentia1 marriage is not
‘” crucial here.
A secnnd“marr1age'may’either‘be encouraged 0r resisted by the first
wife; "According t0 ran watering {1966), at onE‘time a woman may have been
abTe to keep her hnsband monogamous through her"reTatives"support of her
 ~101-
, as no other
arys (This must have been a rartty
position, by force if necess
d very
tement;) At any vote, today a husban
authors have made such a sta
ting between co—wives.
miti meti, the‘ofticia1 mee
oerefu11y pians the meti
ship between the women,
the future of‘the‘reiation
for it may make or break
mal meetinQS‘occasionaily
d» Nevertheiess, such for
, and of‘hWS'peace‘of min
Women pride themselves
lead too-actuai fights“
‘degenerete into-on later
"Murder of a Co~Wife,"
welt as their menfolk (see
‘on the ability to fight as
ing her fietdwork
of 25 fights between women dur
Ch. XII). Van Watering knew
1ousy. Eight of
reports that 36‘coneerned jea
“inefiritahtki‘(1961—1962); and
her husband‘s seductress,
between a legai wife and
'these were revenge fights
ee fights invotved coewives.
"'andtone'out of every thr
woman with a
e that among the Djuka a
It is interesting'to not to give
wi11 use physical vio1enee
‘gnudge against her co-wite and net as it common so many other
gs, chcraft ... I
expression to her feeiin make‘an'accusation of wit
peoples [who fear sorcery] co~wife of
have never heard of a Djuka wife who accused her (van
at the tension between them
‘witchoraft, no matter how gre
e).
'“Wetertng;‘1966:59. To. non
to describe
"marriage" is inappropriate
Hurautt feels that the'term
toss pOIite
uat a11tances, and that the
the Bush Negroes‘ forme1 sex
ore accurate1y insofar
cribes the‘rethtionship‘m
“concobinege”‘actua11y des
Negroes, regard1ess
concerned,‘ He'ftnds Bush
“as their own concepts are
ting durabYe affective
y rarely capable‘of“crea
of trtb31 affiliation, oni
the opposite sex:
" ties with a member of
s, and
ays in search of new adventure ges
.,v They are unstable, a1w ent1y to anyone;' Their marria
never attach themsetves penman acquisition of
are inspored more by materiaT concerns (the
unosuai to encounter
necessities) than by sentiment; It is very
en; it happens
among them a true and 1asting Iove for a wom
oocasiona11y, but it is the exception”
gs
t they have few rea1 feelin
It is not enough to say tha und
sations one heats at night aro
towards womene 1n the conver speak of
a profound distrust: they iona
the campfire, they express
foreign, aimost an enemy, nat
Boo? women as if they were ma onty haif-responsthea This
Besides, they consider the
 ~102~
attitude carries over into the customary punishment for adoTtery,
which calls for a heating for the non, but not for the woman
(Hurau7t, 1961:137‘ Tr“ mine).
Simi1ar observations have been made by others. Van Lier (1940:248)
noted that many Bush Negroes remain perennial bacheiors, that there are
veny few love matches, and that aduItery was the commonest offense.
Kobben (1964) noted a strong air of reciprocity around even marita}
relationships, and incidentaily documents a high rate of adultery. In fact,
not a single student of the tribes has failed to comment on the ubiquity
of infioeiity and the fragiiity of marriageh Horau1t's assessment thus has
much to recommend it: It is obvious that the Bush Negro View of marriage
differs altogether from that which Westerners propound.
Neverthe1ess, van Lien insists elsewhere that there is a true
romantic aspect to at least the first marriage» He details it as foliows:
There is much poetry in the engagement“ Say that a young
man is in love with a gin? From another vfillagea He wiil
attempt to devekop friendships with young men in that viilage
in order to meet the gir1, and wi11 try to win her favor by
giving her Eittie presents” When he feels that she does not
disiike him, and when he dares, he wi11 send a 1itt1e boy
with a message to ask her if she would he wi33ing to braid
his hairs If’she is prepared to do so, he may be hopefn1 but
not certain: certainty he achieves only after the hair has
been braided“ He goes to her with his comb, neither of them
speaks, and the grooming commences. As soon as he has thanked
her, he hastens to friends whom he had entrusted with his
secret, shows them his hairdo and asks, “What did she say?“
Enthusiastieal1y, his friends nil} congratuTate him because
the braid shows a motif which impYies consent.
The method of braiding may aiso express the girT’s wish to
wait a whiie 1onger, or it may be that his interpreters see
immediately that the girl does not want him.
It can also be that the suitor sends her a hand~carved
comb or a arftiki (canoe padd‘le)a The gin}, if she cannot
decipher tfie syfiBoiism of the carving, wiil ask a confidante
to read its message, the decTaration of love which is the
motif of the sculpture. If she accepts the present, her answer
is yes (van Lfer, 1940:267-258v Tr. mine).
when agreement has been reached, the suitor instructs his mother‘s brother
 e103-
to inform the girl's hggh(iineage) as weii as his own, of the situation.
For such first marriages, the permission of the women in the girl's 955;
is important. This invoives a rituai denouncemeht of the suitor‘s gee;
“the women of the girl‘s femiiy present the petitioners [for the boy]
with the shortcomings, the chronique scandeieuse of the femiiy of the
boy" (van Lier, 1940:268. Tr. mine). Then, if the match is approved,
the coupie is engaged.
The actual wedding is preceded by a meeting and discussion between
the two bees in the viilage of the giri. The boy and giri are not invoived
is this krutu (paiaver), which again concerns the chronique scandaieuse of
the groom‘s Egg and in which an attempt is made to trace out any gigggg
(incest) in his lineage. Argument or backtaik is not aiiowed. The harangue
continues untii one of the elders of the girl‘s Egg‘admits that his lineage
is not perfect either, and politely Iists its own sins. After some hours
of neatiy balanced insuits and good manners; the giri‘s mother's eldest
brother announces that “now we wiii give the 1ad his wife,“ and the suitor
is caiied into the krutu. His own mother‘s brother teiis him that he is
now a husband, and instructs him in his duties. The new groom remains
siient. He is addressed by an eider of his new in-1aws, who acknowiedges
his rights as a husband, his superiority as a meie, hut warns him never to
beat his wife when he is aione with her in the bush or in a canoe, since
then things can get out of hand.
Finaiiy the giri, too, is taken into the krutu, a synopsis of the
proceedings is deiivered to her with special emphasis on her new husband's
rights.
Then her uncle takes her by the hand, and the bridegroom, who,
just like his bride. iooks no one in the eye but remains staring
at the ground, is caiied forward. The uncle says, "This is your
 ~304—
wife from now on, given to you by the family, given to you by the
Granman" (i.e., the high priest). Offerings are made to the
Gran orkas, and the guests are feted. The newlyweds disappear
unnoticed (van Lier, l940:270. Tr. mine).
We may assume that this Djuka ceremony is fairly representative of
weddings in other tribes. Van tier notes that such ceremonies do not take
place unless the girl is virgin. and that if either partner has been
divorced or widowed, they are omitted. Hurault reports that although the
concept of dowry or bride price is foreign to the Bush Negroes, there is
among the Bani, at least, a "virginity price." This consists of a demi~
john of tafia (rum) and some minor objects worth the trifling sum (to the
Bani male) of 8,000 francs (l958 value), which are paid by her husband or
hy her seducer to whoever raises the girl.
Ideally:
The fact that a girl takes part in a clandestine liaison and
is deflowered without having been regularly demanded in marriage,
is considered a shame for the mother; but if the seducer confesses
and pays the virginity price, honor is satisfied (Hurault, l96l:
147. Tr. mine).
In fact. however, the virginity price has to be paid more and more often
‘by seducers, and Boni parents today allow their daughters to get married
earlier. The virginity price is not paid to the biological mother, but to
the person who actually raises the girl, which under certain circumstances
may be the father or another member of his lineage. That it is 393‘s bride
price is shown by the fact that it is not associated with marriage. A
virgin should be given a little present upon her deflowering, and this
usually consists of white pearls, red cloth, and sweets. This is the gift
of the man‘s gggg (spirit, see Chapter X) to the girl's.
Van Lier (1940:270) insists that a normal second marriage requires
the transactions between goes, as does the rare case when a divorced couple
wants to be remarried.
 v105v
ence in the literature to deter-
There is not enough objective evid
n which Hureoit described is
mine whether or not the Bani View of wome
onger
typicai of a11 the tribes: van Lier‘s data wouid impiy a much str
his data are much older. In fact, the
romantic streak for the Djuke, but
riai as the affective reactions
evaluation of such impressionistic mate
n, as seen through the eyes of a
of different groups of Negro tribesme
mpted.
tions apart, shouid not even be atte
Frenchman and a Dutchman some genera
more
is evidence that the tribes empioy
It is enough to state that there
than one type of solemnization
than one definition of marriage and more
this is not yet understood.
rituai, but that the rationaie behind
marriage, if they seem Tess
If today the men do not giediy rush into
to be due
ard seduction, this wouid appear
inclined towards romance than tow
.
one—sided commitment expected of them
in part to the considerahie, iargeiy
ie set of ohiigatory behaviors towards
Not oniy does the groom shouider a who
ai
ben, 1969), but a great deai of octu
reai and ciassificatory in-iaws {K6b
mnized, the husband
work awaits him. As soon as the marriage has been sole
mother's viilage (see "Residence,"
must buiid his bride a house in her
his in-iaws, he wiii often ouiid
beiow). Perhaps in anticipated escape from
boat to
re. He must a1$o make her a smaii
her another one in his own kond
siash-
It is the man‘s roie, in typicai
use on her trips to her garden.
piot
down the jungle trees and prepare a
and-burn agricuiture style, to out
himself,
He may aiso out another garden for
of ground for his wife‘s garden.
, and
for aided by his female reiatives
which he then piants and cares
e he shoots belongs
sometines by his wife. whatever fish he catches or gam
on his wife's taoie.
to hire another (see Chapter
Since it is not possible for a man
igations
form his traditionai marita1 obi
VIII, Trade and Exchange) to per
 m... ... ........W (w J “a” w “mm”
‘ 405-
(cutting his wife‘s garden, building her house and her canoe), it simply
is not possible fer a rich man to amass a harem of kept mistresses and to
create the beginhing of a class of dependent people. “Whatever his wealth
may be, he continues to carry out such labors by the sweat of his brow, and
that fact contributes to the endurance both in principle and in effect of
the contract~for~maintenanoe which constitutes the only tie between the
man and the woman“ (Horault, 1965:9l. Tr. mine).
For her part, the wife plants and cares for the garden plot, owes
her husband his food from the products of her garden, maintains the house
he has built and the things he has bought her (van Lier, 1940:252-253).
Nevertheless, it is a unstake to think of Bush Negro marriage
simply as an institutionalized exploitation of males by females.
In general, as long as the marriage lasts, the [Boni] woman
fulfills her obligations to the letter. Although the products
of her garden are her property, and its surplus is sold
exclusively for her profit, the man is sure to receive from her
all the provisions which he needs. 0n the other hand, a lazy
man will often neglect to build a house for his wife, forcing
her to continue to live with her mother. In the villages on
the French bank [of the Marowine] we noted in 1958 some 20
cases of this type. There are even several instances in which
an elderly woman. her yet unmarried children, one or two of her
daughters and their children, all live together under one roof
fi...
Nothing illustrates better the masculine disrespect for
marriage: imagine the torture suffered by a woman forced into
such crowded living conditions! The Boni of today, much richer
and better equipped than their ancestors, are remarkably lazier
when it comes to building houses: No longer do they lovingly
carve and decorate the house fronts, and when a man, after many
recriminations, does make up his mind to build a house for his
wife, he usually satisfies himself with a simple, woven-walled
shelter. requiring less than thirty days‘ work (Hurault, 1961:
l50. Tr. mine).
A married man living in his wife's village is duty—bound to exercise
his sexual obligations daily, or face repercussions. If he is away from
home, he cannot be held to this rule, but should he stay too long, he will
 ~107~
be summoned back. If he ignores this coil, 3 deputation of his wife‘s maie
(van Lier.
reiatives wii) face him with the choice of return or divorce
1940:251).
NIDOWHOOD, DIVOREE, AND REMARRIAGE
In fact, marriage. which provides the estabiishment of descent iines
party
as wail as a minimai division of labor, can be dissoived by either
without perndssion of their kin groups. Only in the case of the death of
any problem.
one spouse before the genera} recognition of a divorce is there
the death of
A iegaiiy married surviving spouse must enter mourning after
the partner. It is therefore customary to announce divorces without delay.
or into
for otherwise the reiatives of the deceased wiii force the surviv
vits (1928:
mourning, which here is a true ordeai (see Chapter V). Hersko
husband's
726) noted that “it is a strict rule, that in the event of the
ed to marry
death, one of his brothers, especiaiiy the younger, is expect
an cider one
his widow, although if there be no younger brother avaiiabie,
may marry her‘" This practice appears to be iindted to the Saramacca.
Hurauit
since the Djuka reporters conspicuousiy faii to mention it, and
(1961:179) denies it for the Boni. in fact, the iatter quotes his
fieeting ones, with
informants are saying, "I can have no relations, even
mother. in
a woman who has been married to my brother of the same
to marry his
particuiar, if my brother happens to die, I wiii not be abie
widow" (Hurauit, 1963:140. Tr. mine). He introduces another variable
when the widow
when he notes that the Saramecca practice this trait oniy
deaiing with the
is pregnant (1961:179)‘ Herskovits did not ciaim to be
acca trait “is
true ievirate, but did hypothesize that probabiy this Saram
widow by an cider
a somewhat disintegrated case of the heredity of a
a deceased wife by
brother, so common in Africa, and the replacement of
 ~108~
her sister, a cu st om tha t is al so found, especially in the
Congo"
(Herskovits, l92 8:7 27) . It has al so been suggested that the
custom derives
from an imitatio n of the Jew ish sl av e master's practice of the
levirate.
Hurault categori ca ll y an d co nv in ci ng ly rejects all such sp
eculations.
Whatever its origins,
custom, insofar as its leg it is important to note that Saramacca
al aspect lS concerned, has
connection with the lev
irate or with the no
as that is pr ac ti inheritance of wido
ce d in man y Af ri ca n societies. Ihg custom ws
not‘ig an! wa x cor res does
widow, Since such a rgg0nd to the tr ansnfission .a right in {he
ht anus not exist. lSaof ramacca widow
the matrilineage but in
wide latitude. She may the patrilineage, which assures her a
without [giving or receivbreak this union after some months
com ing] any compensation, and
ple te lib ert y (Hu rau lt, lQSlzl4o; emphasis in ori resume her
mine). ginal. Tr.
The actual proceedings for
the dissolution of the mar
riage are
simple: the divorcenminded spouse
announces, “I am leavin
g," and the
other answers, "Give me tim
e to warn your relatives."
Sometimes such part~
ings are qu it e ami cab le, and the woman may even help
her ex~husband take
his belongings to the pier when he leaves her vil
lage, and may "pack his
lunch“ for the trip. Other divorces are uglier
and more entertaining for
the neighbors. Regardless of what the
man may hav
e supplied to the househ
when he leaves old,
he may kee p onl y his rifle, tools, boat, the clo
thes he wears
and his hammock. The woman keeps the hous
e-or houses, if he built
her
more than one-and all the con ten ts. (Th is is one reason why a man oft
en
builds a house for him sel f.) In a Bon i marriage, the husband sym
bolically
places some of his per son al pos ses sio ns, suc h as a stack of his loincl
oths
and other typically mascul
ine ite ms, in the hou se he has built for his wife.
As long as the se rem ain ins ide the cabin, he is justified in
expecting her
to remain faithful to him
. But such justified expect
ation has a time linfit:
 -109-
should the husband have been gone for more than
three months, he can expect
to find another maie occupying his role. The woman may dissoive the marriage
at any time, and without much recourse, simp
ly by moving his personal
possessions out of their cabin and taking them
to his lineage chief. This,
too, constitutes divorce. Note that because of
pride, women generaiiy nil}
not wait very iong to dispossess a husband who
is absent, especiaiiy if
another maie can be found to replace him. For
those who cannot tolerate
the ionely nights and are caught in adultery
, there is no avoidance of divorce
by the husband: the maie's pride absoiutely prohibits him
from the disgrace
of taking back a woman who has betrayed him. Sinc
e nothing in the househoid
is owned jointly, the distribution of its material
goods at divorce is a
minor matter. No reai profit can be made in divorce; no one
can get rich
or even comfortabie by canniiy marrying and divor
cing. Even the houses the
woman retains endure oniy for a decade or
so, and then faii in ruin.
Among the businesslike Boni, nevertheless, a
women often waits to divorce
her husband until he has cut her garden piot.
and shops around for a new
man as soon as the present one becomes too old
to do such Tabor. This
implies that the aged of both sexes are dependen
t upon their own iineages
for survive} (Herskovits, 1934:298-299; Horauit,
1961:137-138; 153—155;
van Liar, 1940:249~253).
RESIDENCE
fine of the emotional safety-vaives for a hard
-pressed husband is,
of course. the household of his other wife. AT} the
tribes are matriiocai,
which implies that a good husband-that is, one
who spends equai amounts of
time with both (or ali) his wives-may travel a great
deal. Kobben pointed
out in another context:
True uxorilocai societies are very rare, excep
t in the technicaT
 ~llOa
sense that at marriage the men leave the households of their
mothers. but not their villages. If it were othenwise, all the
males of a matrilineage would be lost and none would be left to
exercise authority except women and outsiders. Various
solutions to this problem have been developed in different
societies: either the young couple lives uxorilocally for the
first few years of marriage, and then becomes virilocal (Samba);
or the notables live "home" while the common folk are uxorilocal
(Yao); or the man and woman each remains living in his own
village, and repeatedly visit each other (Fanti); or they have
a conbination of any or all of these forms (Djuka)(K6bben,
1964:28. Tr. nfine).
This absence of hard—and—fast rules regarding residential location
appears to follow the characteristic Bush Negro attitude towards rules in
general, insofar as these are implicit in the literature: Statements of
ideal culture abound, but actual behavior proves that rules exist to be
interpreted“
As the result of the latitude in residential location patterns, each
Djuka village is made up of a number of lineage~quarters, each of which has
its own name and usually its own chief. (This trait does not occur among
all the tribes; see below.) Thoden van Velzen explains that such a quarter
is not populated only by the core segment of some lineage, but that people
who are related by other than uxorilateral ties, and even unrelated
individuals may live in it under the leadership of the quarter's kagitein.
Suppose that the name of the quarter is "Maipa Undo” and the
leader is Kapitein Kwasi. The Djuka can indicate this group
in a number of ways, by talking about “the people of Maipa 0ndo"
(den same in flaig§_0nd9}; "the followers of Kapitein Kwasi" (a
fSTFh fu kapteh Khafiifi; or “the family of Kapitein Kwasi" (a
famii ZE kapten Knasi} (Thoden van Velzen, l966:34. Tr. mine).
Meanwhile, it is common to find separate dwellings for adult males
and for each of their households.I Adults and the newest baby sleep in one
1The only published description of the interior of a Bush Negro
cabin and its method of construction is Hurault, l965. Appendix II furnishes
a translation of his observations and a sketch of the floor plan of a
typical cabin»
 ~111~
room, the chiidren steep in the "vestibule," the front part of the house
which is the main entrance. In the daytime the hammocks are siung out of
the way, and the actual indoor iiving takes place in the front part of the
house: the back room is reserved for sieeping and the safekeeping of
valuabies. Bush Negro dweliings are highly decorated, and in the time of
the Herskovitses‘ visit to the Saramacca, a great deal of time was spent
in artistic carving of the pianks. Hurauit notes that today tribesmen
often use gaivanized~iron roofing, and that the decoration is painted more
often than sculptured. There is iittle structural variation between the
house of a bache1or and that of a married man, or between these and a
woman's cabin. Oniy the furnishings differ somewhat: the mates have
fewer kitchen utensiis, the women fewer gasoiine or oil containers. Furniture
is at an absoiute minimum: women and elderiy men often have a plank bed,
and the Ubiquitous hand-carved individnei benches are a prized persone1
possession. Occasioneiiy 3 ion tabie compietes the decor. Life is iived
in the open, not usually in the huts.
Residence ruies are fiexibie, as the quote on uxoriiocaiity by
Kobhen showed. Herskovits recorded this, too:
But aii my informants have toid me of cases, both among Aukaners
and Saramaccaners, where the hoid of a father on a chiid was so
strong that this boy or girl (for cases involving daughters as
we}! as sons were reiated and pointed out to me) went to his
father‘s viiiage to iive on attaining maturity, in spite of the
fact that the father, now separated from the mother, beIonged
to a viilage where the chiid would be a stranger. Detaiied
study of cases of this sort, from the point of View of Freudian
psychology, offers fascinating opportunities; their more
statement serves strikingiy to demonstrate the eiasticity of the
manner in which this primitive culture permits individuais of
differing temperaments and inherent psychoiogi ca‘l composition
to satisfy their naturai tents (Herskovits, 1928:720).
Exactly the same observations have been made for the Bani, but Hurauit
(1961:126-134) has probed more deeply into the reasons underiying such
 ~112-
residential variations. For the Bani at least, often an educational
function is involved. When a child (of either sex) is five or six years
old, his mother and uncles decide who will become his tutor. Generally it
is held that a child is much better educated if rather than being raised
by the lineage in_§g§2, he is isolated and placed directly under the
supervision of a particular adult. Anyone, apparently, can be chosen to
be the tutor. Usually it is the child‘s genetrix, his biological mother.
The father (or stepfather) has almost no authority. But since a woman may
have more children than she can reisa aéequately, occasionally a child by
an already divorced spouse may be allotted to him for tutelage. In any
case, the decision rests with the child‘s genetrix and_§g§ genetrix. The
grandmother may override the mother‘s decision: should she insist upon
raising a child, the mother must allow it. But usually there is little
difficulty; mothers willingly assign their children to tutors, especially
within their own lineage.
The economics of childnrearing are unimportant. Subsistence and
shelter are assured by the labors of the father and the mother, or by
lineage substitutes. The only real expense lies therefore in costume.
and the Bush Negro child goes about naked until puberty, when he also
begins to be able to contribute to his own upkeep. At fourteen or
fifteen the young person keeps whatever profits his labors will bring, and
becomes responsible for his own maintenance (Hurault, l965:92).
As to the problem of‘whether fathers in a matrilineal system do
indeed suffer feelings of frustration at being separated from their children,
Hurault (l96lzl28) thinks that this is much exaggerated. Most males have
five or six children by three or four wives during their lifetime, and
since they are constrained to travel quite a bit in search of salaried worki
 ~113-
and do not visit all their children with equal frequency. at least some of
the grumbling which men do about frustrated fatherhood is quite subjective:
it is usually indifferent to them whether they raise a son or a nephew.
either of whom will address them as “my father.“ In any case. the typical
tribesman has absolutely no wish to raise all his own children, only one
or two favorite ones. Life is sufficiently complicated without attempting
to usurp the woman's role!
If the father raises the child, he does so in his own maternal
village: his sisters will help him if he needs female aid. It is considered
normal to let the father have one of the children if he has three or more
by the same wife, but it is not a rule, and he has no legal claim in the
matter. Anyway, the vast majority of children who have been educated
outside of their matrilineage return to live in its villages. (For a
summary of Hurault‘s findings on the subject see Table 1.)
It is not surprising that a percentage of children should have
established permanent emotional relationships with their father‘s lineage
after having lived there for most of their formative years. Hurault points
out that the grownuup child usually returns to live with his maternal kinship
group, but he may also stay in the father’s village; there is no specific
obligation. As far as the spiritual factor is concerned, this variation
in locality in no way affects the child’s relationship to the ancestor cult
of his mother's lineage (Hurault, 1961:l36«l37).
INTERPERSGNAL RELATIONS
Interpersonal Relations. Throughout the descriptions cf Bush Negro
family life, one is struck both by the incompleteness of the data and by
the often grotesque contradictions which occur between one tribe. area,
period or observer, and the next. The whole area of primary group behavior.
 Table 1. Tutggg and Residence 93 Children Among the Boni*

fia;e C hildren Boyn Female Children Barn

V.
Tutor before 19384 before 1936-
1936 19¢? Mean 1936 19¢? Mean

Mother

{wmph m
H735 #2 % us.5 % 59 5 56 % $7.5 %

H
Mother's Mother 3% 13 z 8 % 10 x 12 z 11 %

Woman in Mother's Lineage 8% 12 % 10 % 13 z 15 %

Man in fiother‘s Lineage 9 g b % 6.5 % 2 % 3 %
Pather~ 2? z 18 % 22.5 % 13 % 6 fl

malt
Father's ficther 2 % 3% 2.5% 0 3 %
<Member of Father's Lineage 1 z 3% 2 z 1 % 3 %
fitranger to Both Lineages 2 % 4 fl 3 fl 1 z 3 %

Children who remain in it")? fifi'

9 % 5.5%
father‘s lineage as adults

Sample Size 88 73 ?2 78
* After Hurault, 1961:129-131, from data he collected in a 1957 census.
** Still undergcing tutelage at time of Hurault‘s 1957 fieldwork.
 ~115—
so important in assessing the psychological milieu which underlies the
formation of personality, has been ignored in most of the writings. Any
coherent statement on such factors now, must result from the interpretation
of implications rather than of direct observations, by inference rather than
through documentation.
Various authors have remarked on a singular lack of Gemeinschaft
orientation in these societies. Van Lier stated flatly that the Bush Negroes
were not helpful to each other. For instance, "should a man be seriously
ill while he is away from his relatives and have to be moved, no one would
think of coming to his aid, no matter how many men are loafing about. Only
in the case of death, from funeral to bloko gel [the third-day mourning
feast] do all the people cooperate, and then only because that is a
religious obligation “ (van Lier, l940:l60w Tr. mine). Hurault similarly
claims individualism as the dominant character trait of the Boni (l96l:289~
296), noting their preoccupation with legalistic personal responsibiligy
and their lack of social responsibility.
The proverbs of western societies (“You can choose your friends,
but you can‘t choose your relatives") often acknowledge that the nuclear
family is not the only possible source for the psychological satisfactions
of being recognized as an individual. of being accepted on the basis of
one‘s inalienable intrinsic value. Primacy group behavior is also found
in friendship cliques, exists among co-workers in predonfinantly Gesellschaft
organizations, or may even pervade an entire neighborhood. There is a
basic human need for sentimental, spontaneous, and pernfissive behavior
which can only be satisfied within a group which cherishes the individual
for no other reason than his membership and the satisfaction of mutual
expectations of affective warmth. For the Bush Negroes, all possible
 ~116~
primary group relationships are to he found within the parameters of
kinship: oonworkers are usually one‘s lineage mates or one‘s innlaWS,
and during most of one‘s life "friends," "neighbors," and "relatives" are
functionally interchangeable concepts. “In general their social life,
which is very individualistic in spite of appearances, knows no other
organization than that which results from kinship ties" (Hurault, 196l:69.
Tr. mine). Inevitably, the need for affective warmth is satisfied within
kingroup relations, and not necessarily within the matrimonial alliance.
Unlike Western societies, wherein spouses ideally perfEct their
psychological responses to create a mutual haven of emotional permanence
in a ceaselessly changing world, Bush Negro cultures do not strain unduly
to encourage the development of enduring psychological dependencies
between husband and wife. It is not that the people are incapable of
romance (as witness the occasional marriage in which fidelity and love
continue long past the honeymoon state) but that there is no cultural
emphasis on the search for emotional security in that particular direction.
Rather, for the Boni at least, marriage is but another arena in which the
competition between basically unfriendly groups can be played out. The
other partner in marriage is ultimately a foreign resource to be exploited
hy the clever, and marriage sooner or later is resolved as a gamble fer
the potential profit of free service. The Boni especially appear to be
prone to a certain mercantilism and an almost compulsive preoccupation
with personal independence. The other tribes may not have institutionalized
egotism quite as far, but we must note that modern Dutch writers such as
Kfibben repeatedly affirm the business aspects in all interpersonal relation-
ships. Again and again we find a legalistic but blatantly mercenary
attitude pervading everyday life. There is some (highly problematical)
 '-137~
evidence that this description is 1ess fair to the Djuka and Saramacca
than it is to the Bani. There is more literature on the remantic aspects
of courtship among the former though that may have been in the eye of the
beho1der), and there is the fact that many Bani women marny the Saramacca
boatsmen who p1y their cargo~trade on the rivers of French Guiana. For
the Paramacca and the Matuari there simply is no information at ali.
Generally, then, Bush Negro marriage is brittie, and the nucieer
fami1y faiis to be a sanctuary. We mast conclude that both chi1dreh and
adults in these societies look elsewhere for those necessary psycho1ogica1
securities and satisfactions which Westerners traditiona11y seek in the
nuc1ear famiiy. The most obvious institution capabie of creating and
receiving the 1astiug quaities of primary grnun‘assnciation is the system
of reTationships beyend the nuciear fahfiiy: the 1ineage.
 CHAPTER VII

THE SUBTRIBE: egg AND 119

The basic reiatively enduring social unit in e11 the tribes is the

“beiiy” (written variously as 'gg or Qgig for the Saramecca; Qg, gee, gggg,
or gggi.for the Bjuka; and §g3_for the Bani) which is, as Herskovits (1928:

716) put it: "the common womb from which aii the members are descended‘"
The ggg_(to adopt the speiiing used by Hurauit and Thoden van Veizen)

consists of a straightfonnard anilineai descent group which recruits its

members by birth on the uterine principie, i.e., a matriiineage.

INCEST AND EXOSAMY

The matriiineage is the nfinimal exogamic unit. One may not seek

ene‘s spouse or sex-partner among the members of the Egg, because ali of

these are one‘s ciassificatony or actual parents, sibiings, or children.

To commit oikggg} (incest) is a grave offense against the gods, and
punishabie by oniy_them. Among the Saramecca, Ejgggg_resuits in the
death of the coupie involved; among the Djuka they, their Egg, and their
entire clan are faced with extinction (see Egon, Chapter XI). Herskovits
(1928:718) noted that a Sanamecca child born of Eigggg has a special titie,
32 hi, but as the chiid is not responsible for the transgression, he is

exempt from divine punishment and enjoys fuii membership in the lineage.

The Saramaccan iogic is fauitiess: norma1~born people are actuaiiy oniy

half-descended from their Egg, so certainly a gg_m1 more than fuifi1ls

IThe Saramecce version of pikadu is pikado, Hurauit (1961:139)

assumes the term to be derived from the Portuguese pecado, sin. The
Portuguese infiuence on Saramecce Tango and the spreaa o? Saramecca
boatsmen over the rivers of the Djuka and Bani as 1aborers for the whites,
.:
may indicate something about both the origin and the diffusion of this
concept.

~118n
 ~119~

membership qualifications! Djuka Bigggg, since it invoives a whoie lineage,

may be punished a iong time after the offense was
committed, and may invoive
relatives not even born until after the fact,
inciuding the chiid of such
a union (van Lier, 1940:207).

Among the Boni, pjgaggkis interpreted stiii differentiy: it

constitutes a sociai as we]? as a reiigious transgress
ion. As elsewhere,
it is punished by ggng’(supernatural vengeance), but
among the Boni oniy
existing goggg‘can be released; incest does not create Egg_§
ggg} (Hurauit,
1961:139). Since a social act is invoived, the lineage chief imposes
relatively severe penaities upon the offenders. He may
demand of the man
that he prepare a iarge nunber of adze-hewn pianks, of
the woman that she
prepare and winnow some casks of rice to be used in the next
Qggggtggt(a
mourning ritua}, see Chapter XII). But since the captain may not use
physicai coercion, and since among the Boni it is not
possibie to exiie a
lineage member, no reai materiai sanctions can be exerc
ised. Therefore,
if the social and supernatura] punishments do not deter
the coupie from
their intended marriage, sooner or iater the iineage must
accept the jgit
accoggii. Offerings are then brought to the fragatiki
of the ancestors,
to accompany the prayers begging pardon for the offen
se committed. No
stigma is attached to the chiidren of such obvious love
matches.
In the lineage [2] Aware Bakka, which for a}! practice}
purposes has abandoned the iaw of exogamy, the idea of
sanctions endures in a mock pursuit of the transgress
ors
through the viiiage {Hnraoit, 1961:139. Tr. mine).

IAnd 01d kunus are kunus which can be endured, after ail.
Chapter XI. See

zThe term Tineage is a misnomer. The Aware Bakka are not trniy
an hereditary kinship unit. See p. 141~i42.
4 .. amp «v . WW mm,

~120-

Shouid future investigators expect to find simiiar discrepancies between

actuai behavior and ideai culture among the other tribes? In view of the
“eiasticity” evidenced in other tabooeshrouded traits, the answer must be
“Probably.”

VESTIGIAL PATRILINEAGE

Vestigiai Patriiineage. Although descent and inheritance are

handled mainly through the famaie Tine, there are some rituaiiy significant

behaviors and items which can be passed oniy from (classificatory) father
to son. Hurauit (1961:32~33) makes it clear that he considers these
practices the remnant of an older patrilineal principie.

Charms of certain types may be transferred oniy from classificatory

father to son (see 9913, Chapter XIII), and what is more important, the

totemic food taboos (see 513g_and Ergfga Chapter XIV) are inherited
exclusiveiy through the biologicai father. All the people have such taboos.
The Boni have about 20 Kings, most of which (such as the interdiction
against eating Cayman meat) are found also in the other tribes. A11 those
who share such a taboo, regardiess of iineage or tribal affiliation, may

not marry or have sexoai intercourse. Aithough one‘s 5193 is a secret

thing. and good manners and seiprreservation prohibit its mention, lovers

are careful to assure each other that they do not share a food taboo:

breach of this custom is incest, and the gods usually punish this form of

gigggg with ieproey.

To the extent that patriiineai kinship bonds are known (generally
peopie do not reckon beyond their grandfather)they use the-gage

"wa.c*, iifiihméiizi’i?”éfigfiiélisfifihoiihiii‘?
: , Eiif’ifiéi’fm
The hereditary group which shares gj§§_has no name, no organization, no
chief, and no agreed purpose. Its members do not maintain contact, and
 ~12?-

generally do not know each other. They share no rituals, no behavior

designed to foster a sense of identity or unity.

Kobben warns against a too easy acceptance of the idea that

the
functions of one type of lineage are being taken over
by the other type:
As far as the inheritance is concerned, this is distribute
the matrilineal relatives of the deceased, plus his child d among
even some others. My informants all agree that "formerly"ren, and
inher
the
itance went exclusively to the matrilineal kin, and that
is only recently that a man’s own children have it
been getting a
share. It nevertheless seems suspicious that this change should
have come about so quietly and without conflicts. It is possi
that in former times, too, the children of the deceased recei ble
their share, but that people feel matrilineal inher ved
itance to be
more fitting with matrilineality, and because of this input
to the "Good Old Days“. In this connection it is notew
s it
orthy
that the property of a minor deity (including the associated
priesthood) succeeds in most cases from a father to a
son, and
not from a man to his sister‘s son or to another matril
ineal
relative. Here, for once, we know for certain that no recent
development is involved because van Lier (1940:204), whose
data
agiglg predate l920, already reports something sinfilar (l968:

This Same warning is echoed by Hurault: “In spite of European influences,

one observes among the Bush flggroes g9 evolution toward
patrilineal
structures“ (l96l:l3l. Emphasis in original. Tr. mane).

Considering the paucity of traits which can be labeled

patri—
lineal, and the continuous vigor of most Bush Negro cultu
re traits, it
seems imprudent to postulate a defunct agnatic principle
in the tribes'
prehistory. It is wiser to repeat Herskovits' observation in anoth
er
context that:

...the simplicity is not quite as great as one might imagin

e.
For, when we probe somewhat deeper, we find that the psycho
~
logical reaction to the matrilineal system is much more
important that the actual reflection of it in the relationsh
ternnnology.
ip
The custom, which is typical of West Africa,
emphasizing descent on the one side of the family, and at of
same
the
time recognizing the biological relationship through the
socially non-related parent, is strong among the Busth
egroeS‘
both Saramaccaners and Aukaners [Déuka] (1928:717).
 -l22-

EEEANDLE
It is not possible to delineate clearly a universally accept
ed
distinction between the concept of the lineage, the 23g, and the
larger
clan unit, the go, One trait which seems to differentiate consistently
between these groupings among all the tribes is that of kunu.
the vengeance—
spirit: kunu Operates on the Egg level, not on the level of the
19: Thus,
a whole clan is never held responsible for the mistakes of
one person,
although a whole lineage ofight be.

The clearest distinction between the two organizational concep

ts
is that of the Djuka, as explained by van Lier:

The total mainland and all the islands in the rivers where Djuka
lives is distributed between the lo, with subdivision accord
ing
to villages ( ranasi, plantationsf"hnd further subdivision
according to families (here, belly) (van Lier, l940:l57. Tr.
mine).
Nowhere else does van Lier mention the term bere or Egg; clearl
y his unit
of social analysis is the lgtor Djuka clan. This distinction is mainta
ined
by all other writers on the Djuka. The lg_is the organization
which
maintains incest taboos and exogamy, and shares a "totem" animal
which is
a food taboo. go affiliation deterhfines the succession of the tribal
leadership, the Paramount Chiefs and the High Priests. The basic tribal
division is founded on geography: the Djuka speak of 0 o-ningre and Bilou
ningre, in reference to the clans living above (992:) and below (bilo-)
the Gran Hollo Falls. Thoden van Velzen notes that not only traditions of
cooperation but those of enmity exist between clans:

Members of the Misidjan clan suspect the Kompai of bewite

hing
their visitors. A Misidjan says that if he was forced to
spend the night in a Kompai village, he would be careful
that
no Kompai would obtain any of his urine by relieving himself
against the side of a hut or in the river, rather than on the
ground. I have not been able to ascertain whether the Misidj
an
actually take these precautions (1966:33. Tr. mine).
 ~123—

In contrast, the Saramacca lg_does not share

totem or food taboos.
It is a matricien, a unit into which are ordered
an unspecified number of
what Herskovits (1928:7T6) caiied "extended fami
lies" but what are in fact
matriiineages. It functions to perpetuate cian
~specific supernaturai
powers such as the abiiity to heai broken bone
s, and the attendant obia of
such powers. Any member of the clan will be abie
to make the obia mark if
he studies the matter, but it wiii not work
fer outsiders. As with the
Djuka, the Paramount Chieftaincy is inherited
through a particular cian,
as are various other important posts.

Though the cian group, among the Saramecceners is somewhat

largeiy amorphous, there is one individuai memb er of the lg_who
is designated as its head. Any matter which touch es it is in the
genera? pattern of the making of decisions amon
The Kaptein or heedman of the viiiage must be a g the Bush»Negrees.
10 which is dominant in that viiiage~was a matt member of the
tfiid that
er of fact, I was
the headship of a village goes not
aiso in the 'gg: Thus, aii_the head-men wiii oniy in the in but
repre sent 3T7 the
clans cf the tribe (Herskovit s, 1928:722).
Still more diffuse is the distinction between
gee and 12 among the
Bani. Here the terms are used almost interchangea
bly; and actuaiiy refer
to manifestations of the same concept:
[The] bee [is the] matriiineege in its broadest
ing aiT‘Eersons who know they have descended sense, encempass-
from
ancestor. even if the genealogical ties have been the same femaie
even if these persons are located in severe! fergotten, and
viii
different ruies. [The] 1Q.[is the] fraction of a ages subject to
1inea
in the same viiiege and constituting a distinct socie ge living
(Hurauit, 1961:18. Tr. mine). i unity

The Egguis a unit which remains united prim

arily because of
religious ties: Qgg_members share the same kunus. The gee has no chiefs
and no leadership as such. The lg does have 1eadership. Decisions
affecting the weifare of the 13 are arrived at
in krutu or kuutu, the
assembiey of the men of the 19, There is no prec
ise ruie regarding the
adolescent maie's right to attend a krutu,
and in principie 311 may speak.
 4 24-

nd
o h a n i s m w i t hin the la, a
ra} m
rm s t h e m a j or social cont s the
This councfi
fo g‘constitute
Djuka, the l
ong the
b y t h e 1 2 chief. As am s o wn ancestor
cult,
is led Each l t h a s it
e rence group. as
individuaW's
p r i m a r y r e f
e gr ou p‘ s ju dge. The lg_
as th
it s p riest as wet} rritory
and the lg’ch
i e f is
a i n e d t h r o u ghout the te
re maint
o w n s e t o f laws which a
such has its
reignty. ndent,
w h i c h it c1aims sove b e quite indepe
over e a g e t o
egro Iin
l e for a Bush N e.
it is p o s s i b icu1ar trib
tie s to a part
r r i t o r y without any
its own t e thio
to exist in n u m b e r o f such lggfiwi
here are a
(1961:64) t bushi
According t
o H u r e u l t
chi or Bakka
to as Bakabu
eferred
h e s e a r e c o liectively r p l e). Some ve
ry
Sur i n a m . T u n g i e p e o
ih-the*j
s h ,“ the deep« iy
t e r a t i y “ b ack— o f - t h e ~ b u
a t o o f o e s s , but absolute
(l i egree of
h a v e m a i n t ained this d
ages
ancient Iine
them.
is a vaiIable on casiona1
no “hard” da ta
B u s h Ne gr o are found oo
n the
literature o names no Io
nger
In the older
WM"

wa ys w h o s e
gs of runa
W-M.~W

ot her groupin of
"tri be s" o r
a r ding a group
mentions of hor, hot b e r s , r e g
t e s one such aut ungTe
q u o vod to the j
*W

(1 56 )
occur. ENul 350 po o p W e w h o 1 i
mesM-“

s a w in 1773, about tuari

Goliath Negr
oe s h e
J o h a n n e s King. the Ma
e Surinam.
iver and th e
w ,, M‘Wm

r
between the
S e r a m a c c a
of Lo an go Negroes in th
a trfih e
C h a p t e r XV), visflted tains“
ofissiooary (s
ee
r th e T u m e khomeh coun
obab1y nea
e coiony, “Pr ntioned
08) never me
t h o f t h
extreme Sou o Go ej e, 19
dition (d
. T h e T u m akhumek expe Coffy~flegro
es, a
(E NN §: 15 6) po rt s of
arfious re
r e were aTso v .
i s gr ou p, howeve r. T h e
r b u t 42 p e rsons in 1799
th to numbe
h EN NX (1 56 ) estimates f post-
whic e11 groups o
sm311 group o s t s u c h sm
ion ofrn
e u l t i m ate disposit exist:
Althoug h t h
po ss ib Ie exoTaoations
on1y four rated
r u n a w a y s is unknown, ey were incorpo
treaty t; 2) th
e extinc
l o f t h e s e groups becam the repea‘
of
1) some or al the Coast after
; 3) th ey returned to
ng tribes
into existi
 ‘125~

me
d in to th e Cr eo le popuiation; or 4) so
submerge
siavery in 1865 to be ility as
e third possib
esent” we can discount th
persist into the pr refugees
e ne ni y ii be ra te d Creoie popuiation,
Among th
extremely uniikely. any
r a 1o n9 ti me , an d there is no data on
aiien fo
wouid have remained ibility, that
rn in g fr om th e bu sh. The first poss
iiy retu
group ever voiuntar nted so
ul d be co me ex ti nc t. cannot be discou
roons wo
a whoie group of Ma to adapt
un ii ke iy th at a group which managed
heless
easiiy. It is nevert ers during the
e travel
d To ng en ou gh to be noticed by whit
weii enough an ote possibie,
be co me ex ti nc t gg _j§§.ggg, It is qu
d Tater
Treaty period woui ugh warfare,
ou p mn gh t ha ve be en eiinnnated thro
ch a gr
of course, that su t against the
su ch vi ct or ie s, even though the figh
ions
but no foikiore ment rsist into
ii ed . Th at so me independent groups pe
y re ca
Boni is stiii vividl eiy no one,
te st ed by Hu ra ui t, but unfortunat
en at
the presont has be isns by which
n th e ti me to tr ace out the mechan
take
inciuding him, has amy
nd en ce in th e fa ct of general exog
kkabushi indepe
they retain such ha

(see p. 131-132, below). the major tribes ac

cepted
11 ~d oc um en te d th at
In any case, it is we
WW u (

st
th ei r va ri ou s log, One of the mo
«W

t in to
1ineages of recent deveiopmen
» a ». may—WW

e
me nt io ne d ab ov e, wh ich new constitute th
-gigggg,
obvious is the Loango i unaccounted for;
e Goliath are stii
the Saramacca. Th
Loango sub-tribe of
w-th u “ma—MM

they have
ey ar e st ii i ba mk abushi or whether
cause th
whether this is be
own.
at ed in to so me ex isting 19, is not kn
been incorpor unit of Bush
th an , we ca n st ate that the major
For most purposes t
: the 19, This has no
or ga ni za ti on is the subtribe or ciao
Negro sociai and nineteenth
of the eighteenth
r. when the treaties
aiways been so ciea ents
na m go ve rn me nt vi ewed these as agreem
fied, the Suri
centuries were rati repre-
Ac tu ai iy , th ey had deait with the
authorities.
signed with tribal
 ~126-

sentatives of iooseiy allied Iineeges, not with

a tribal organization at
a“,o

oil. It appears that the existing organization

of the Maroons is in fact
an unpremeditated hy-oroduct of the treaties. The
government, in deaiing
with a grgggb(paiaver) of lineage chiefs, in effec
t reified a supra~
lineage organization, a unity which persisted at first
because the
distribution of "gifts" was channeied through the
treaty signators and
their successors, and later because of increased gover
nment interference
in the internal affairs of these fEderations of
iineages through supposed
tribe! reoresentatives. Nevertheless, the 1g conti
nues for most purposes
to function as the decision-making body: a1} new edicts and ruies of
the government are discussed and acted upon in a Eggtg
representing a1? the
1ineages. Marriages and other important events are
settled not in tribai
Eggtg.but in a meeting of the iargest sociai bodies which
may concern
themselves with such matters: the lgspinvoived. Reiigion and statecraft
are more concerned with the reiationship among lggRt
han that among tribes.
This misnnderstanding of the socio-poiiticai make
-up of its
treaty partners Ted the government into many fored
oomed and frustrating
enterprises. Fineliy acknowiedging that its intervention in the
tribes'
internal politics often resuited in probiems which
were more serious
than the ones avoided, the government embarked upon
a serious investiga-
tion of Bush Negro organization.
Q
In 1936 E. Wong, a District Commissioner of Marowijne,
was assigned
the task of investigating the social history of the
tribes, especiaiiy in
regard to succession rules fer chiefs, tribal partition,
and the distribu-
tions of the Bush Negroes before the present
century. Wong gathered his
data from a variety of archives and libraries in
the Netheriands and
made his report in i937. His findings were reviewed by two other
 -1

Commissioners, Hempe of Suriname district and Raue, also of Marowigne.

hung wrote rejoinders to the separate critiques and published the collec~

tion in l938. This is the single most important source for the history of
tribal and sub-tribal organizationi
qu§g_gg. In the face of the importance of the lg, it is at first
surprising that there is such a general and complete lack of agreement about

the number of subtribes which make up each of the five tribes. In part
this is the result of the relative scarcity of infbrmation on most of these
peoples, but mainly such disagreement seems to derive from the confusion

between the 19, the ggg, and the tribe: often we cannot tell whether
eariy students had witnessed an independent group, now extinct, a clan or

a lineage. In fact, the confusion has not yet been successfully resolved.
This is true even for the Djuka, the most often studied and the most

accessible group.

According to stories told him by his informants. Loth (l9l0)

divided the Djuka tribe into three major segments: the Bile-31mg;3 the
Opo1njgggg, and the Njun~gjgggg. Supposedly each of these segments was
further subdivided into twelve parts, each with its own Kagitein or chief.
Van Panhuys (ENHI:]57) in 1917 repeated Loth's contentions without
correction. Unfortunately for the pieasing symmetry of this schema, no one

else has been able to demonstrate it.

Van Lier first claimed that the Djuka had seven subtribes (1921:7),
but later revised that to l2 (1940:156). He notes that he disagrees with
Wong's (1938) account of 14 13g, but never explains where or why. Thoden
van Velzen (l966:32) found 13 Egg on the Tapanahoni, but did not enumerate

theme At various times others have listed the Ojuka subtribes, but again

without agreement. In 1830, the Government representative, Postholder

 «128~

15 logiand their kondres

Schachtruppe, made the fOIYowing list of
ribution of treaty gifts to the
(homeiands) for the purpose of the dist
Djuka Kapj tei us:

SUBTREBE KON DRES

{intro-‘1 o Tutu; Abrawatra ; Kankantm‘ ; Kouweri gran

Hams {M o Hansu

JavaH-h Kiementi

Duka,n-10 Mon Souci

BTey-lo Ma‘lobi

Pedi Jo Butappe

Colmagni 9% o Barrio} a

La Pai x-lo Mindriwatra

Verve1 i—Io Kisai

L'Espinacie-1o Ki tti v1 ey

“Patra-‘to Sriebakrie’kie
Mansch'l 1 2-1 0 Mansch'i e

Casti Hie-‘10 Godoho] 10

La _ Parra—“lo La Parrakondre

Wanebo—1o wanabolo

(reported in Wong, 1938:311)

in the Iast century as
Wong adds that Htfle change has occurred
these gr oupings and their Toca'les are
concerned, and elaborates the
far as

c'Ians and their origins as foflows:

Witzen, brother
Ottro-lo. This group descends from the siaves of Otto
the rented Missiedjanfig. It is
to the John Witzen whose slaves make up
the
the dominant 61am in Djuka society,
since both the Paramount Chief and

come from the (lure—lg. The 131s

High Priest of the Grantata cult must
 ~129e

traced to Avo Abenkina, a female sIave who escaped from the plantation
Adrichem, which was owned by Jones (John) Nitzent Its primary vi11ages

are Dritabiki and Piketi (Wanwwata-aha).

2. Missiedjan—Io. This name does not occur in official documents ore—dating

Kong‘s anaiysis, because the group considered 1tse1f part of the Ottro—lg,
At the time of the renewa1 of the Feace Treaties (1830), Jackie, kagitein

of the 0ttro—19_under Paramount Chief Trobbie, was given the ceremonia1

GovernmentaI baton of captaincy over the targe group which became known as
the Missiedjans, and the Ottroulg thus sptit. The ownership of this baton

carries littTe prestige, since one of its previous owners, kagitein

Paintinga, dishonored it through theft. Wong considers it probable that

their origin myth is factuala In 3936, their primary villages were

Dritabiki, Pikien-kondre, Moitaki, and Puketti.

3. gjgzjgb This name too is new, but for a different reason. ?he Dju—lg

is made up of fbur groupings dating from Schachtruppe’s account:‘ the

Mansohie-lg, La ParraflgJ CastiHie—lgJ and Wanebo-lg, A11 originate with
escapees from the almost one hundred Jewish plantations on the Upper

Suriname, and the five on the Commewine. Oniy after Schachtruppe’s account

were these united in a singie term, but their independence is sti11 attested
in the fact that each lineage has its own recognized Kagitein with his
ceremonial baton. They Tire primarily in Mansehie and three viliages near

Godoholto: Saniki, Fisiti. and Miranda. These may be Loth's "Njun-gjggxg,"

4. Pinasie-1o. The descendants from the sieves of Mr. L'Esoinasse, who
owned the plantations t’Espérance, Wederhoop, and Charlottenburg (which
was known a1so as Pinassie) are divided into area: and EjgjggyPinasie.
Most 1ive on the Cottica, but their home honors is Sanbendumi on the
Tapanahoni. Some 1§ve in Loabi.
 «130-

. this ciao descends

5. According to the Iagend recounted by Wong
Patra~io.
mm“, m

urg piantation on the Tempati Creek,

from Maroons escaping from the Maegdenb
r. Prince Patra and Irtjie ied
and is named after its owner Marten Pate
e servants Ave Finisie and Guié,
the escapees, taking aiong the femaie hous
the Patra~_j§g§§, Kfibben questions
now acknowiedged as the clan mothers of
map of the area shows the
the validity of this View, because a 1731
rted at this time, and none ever
plantations aiong the Tempati already dese
belonged to Pater.
on on the Commewijne river
“The iatter did however own a piantati
If the ancestors of our
as wail as one on the upper Cottica. tation, this wouid
pian
Peta peopie really came from this Cottica n, since in this case
T533 a certain piquanoy to the situ atio
wanderings, ainost
they settled as free people, after many
ancestors formeriy 1ived
exactly on the same spot where their
as slaves“ (Kfibben, 1967:14).
A singie 1ineage makes up this
Their Egggrg is Loabi on the Tapanahoni.
355
a—, Taiboto—, and
6. Prikawio. This is a subtribe made up of the Prik
the Verveii-lg_named after J. B.
Tjamba~gjggrg, who united very eariy in
nged to one Taibot, who had
van Vheeien‘s piantation. The Taiboto beio
name and the Para. Wong found no
several plantations aiong the Upper Suri
is on the Cottica. Prika Eggggg
origin data on the Tjamba, whose viiiage

is Kisai on the Tapanahoni.

as Amen, owner of the
7. Ansuvio.The sieves of Amsingh, known popuiariy
on the Cottica, having ieft the
piantation Meerzorg. are recent arrivals
quarrei. They Tive in Agitiondro
Tapanahoni area after an unreconciied
b
and are closely related to the Ottro-lg
ciaim to have
8. N3 fai~io. Often referred to as Javaii—lo, they
4) estabiishes their origin as
beionged to one Jan Faai, but Wong (1938:31
to Gabriel de 1a Faiiie. Their
the piantation hieuwe Zorg. beionging
 ~13}-

gggggg is Klementi on the Tapanahoni.

9. figgizlg, Origin unknown“ In 1830, at the 9eace talks, they were known
as the Criorokondre [Creole country] fligggg, and thus lived in what is

today called Dritabiki, still their home. The Pedi-lo is important

especially because of its Gedeonsu worship, which long competed successfully
with the Grantata cult of the Ottro~lg,
l0. Dikan~lo. Previously reported as Dukenfilg, these slaves of the De

Camp corporation and its plantations near the mouth‘ of the Coermtibo now

consider Benanu, Wantinga and Niki an the Tapanahoni their home.

ll. Blex—lo. Originally slaves of Major Bley, who owned plantations on the

Perica and the Upper Suriname Rivers. they live in the Tapahahoni villages

of Malobi, Fandraki , and Saje.

l2. Kamgei-lo (else, Compegnie—lg,and Kumpanielg). These descendants of
slaves of the Societeit were, under Chief Bosten, a major factor in the
original peace treaty of l761. Nevertheless, their 19_ranks as relatively
unimportant, according to Wong, and their villages Powi and Mompusu are

generally avoided (1938:315).

l3. gg_Paix~lo. This minor 1Q descends from the La Paix plantation on the
Cottica, but in 1936 was almost extinct. (Perhaps this explains some of
the discrepancies in counting among various students.) By Djuka customary
law, the Baku Creek region is La Paix Eggggg, since this 1g_was the first
to cut gardens there. (If the lineage is indeed extinct, it would be
interesting to see which lg'now claims control over the Baku—Creek region,
and hy what logic.) Most of the members of the lineage lived with the
Compagnieflg on the Tepanahoni, though Wong reports seme on the Cottica in

Pinamoffb.
14. Poligudu-Ningre or Pulugudu-lg, When Wong reported this 1__in l938,
 ~132-

he pointed out that they did not constitute an actual Qigfigjug. Yhey live
“My;

in isolation near the Poligudu F3115 a scant mile or so from the

Stoelmanseiiand Mission hospita1, where the Tapanahoni and Lana Rivers

converge. Their isoTatton is more than geographic, as the foilowing quote

from Wong attests :

They beionged to the Corps Black Infantry [Zwarte angers, probabiy
deveioped from Fourgeoud‘s "Corps Free Negroes“] which had been
created by Governor Nepveu. In the fight against the runaways,
and especial1y against the Bani, they performed many and important
serv ces.
In 1805, one of their detachments occupied the forts Oran‘ewoud
and Imota ie. charged with guarding the Gordon Trail. ifigrty of
their hunger revoTted, murdered their officers. and escaped.
Another 30 Regroes from a neighboring plantation joined them.
They journeyed to the post Armina on the Marowine, surprised it,
and traveied further up river accompanied by the compiete commands
of Armina and another post, Mapana.

Origin311y they joined the Boni, but Tater settled near the Djuka,
by whom they were treated as sIaves [3iter311y: door gig gjj_gflgi
slaven warden behande1d. See Chapter IVJ

.‘3

Because the greatest possib1e selectivity‘had been practiced in

the deveTopment of the corps, they had more education [literaI1yz
ontwikkelin , deve1o ment] than the ordinary Bush Negro. The
fijuEa therefore [sicg did not value the retention of this group.
Repeatedly, the Postho1der was forced to report that another "robe "
(as they_were described) had been suspected of poisoning, and been
burned alive.

In 1830 they numbered but 8 or 10 men, under chief Paki-Paki. ...

They have never been invoived in the distribution of treaty gifts,
and their chief: have no government recognition. They therefore
are not in possession of the ceremonia] baton and brassard (Wong.
1933:315-315. Tr. mine).
This wouid appear to be a case of a potentie1 bakkaboshi group

which couId not establish its independence, probably because it lacked

seIf-sufficienoy. Why they left the Boni is not known, but it wou1d not
stretch the imagination too much to extrapo1ate hostiTity on the part of
the Iatter, since the Black Infantry had the contro1 ofwthe Boni as its
 —133r

major rgjggn_g;§§§g:
map, attesting to the
Thoden van Velzen notes Puiigudu on his
whether it has achieved any great
survive} of the 19, but it is not known
a1 position
population increase‘ One su5pects, that the socio~geogrephic
than
its members much more susceptib1e
of the Poligudu-lg_must have made
etion.
other Djuka groups to the Iure of accuitur
een Schachtruppe‘s enumer~
There is almost teta1 disagreement betw
of Wong. Severe} factors must be
ation of the cIan kondres of and that
discrepancy. Foremost are the
included in any attempt to explain this
Groot, 1965) which occurred most1y
migratory morements of the Djuka (de

after Schachtruppe‘s report. Then there is the secretiveness whfich

, an avoidance which is compounded
surrounds a11 things re1ated to the cIan
part of sound nfi1itery intelligence.
in part of supernatural dread and in
reTated to 1inguistics: vi11ages
Finaliy, there are a host of variab1es
Djuka app1y different names to the
have been renamed; the Dutch and the
probTem of lineageaggggrg versus
same viITage; and aiways there is the
apart would, under the
clanegggggg, Agreement between authors a century
ng than this difference.
circumstances, have been more surprisi
ians appear to
Saramacca Lg; If the parameters of the Djuka matric
present 1ocation of the Saremacca lg§_
be unclear, the number, origin and

are a much deeper mystery.

tribe incIuded some who had
The Maroons who were ancestral to this
1a, as mail as others who had been
been born in Portuguese Guinea and Ango
piantations aTong the Suriname River
brought over from BraziT. The Jewish
23 more along the Commewine. The
numbered 93 in 1737, and there were
English, genera11y avoided the coasta1
Jewish p1anters, unlike the Dutch and
Sandier terrain. They raised their own
peider areas in favor of higher and
 ~134-

Bush Patrols to iinfit the Maroons and to bring back runaways, and had the
reputation of being more thorough in such matters than the Administrateurs
of the West India Company. Those runaways who did manage to maintain
themselves in the jungles of the Upper Suriname and Saramacca Rivers had

therefore withdrawn much deeper inland than did their Djuka equivalents,

and it appears that they operated fer a much longer period as politicaiiy
independent units. It is possible that the Saramacca tribe is no more
than a very loose federation of independent clans and lineages, some of

which are in fact bakkabushi groups, and others of which may have been
given government recognition since Treaty times. It wiii take an
ethnographic census to estabiish the facts. However, for reasons which
are not clear, but which may be reiated to a more general naming‘fear

(see Chapter XIV), both the Djuka and the Saramacce are unwiiiing to give

genealogicai information to ethnographers:

"To Speak of the 19_is not a thing for strangers,“ we were told.

"My clan I can name, and another man can teii you the name of his clan.
My father's cian I can name, too, but not others!’ (Herskovits and
Herskovits, 1934:195).
The confusion within the iiterature is deep and basic, as it
apparently invoives complete disagreement on the meaning of the terms
ciao, 1ineage, and tribe. Wong (1938;321-323) had coiiected the various
existing enumerations of the lgg, but he cannot ciarifiy matters. He
quotes the Posthoider Van Eyck, who in 1930 considered the Saramacca to

consist of three major groupings with a totai of 20 government-recognized

chiefs:
The Messy or Basu Negroes, with 31 chiefs;
The Matjau Negroes with seven chiefs; and
 Table 2.” Reputed Saramacca Subtribes.

‘ M

Reporter 3% g x
'32: H ’8 3. '55
gfiw gm gm mm 3:
“an Name , é‘é §§
Awana x x .

Abalsa, Alaisa, Labaisa X X X

Bakapan X

Bi'ito 4r

Dahomey. Kasito X X

' Domini, Dombi x X

Fandaka X

Gankwe I *

Gipising 7 X

Kardosu x

Karpatu

KWama

Loango X

Matjau X X

Misia X

Nassy, 82.311 x X X

Papoto X A

Pritu X

Tumaripa

‘1" Reported by Herskovi‘bs 8c Herskovits, 193%:196, 197.

 ~135-

The Loango Negroes who have two chiefs.

Van Eyck did not expiain whether these were 1ineage or clan chiefs
,
nor where their Egggggg Toy.

Earlier, the Evangeiicei Brethren had listed nine subtribes in

their 1921 address to the Netheriands Anthropologicai Society. Regarding

the respective dwelling places of these cians they said:

The territory of the subtribes is not everywhere 1imited. The

i82"3$£i%.’%9%03"iafilifihifierfiriflmilfiéetfii i‘fiéjififiifiifliw
the Pikien— and Gran Rio, on live in the next fear 1arge
viiiages. The Dahomey1niggrg_are only found in the viiiage of
Dahomey. For the rest, no borders can be established (in Wong,
1938:322. Tr. mine).
Herskovits (1928) coileoted the names of twelve log, and 1isted the
kondres for nine of them. He was carefui to note that he was certain of
neither the accuracy nor the compieteness of this list. to which he added

two names in 1934. Finaliy, one more name was submitted by the Catho1ic

missionary Pater Morsink (1934:100).

For purposes of comparison, a résumé of the clan names as reported

by the various sources has been prepared in Tabie 2.

To interpret this iist to mean that the most often mentioned names

are the most certain, and that therefore names mentioned just once or
twice probably are not clans. wouid be presumptuous. Consider the Kardosu,
which have been named only by Junker. A1though he is their soie reporter,
Junker mentions this group more often than any other subtribe; gives their

origin myth (1922:461-466) as toid hy a Kardosu informant; expTeins that

the Kardosu pride themselves that their ancestors never performed slave

labor in the Coiony (1922:476); and furthermore mentions this group

repeatediy in his later writings. Junker was in morevor»1ess continuous
contact with the Seramacca between 1917 and 1924. He was for part of that
 *136-

time an official guide and translator for government otficiais dea1ing

with the Saramacca, and although he was openly hostiie to their ggligf
system, he nevertheless described it in great detail and with Tittle

contradiction from other students. It is oniikeiy that he wouid have

been mistaken about either the ggggbKardosu, or the idea that it referred

to a subtribe. Further compiications arise when we note that Henskovits,

Junker, and Wong were aware of each other's writing: each referred to

the others. yet none agreed upon the suhtnibaI names.

As far as subtribai Function is concerned, the picture is not much

clearer. The description of the Saramecca cians which we receive from the
Herskovitses are stii! the iast word. They make it obvious that these

groupings have more independence than do the Djuka 19g,

The cian we found to be rooted deep in the land. Each clan

had its own territony, and in the region it controiied only the
men of the ciao nfight fish in the creeks or feii the hardwood
trees which the white man in the city bought. A1] of the up-
river cians had land on the Iower river near the reilhead, and
an important down—river clan. like that of the Gankwe peopie,
had iand deep in the interior. whether fear of invasion, on
the one hand, or the need to have their own strongholds in the
event of factionai disputes, on the other, dictated this
division of the iand, it was, of course, impossible to deternfine.
Yet it was unquestionabiy useful for a clan to have representa~
tion up and down the river in this fashion....
Village, ciao, and above these the tribe. So it was that
the poiitical order of the Bush Negro was integrated. Tribe]
assembiies such as were reported from the Awka peopie on the
Marowyne were here not sailed regulariy. There was no
central body here to make decisions. The autonomy of viiiege
and clan seemed almost unquestioned. There were, to be sure,
clan aliiances, but these bore more directiy on the factions
which had formed to controi the choice of the next headman.
(Herskovits & Herskovits, 1934: 196-197.)

Towards the end of the last century, the operators of the 901d
concessions in French Guiana encouraged Saremecca Taborers to seek work

in the Mane River area of Cayenne. Here they were first empioyed as

boatmen in the carrier trade, plying their canoes a1ong the riverse Their
 ~137~

stay in Cayenne often fasted severai years, which created hardships on

their dependents in their Upper Suriname gggggg. During the first third
of this century, the Surinam government tried to control the exodus, but

to no avaii: the economy of Cayenne gave the Saramacca greater security

than anything which Surinam had to offer at that time.

Wong (19382323) estimated that 2000 Saramacca had settied aiong
the Mann and the anpock Rivers. Many of these had married Creoie women,

and they were steadily employed in the goid fieids. Hurauit (1961)
mentions the Saramacca oniy in passing, acknowiedges that they have married
some Bani women and that they are feared fer their magicai powers, but

does not enlighten us about their social organization. We d0 not know

whether the Cayenne-Saramacca sti11 migrate back-and-forth to Surinam

(Hurauit's various maps show their villages to be "temporary”); whether

the miners come from one or from ali Tineages in Surinam; whether we are

witnessing the development of a new cian or clans in Cayenne; whether a

totaiiy new (to the Bush Negro) organization is taking place; nor even

just how many Saramacca are living in French Guiana. We gg_know that of
a11 the groupings of Bush Negroes in the Guianas, these people are the most
involved with the economy of a Western state. As Wong already remarked in
1938, this unusuai aceommodation deserves study.
@3319“. Uniike the Djuka and Saramacca, the Bom‘ 13;; have been
described in some detail. Hurauits(1961:18*38), the Boni‘s singie
ethnographer, is the source for the fniiowing section.
The Bani often speak of their tribe as “The Ineive g9," indicating
that at some time in the past there must have been mere iineages than exist

today. The present number of lgg_is six. With one exception, each occupies
a singie ancestrai viiiage. The Dipeiu 19_has three kondres, each with
 -138—

its own Heedman.

eages to be
wit h the oth er tri bes , it is typicai for Boni lin
As
comes
er the pla nta tio ns fro m whi ch the ancestors escaped: Dju
named aft
the Boni
Jew ish pia nta tio ns; 52: 15; from the Cottica River were
from the
flther names
rev oit ed in 177 2; Lap é der ives from La Paix piantation.
first
ir femaie founding ancestor.
probabiy reflect those of the
f
s from the “One 19, One ggggrg
Occasionaiiy there are deviation
n fragments
Papaiston contained certai
principle. Hurauit found that the lg’
iineage Toina,
01d ,pa tri 1in ea1 org ani zat ions, as weii as the minor
of
the end of the
cen dan ts of a gro up whi ch Taft Snrinam sometime during
des
dencies which
also certain fractionating ten
nineteenth century. There are
irr eco nci iab ie dif fer enc es within some lineage, probabiy
have resulted from
ms. The
ns or sinfiiar reiigious prohie
regarding witchcraft accusatio
oved from
another village, Wetiti, far rem
Papaiston-1g_thus gave rise to
the Kotika Tineage founded
the originai gongrg, Sinniariy, a group out of

iti ; and Bip éTu II and 311 its territory was an offshoot
Ma Imma, near Wet
e
Som e Dip éiu 11 mem ber s now iive at Asisi, a viiiage mad
of Dipéiu I.
Asisi—
eag es, eac h wit h its own territory and organization:
up of three lin
é1u 11.
Dju, Asisi-Anare, and Asisi—Dip
h fra cti ona liz ati on of the dom inant lggvseems to have Tittie
Suc
which are
on the tot ai org ani zat ion of the tribe. The fractions,
effect
separate units
ail y sma 11 and poi iti cai iy weak, are not recognized as
usu
their aneestrai cult;
the Gre nma n, and the ir reiigioos ties remain with
by
geographicai
tism 1ies in the creation of
Thus, any advantage in separa
remains in
controi over such “coineies”
isolation: poiitico-reiigious
its Eggggg.
the iineage‘s viiiage of origin,
mai nta ins 1eg a1 and soc ia‘ i controi over its comma“! iy-
The lg
 -139-

held territory. Its chief is the priest of the ancestors and acts as

judge in quarrels. where recently founded lineages have been placed under

the authority of‘a lg_chief, there is no need to postulate the use of force
or subjugation: such acknowledgement of authority is a Social necessity

under the Boni concept of the territorial indivisibiiity of the 19,

Without it, the famiiy would have no land to farm. Nevertheless, no one
will oppose a lineage's right to go to undeveloped country, built a village,
and create its own separate territory.

One problem which Hurault notes in the Boni's perception of the

19_is a certain eagerness to view their kin groupings as true lineages.

In fact, not everyone knows the identity of their female foundress, and

the three most numerdus log are divided into several fractions. Some of
these cannot genealogically demonstrate their interrelationship, yet they
generally assume descent from the same clan mother. Thus, there are
mechanisms in Boni social organization which encourage the assimilation
and fusion of groups of dissinfilar origin. The mechanisms have not been
described. The fact of the legendary twelve 12g, balanced against the
heterogeneous makeeup of the six present log, might inply a graduol and

continuous disintegration and reorganization of the tribe, but other

speculations appear just as reasonable.

In 1958, this was the basic situation of the Boni kin groups:
l. The Eifiéflflg is dying out. This ancient lineage provides the hereditary
Granman of the Bani, but the present Paramount Chief, Bifu. is its oniy

member. At his death, the Dikanjlg ends. Dikan fggghfigis the Boni
“capitai,” Agodé or Boniville. For the last two generations, the Boni
have maintained appearances by selecting a lineage or two from each 19 to

live in and populate the Brennan's viiiege. Consequently, Boniville is

 .140“

made up of six small and separate quarters: the Granman's, and one for
each of the other five lineages.

2. The Kotika or Yakubi-lg-is one of the most populous clans»

It was
founded about 18l5, and today consists of three fractions,
descending
respectively from clan mothers Kénéya, Amawi, and Oka. For most practical
purposes these are considered as daughters of one mother,
so that all the
descendants share the same 5333, Exogamy is fraction-specific, but there
were seven cases of interwfraction marriages; these unions
were frowned
upon in principle, but tolerated: it is the actuallx known descent which
determines whether or not incest has occurred. Some Saramecca and Djuka
who have settled among the Ketika have been accepted, but contin
ue the
titles of their own ancestral clans. Kotika goggrg_is the village Kotika,
but a fraction lives at Abunasunga. Their chief is Nachinengé.
3. Lapé lg_has as its kondres the two small villages of Lake and Lapé
Tabiki. They reckon descent from a single ancestress, Mata, who
lived in
the late l700‘s. One fraction of the 12.cannot trace its link with Mata,
but descends from one Atili. Nevertheless, the rules of exogany are
followed to the letter: there are no reports of marriages between the
fractions. All share gang, The lg under chief Pope contains no elements
of other groupings.

4. The Dju~1gasimilarly share a known ancestress, Aluku, who

dates back
to the middle of the eighteenth century. The Dju do not have any fractions
separated from the parental lg, Exogamy and homogeneity of the lg have
been maintained as with the Lapé. Their ggggrg_is the central part of
Asisi, an island in the Laws River, and the home of their chief Adiiso
.
5. The Dipélu~1g_formerly constituted a single lineage, but has
undergone
various fragmentations under the influence of the French. One group
set
 ~l4l~

up its own village, Apatu, on the outskirts of St. Laurent [city],

where
since the 1800's its members have diminished greatly. The 1g_is divided
into three fractions, with three major kondres: Dipelu I under chief,
Babun lives in the village L'Enfant Perdu; a fraction under its own
chief,
Saka, lives in Apatu. Dipelu II lives predominantly in Kormotibo under
its chief Poopu, but a recent splintering of II resulted in a
fraction
at Asisi. Exegamy is maintained within the two sub—Egg I and II, but
marriages between them do occur. These marriages no longer engender gigggg,
because the people consider these sub-19§_too far removed. Nevertheless,
such intermarriage is rare. There are no alien elements among the Dipélu.
6. The Papaistcn or Kanina~lg_has remained intact over time. It names the
early eighteenth century Téréka as its clan mother. A minor fraction of
this lgwcannot trace its descent, and the two groups, unable to locate
their
kinship ties in the past, consider themselves separate 9335. They do not
have the same 533g, and marriages may occur between the two hggg.
With the
Papaiston lives a Bakkabushi immigrant graup from Surinam. This Egg,
usually referred to as the “Family of Toina" (Toina" was their ancestress)
has no kinship ties with the rest 01" the Papai'ston, but accepts the
leadership of Tafanié, the Papaistomgg chief. The W of this 351 is
Papaiston village, but fractions live in Boniville and in Netiti on the

lower Maroni River.

There are two further groupings of Bani which Hurault does not

count into his list of 19;. Presumably this is because (a) they lack the
descent principle of the clan, not recognizing a common ancestress,

(b) they have no independence, lacking a chief, and (c) they are not
numerous enough to have developed a true lg_structure. hurault does not
explain the organization of his data.
 442-

ions.
, h a s t h ree fract
. Asisi
h o s e kondre is at—
a k k a g r o up'i n g . w
y e , t h e greatv gre
The Awar
e B
fec fly b
ack to Ak cny
per ose
heir ancestry 5 7 . Akyé supp
Aware Be kk
a 1'an t } uba, who
(Had in 1 9
M a K n nding
f t h e centenari
an
e g a n w h e n its ‘5 mi
grandmoth
er o akka :3; b
. Aware B
e 1700‘s 9ééyon, her Awar
e
a t t h e en d of th k i , t o H ve with
fived Dritabi umerous
h e r D j u ka home, and her n
ta left
{nether Me n As
ed i ted by
She remain ead adop
sband. were inst
Bakka l hu pw.
a t r i fi n e a ‘l princi
ex plained p
with some Amara Ba
kka 1,
ccordame
akka in a b
s ters and
g a v e c a ned the si
Bakk a e .
The Mara n c e s t r al vinag from
hei r a t; e
t kunu of t
h e 2* e ‘ H g i nus distan
arry a1 an d
but they c i n tain a 1eg ge.
u s t h ey s t i fi m a
o f t h e same Hnea
). T h mente r s
Tapanahoni a r e 31 91; re any 2., but
r e B a k k a : t h e y
f r o m A w a m a Bakka
Awa data
the 0 the? n ea‘! ogi ca 1 mm
it he 3 its
“ e c t g e
n a b l e t o co a n d t h a t
es u than 1,
Hureult w r e ancient
i s m o
greup
hat this
attests t neage)
a Wi
e r r s i n aanin‘g it
kunu. a uratflt Man"? ages
a g rouping ( emen.
The Amara
B a k k
e x o g a t w the n is s
e tomrds
atti tud n one
r a1 two withi
n e a s a more fibe
evi A e
,
ions a re common
between
the fract i ves .
t w e e n n ear-mi et s h i m fe of a
a n y b e a k k a b u
and m , the B
fracti on , ed by Mi not
M i w a s f s a n d
t h e s e w omeu did
The H nea
ge Hoaever ,
T ogna.“ ame
a s t h e “Fam i l y 0 f
e r t a i n t h at they c
n, as w eve n c
Vapa'i'ston ma e , a n d it is not r cult
e s a m e w att-‘31 ine
ag
n o s h e r ed humus o
come from
th thus
g r o u p . There are e d the cu
lt ’H
k a b u s h i a c c e p t
Byak it has
Ht t‘xe un
and each he region,
Konmtt
! d in the
ties been originafiy
s e t t ’ e
Asis i.
g e s . ' v e r , five in
st vil l a Most, h o w e
of its ho s s t i “ five. torS, i
e r d e s c e nda n t
m a t e r h ai ances
of h h i ts
ere some
wh ost a“
ties wit
p p e a r s t o have l
ge a
The Iinea
 ~143~

the Afi people insist that if they were to

bother to prove their
relationship, they couid return to their
ancestral home and wouid be given
land there fer their gardens. Unlike the assimilated Aware Bakka g,
the
Afi group is considered a distinct fami
iy, spread too thiniy to constitute
a sociai unit, and hence without iaws of its
own. Should the group
increase in size, however, it might be the
core of a new 19! with its own
chief recognized as Kapitein. But so far,
regardless of its patri-iink to
the Papaiston, the Afi remain separate.

In summary, the Boni as a whoie appear to

be more toierant than the
other tribes about strict adherence to
the ruies of exogamy. The actuai
and ancient 193 do indeed demonstrate a preoccupatio
n with incest avoidance,
forbidding intermarriage between a1} groups
which share an historicai
ancestress, but the punishment for transgre
ssion is reiativeiy miid. Extra-
lg_groupings do not even appear to pay iip
service to the ancient marriage
ruies, and one surmises that this absence of
ritual purity in their descent
lines may help expiain why the Aware Bakka,
for instance, are not counted
as a lg,

Furthermore, the Boni are capabie of adop

ting alien groups into their
essentialiy kin-oriented organization. This
trait they share with the
Saramacca, but apparentiy not with the Djuka
. There is no evidence that
the Djuka have ever accepted any Bakkabushi
group into one of their log,
On the contrary, the nanes “Le Paix" (Boni "Lapé
") and “Dikan” are shared
hy the Boni and the Djuka, indicating Djuka fiss
ion rather than fusion of
clans. And the Djuka Poiigudu have never been comp
ieteiy accepted by the
other Djuka 32;, It appears, therefpre, that the Boni are Egtna typic
ai
Bush Negro tribe whose social organization
just happens to have been more
adequateiy described than that of the others:
Some of the differences
 ~144~

noted between them and the other Bush

Negroes are perhaps spurious, the
result of inadequate data, but other trai
ts appear to make their patterns
unique. No doubt their relative lack of
exclusiveness may partiy be
explained on the basis of Bani experience
with the Djnka as their "overseers"
(see Independence, Chapter IV).

As far as the distinction between gee and jg_i

s concerned, it stiii
appears that for the Bani, too, the conc
ept of the inheritance of Egan
distinguishes adequately between the
two orders of organization. Note that
those groupings which do not foiiow the rule
s of exogany, or which cannot
cieariy establish their descent, tend to be
reiegated to viiiages such as
Asisi, where fractions of at least five grou
pings dweii together. Whether
or not these are technicaiiy voiuntarx kond
res, is irrelevant: the pattern
is too clear to be ignored.

Matuari~gg, The Saramacca River above the falls is caii

ed’Matuari.
In 1767, the Maroons who lived in that area and
who had iong raided the
settlements and plantations along the rive
r, were attacked by a Dutch
contingent under Captain Vorig, aided by
the aiready “pacified” Saramacca
and Kabu, the Negroes of the coopenamei.
The foiiowing year, after their
Paramount Chief Musinga offered to return
runaway siaves from the Para
River area, the Matuari peopie signed a treaty
under Musinga and his major
Captain, Besu. Since that time they have been known inte
rchangeable as

IThis group, according to Wong (1938:299),

Maroon organization in Snrinam. Under the was the first recognized
they iong made the Para River area unsafe, Cormantine Negro ieader Jermes
with Governor van Sommeisdijk between 1683 untii Jermes signed a treaty
and 3685. Although they formed
a separate tribe as Kabu or Coppename Negroes,
they Failed to maintain
themseives as an entity. It is not known what
not join the Saramacca, Wong insists, and his became of them. They did
that the Postholder in Mayonbo nainteined contaoniy ciue to information is
ct between them and the
Government.
 ~145-

Besu, Musinga, or Matuari. What they caiI themseTves is not recorded.

The treaty was with the Dutch. Enmity with the Saremacca to the
East continued for an unspecified amount of time. The treaty itse1f ‘

imposed a very restricted movement on the Metuari; they were not a110wed

to traverse the river further downstream than its branch with the Nanica.
These two factors are invoIved in the surprising degree of isolation sti11

characterizing this group.

Wong (1938:324~325) notes that as recentty as 1810 the Government

intervened through the Posthotders of the two tribes to estabTish peace

between the Matuari and the Saremacca. This effort fai1ed. tn the mfiddte

1840‘s, efforts were made to convince the Government to eTIow the Matueri
to trove! and work in the Lower Saramacca region. These seem to have
succeeded.

The only description of their sociaI organization is Hong's scanty

account, which names the century—01d report of the Posthotder Herzberg in
1830 as its source. At that time the tribe had six chiefs under one Paramount
Chief, Appokride. It is now impossible to determine whether this means

that the Matueri then had seven log, whether only seven were recognized by
the Butch government, or even what the lg§.were anTed, and where their

kondres 1ay.

In 1884, according to Wong, the Coffiemacca or Curuntie sp1it off

from the Matuari stock, and sett1ed on the Coppename River under their

chief, Granman Alamo. The viTlages Witagron and Keimanston were their
ggnggg_in 1938.
There is no date on their actual organization. no data as to

what the terms Qgg‘end 1g mean to the Matuari. We do not even Eggw_that
the concepts are trans1atob1e. There is no avaiTabTe data on their
 ~146-

side of a single
, and des cri pti on of the ir sociai organization, out
number
King never
on the suc ces sio n of chi efs, is zero. Even Johannes
source

eiaborated.
cca tribe, according to
Paramacca 59, Three 19g make up the Parama

Wong (1938:327):
live in
Asa tiv ggg ggg b der ive d fro m the piantation Hasard, who now
i. The
PakiravTabiki, and
vii lag es of Asa bia , Bad a~Tabiki, Mason or American,
the

Kassaba—Tabiki.
plantation Handtros. This 19_caiis
2. The Antroshi~1g‘comes from the
Langa-Tabiki its W.
a—Loka.
ntation Moihoog now 1ive in Lok
3. The Moio»gjgggg_from the pla
ormation, most
rces regarding incidentai inf
Wong mentions some older sou
y of the
cussed. Regarding the histor
of which has aiready been dis
pment, he said only:
Paramacce‘s sociai deveio
11
subject] are availabie, I sha
Even though some notes [on the on further c1aims about them
train myseif from reportage n
res
avoid the error which has bee
[the Paramecca], in order touar i (1938:347. Tr. mfine).
perpetrated on the later Mat
cu~
to the fac t tha t the Gov ern ment made some serious nfiscai
Here he refers
ieaeing
erf eri ng in Bus h Neg ro cus tomary ion on the basis of mis
lotions int
information.
ion at
wiedge of Paramacca organizat
As with the Matuari, our kno
h of these groups,
ei of the lgk is aim ost pure specuiation. For bot
the lev
so wiii
cou rse , the “on e-1 g, one gog gggfl ruie probably wiii hold, and
of
ve would have
Egg gyb ase d dis tin cti on bet ween §gg_ané go, The alternati
the
bes; we wouid expect
on the part of the other tri
demanded too much secrecy
or some simiiar
ose peopie without shame,"
to have been toid about "th
were ail that aiien. Nevertheiess, it is
predictabie epithets, if things
do have
t the soc ial org ani zat ion s of the tribes on which we
obvious tha
 ~147~

infbrmation have not been slavish capies of each other. There are real
and behavioraliy significant differences among the 12§_of Bani. Djuka,
and Saramacca. we may expect stiII more variations from the Matuari and
the Paramacca.
 m
. awe «vow “ev- " 4‘ no” '
W i wwszlA-v
y .s » wwwmww.

CHAPTER VIII

TRIBAL RELATIONS

NOTABLES AND OFFICES

By Nadel‘s definition of a tribe as “a group the members of which

claim unity on the grounds of their conception of a specific common cuitures"

fuifiiis the
there are five Bush Negro tribes, each of which apparentiy
hierarchy
further quaiification of being "the widest, ioosest unit in the

of communities “ (1942:17). Junker Wrote (1932b:273) that the federation

his
of the cians or subtribes constituted the Bush Negro tribe, and

definition has not been improved upon. Tribal decisions are made in a

Ianti krutu (“Tend-councii") which is headed by the tribe‘s Paramount

Chief, the Granman. Its members are the clan representatives, usuaiiy
kagiteins.
those lg_chiefs who have been given government recognition as

Among the tribes which have not signed the Treaties, aii the hedemans
(headmen)--the chiefs of the great iineeges--constitute the ianti krutu.
ruies
Hurauit (1961:65) noted that the Boni have no specific succession
‘s
for the position of 12_chief, and that typicaiiy a deceased hedeman
s.
successor is chosen from among his classificatory brothers and nephew
own
Among the Djoka, kogiteins and other notabies usuaiiy designate their
s upon
successor, with the understanding that aotuai appointment depend
).
approve} by the Brahman and the 1anti krutu (van Lier, 1940:155-156
Kabben adds:

According to Djuka ruies the new headmen must beiong to the next
generation and preferabiy not to the dead man’s metri~segment.
The expianation the Djuka themseives offer for the Iatter
requirement is that in this way the various segments of the
lineage in torn may reap the profits (n‘an, lit. “eat") of
we
captainship: a sort of spoiis system. Is West-Europeans,
the succes sor must be
know from dynastic history the ruie that
regard iess of whethe r
the closest reiative of the defunct ruier,
-148-
 ~149-

or not he happens to be capable. Here we

successor must. on the contrary, be a disthave a system where the
ant relative (1967:23).
The Saramacca also appear to have very
definite Succession ruies, but
again quite uniike the foregoing. aerskovits reports that "the headship
of a village goes not only in the lg_bot also
in the "93? (1928:722).
A hedeman who is aiso Kagitein, that is, a
lineage chief who is
recognized by the Surinam Government, is give
n as his official badge of
' office the traditional baton and brassard
. These must be returned at the
death of the Kagitein, and their possessi
on thus symboiizes government
approval of the succegsor: the baton and
brassard may be withhelo until
a nominee is approved by the Surinam govarnme
nt. Thoden van Velzen (1966:
61) has noted that the Djuka are fond of titl
es, even when these are not
reiated to a specific function. and 1ists the
following1:
a. yGranman, the tribal or paramount chief

b. $31925, major
n

FiscaTi, fiscal
o
Q-

Granfiscaii, grand fiscai

a

fi§g§_§§23§3, headman, head captain

f. £§§1_g1§§§1, (red jacket), or 3:35:5ggggg, grea
t captain
g. §1§32.gj§5§j, also known as second-, vice-, or unde
r~captain
h. gggjygagggg, Bush captain or minor“captain
i. §g§g_§a§ig (basia a Dutch Bastiaan. slave fore
man, overseer)
ifiéaia.
k. gjgigg_§g§j§, sub-basia

He notes that at ieast three of these titl

es have no attached roles,

WW

II have adapted Thoden van Velzen's 1ist

Djuka terms from van Liar (1940), and reguiari by deriving some of the
zing the speliing.
 -150~

and explains:
NW

The title “major” was borne by an important notahie in the

Granman's circle, and was sometimes carried by the ciao-head of
the Misidjanuio, the most populous and, after the Oto-io, the
most important Djuka clans A11 we know of the roie of this
major is that he was responsibie "for aii sorts of things,“ a
task descriptions..which is not very heipfui. ....
Van Lier (1919:50) says about the Granfiscaii that his
position is anaiogous to that of a Commissioner of the Queen
in the Netheriands: the captains of his district are respon—
sible to him. This functionary is aiso the Chief of Poiice.

These contributions by van Lier do not clarify the situa»

tion and sound improbabie. Since no concrete governing
activities are reported, the sus icion is justified that here,
too, we are dealing with a [mere titie.

During the reign of Brahman Oseisie (1888—1915} there were

two "granfiscaii," one (Arabi) for the upper river, and one
for the lower river region (Pankuku). Arahi, the High Priest
of the Great Deity, and to a iesser extent Pankuku, enjoyed
great status. The bestowai of the titie “Graniiscaii” impiied
in these cases an officiai acknowiedgement of a Foremost
position, not the assignment of a governments} position. The
reactions which Cateau van Roseveidt (1862) received in the
last century to his questions on the task of the granfiscaii
are reveaiing. He was aiways given the evasive answer:
“Don't you have a fisca] in your country, too?“

Today there are no more'hajors“ or “( rand)~fiscais“

(Thoden van Veizen, 1966:61~62. Tr. mine?.

The old cian organization of 1ebi~djakti or iedi djakti, biaka

dggkti and busi—kapiting or busi kapten is attested by van tier (3940:

156), who expiains that the Biack Jacket was the lg_chief‘s stand-in
during the lggj:§jg§tifs absences, and that the bush captain was
responsibie for the supervision of the daiiy round. Thoden van Veizen

(1966:63) says that this system no Ionger exists, and that the formal

organization of the Djeka today can be described as foiiows:

The tribai Paramount Chief or Granman is assisted in the‘
Tapanahoni territory by two Head~captains. Each viTTage has two chiefs
or captains. Granman, headwcaptain and captain each are assisted by two
 ~151-

Qggigfi Governmentai activities orginate with the Granman, with the

Granmen and his personal advisers, or with the tribai councii, the 13331
Erato.
The Bani, who did not sign treaties with the Dutch and who have

French citizenship, naturally do not have leaders with officiai Dutch

government recognition. Nevertheiess, they continue to empioy the term

kaptein (which was first introduced by Dutch settlers bargaining with the

pro-Maroon Indians) to designate the 1eaders of the six important 19g, In

further imitation of the Treaty tribes the Bani Grenman gives to each of

these chiefs a seating bench and a ggkg:§i§i_(waiking stick), the baton of

office. carved by the senior cider of the 1g concerned (Hurauit, 1961:66).

g2 chiefs are appointed for iife and cannot be recaiied. Their authority
extends to the economic sphere insofar as they are eoie to appoint men to

carry out the work ordered by the French government, but actuaiiy this is
iittie proof of administrative power: the Boni giadiy voiunteer for this
kind of work because it is highiy profitabie, and the “appointments”
therefore do not impiy that the Kagtein could enforce an unpopular order.

Each captain may appoint a number of Qggja whose duties consist

primariiy of being the viiiage crier: they announce the captain’s orders,
take care of the organizationai formalities invoived in dances and funerais,
and notify the notabies of a 19-kggtg, Usuaiiy each viiiage has three or
four maie gagja, and one or two femaie gagig_who are the intermediaries
for Tabor purposes between the viiiage chief and its women. Femaie gagig
have not been reported for the other tribes, which may refiect a

difference in attitudes about the sexuai division of labor. or personai

independence.

It is to be expected that the Paramacca. who iive between the

 «152—

their
ve ad op te d si mi ta r traits regarding
, should ha
090- and Biloabjuka so Treaty
Th e Ma tu ar i an d Saramacca are al
Newp

r functions.
lg_chiefs and thei ni.
si mi la r to th at of the Djuka and Ba
teadership
tribes, with a clan

Y
PARAMOUNT CHIEFTAINC fit y at the triba1 1eve
1.
io n of au th or
e personificat
The Granman is th with French
(e xc ep t th e Bo hi 's, who must flea}
Granmans
A31 the Bush Negro om the
ed po si ti on s, an d draw a sa1ary fr
ate—approv
officia1s) have st other
me ho 1d s tr ue fo r a great number of
. The sa
Surinam government of th e important lg»
as th e va ri ou s he ad~captaihs and some
offici 5115. such gions of these
the High Priest s of the major reli
chiefs. One suspects that
that some
th ei r ca pa ci ty as eateries, but
t paid in
tribes do not ge ey, too,
he 1e ss be ma in tained because th
ve rt
re on them can ne
financia1 pressu
eftains.
are usualty lg_chi his tribe‘s
va nt ag e of a Gr anman to also be
to the ad
It is obvious1y per~
easier if one ha s the aid of the su
High Priest: decision making is
ity. Neverthe-
of th e ch ur ch , and infa11ibi1
e organization
natural worid, th the training in
ing,
t a1 Wa ys Hi gh Pr iests. For one th
no
less, Grahmans are office
ou s, an d so me ti me s a man eiected to
10hg and ardu
the priesthood is chosen to
at io n. Wh en in 1931 Amatodjo was
1d1y prep ar
Iaoks such othehuor sed the honor fo
r
he refu
Am ak ti as Gr an man of the Djuka.
succeed the iate th at he coutd not al
so
ic hx ua s th e fa ct
s, not least of wh
a nuhher of reason Ch apter X). Kaoapé.
a
ea t De it y (s ee
the Cult of the Gr
be High Priest of this
e Hi gh Pr ie st , and Amatodjo 1acked
r Amakti, was th
Grandnkagitein unde nman and High Pr
iest
tg_6ra
served as ggifgg
training. Kanapé therefore by
mp ii ca te d po 1i ti ca1 strugg1e ended
extremely co
unti} 1937, when an of the Djuka.
e Ieadership
Am at od jo th at he must accept th
convincing High
vk ag te n, bu t co ntinued to serve as
d” as Gran
Kahapé was “recalie
 -i53-

67;
55 ; Th od en va n Velzen, 1966:64~
40:1
, 1919:48~59; 19
Priest (van tier an d religion are in
separabie
uka, po ii ti cs
39), To the Dj
Wong, 1938:337v3 ei sie, created th
e service
as Gr an ma n, Os
’s predecessor
concepts. Amakti ag e) in order to
maintain
Dr it ab ik i vi ii
Great Deity at
of Grantata (the ta ta‘s High Priest
. Arahi
or Ar ab i, Gr an
nst his competit the
his control agai on of th e Gr antata cuit in
reintroduc ti
ac tu al ly re sp onsibie for the ared,
was
wa s ge ne ra ii y distrusted and fe
Chapter X) but
first piece, (See ained him in th
e priesthood.
and tr
d Ka na pé as his successor
OSeisi appoin te
iems began.
wh er e Amatodjo‘s prob Chief
of the Paramount
Th is is
unquestion abie advantage
If it is to the village chiefs
is to th e ad vantage of the
the church, it
aiso to controi of bo th of fices must, amon
g
e succes si on
occurrence“ Th
to avoid such an the ianti-krutu
but in
e in th e Ot ro - or Otroelgg
plac
the Djuka, take Ot tr o ciao are pres
ent.
s of th e
few priest
such matters,
which decides
p

a Granman
. we“. m”— N

le th at af te r the death of Secome

One may postui
ate as a ru
de ce as ed ha d ch osen wiii indeedn the
the
om give
be
the successor wh st or Brahman, but wiii never keiihood, both
either High Pr ie s, In all ii
rt un it y to oc cupy both officear the concentration of power
oppo d the priests fe if the
the kapiteins an ti ca i sy st em wh ich wooid result
e poii
in the top of th ed
is kn ow n to me : Akontu foiiowPriest
rule y High
exception to thisman even though he was alread
Amatodja as Gr an ° mine).
en, 1966:67. Tr
(Thoden van Veiz ession of
sc he ma ti c dr awing of the succ
oden van Veizen‘s
According to Th both Brahman an
d High
t Ga zo n is ai so
s, the incumben
these two office coming more cent
raiized in
at po we r is be
this means th
Priest“ Whether ther this is a te
mporary
ci pa te d, cn ~w he
an he had anti
Djuka society th rsonaiit y of the last
two
up on th e un us uaiiy strong pe
sed
abnormality ba qu it e aware of the
charisma
lz en is
en van Ve
w knowns Thod ontu’s
Grannans, is no probab iy agree that Ak
of th es e po si tions, and wouid
aspect of both oi power.
d th e wa y fo r Gazon‘s monopoly
have ease
precedent wouid
 ~154~

. As stated above.
The poiitics of tribe? control do not stop here
Ottro-lg, When the 1761
the succession of the leadership is through the
a Brahman was Arabi. a member
Treaty was signed with the Europeans, the Djuk
rep1aced by an
of the Dikan~1g, Within the year he had been impeached and
only known case in which a 1iving
Ottro ciensman named Pamu. This was the
for Ottro—dominence. But not
ggggmgg was replaced, and it set the stage
endants of the.c1an~mother
a1} Ottro males are eiigib1e: it is the desc
o-lge from which the'ieaders come.
Abenkina, the "b1ack" Egg of thesOttr
intermarriage between Djnka
The “red-be11y" (suppesed1y descending from
ftainqy, and none of its
and Trio Indians‘) has no claim on the Chie
notes that it is not possib1e
members become priests. Thoden van Veizen
d, for there appears to be
to say which.man in‘the‘glggg_§§gbis preferre
dictum that it is e1ways the
no c1ear rule, regardless of Kshn‘s fl931:94)
in the Granman's footsteps.
o1dest son of the oldest sister WhO‘f011OWS
been is the son of a
He shows that the succession since Oseisi has
sister's son. In fact, the
classificatory sister, never to a "reeX"
to above involved a jump to
suscession of Amakti by Ametodjo referred
67); Apparentiy the same logic
MoMeSiDaDaSO‘(Thoden*van'Ve1zeng 1966:65~
the succession of headman
of the spoiis system which Kfibhen mentioned for

applieS‘t0“that'ofwfirenman.
is theoretica11y
For the Soni, too; the pesftioniof grggmgn

'inheriten through a singie 19, In fact; as HurauTt‘s (1961:70) data show,

o Djuka: this man's

_ ~1Gonggnyp (1921:13) in 1918 met a part~Triwoman. The chi1dren, of
a Djuka
grandfather was a Trio Indian who married that this was not uncommon. and
by othe rs
course, were Djuka. He was toid blood, in proof of which he
that one village was strongly mixed with Trio eop1e. 'Later writers have
.was tO'CODSider the reddish coior‘of‘these'pe o 1edi-bee dichotomy among the
'gigen‘simfi1er”exp1anations for the b1aka~be
t. 0!!
 -155-

the Bani have had Granoans from at Yeast two 19s, According to are]
tradition, bo1stered by the report of an early traveler, the succession of
Paramount Chieftaincy among the Bani was:
Gongo 12_Dikan 1810~1840
Lab? (Adam?) lgtflikan 1840?]870
Atyaba lg Kotika 3870-1876
Anato 1g_kotika 1876~1891
Och? l” Dikan 1891-1915
Awensey gg'Dikan 1917~1936
Difu 1 Dikan 1937~?
ApparentTy there was on1y one Tengthy period when the Bani did not

have a Paramount Chief. This occurred not when the Granmahship transferred
from one 19_to another, but during a norma1, in«c1an succession. 0n the
strength of precedent, it is Iikely that upon Difu’s death the Ieaders
hip
wil] again return to the 1g_Kotika.

Hurault expiains that there is a certain misunderstanding between

the Boni and the Europeans regarding the Granmao’s functions. The Iatter
tend to view the Chief as the commander of the tribe, capable of contro11ihg
the behavior of his peopte, assigning*men to various tasks, etc. But in
fact, the Shannan's powers are very 1imited. He is, indeed, the soie
judge of intra-lg disputes, but these are very rare. He has jurisdiction
over Bani territory, and (in name) contro1s oi} the 1ands to which the lg;

do not 1ey claim. such as the headwaters of the Lawa River. In this sense
he considers himseTf sovereign over the Indians living there. (Similar
precepts are heid by the Djuka Granman regarding the headwaters of the

Tapanahoni.) But in actua1 practice, the Granman has no voice at a1} in

the province of eVenyday Iife, and his attempts to satisfy the French
 ~156-

administration are usually defeated through the Boni‘s preoccupation with

personal independence:

Bush Negro morality includes only obligations of a social and

religious nature. In all things concerning the material sphere,
each individual has the absolute right, we nfight even say the duty,
to act in whatever way seems good to him, so long as he harms no
one.
If the Granman gave an order which required someone to act
against his own interests. if, for instance he wanted to arbitrar-
ily lower the price of canoes, this order would be lawfully ignored.
Should the Granman he possessed of great personal influence, he
might persuade the Boni that it is to their interest to obey a
certain administrative regulation, but in no way can he impose by
force an arbitrary order alien to the socio~religious traditions.
The present Granman is necessarily a weak character, susceptible
to the infiuence of the Creoles and very unlikely to commit an
authoritarian act (Hurault, 1961:72. Tr. mine)l
Assunfing that Hurault's estimate applies to Boni Grannancy in

general, and not just to Difu, the only Paramount Chief he has met, it is

interesting to speculate whether the Boni perhaps select Granmans more

with an eye to their usefulness as barriers between themselves and an

interfering Government, than as leaders. It is true (and acknowledged)

that the Brennan's first duty is of a religious nature: he is the focus

of the collectivity insofar as the supernatural world is concerned. But

this does not mean that he must therefore be necessarily powerless or

weak~willed. The Difu which Hurault describes is weak. With absolutely

no clan relatives to support him, he is manipulable pg; excellence. It

would be sophomoric to assume that his egocentric tribesmen were incapable

of anticipating and exploiting Bifu's social or psychological weakness as
a boundary maintenance device: "Who can blame the good Boni for misunder-

standing or evading official directives when these have to be channeled

through a pitiful old man?" And if, indeed, the Boni §3g_capable of such

machinations, why must we believe that their Paramount Chief really is.

weak or foolish or "susceptible"? Throughout the literature, from Junker

 ~157-

through do Goeje to van Lier, we note the frustration of Government men

deaiing with the Djuka and Saramecca, and are regaied with exampies of the

gross incompetence and the refined (geraffineerd) opportunism of their

Chiefs. It is surprising that neither Hurault nor his Dutch predecessors

have recognized that these traits are adaptive for representatives of a

seifwsegregated and suspicious minority group. Horton and Hunt (1958:360)

wouid have called it "submissive manipulation.” Hurauit, in aimost

palpabie wonder, says: "In his reiigious functions this habituaiiy weak

and self—effacing man acts with Sovereign authority and assurance, and we

have seen peopie trembie before him on several occasions" (1963:72. Tr.
nfine). Any student of ethnic raise and strata can oniy add, “Of course."

The Boni §g§3g§g_has no servants, but nay order most of his

subsistence iabor performed by the men and women of his viiiage. He need

not pay them, but feeds them wei}. The French Government pays him a sizabie
salary as its representative, and (consequentiy?) the Grenman usuaily

dresses in European fashion; ceremonial occasions find him wearing an

impeccable white uniform. Prestige and dignity are his due because of his

religious importance, according to Hurauit, who adds that

"the Boni put up with the authority of the Brahman as they adhere
to the cuit of their gods: through a feeiing of absoiute and
inexorahie necessity. ... The poiiticai power of the Granman is
based entirely upon these beiiefs, and if they were to disappear,
he would disappear with them“ (1961:74. Tr. mine).

) And then they wouid have to invent another token position to deal
with the Régubiigue.

Most of the published students of the Saramacca wrote during or

just after the reign of Jankusu. the Serameccan Granman, and we have a
number of individual reactions to this Chief as a men. The Herskovitses
were almost adulatory:
 «'1 58-

It is difficult to be objective about Moana Yankuso. In the

terms his own peopie use, the explanation of his personality
wouid be the expianation given of any otherw "He has strong
gods.“ ...

In the simplest of our own terms, Brahman Moana Yankuso

couid be said to be a superb poiitician. ..

But Moana Yankuso was more than an astute politician. Using

our own vaiues again, we admired his vitality, his dignity, his
robust imagination, his wit. Perhaps what struck us particuiarly
about him, when we came to know him in situations with his own
peopie, was that here was a man who in inteliect and will towered
so much above those who were about him that he was a lonely
figure. His age had become something of a myth, too. People
said he was seventy, that he was more than that, that he was
scarceiy sixty. We had never seen him head without the covering
kerchief, so that it was difficuit to form any definite impression
about his years. But in strength he was stiii a colossus, though
it was not true that he was the taiiest or the strongest or the
darkest man on the river.... We had seen him, cutiess in hand,
ciearing a path fer us through the underhrush with amazing
rapidity, as the courteous gesture of a host who wanted to
insure our bathing in privacy. Had the underbrush been of papier-
maché, he couid not have swung his strokes more surely or more
teiiingiy.

Above 311 else, however, Brahman Moana Yankuso was a magnif-

icent talker, a fine stony~teiier (1934:249-253).
In contrast, Junker mentioned Jankusu throughout aii his writings,

sometimes with pity, fer "Fate has visited him with horror: during his

more than thirty years in power, the nfind of this primitive had to

withstand shocks which wouid have been fatai for many a man with more
education" (1932b:57. Tr. mine); sometimes with resentment for obstructing

Junker and other government officiais (1922, 1924); sometimes in retro-

spective admiration of his "hercuiean figure“ (1947); and sometimes in fury:
Barfly in the year of 1927, the head pastor of the Moravian
Bretheren Society, accompanied by two nfissionaries to the Bush
Negroes, visited the southern territory of this [Saramaccan]
people. On this occasion, Jankosu received the gentiemen most
cordia1iy, and the conversatiOn soon turned to “iove of one’s
neighbor," to primitives an absoiuteiy abstract concept.
Jankosu, who couid never pass up an opportunity to show off
his taient as speaker, made a speech on brother-murder during
the florid War. In his closing sentence, the Paramount Chief
spoke of his hope that there wouid be no fighting in the future,
 —159-

reopensible
ues ted the vis ito rs to transmit his wish to the Therefore,
and req A monarch's wish is an
order.
authorities in Europe. ent s were car rie d to the highest
ck pot ent ate ‘s sen tim Nations.
the bla n of war, the League of
ity for the pre ven tio able to
author ivation, and only barely
lia r wit h the rea l mot face
Unfami
tan d the lan gua ge, the gentlemen took Jankosu ato the
unders med int
l effusion was transfor
value, and his oratorica le savage. ... [Ja nku su‘s inspiration,
inspir ed utt era nce of’ a nob through
the devaluation of the trans,
it seems,was the fact of some money. At a krut
u with the
n ha d los t
which the Br ah ma e her power to
als , he re quested the Queen to us
govern me nt off ici naries’ visit.]
re war s. Thi s was before the missio
prev en t fu tu o never were
an ma n’ s opi nion, if the whites, wh
For, in the Gr that was after
to hav e wars with each other,
sat isf ied , wan ted the victims of
not his pro ble m. Bu t when Bush Negroes were speech ... won
all ething else. His krutu
these wars, that was som d by this success, he repeated it on
re
him much approval. Spur . What the gentle missionaries made of
all appropriate occ asi ons long poked
Press in the Netherlands
it is too well known; the
fun at this.
from
declaration of appreciation
Jankoso was to receive a d by a photograph of the League of
mpanie
Sir Eric Drummond, acco
Nations in formal ass emb ly.
to Jankosu
m was to hand the answer
The Governor of Surina
Government House.
in ceremonial meeting at
t of the
nstration tmat the concei
It needs no further demo by this course of events (Junker,
ned
Bush Negroes was strengthe
l932b127lv272. Tr. min e).
role which
l ana lys ts of tha t com plex matrix of status and
Thoughtfu
sition of President
er ic an Pr es id en cy of ten suggest that the po
we call the Am
his own imprint
man as tru ly as eac h new President leaves
shapes the
one of
e highest office holder in
on the office. Jankusu was a Granman, th
stern world at
of soc iet ies wh ic h hav e successfully held the We
a cluster in-
lls to ma
consummate political ski
arm‘s length. The position requires
and individuals.
cef ul rel ati ons amo ng egocentric kinship groups
tain pea
and
ind epe nde nt but tec hno logically backward people
and between a highly
nc ed an d ex pa ns io ni st regime. The juggling of
a technologically ad va
of calculated
and the art s of wea kness in the applied use
status and power,
fulfilling
nce , an d nfi su nd er st anding prerequisite to
stupidity, arroga
 *160-

such a position, would require the talents of a Medici. We must accept

that there are no fools among the Paramount Chiefs of the Surinam Bush
Regroes.

It is difficult to assess the effect of the Government on the very

existence of the Granman position. Would there be a Paramount chief for

each tribe if there were no state? we can only speculate; Cleariy, the

Granman‘s role as an intermediary between the Bush Negroes and the alien

powers must be considered of the highest importance, for note that Paramount

Chiefs meet with government representatives such as the District Commission-

ers, and even on occasion with the Governor himself, but that there is no
‘record of a meeting between Granmans‘.

Obviously, certain advantages would be gained by the tribes if they

could present a united front, that is. if their Granmans couid act in

concert to infiuence the aliens. But apparently such advantages are

considered Tess important than the inevitabie diminution of tribal inde~

pendence and behaviorai differences which would resuit from such membership

in a nane_jgggg association. Once again we are left with the impression

that independence is valued for its own sake, and that the variation of
the social groups which we caii Bush Negroes is not the resuit of a number
of historic accidents or the spatial distance between them, but an artifact

of calcuiated decisions to maintain separatism among the five or more

distinct varieties of one coiture modei. One suspects that closer analysis

1One occasion when two Granmans acted in grudging and temporary

concert occurred in 1921, when AmaEti of the Djuka and Awensay of the Bani
used each other as 1evers on their respective nationai governments, aimost
accidentaiiy organizing a strike of the boatmen on the Lane and Marowine
rivers. The idea of the strike was forced upon them by internai poiiticai
pressures, and the "cooperation" was apparentiy an afterthought. Van
Lier heiped break this strike by influencing the Djuka lg_chiefs and
Kanapé, the Djuka High Priest (van Lien, 1922:213~221).
 ~161—

will prove the tribes to be as diverse as the Indian tribe

s of the Great
Plains culture area.

TRADE AND COMMERCE

To a surprising extent, the economic se1f~sufficiency of the
individual tribes has traditionalIy been boistered by conceptions
of
moraiity. Aithough it is difficult to believe that the peripa
tetfc
Saramacca, for instance, would Tive among the Boni and the
Djuka without
engaging in institutionaIized barter. this is nevertheless
true. There
is no doubt of the exchange of ideas among the tribes, but
there is no
indication that the major tribes engage in any king of econo
mfic exchange.
Information on such trade is either unavaiiabie, or cTearly denies
its
existence (HorauIt, 1965:89n118).
De Goeje (1908:975) c1aimed that the Djuka have engaged in barter
with the Indians since the former first settled a1ong the Tapana
honi. He
further c1aims that “with a11 fmaginab1e means they have aiway
s endeavored
to prevent these Indians from confing into contact with the
peoples of the
coastal areas“ (Tr. mdne). Hurauit simi1ar1y has observed bIack-red trade,
but again there are not sufficient partituiars on his endeavor
to assess
either its economic importance, or its meaning. It is doubtfui
that the
Djuka needed the Indians during the Test hundred years.
If attempts were
made to contro] trade with them, was it for economic reasons.
or for
“reasons of state"?
The information on trade contact between whites and the tribes
men
is similarly restricted. There are the terms of the peace treaties which
stipu1ated the pIace and conditions of trade, and scattered refere
nces in
the 01d travel descriptions indicate that items such as salt,
guns, powder,
iron, beads, cioth, and other materiaIs needed but not produc
ed by the
 ~162—

tribal technology were traded for labor, wood, cassava,

and later money.
he know that this trade continues. ENHI (l38) explains that cowrie shells
were in vogue as a medium of exchange during the period
of the slave trade
on the Guinea Coast, but that for a long time now (thus
, in 19l7) the Bush
Negroes have bought the shells only for the making of ghjggg
amulets.
Occasionally, and in passing, the iiterature refers to the
existence of
Chinese and Hindustani merchants among the Djuka and
the Boni, and
presumably anong some of the other tribes. whether these are more success-
ful than white traders has not been elaborated, nor are there
answers to
such questions as whether the Bush Negroes View Asiatics as
white men in
the same wey they classify Creoles as whites—~that
is, on the basis of
culture. We do not know how many different ethnic groups have
traders
among the tribes, nor what influence they have on cultu
re change in the
villages where their stores operates he do know from
Hurault‘s recent
work that the Boni. at least, abhor all mercantiiism: because of their
ideological preoccupations they will tolerate a man who become
s wealthy
by continual hard work, but View with suspicion anyone
who amasses riches
through the non~labor of trade. Such a man, if he is a Bush Regro, is
suspected of witchcraft, and often forced to leave the
area. Kfibben
attests to the fact that this is not just a Boni idiosyncre
sy when he
describes the case of a small entrepeneur among the Djuka
, who through
scrupulous honesty and dependability in his trading
with a lumber
corporation because quite wealthy:

One day, to everyone‘s surprise, he let it be known that he was

going to stop deliveries. "There is no more salable wood
the river. it just isn’t worth the effort anymore.“ along

The real reason was that people were jealous of him. He

had been careful not to change anything in his way of iife.
His hut remained as simple as everyone else's. He disch
arged
his kinship obligations more than generously. Still he felt
 ~163~

the hostiie sentiments around him, and thought hims

with witchcraft“ When one of his grandchiidre elf threatened
became iii afterwards, he decided to stop
n died, and another
his iumber transactions
(Robben, 1968 :89).
The tribesmen do not become traders as a rule
: fear of jealousy
and disiike of speciaiization both forbid it.
In practice they trade
oniy with the Creoies and the Asiatics. There is no such thing as
internai trade: Markets simply do not exist among the Bush Negr
oes. No
one has ever described this so typicai African
trait, and Hurauit (1965:
90) denies markets expiicitiy.

What resources the individuai cannot achieve

through his own
bushiand efforts, he must obtain through the
money economy. The Bani, and
more often the Djuka or Saramacca. suppiy
the boats and the ionghouses
which the Creole 903d miners use, they cut
gardens from which to feed these
aiiens, rough out roads and occasionaiiy actuaily
work in goid fields. In
this way they acquire a fairly steady inco
me, steadier, in fact, than that
of the gold miners whose economy is perforce
based upon luck. Hurauit
notes that the graduai depletion of the gold
fieids over the last decades
has farced the Boni to diversify to obtain the
cash needed for toois,
machines, and perishabies. Some stiii work for the 600 or so goid workers,
but this is unpopular work, and viewed as
being serviie. This attitude
distinguishes cieariy between the Boni and the othe
r tribes: even deep
within French territory, one wiii find Djuk
a and especiaiiy Saramacca who
are economically symbiotic with the Creoles, since
not enough Boni can be
found willing to do such work for money.
Some of the tribesmen have taken
up transport boating; mainly with the use of
outboard motors to provide an
income; and occasionaiiy men wiii attempt to
obtain cash by working
independently as prospectors or baiata bieeders
. In Surinam, where there
is more economic activity than in French
Guyana, tribesmen often contract
 *164-

for a few months of iabor in the iumbenyards.

The ideoiogy of the tribes Iimits the amount of paid 1abor that the

peopie heed to perfbrm Ostentation is prohibited, there are no great

banquets or showy receptions, there is a fear of conspicuous consumption

(far it can oniy engender dangerous jeaiousy), and in genera? the peopie
do not value non-functional decoration un1ess it is the expression of the

individuai‘s own skiiit The exceptions, in Hurault's quaint phraseo1ogy,

are “a few unfortunate vestimentany innovations” (1965:92. Tr. mine),

which serve to prove individueiity perhaps more than financia] wastefuiness.
Generaily, the Bush Negroes count in guiiders, and consider
prices and salaries in Surinam as eiements of reference in
their discussions with empioyers.

0n the Surinam bank they buy cloth (cotton, made especiaiiy

:3; Eggnsin Hoiland), hammocks made of saiicioth, mosquito nets,

0n the French bank they provide themseives with oii, rum,

tobacco, and more recently, gasoiine....

In spite of differences in the price of erticies on the two

banks (for example, gasoiine, oil, and tobacco are noticeably
iess expensive on the French bank) there is, at Toast on the
Upper Maroni, no smuggling (Renault, 1965:305. Tr. mine).
Since the deveiopment of the mining industny in Benzdorp, the
demand for 1aborers in the interior has increased drasticaiiy, and the
Boni‘s involvement in the wider economy of Guiana, like the Bjuka‘s and

Saramacca's, is growing rapidiy. Their need for money has aiso increased
somewhat, especiaiiy through the acceptance of outboard motors. This is
beginning to affect the traditionai attitude of dislike for speciaiists:
Hurault (1965:111e112) counted 7 out of 157 men in one village engaged
fuIT—time in the buiiding of houses, and another 6 in trade, but noted that

the latter activity is stiii viewed with distrust.

The tribes' need for trade items in a country which is undergoing

 ~165-

slow depletion of its more obvious resources may

result in a slow shift
among the Boni and the-Djuko to labor in the coastal
areas of Dutch and
French Guiana. Huraolt (l965zll5-ll8) fears that the
lure of permanent
salaries may even attract some groups to settl
ement there. However, this
view seems excessively pessimistic: as Hurault himself has documented so
carefully, there is little the tribesmen really Qggg_
that they cannot
supply themselves. If, indeed, the price of gasoline or ammunition becom
es
too prohibitive, the Boni and the Djuka can still choos
e between leaving
their beloved kondres, or returning to a more "primitive
" technology.
Realistically we should fear not the relatively nnnor
increase in cash
economy, but the influence of advertising and acqui
red needs for luxury
items. which create dependency on a monetary system.
The tribes are very
well aware of this: it is no accident that the Saramacoa Brahman attempts
to linnt the emigration of his young men:

For Hurault, the social organization of the Bush Negro

es is the
only logical and ecologically defensible lifewoy in Guian
a‘s equatorial
zone. He finds that the living standard of the Boni is quite
comfortable,
and that the existence and strength of the lineage
prevent the development
of poverty. No one is allowed to go hungry. no one is dependent, not
even
the sick or infirm. And although there are Creole villages. populated by
people generally more ambitious than the Bush Negroes,
it appears that
these are not viable. Creole villages, built in the bush since the turn
of the century, are slowly declining in population. In part this is due
to the fact of Creole dependence upon the Bush Negroes
for their
subsistence: Creole women are unwilling to engage in the hard work of
gardening, and burden their husbands with the need to ng'fo
od for the
whole family. Therefore, the Creole male needs for more resources
than
 ~166~

the Boni in order to attain the same iiving stand

ard, and the Creoie women
never attain the degree of freedom and economic
independence which tribal
women enjoy. Life is thus both harder and more hurried for the Creoi
e, and
ultimateiy it is Tess satisfying‘

For the whites, even more, the history of the attem

pts to settie
in the interior of French and Dutch Guiana is a histo
ry of faiiure. Farming,
mining, and even ferestry have faiied because of communicat
ion probieno,
the high cost of manpower, and the expenses imposed by maint
aining a
compieoeiy isoiated inoustriai center. Hurault has noted
(as have others
before him) that the establishment of administrative posts
has had ainost
no effect upon the life of the native peopies.
There is aimost no commu-
nication between the groups:

These failures are due neither to chance nor to misfo

rtune, but
to the fact that [the Europeans] have sought to trans
pose
economic conceptions of modern Europe into a region where the
they
have no vaiidity. These conceptions, which make men a
speciai-
ized producer, buying from other producers his food,
clothing
and housing, require:

~-A source of expioitabie weaith~~be it oniy a rich soil,

iike that of the Surinam coastal lowiands, where modern
economy has been abie to deveiop;
~~A concentration of the means of production;

--An easy and rapid circuiation of raw material and variou

s
products (Hurauit, 1965:116. Tr. mine).
He adds in a footnote that the typical Western view of
"investment
as the creator of weaith" is basically absurd. It simpiy is not enough
to spend money in order to see new enterorises fiourish:
where such
investments are not based upon exploitable wealth, they
can result oniy
in stiii more expenses, as the enterprises begun must be mainta
ined hy
imgorted specialists.
 ~167—

WARFARE

One achievement of the organizationai skiiis impiicit in

Bush Negro
existence which is generaiiy ignored by its students is the
reiative
peacefulness of the Surinam bush. This matter-of—factiy accepted tranquiiity
is proof that the tribesmen have successfu11y counteracted a number
of
economical and psycho-sociai predispositions for war.

“Continuous cultivation in secondary forests wiii not evoke any

antithesis between sword and plowshare. On the contrany, cuitivation nay
pass direct1y into intercommunity competitiOn-~over vaiuah
ie 1and“ (Sahiins,
1968:32). veyda (1961) noted that Forest agriculturaiists organized on the
matrilinea] principie are especiaily likeiy to engage in such
chronic
competition. Their women form a stabie core of gardeners, are
tied to the
soil by economics and by custom, and leave their mobile menfoi
k free to set
out on military adventures. And human beings themseives have long
been a
resource, not only in America.

The literature is replete with instances of the economic

expioita~
tion of African populations by Africans. Herskovits, for exampie,
repeatediy expiains (1933, 1938, 1939, 1941, etcb) that "warfa
re" in
west African societies such as Dahomey reaiiy meant no more
or less than
an annuai manhunt, a slave drive among whatever people were unluck
y
enough to live in some empire's “sphere of influence." A true
economic
interdependence existed between the ruiing ciasses of Africans
(the
directors of the actual sieve—catchers) and the European trader
s who
supplied these Africans with the guns and ammunition which wouid
keep them
in power and aiiow them to wage the “were” necessary to contin
ue the trade.
The econondc symbiosis between s1ave buyers and sieve catchers
meant, of
course, that certain African kingdoms perennially raided each
other. And
 —168-

this in turn made it inevitable that sooner or later salt~water slaves in

Surinam would meet up with archenemies on the plantation or in the bush.
Only Wong has noted that this factor may have been involved in the
development of the tribes and sub-tribes:

In the Guyanes. sup lied and sold to different plantation

owners. [the slaves had? little chance for tribal grouping.
Under certain circumstances, such as when a whole cargo was
sold to one owner, as happened in the colony Barbies, or
because some slave owner preferred a particular "type" of
sifive, there was more chance that tribesmen would find each
0 er.
Then the old African war-habits returned, and bitter
battles erupted between mutually antagonistic tribes. “In
1762 it was reported from Berhice that the Delmina slaves
were the overlords, that they had either murdered the Angola
slaves or driven them into the jun les, and that they
forced the Creoles to serve them" Hartsinck [1770]:723).
After their escape to the bush, too, warfare continued.
Crommelin reports in his journal dated December 2], l767,
that an escaped Negress, intercepted on the wanica trail,
explained that the runaways had fought among themselves and
killed all more recent escapees in the village where she
had lived. Lacking guns and powder, they finished each
other off with clubs and lances.

The great war against the whites as well as some other

factors ... finally brou ht assimilation, although it seems
that there were certain EAfrisan] tribes who until recentl
maintained an unusual influence (Wong, 1938:300. Tr. mine .

Often it most have seemed to the salt-water slave or to the Maroon,

that it would be more logical to align with the European slave users than
with ancient and despised enemies. And no doubt such sentiments were
carefully exploited by the Europeans in their efforts to control the

various Maroon groups. One need only refer to the Dutch—Saramacca~Kabu

alliance which attacked the Matuari in l767 (see p. 144). The control
of such violence may have been the single most pressing task for the young

organizations of free men. Generations born in the bush must have viewed
such strife as dysfunctional in the face of the white menace.
 «169-

There has not been a single report of battle betw

een Bush Negro
tribes, or with the Indians of the interior, since
the Boni fought with
the Djuka, the Trio Indians, and the French in the
l790‘s. Whatever
Egssible explanations may exist for this apparent
peacefulness, there
seem to be only three probably relevant theories:

l. Warfare among blacks and between blacks and reds has

occurred, but the
knowledge of such events did not filter down to
the coastal historians, and
ouch has been lost or suppressed in the folklore.
Although such an
hypothesis seems to be begging the question, in
the light of the historical
belligerence of the Arowak and Carib peoples, of
the bloody genesis of
the Bush Negro societies, and of the century
or so when no Europeans of any
type penetrated the jungles "above the Falls
," the possibility does exist.
Kahn (l929x474) wrote that “not many years ago there
was definitive
hostility between the tribes, even leading to minor
wars, but these are no
more.” Although he is notoriously gullible in his
reports on Saramacca
life, it may be that Kahn here is repeating folk histo
ry. Kobben also states
in passing (1968:68): "In the past, regular armed combat took place
between villages, sometimes resulting in fatalities
. This is now less
cannon, if not totally absent.“

2. A more interesting hypothesis develops when we consi

der the factors of
tribal dispersal and the relative availability of
land. The Indians have
historically moved inland, away from the ecolo
gically more adaptive societies
of the blacks, and each Bush Negro tribe generally first
settled in some
area widely separated from economic competitors
by impenetrable jungle.
Recognizing the fact that the Indians were more
susceptible than the Negroes
to diseases such as malaria, we are tempted to
accept an ecological or
economic explanation for the supposed absence
of red-black hostilities.
 ~770~

But a giance at the map of tribal distribu

tion shows only two tribes
(Matuari and Saramecca) in exclusive possessi
on of astreanbed: the
Marowine is shared by Djuka, Boot, and Pavamacca.
Furthermore, there
is considerable indication of tribal movement (de
Groot, 1965; Wong,
1938); indeed the adjective “nomadic” has been
appiied to these people.
This may mean that their cuituro] field encouraged
the recognition of at
ieast two viabie aiternatives to warfare f§§_tebens
raum: migration and
expansion into-unpopuiated areas. Note here that the Djuka occupy four
noncontiguous territories: the coastai uppenstreem bed of the Cottica,
the area around the Upper Tempati Creek, the
Lower Marowine and, separated
by the Paramacca gonggg, the Upper Marowine and
some of its tributaries.
Among the other groups, oniy the Saramacca territony
has been spiit (by
the recent Brokopondo Reservoir), but it was not divid
ed untii the
completion of the dam. The Bjuka dispersai is thus
distinctive. So is
their past ascendancy over other tribes (Boni
and Paramacca), and so is
their unique settlement in the coastai areas: aii other tribes are oniy
found far inland, Whether these distinctions were interreiated, and
what
they mean in terms of history and of unique political
differences between
the Djuka and other tribes, is not known; the
subject simply has not been
investigated.
3. Regardless of the attractions of the first two hypot
heses, some
consideration must be given to a psycho-sociai
expianation. Even when we
know that ecoiogioai fortune and mfigratony tende
ncies have eiiminated the
Drang nach Lebensraum which characterizes other fores
t gardeners, the
question remains: “what about the mobiie menfoik?“ In other words, are
there a sufficient number and variety of aiter
natives to the thriil of
kiiiing and the satisfactions of victony? Descriptions of Bush Negro
Maw,

~17?-

oocieties, life sty1es, and selectivity in

accepting change Tend credence
to a proposition that the individual‘s preoccup
ation with internal cuiturai
factors is wholly demanding of his interest
and energy; that, in short,
the tribal iife of these viiiagers is sufficie
ntiy meaningful, sufficientiy
interesting, sufficiently demanding and suff
icientiy satisfying to discour-
age external activities which do not improve
status or economic position
(see Chapter XV). It wouid be difficult to
defend such.a position were it
not for the fact that the tribes have indeed
enjoyed very long periods of
safety from any outside interference.

Present conditions prohibit warfare, of cours

e. The miiitary
capacities of the Dutch government in the area make
decisive intervention
in tribe} hostiiities inevitable. But this
modern controi does not
expiain the lack of past hostiiities (assumin
g that such a lack existed).
It is not enough to reason that the Bush Negro
es“ avoidance of "miiitary
adventures“ is simply a reaction to the thre
at of the whites: the Dutch
threat was too feeble for too Iong, and the
tribes knew it. The bush was
not an anaiogy to the "balance of terror"in the
East-West détente.
Nor nil} an expianation based upon some vari
ety of pacifism
suffice. 0n the tribal ievei there is much satisfaction in
the history
of warfare, and the major ggjag‘or magicai prote
ctors of the peopie have
in some cases a wariike aspect (see Chapter X). That the tribes enjoy
mutual respect is obviously not true: aii writers mention intertribai
disdain. envy and hatreds. And neariy a1} sooner or later mention the
prevalence of firearms among the Bush Negroes,
and discuss their ceremonial
use in salutes, funerais, and other rites, as
weii as their entirely
economic functions in hunting. Hurauit (196?,
Egggjg) impiies that the
Bani associate guns with mascuiinity, and vario
us other reports describe
 *172~

the murder or execution of’wltches by firearm. what is not at all clear

is whether any of the tribes now View the carrying of
firearms as an act
of "national security," whether any of them still define the
adult male as
"armed citizen,“ or whether perhaps the continued use
of guns has no deeper
psycho-cultural importance than the continued use of machet
es. Again,
there are no date.1

Lacking information to the contrary, one must thus assume that

the scarcity of Surlnam hush warfare has its roots in
a combination of
factors which include the ready availability of unoccupied
riverbank real
estate, the historic dispersal of the tribes with its resul
tant ndnlmlza-
tion of intertribal frictions, and a successful ethnocentrism which
borders
on lsolationism without being xenophobic. The unique position
of the
Djuka in this regard strengthens the possibility that in the past
some
unguessed social mechanism created and guided the tribal relati
onships
along the Marowine (see Chapter IV).

In turn, the existence of an enduring "Marowine Complex“ implies

that if gross differences ever gjg_develop among the tribes during
their
two centuries of independence, we should not seek them in the
Marowine
populations. Only the Saramacca and the Matuarl have lived in
geographic
isolation long enough to promise the possibility of major cultur
e variations.

1My impressionistic reaction is that the gun in bush country occupies

much the same psychological position as it did on the buffalo-hunt
Plains: it appears to be very important ritually, as evidenced ing Great
by its
decoration and the taboos surrounding it; it is less important functi
as evidenced by the reports that, like the Plains Indians, the onally
Bush
seldom repair a gun, and by reports of their inexplicable disreg Negroes
normal maintenance. I feel that it would require a great deal ard for
indeed fer them to perceive the gun as a military weapon ratherof press ure
than as a
ritually significant hunting tool, See also The Mystique
of Firearms,
Chapter XIV.
 ~173~

The Saramacca have been studied off and on since Herskovits, but first
hand data on the Matuari, the westernmost group, is virtua11y nonmexistent‘

It is therefore to the iatter that we must look for new insights.

SociaT organization, whatever its institutions and aspects, is the

structure within which individuaT persona1ity is farmed and cu1tura1
character is created. It Timits the direction and defines the degree of
deviation which the society w??? allow grcups and individuals. But by
itself it says little about the shapes which behavior wiil take within its
frame. The weaving of the bio~soci81 strands of gene and perception, of
ability and control, is as much a function of ideo1ogy as of organization.

Organization is but the 100m on which the weave of ideoiogy create

s those
artifacts of culture we ca}? Men.
 wan-v.)-

PART THREE

THE WAVE Q; IDEOLOGY

 CHAPTER IX

THE ORGANXZATION 0F IDEOLOGY

It is certainly not by chance that the different Bush Negro
tribes have adopted such similar social and religious
structures. One is forced to acknowledge the effect of a
few strong personalities who»~through almost superhuman
ability-~were able to disentangle from the snarl of beliefs
which the runaways brought with them, just those strands
which were needed for the life of the new society. Still,
this new religion could not have been implanted so stably
and so coherently if everyone had not been deeply conscious
of the need to agree upon some minimal shared concepts.

Hurault, 1961:192. (Tr. mine)

CULT INSTITUTIONS
The similarities and differences between the tribes cannot be
understood from their histories alone, for they involve perceptions which

are based on the shared axioms of the whole culture area, as well as those
which result from specific (tribal) interpretations of these fundamental

postulates about life and the world. It is necessary to sample these

variables in order to propose a coherent statement about Bush Negro

ideology.

More has been written on Bush Negro beliefs and supernaturalism

than on all the rest of their culture. In fact, the major difficulty in
discussing the tribes' ideologies lies not in any absence of information,
but in the staggering richness of detail which cries out for organization.
The majority of anthropological and sociological theories on religion are

explanatory rather than taxonomic. What classificatory schemes they do

incorporate are incidental, designed not for systematization but as

illustrations of the interpretive logic of the theorist. An obvious
exception to this observation is found in the analytical model of

Wallace’s recent work, which patterns religious behavior on the basis

~l74—
 “175—

ments of
of five ieveis of anaiysis: the supernaturai premise, the ele
igion as
uai, cult institutions, and rei
“were

, the rat ion aii zat ion of rit

rituai

such (Waiiace, 1966:83).

iace‘s
t of organization wiii be Wai
For our purposes then, the uni
_the
g ins tit uti on, whi ch he def ine s as "Q’set jSrituais aii having
ggl
iiar gr;
gen era “! 999 1, an exp iic iti l rationalized 21 g 393 91: sim
sam e
66:75,
ate d bel ief s, and ail sup por ted 21.the sane sociai gggygf (19
rei
t is, their
has is add ed) . Cui t ins tit uti ons can be individualistic, tha
emp
t an
ciaiists; shanenic, meaning tha
rituais are performed by nonspe
ents and the
t intervenes between human cii
individual part-time speciaiis
ponsibie for the
Mich organized‘iawmnuare res
supernaturai; communal, hin
; and
weifare of the whoie community
performance of rituals for the
nai ciergy
by the existence of a professio
ecclesiastical, characterized
ce, 1966:86-88).
which manages the rituals (Naiia
to
ief among the Bush Negroes is
The expression of reiigious bei
cieariy
cult institutions. Ideoiogy is
be found at a11 four Tevels of
ica n asp ect of cui tur e, as aii observers maintain. 0n the
the most Afr
of Dahomey
ias tic ai iev ei, esp eci aii y, the debt to the reiigions
eocies
of Bush Negro
and Ashanti is obvious. But this does not mean that aii
1eveis of
rit uai lif e lie s ope n to suc h direct iinkages: the iesser
spi
wn not oniy
dua lis tic , sha man ist ic, and communai cuitism have dra
ind ivi
Indians who
, but from the Europeans and
from the whoie of West Africa
ence. Most of
meiticulturai Surinam experi
were involved in the tribes'
the fact
yet have been unraveied but for
these historicai threads might
super-
oon s ear iy rec ogn ize d the socio-poiiticai dynamics of
that the Mar
anizations
m. and ent hus ias tio aii y manipuiated the farms and org
naturaiis
controls
of beiief for purposes of sociai
 ~176-

Hurault (196l:19l) credibly theorizes that the basic

belief system
of the major tribes was first worked out by the
oldest organized group, the
Saramacca of the early 1700's, This body of
sacred custom and belief was
accepted by the Djuka who modified only details
until recently, and who
in turn indoctrinated the Bani when the latter were "vess
els" in their
country from lBl5~18609 But the less numerous Bani
did not embrace the
total system: they accepted the premises without many of the trapp
ings.
Thus, the Bani do not have a developed priesthood
and have lost much of
the mythology which bolsters the Djuka theology.

The pantheon of each tribe is headed by a Supre

me Creator to whom
the other supernaturals as well as men are subse
rvient. The High Gods
below this Creator are not manifestations of his attri
butes but evidence
a great deal of independence. By Wallace‘s terminolog
y, therefore, the
Bush Negroes have an Olympian religion with a variety
of ecclesiastical
and lesser cult institutions. Only two researchers (Horault and Thoden
van Velzen) have made an effort to analyze the eccle
siastical aspect
apart from general religiosity. From them. and from the incidental
information scattered throughout the reports of other
students, it is
clear that there is almost total agreement among
the major tribes on the
underlying "supernatural premise,” and on the
definition of the Highest.
Agreement is still substantial among communal colt insti
tutions, but at the
levels of shamanistic and individualistic cults
it tends to disappear.

IDEOLOGY AS INSTITUTION
The Dictionary 9: Anthropology (hinick, l968) does not list
the
term Ideology. This oversight underscores the fact that many
anthropologists
have been so fascinated by magic and religion,
the common and overt
behavioral manifestations of ideology, that they have
ignored its trans-
 ,.-, an... .1
M W~.w Wavy—LN“. “who: e w r' may.” ,,..,, ,.

~177—

cendental aspect as an integrative agent

in culture. Sociologists, long
preoccupied with the integration of vari
ous systems within the total system
of culture, and weary of further subdivision
of the term subsystem, have
used the expression "Institution" to refer to
the distinct functional parts
of a culture. That the term is as hotly debated among
sociologists as
"culture" is among anthroplogists, does not
negate its usefulness for the
present discussion.

when people know how to act in a situatio

nw~nhen they know what to
expect of others and what is expected of them
-«we say that the
situation is “structured” for them. This
is to say that they have
a common definition of the situation. when these
not only cognized but are positively eval expectations are
uated as well, the struc~
ture is said to be institutionalized in this grou
That is, when expectations are nstituti p of people.
onalized, people not only
can predict how they and other members of
the group will behave,
but believe that they should behave that
way. Moreover, they
usually want to behave in the expected
manner (Bredemeier a
Stephenson, l962:24).
For present purposes I will define "Institution
" as thg‘enduring
integration of perceptions, behaviors, and
artifacts which jg‘the society's
solution to §_universal Eroblem. By “universal problem” I mean a need
with which every society must cope, such
as the need for recruitment, for
the instigation of predictable behavior, or
for the distribution of the
means by which people may satisfiy thei
r primary drives.
One reason that sociologists cannot seem
to agree upon a definition
of "institution" is that fan of them esca
pe the narrow technological
determinism of our own ideology. Some focus upon structure, some upon
function, but none see the ideological inst
itution as uniquely involved
with all the others: It is rare to find soci
ological analysis of the
concept "institution" which goes beyond
the rote invocation that
"institutions have a normative aspect.“ From a comparative perspective,
no

it is not difficult to see that the institut

ion which we call “ideology”
 -l78*

everywhere fulfills a most complex function: not only does it integrate the
operations of other institutions (such as those of economy, politics, and

socialization) by providing a set of measuring sticks fOr their performance,

but it maintains the perceptual framework, the actual shape of reality f0?

the individual and the systeml In effect, ideology deflnes the situation

in which the members of a society find themselves, and thereby predetermines

or at least limits to an extent the relevancy and the form of the adjust-

ments to reality which persons and groups may make.

As an institution, ideology legitimates the structure and function

of all the other institutions in a culture, standardizes the interrelation-

ship between system and person and, in its magico—religious aspects, defines

the supernatural sanctions which reduce random behavior sufficiently to

make predictablity and cooperation possible. Normative precepts are a

major attribute of all ideologies, and other institutions base their own

normative efforts on the standards of the prevailing ideology, whether this

be sacred or secular. The very patterning of expectations which allows

the integration of efforts is thus a function of ideology, when ideology

manifests itself as the institution which makes institutionalization

possible. I will define "ideology" as the institution which structures

perception and lggitimates structure. The concept at the very least

includes a definition of the situation, as well as the sacred and the

secular imperatives drawn tram this worldview: religion. magic, and

science. Its functions include, at the minimum, the maintenance of
perceptual categories in all aspects of culture, be these ecological,

economic, political, or educational. Ideology is the~~often invisible—~

welding which connects the structures and Functions of a culture so as to

 ~179-

e.T
make it (appear) a whoi
own externai
ha ve th ei r ow n int ernal logic and their
institutions

prerequisites.
ionei
g th e va ri et y of fo rm s which a given institut
Considerin
ies, and
ii gi on or Ec on om y ma y take in different societ
category such as Re
e and
ri et y of pa tt er ns by which societies integrat
considering the va
is weli to
"s oi ut io ns " to th e problems of life, it
coordinate their
d to draw
ur ai Re ia ti vi st et hi c shouid one be tempte
remember the Cult
not require one to
is on s. Us e of th e term "ideoiogy" does
invidious compar
ses of human
or ie ss co ns ci ou s deceptions and disgui
“unmask the more
“totai explana-
“ (M an nh ei m, 19 36 :2 38 ), nor to subscribe to
interest groups
s reaims of
e ap pi ic at io n of a si ngie idea to the variou
tion ... by th
:133).
reaiity" (Arendt, 1954 be
enomenon is to
an in g of th e un iv er se or of any Tessar ph
The me
ety: Reaiity is
in it , bu t in th e te aching of a ghven soci
found net
en from
on be ca us e th e ve ri dicai universe is hidd
ti
aiways a sociai conven
Awareness of the
e ve ry pe rc ep ti on s we have been taught.
us by th
the
on ma ke s th e ra nk in g of the various ferns of
reiativity of percepti the
es s ex er ci se , if th is ranking is attempted on
institution a sensei
human
st ic ks as "s ci en ti fi c accuracy," "cost in
basis of such yard
evaiuate, to
ne ss ," or “t ro t ." But it ig‘possioie to
potential,“ "happi
eoiogy on the
fe ct iv en es s of a pa rticuiar exampie of id
a degree, the ef
ich it is a part.
it “d oe s its jo b“ for the culture of wh
basis of how we ii
nt, one notes
es po us in g an y ne at categories for judgme
Withou t

W
has obviousiy
ac kn ow ie dg e on de bt to Mannheim (1936), who it was not con—
1I my viewpoint, even thou
gh
ent of
infiuenced the deveiopm
sciousiy based on his.
 -130-

that it is necessarily true—by-inspecti

on that an ideology which expieins
the worid and its forces in such a syst
ematic fashion as to make its
explanation seif—evident to the members
of the society it serves, and
which succeeds in integrating the efforts of
such members to their
evident satisfaction, is effectiveiy
superior to an ideoiogy which does
not so satisfy and integrate, gggerdIess
gf_how either structures the
universe. When ideoiogies compete for
adherents, they may do so on a
number of levels: in the area of percepti
on (explaining the universe and
its contents), in the area of legitimation
(justifying the effects of
stasis and change), or in both at once (pre
senting different worldviews).
If the established ideoiogy is more satisfyi
ng in §9§h_of these areas
than its wouid~be competitor, then the competit
or wiii fail. If the
competing ideoiogy can promise greater satisfac
tions oniy in the area of
iegitimation, then its new insights strength
en the estabiished heiiefs.
If the competitor offers broader or differen
t perceptions, its new view
wiii be more or less accepted depending
upon whether it makes an existing
beiief impossibie or meredy extends it.
The fact that a new ideoiogy
offers greater satisfactions on the level
of the total worldview, that is,
in both the areas of perception and legitime
tion, does not guarantee its
acceptance. It may stilt be rejected on the grounds of
its inapplicability:
as iong as the incumbent ideoiogy fuifiils its func
tions, the inevitabie
aiienness of the competitor wiii prevent
its acceptance on a mass scaie.
The actuai supplentation of an established
ideoiogy requires bg§§_the
destruction of the inoumbent‘s potential
to satisfy, egg the introduction
of greater satisfactions according to the
incumbent ideoiogy’s gag
definition of the situation.

Ideology is anaiogous to a carpet or a tape

stry. The strength
 flab" “

~181-

of its weave is a function of the quaiity and quantity of the elements of

warp and weft-—the interrelated structures and functions of the belief

system. The denser the weave. the more impervious the carpet is to wear.

The greater the variety and range of experiences which the ideology

defines and re1ates, the more resistant it wi11 be to alternative

definitions of reality.

Bush Negro ideoiogy is a strong and durable weaving. Its structures

and behaviors are richiy varied and intricately interwoven. So far, it

has withstood, has even been poiished by, the abrasion of its Western

competitors, the Judeo-Christian traditions

.3
 CHAPTER X

THE ECCLESIASTICAL WARP

The [Bani] Bush Negroes view beings
on severai 1eveis
and objects as distributed
:
—-The Creator God;

—~The inferior gods;

waThe ancestors;

~«Men;

«Animals;
~~P1ants and inanimate things.
For each of these TeveIs there is
and a 1eve1 of strength (kaakiti) a[Urcorkrak
responding lave} of Tife
the Dutch kracht, force, strengfh]. fi_s iti, possibly from
¥g%n_§¥kfn:§::§r'force, u rfor force can act
but not the OPPOSIte HuFEfiTE}”T§ET?"

Ritual and beTief express a num

ber of strands in Bush Negro
ideology. A compIex pantheon is
surrounded by possession cults and
a
variety of sters of worship. The
category 9913 is more than just
"amulets and protective devices," for
it is represented at all TeveIS of
cult institution by conceptueiizati
on and paraphernalia. Finaily there
is gone, the most singular innovatio
n in Bush Negro ideoiogy, an
abstraction which owes as much to the
Furies as to the Fatesc
At some points these strands combin
e to reinforce each other; at
other points they separate into ind
ividuaI identity. The compTexity and
the sophistication of Bush Negro
ideology have generaIIy eluded Wes
terners,
however, and the majority of authors
best show their unwitting ethno-
centrism when they discuss this side
of Bush Negro life.

THE SUPREME BEING

[The Bush Negroes] beiieve”in oheySinngar God, Creator of

heaven and earth, to whose father
Iy care they so caTnfiy Ieave

e182-
 ~l83~

their present and future fate that they

anything which can be called reli do not bother about
gion.

Teenstra, l835, II:l7O (Tr. mine)

From cradle to grave, the whole life
of a Djuka is one long religious
service.

van Lien, 19l9:l2; l940:16l (Tr. mine)

It would be better to say that the
by an unparalleled fear of evil infwhole life of a Djuka is ruled
but evasions which afford the Djuka luences: the ... rituals are
moments of relief from the
anxiety which continually controls him.

Junker, l922:454 (Tr. none)

Each tribal pantheon is headed by
a Creator God, a Supreme Being
responsible for the existence of
the Universe and all it contains,
including
the other gods. There is no int
ertribal agreement on what this
deity is
to be called, and little consonanc
e on His presont day importance.
The
idea of a Creator God is common thr
oughout West Africa, so the superf
icial
correspondence between this trait
and the God of the Judeo~Christian
tradition, remarked by most writers,
is not proof of any syncretic origin
for the Bush Negroes: deity.

The Djuka and the Boni occasionally refe

r to this Being as figflg,
which is an old TWi term for "gra
ndfather,"I but generally the Djok
a refer
to Him as flg§§_§ggg (Lord God). There are a variety of other names
recorded for this Being: Most common in the older literature
are Kediamggn
(God of the Sky), and Jankumgani (fro
m the Dutch "Jan Compagnie,“ a
personificationu~in the sense of “Unc
le Sam” or “Ma Bell"~~of the West
India Company! This term has been reported in Afr
ica among the people
there who traded with the Dutch).
W

7Herskovits & Herskovits, l934z35l

origin; Hurault, 3961:194, found , claim it to be of Ashanti
the term used by the Ivory Coast‘s
people; Ellis. 1887:24, found it amon Agni
g the Tshi.
 ~185-

(see Fragatiki) erected to fig§§_§ggg

in two viiiages along the Tapanahon
i:
Puketi and Tabiki. The Boni invoke
the name of flggg‘figgg at every cer
emony,
but have no speciai ritual regarding
Him. One preys to fi§§§_§§gy.oniy for
direct and tangible motives; pra
yer for spiritual guidance or the
perfection
of the soul does not exist. Usually the suppiications are lineag
e affairs
wherein the oidest member addres
ses the deity in ordinary conver
sationai
tones, and asks for the recovery
of an ailing reiative, the speedy
resolu-
tion of some natural disaster, or
for protection against some evil
person's
curse. But there are no prayers about §g§g_(
q.v.), for 3gflg_is the venge~
ence of (or inspired by) the gods the
mselves. It is understood that a
Eggg_operates with the approval of figs
g'gggg; and that the suffering it
causes is vitai to the baiance of
the universai force (Hurault, 196
1:194~
195). It is not c]ear*whether
the Djuka have always prayed to
floggigggg
directiy, but just had not been obs
erved by whites, or whether the Dju
ka
altars to the Highest are a recent
deveiopment, perhaps diffhsed back
from the Roof. Whatever the case
, it is ciear that in the everyday
life
of the Bush Negroes there are a
number of supernaturais who are
of more
direct influence than the Creator God
(Eiiis. 1887224; Herskovits &
Herskovits, 1934:29; Hnrauit, 1961:1
94; Junker, 1924, 7925; Thoden van
Veizen, 1966:110-111, van Lier, 1940
:180~181).

THE HIGH 6095

Where the Supreme Being fuifiils
whatever psychologicai need for
a Prime Mover may exist in the bush,
the more genera? task of reducing
the ambiguity of man's existence is
shared by a great number of greater
and 1esser divinities, as weii as the
ancestors. Each tribe has the
special attention of (at Ieast) one
major divinity.
 ~186-

For the Saramacca and for the Bani, the

usual name given to this
Being is Odon. The Djuka equivalent
is Grantata, also known as Gwanggella,
or Bigi Gadu. the Greet Deity, and
these three tribes apparently have
almost identical services of worship
for the ruling deity (Hurault, l961:
lQl-l98; van tier, lQ40:l8l-185).

‘Gwangyella, the Great Deity is not a Univ

ersal Being, as is Mose
Gedu. but a true tribal god whose only
loyalties lie with the Djuka.
Gwangyella led the early Maroons through
the traokless jungles to the Djuka
Creek, their first permanent settleme
nt during the lontem, and his tabere
necle was carried into battle against the
whites. The older Djuka still
look upon the Great Deity as a sort of
"secret weapon“ to be unleashed
against the whites should the war with them
ever resume. Graotata is thus
a war god, just like the Gran Gado of
the Saramacca. He shares with the
other High Gods two characteristic attr
ibutes: he punishes sinners and
protects the righteous, and he is subj
ect to human weaknesses (Thoden van
Velzen, l966:112).

The ascendancy of Grantata or the Grea

t Deity among the Bjuka is
of relatively recent origin. Thoden van Velzen collected two differen
t
origin myths for this religion:
a. The worship of the Great Deity befo
re the rule of Paramount
Chief Oseisie (l888~19l5) was the exclusiv
lineage of the Granman. The taberngcle e business of the
kept in a temple in Dritabiki, where it of the Great Deity was
Chief Oseisie was the
was secretly consulted.
first person to consult the oracle
public. His purpose was to spread in
the medical aid of the Great
Deity beyond the circle of his relative
s and confidants, to
whoever prized such knowledge.
b. Before 0seisie‘s term of office, a
Granman had the oracle
of a lesser (Kumanti) divinity at his disp
acte osal. This deity
d as the representative of the Grea
t Deity and spoke for
I’m!

When Oseisie was Chief; the Kuma

him and his High Priest Arabi that anti god let it be known to
tabernacle had to be
 *187»

buiit for the Great Deity. This wou16 aiiow direct contact with
the Great Deity. Gseisi and Arabi foiiowed these directions,
and since that time there exists the oracle of the Great Deity
(1966:118. Tr. none).

0n the basis of contemporary reports, the importance of the

reiigion of the Great Deity can be traced to the period 1891~1893 (see

Chapter VIII, Paramount Chieftaincy). These reports demonstrate the

close relationship between the institutions of ideology and sociai

control among the Bush Negroes, and show that the cuit of the Great Deity
was employed as a mechanism which wouid aiiow the sacred and the secuiar

controis of Djuka society to be centered into one agency or office. This

does not mean that the Djuka invented Gwangwel1a on the spot when the need
for Him arose.

According to legend Grantata (grandfather) was brought over from

Africa by a priest who had there been consecrated to the mysteries
of the suit. Those of his maie descendants who had the calling,
he initiated into the service. when the ordering of the 105 was
achieved at the end of iontem (long time, the runaway period),
the priests of Grantata came from the 0ttro~1o, that 19 from
which the tribal granmans are chosen. Since'then oniy ma1e
members of the Ottro—lg may be priests of Grantata, with the
Granman as High Priest (van Lier, 1940:181. Tr. mine).
A profusion of gods who were first worshipped in Africa accompanied

the runaways into the hush. Many of these have survived as subtribai

protectors, as cian gods and Iineage guides. If one of them was to be

promoted to a higher level, it couid only have been because his recognized
thiiowers enjoyed satisfactions which other tribesmen wanted to share.
There is no need to postu1ate a major evangelicai effort among these
kinshipwdominated peopie.

In other words. Gwangweila-Grantata was but one of an indeternfinate

but large nunher of deities who were worshipped oiong the Tapanahoni as
local viiioge gods, until Oseisie's bid for power transformed Him into a
 —188~

major competitor of "the other High God" of the Djuka: Gedeonsu (also
Gedeosu, Gedewsu, or Agedeosu).

Gedeosu is an unmarried mate or suprevsexuai god, and the other

of the two grandados. Gedeosu, aiso, was brought from Africa
by a priest. This man, fihose name was Apesu,hee very ugly and
no woman wanted him until fihaiiy one, Asafe, took pity on him.
Her reward was that he initiated her into the service of
Gedeosu, and after his death she became High Priestess. Asafe
n turn trained one of her daughters, and since then the
position of High Priest to Gedeosu has remained in women‘s
hands (van tier, 1940:185. Tr. mine).

When the lgg‘were organized, Apasu had membership in the Pedi-lg_eod

Gedeonsu's priest stiii come from this 19, In the beginning. the worship
of Gedeonsu was centered in the viiiage of Kriorokondre, but since that
has been deserted, the hoiy bundie which represents this god is housed
in
Tabiki. In the 1920‘s this Ohio was stiii taken back to Kriorokondre for

major feasts, but now the oracle remains in Tabiki (Thoden van Veizen,

1966:123; van Lier, 1940:185).

At the time of van Lier's work among the Djuka (the 1920's)there
was a clear distinction between the territories and the adherents of

the two Djuka High Gods: the bile—nihgre (the downstream clans) worshipped
Gedeonsu, and the gpgfnihgre (the cians above the Faiis) venerated Grantata.
This situation has changed drasticaily.

After the Great Krutu of 1902, when Oseisie and Arabi settled most

of their differences, a copy of Oseisie's temple to Grantata in Dritabiki

was buiit in Gran bori. This eliminated the need to have two sets of
priests to the Great Deity in Dritabiki. each with its own fashion of

worship and service. Both viiiages were now to he the seat of the God,

and one couid worship and consuit the Deity in either temple. When both
Oseisie and hrebi died in 1915, the inheritance of the office of High
at“

Priest in Dritabiki went to Kanapé, who managed to centreiize the reiigio

n
 *189~

again. This development continued under Akontu, who

was both High Priest
and Granman, and who was apparently able
to institutionalize his control
over the Djuka on both the legal and the ideo
iogical levels. Today, the
worship of the Great Deity with its dependen
ce upon His advise has become
the dominant religion throughout Djuka terr
itory. There may still be
complaint in the temple at Dritabiki that
the downstream people, the gilg
clans, are a godless lot, but this does not
deny that the Church influences
them. The secular control of the Brahman has not kept
pace with his §ag§gg
powers, however. Lineage chiefs still form the downstre
am Djuka’s major
decisionwmaking body, and are iikeiy
to continue defying the Grannan‘s
secular authority unless the incumben
t devices on actual theocracy, a
possibility not to be discounted but
one which the independence-oriented
clans will certainly combat (van Liar,
1940:181~187; Kobben, 1966, 1967,
1968; Thoden van Velzen, 1966:118-120).
The Boni and the Saramacca share the cult
of Qggg_as their
equivalent to the Djuka‘s Great Deity.
Hurault claims that there is no
noticeable difference between the rite
s and concepts around these two
High Gods, and suggests that the shared
belief in Qggn_may help expiain
why the Saramacca and the Boni enjoy
such "confident relations“ (1961:195).
But he also, and repeatedly, document
s that the Bani View the Saramacca
as very dangerous peogle whose magic is more
powerful than their own.
Furthermore, he notes that although it is clea
r that fig§§Q§agg_sent gggg;
to be a judge and a law giver unto the
Bani, his informants knew of no
myths explaining the relationship betw
een the two gods. One interprets
this as an indication that the trait comp
lexes surrounding these two
concepts diffused into the Boni from differen
t sources: Maggggggu, as
His name implies, is a Djuka deity; Odun
is a Saramacca god. And perhaps

m, -._ . «. cm“, m “V m... Mmm»wwamw-wh “a.

WWW “aflnwwsm , l cum“. .~.___..._.. A , . a mo “w, ,, 0,- W,,“ W
 ~190~

the Bani feel they have less influence on gggg.than do His

elder children.
Odun's laws are always stated in the form of prohibitions.
He
forbids 31519 that is, all sorcery with evil intent; venge
ance magic against
a wisiman, a witch or sorcerer; physical violence in
any form; contact
with the dead in any ferm other than in the customary
public ceremonies
(including even private prayer at the tomb of a relative);
and any
imaginable infringement of individual freedom by any
means. This latter
edict means that among the Boni all manner of manipulati
ve charms such as
love potions are considered gisj, for they interfere
with the freedom of
the person upon whom they are supposed to work their
spell (Hurault, 1961:
lQE).

Violations of gggnfs laws are punished without human interventi

on.
The typical penalty is death, but many types of trans
gressions may be
atoned through offerings and prayer. Punishment is not necessarily swift:
only Qggg_knows when his vengeance will strike, but strik
e it will if it
is not averted.
fligigis not pardoneble, and there is no reparation
possible. Qggg
does not suffer a witch to live. A wisiman may not be buried in the
hallowed ground of a cemetery. All the Bush Negro tribes dispose of
witches' bodies by dumping them ignominously in the
bush, away from the
areas where decent people live. No tribesman would be so brazen as to
admit being a witch, nor would anyone be so foolish as to beg
Qggn_for
clemency regarding another’s yigj, Guilt by associatio
n would expose the
supplicant to gogg‘s fury. And should a beloved relative have been
judged a witch after death, few would take the monstrous risk
of
circumventing qugfs rule by burying the kinsmen, even
outside of tribal
territory. There can be no tolerance. nor even sympathy,
for bush
 ~191~

“Antigones,” for sooner or later grave misf

ortunes would be visited not
only upon those who perpetrated the
deed, but upon any of their relative
s
in the lineage (Hurault, l961:l96-197).

The laws of the Great Deity among the

Djuka are quite similar to
those of goon. Here, too, on implacable deity punishes yj§j_wit
h dead or
disease. But the Djuka dependence upon the supernat
ural to avenge sorcery
is clearly of recent origin. Before the
advent of the Great Deity, these
tribesmen would punish those who had been
ancused by the lukumans of
his; by burning the wisiman alive
over a snail‘fire, While the women
and
children competed with each other in tort
uring the defenseless victim as
much as the imagination allowed (van Panh
oys in ENWI:l58). The fate of
the Poligudujniggrg (see Chapter VII) show
s how witchcraft accusations were
employed as social control mechanisms.
It is not certain that the new
religion began the humanization of the trea
tment of witches, for the
increased influence of Surinam law can not
be discounted. But it is
obvious that the laws of Qggg and the
Great Deity have softened the
harshness of the punishment of wisimans:
vengeance i§.Theirs.*
There are other sins which engender the
vengeance of the High Gods.
Sometimes these transgressions are difficul
t to avoid. Those Djuka who live
under the close supervision of Government
functionaries cannot very well
follow the divine laws on the treatment
of witches. and so people sometimes
feel the hand of the Great Deity for beha
vior which was in effect
unavoidable. It is difficult, fer instance, to foll
ow the religious indict»
ment against burial of a witch under
conditions where a “thrown away”
corpse invites the involvement of dete
ctives, health officials, and
coroners. The punishments which goon and Grantata
mete out are not
tempered in accordance with the relative
severity of the sin, nor with
 WW”, ,_ .m; ,. ~ a

“192-

the degree of personal involvement in the transgression. Apparently,

divine intervention works on a “threshold principle": the gods do not
punish unfairness, personal vengeance, disregard for the welfare of a

lineage mate, or any other behavior which endangers the person or the

freedom of another human being, until g-certain point has been reached.

Just what that threshold is, only the god knnws, but obviously the point
can often be avoided, and is thus approximately predictable. Up to that
point, then, human failings are ignered. But when the threshold of the
god's tolerance has been reached, his fury is unleashed and may strike

again and again until it is checked er spent~—checked by correction of

the error or by atonement, spent in the tetal extinction of the lineage in
which the sin occurred. In the religions of Qggg and the Great Deity, the
group is responsible for the behavior of its members; and that is no idle

statement.

Theden van Velzen (1966:ll3~116) gives several examples of cases

wherein death was diagnosed as resulting from the intervention of the Great
Beity. These post~mortem findings were achieved by His priests and I
announced to the population in order to shed light on the troubles which

befall men, and to speed the correction of the faults (see Chapter XII):

a, A young Djuka died because his father's brother had started

a fight in the village of Gran~bori, where every form of physical violence

has been expressly forbidden by Grantata.

E, An important medicine man has died because the hand of Grantata

turned against him when he beat an old woman.

g, A young woman is killed because she sought the ancestors'

aid in killing a woman she suspected of theft.
g, A priestess of the Great Deity Himself, in the time of Oseisie,
 mac-u.

~393«

was removed by Him because she feroed

the girls in her retinue to submit
to her Lesbian practices.

e. A woman is ailing because no one

in her family helped her
during the last time she gave birt
h: the Great Deity is using her illn
ess
as a last warning to the matrilineage
that he may kill her to allow her
spirit to be visited upon the kin grou
p. Case g_demonstrates the
indirectness which often typifies supe
rnatural vengeance; b is proof that
the Great Deity protects the Weak--as
long as they are in a state of
innocence both in person and in line
age; g.gives an example where dispro
-
portiate human vengeance leads to
supernatural intervention (and we
note
Thoden van Velzen's aside that the Gre
at Deity never punishes cases of
theft: they are simply not important
enough for his attention); 3 shows
that fig‘g§g_escapes the divine will
(and incidentally is the only com
ment
on homosexuality in the literature
on Bush Negroes); and finally g.im
plies
that for borderline cases the Gre
at Deity nay consent to give a war
ning
that He is offended. The ideal
of individual self-sufficiency is
so
ingrained (see Chapter VI, Interpersona
l Relations) that in cases such as
this, where it interferes with the smoo
th relationships within the lineage,
there are apparently no clear-cut
rules to guide the people.
Punishment may be massive, it may str
ike individuals who did not
even know of the crime for which
their group is responsible, it any
be so
long in coming that the lineage is lite
rally being held responsible for
"the sins of the father“; but there j§_a
n end to it. Once one is g§§g_g§gg,
dead at the hand of the Deity, one
is beyond further persecution by God
or
man:
Not only the living enjoy His
of those He took out of life. Forprot ection, but also the spirits
inst
embroiled with the ghost of a witch ance, someone who becomes
eng
Great Deity. Just as a person who has enders the enmity of the
been convicted [in a trials
 ~194~

and thereforeflhas become the client of the Brahman

can count upon
the Granmen's support in any difficulties, so the spirits are
clients of the Great Deity. the
In shrill contrast to this, the
ghosts of the righteous must take care of themselves.

The Djuka believes that the ghost of a deceased

person is
jealous of the new partner of his previous spouse.
Whoever wants
to marry the widow or widower must first hold the rite
of concil~
iation (baka njan'an, baka wata) for the ghost of the late
spouse.
A man who married the widow of a witch without fulfilling this
obligation was punished by the Great Deity with sickness (Thode
van Velzen, l966:ll4-lls. Tr. mine). n

The main effect of this redundant emphasis (see Kunu) upon

group;
culpability is, inevitably, a strengthening of the linea
ge. The individ—
ual‘s very survival demands a continuing contact with his relat
ives in
order to be able to keep them from endangering his safety.
Conformity in
others is obviously encouraged, but this does not limit
one's own
expression of individuality: One knows how far one can “bend” the rules
without inviting heavenly retribution. It is the others, those idiots who
play with fire, who must be controlled! For instance: The Djuka are much
given to the swearing of imprecations. To give the curse strength, a
person will drag his naked buttocks over the ground
while pronouncing the
malediction. A lesser curse might be uttered while beating the ground with
the open hand or with a stick. The ground (dotti) lends strength, for from
it comes all life, and to it all life returns.

Maledictions are expressly ferbidden by the Great Deity

, and have
serious repercussions. Not only are they punishable by the death of the
blasphemer, in the God‘s due time, but they may resul
t in all sorts of
disasters in his village: Children die, crops fail,
even adults may
succumb in great numbers.” Once it has been established
that a member of
the community has endangered the whole village by blasp
heming in this
fashion, a priest of Grantata may repeal the revenge
of the High God in a
special ritual which the malefactor and his lineage
must witness. After—
 ~195-

wards, he, his house, the place where the fateful curse was uttered, and

all the paths leading to these places must be ritually purified. The

blasphemer himself must undergo a ritual bath in the rivers All these
rites are very expensive (van Lier, 1940:184, 22l-222).

He who swore or uttered the curse goes free however, if he can

show that another provoked him into it. But if the curse was
a serious one, or if a great deal of time elapsed between the
reason for the curse and its pronouncement, then he will be
punished as an accessory (van tier, l940:l84. Tr. mine)s

If we define "Freedom" as the area of behavior which is neither

mandatory nor forbidden, we see that the Bush Negroes have a great deal of
freedom in choice and in behavior. But it requires an almost superhuman

piety to shun the grey borders of the God—mandated areas of behavior where
freedom and taboo overlap. Like the Old Testament Xahwgh, the High God of
each tribe is a jealous God, unwilling to share His prerogatives in the
arena of social justice, especially with trespassers in His domain of

vengeance, and willing to strike even the seventh generation. Yet, His
punishment is always a corrective: does not the Great Deity protect the

souls of the very witches He has killed?

Here we find no vestigial remains of the Christian Supreme Being.

The High God is not Iahwgh*watered down through generations of barbarism

and diffused in superstition. 0n the contrary, the evidence indicates that

the High Gods of the Bush Negroes represent a vital and evolving concept

which systematizes existing beliefs regardless of their origins, and which

apparently must result in still another bush development, that of the

nonotheistic ecclesiastical cult.

.AEBA,AND YORKA: THE LINK BETWEEN THE WORLDS

According to definitions implicit in the literature, the Bush

Negroes perceive a graduated series of steps between this world and the
 v196~

tiai: persona]
next which correspond to the major stages of the human poten
It is not
iife force, the spirit of the dead, and deified ancestor.
such terms as “sooi”
possible to translate their conceptions directiy into
duai in such
because they do not perceive of the vitaiity of the indivi
been
terms. Nor is it enough to say that they have muitipie souis, as has
in recent times
reported for many of the African High Cultures. 1 It is oniy
ality to
that the complexity of this concept was realized; and its centr
Bush Negro ideology recognized.
es and
In 1912, the brothers Penard wrote that the Surinam Negro
Akkra, Akaia, Akra,
Indians saw the life force of the person, his Kra (or

or Agga), as divided into two parts: the fatheregga and the §j§§_(sister)

or mother ggg, Together these make up the thread of memory, the 1ink

between the individual and the supernaturai. One whose thread has been
becomes iistiess
broken, that is, who has iost his a533, speaks nonsense,

and sickly and usuany diesz (Penard & Penard, 1912:159-151).

Later, the Herskovitses pointed out that the 5531 is a morai force
of the individual
in its own right, and that it has identity beyond that
that among the
who is "infused" with the ogre: They aiso made it ciear
One of these, aiso
Saramacce, at least, there were other spirits as weli.

the
1The Ibo and Dahomeans have at least two souis, one from
e a person ai soui
ancestors, the other from the gods. There is furthermor the
ned with
among the Bahomeans, as weii as a "Fa," a fourth sou! concer iiy inher ited
iinea
fate of each man and his fanfiiy. The Ashanti have a patri with
in hand
soul, the "Kra." which determines iuck, and whieh works hand
The Kra returns to
the "Sunsun,“ a personal soul which is not inherited.
the ancestors as a ghost upon the person‘s death. Obviously the Akra is
exact Surinam
related to these concepts, as is the Yorke, but their
deiineations are pure Bush Negro.
it is
2The cogeney of these statements is reduced somewhat once
betwee n Creoie s and tribesmen.
reaiized that the Pehards did not distinguish
 ~197-

found among the Creoles, is the Byodyoi:

“If you do not know what the Dye—dye is, then you are
not
human, Then I won‘t taik to you. Have you never waikee and
something in back of you, yet nothing was there? Have you felt
never
had a dream?"

The Dyovdyo was one of two souis with which each indiv
was born, ... for each man had his akra, his personal sou}.iduai
if he were mindful of it, remained with him, and aiiowed which
no eviI
to come to him; and each man had his aye-dye, his wande
ring soul.
At death the soul which had wandered came back to the body.
it were permitted to stray once more, this soul, which If
had been
ever restless in iife, wouid wander about troubling the 1iving.
(Herskovits and Herskovits, 1934:212).
De Goeje (in his introduction to van Lier, 1940:137) expiained
that
the akra has a tendency to dweii on-wand after death, to
dwell in--the
earth of its kohdre, or to yearn after the piace where
one has 1ived for
a long time. In fact, he says, there are 14 distinct tgges of akras:

seven for males , seven for femaies, each associated with

a day name and
hence able to influence the birth day of the person who wiii
have the okra.
(Thus, the causeuandweffect reiationship here is the exact
opposite of
that postulated in our own shamanistic cult institutio
n of Astrology: to
the Bush Negroes the personality does not resuit from the
time of one‘s
birth, but causes it.) De Goeje says that in Surinam this
idea is exc1u~
sive to the Bush Negroes, and points out that the soui concep
ts of the
native Indians and the coastai Creoies are quite differ
ent. This imp1ies
that it is a survival, for the Ashanti stiii practice
the beiief.
A more thorough discussion of the concept is found in van
Lier
(1940:153~168), who adds to the foregoing that the akra, "a
sort of
higher seif or protective spirit," is the gift of Nana,
the Supreme Being.

IApparentiy this term Qyo-dyo comes from the Portuguese expression

for "good-bye," since the Herskovitses next refer to a Saram
eccan
ceremony for the soiemnization of the break between the living '
and the
dead as ggi,Agxo.
 ~198~

it returns
The agrg‘is present at the individual‘s birth, and at his death
f again.
to the domain of the spirits without ever manifesting itsei
as in many
When the person sieeps, the g§£§_1eaves his body, and,
the danger that
simiiar conceptions among other pennies, there is a1ways

it nay not return. Therefore, one must never startie another person,

especially not when the other is asleep. Sickness and insanity, even death

wouid resoit if the §5§g_refused to return to its bearer.

powers of the
Since the aggg_is a representative of the dominant
affords man an
universe, as weii as an attribute of the individuai, it
be said to have
avenue of communication with the Divine, and each man can
to and about
the divine within himself. Accordingiy, Bush Negroes teik
their agga§_as if these were true alter egos. They give their agrgg
, and may even indulge
tangibie presents such as jewelry or favorite foods
it an Qgig_or
an agggfs wish for clothing of its favorite coior, and buy
even a pet: Man and ogre wiii share a substance, for the aggg eats oniy
utes to its
the "astrai" aspect of food, and ieaves its physical attrib
§_the thing
bearer. But this does not mean that the person a1ways §3331

his 3551 demands: it is quite possibie that the ogre may have aitogether

different tastes.
d. One
Ono’s §§r§_must not oniy be indulged, but it must be honore
offerings, and indirectiy
must pay homage to it directiy, through prayer and

by foiiowing the ruies of good conduct:

sufficient-
The okra becomes angry if its bearer does not honor it
s
ly, Erwfiroaks his word, cheats, runs out on a giri, aiiow
maint ain
ciothing or household goods to deteriorate, does not the ogre,
personal dignity, or negiects the reguiar offerings to
All such things are nfisi okra. faiiures towards the okra (van
Lier, 1940:163. Tr.“fiifieyf—"
his aggg has been
Nine out of ten times, when a person meets misfortune,
human
nfistreated. When this occurs, things must be set right between the
 499-

and the spirit; and with prayers at the prayer pole, good food
and
libetions, the individual will attempt to restore the relati
onship. It
happens that an 35§§_has been so wounded or insulted that no
amount of
sacrifice or prayer can convince it to look upon its bearer
with compassion.
In such cases, death or insanity must follow eventually.

Among the Djuka, it is always the person hinseif who disturbs

or
pleases his $5335 no stranger can insult it or manage
to turn it against
its rightful bearer. The eggs thus can not be bewitched. The Saramacca
View this differently. They believe that a powerfhl obiaman (magician) is
able to call out one‘s 35g}; from a distance, to use it for good
or evil.
A malevolent obiaman can even kill the §§g1§_nith a gun, since he
can see
it as an actual shape (van Lier, l940:l64~l65).
This (ectoplasnnc ?) emanation is reflected in the
Djuka concept of
the grega, the agrafs shadow. One man‘s §5g§_is stranger than another's,
and the shadow of a men with a strong agrg_is dangerous
to a person with a
weaker one. This holds true even for possessions which
represent power,
such as ggigg, gun, machete, or axe. All these may lose their excellent
qualities if their power is (literally) overshadowed.
It is not dangerous
if the shadow just jgllgvon a person or object, but it
is imperative that
it must not move across them (van tier, l940:167; de Goeje,
iggg,).
Apparently the g£355 and the person's own shadow are one and the
same, and although no stranger can turn the m against its
bearer,
witchcraft nay influence the person through the grate;
Suppose that a strong wisiman sends an enemy a Eingtg
poisonous snake, Lachesis §§E§Zjner a jakruka [the deadly_[a
Bushmaster snake;”IaEh§§is mutus , and that the would~be victim
successfully avoids—theesfia e. Even then, the agga§§_of the
snake can bite the eggggg of the person, and the man wiil die
of snake bite symptoms.

A person who wishes another evil tries to catch his akra.

 ~200-

which he can do by following him, and when

he is in his kraka, to
catch the akra in a cloth previously soak
ed in a herbal at ,
which he carries for the purpose. The male
with the captive okra, and manipulates
factor returns home
it in a fashion that is not
known, for the wisiman doesn‘t babble this
secret about. He
trains the okra to turn its bearer into
a thief, or into an
alcoholic, or someone who seduces the wive
he turns the akra lose, and it returns
s of his friends. Then
to its [unsuspecting]
bearer (van Liar, 1940:l68. Spelling vari
ations in original.
Tr. mine).
Hurault (196l:2l8) reports that the Bani comp
letely lack this
conception of the shadow. We note also that
the dyodyo reported by the
Herskovitses seems to be generally a Creole
belief: where it is mentioned
for the Bush Negroes at all, it is as a very
minor and not general
superstition.1

It is generally felt that the Bush Negroes

do not worry unduly about
their akras unless they have reason to,
that is, when they are sick or suffer
serious problems. Apparently once a pers
on and his okra have established
relations, a certain ritual "maintenance
" will assure peace between them.
The actual fashion in which one is to hono
r one’s akra is purely
personal; the ritual is devised between
the only two agents involved: the
individual and his akra. Consequently,
even though there are general
patterns such as that the akras generall
y like the colors red and white,
there is a great variety of behaviors asso
ciated with this concept, which
properly come under the rubric of "ind
ividualistic cult institutions.“
Thus Hurault mentions (196l:217) a village
chief among the Boni who has a
crudely carved bust in one corner of his
house. Sticking out from under

1For the purposes of this work, item

integrated into the prevalent ideology will s of belief which are not
regardless of
be called “superstition,”
the characteristics of such traits. Thus
the concept "lucky piece" would be a supe for Westerners,
rstition because it is not
systematized into the scientific or reli
gious aspects of our ideology.
See Chapter XIV, The Decline of Supersti
tion.
 —201~

the caiabash-half which covered its head were some sangrafu

stems (see
Chapter XIV, fgga and 13353). Alongside the sculpture was a email fragetiki
(a prayer poie). ihe man expiained that this was the altar to the god of
the cuTt of his a533, thus 1iteraiiy a one~man cuit.

There are a number of inconsistencies about the egg; Concept which

cannot be erased simpiy by biannng a confusion between tribe-
specific beiiefs,
inaccurate reportage, or the evolution of the concept
between periods of
observation. No doubt such factors are invoived in some discrepancies,

especiaiiy the latter one of ideologicai evoiution. But the cenfusion goes
deeper. as when van Lier (above) says on one page that
the Djuka egg;
cannot be set against its bearer by an outside agency,
and on the next that
a wisiman can force another‘s agga to turn its bearer into a
person of
despised habits. Either the Djuka toierate a fantastic inconsistency in

this basic theologica} tenet, or eise the concept is nfisunderst

ood, If
we are to resoive these discrepancies, we must iook eisewhere
for insight.
The xgg§§_(aiso 12353, xggg), another spiritual attribute of
the
person, sheds some Tight on the 3533 concept. It too has been profhseiy
reported, and in the earliest writings it was often confu
sed with aggg,
Van Lier (1940:168~172) summarized the literature on the subje
ct, ailewing
the foliowing synopsis:

Each human being has a x9559, which 1ike the 333g is already
present at his birth. It is genereily discussed on1y as the spirituai
aspect of the person which survives his death, and one has
no deaiings
with one‘s own zgxga_at ail. The xgggg.pf a deceased person remain
s with
the corpse until its actual burial, and even then may remain
behind near
the hair or fingernail parings which have been taken from the
corpse for
purposes of divination (see Chapter XII).
 mm “W . . ‘mvwwm-«mewm... lvA»r<"'-"§“»‘*'
Syswmm_g€<rg~\>¥§y'n “A

—202-

There are three kinds of xggggg (among the

Djuka. at least):
common yorkas, takru yorkas, and Granxork
as. A11 survive death. The
common loggagware those of cannon foik who
were neither witches nor saints
during their iifetime. Iagrg gorges are
the spirits of evii peopie, and
their maievoience-continues after death.
They are dangerous. The
Granxorkas are the spirits of unusual
peopie, and these are the revered
ancestors. When a great person (in terms of heroism or
piety) dies, his
xgr§§_wiii live close to the gods in the
afteriife, and its prayers for
the living will always be answered.
It may even "ggdg krutu he gado kond
re,"
sit in on the council of the gods, but this
honor is reserved for the gogggs
of men. haturaiiy, Granxorkas are a cruciaiiy
important concept in Bush
Negro ideoiogy: as the most direct Tink between the peop
ie and the Gods,
their "iobhying power“ is avidly sought.

Van Lier notes some minor variations

among the tribes in the way
the concept of xgrgg_is integrated into
the totai ideoiogy, primariiy
concerning the divination of the caus
e of death the each corpse. Basicaii
y,
the concept and the practices surround
ing it are the same for-ail tribes.
The Saramacca beiieve that the xgrha of
a person who has been mistreated
may enter the body of its tormentor and
sicken or kiii him, but in
essence this is gone, and wiii be discussed as
such below.
Regarding xggggg, Horauit (196i:218~219) adds
oniy that "the gorge
is the ordinary human conscience, his
memories, tastes, prejudices, and
everything eise which constitutes the pers
onality," and that none of these
attributes originate in the realm of the
Divine. At least in part, it
results from the previous human existenc
e which the Me has undergone
(see Chapter XIV, Reincarnation). Presumabiy
this means that the actuai
lifeway of the individoai affects the zork
a, so that it is not identical
 —203—

from one incarnation to the next

. The vorka remains unchanged by dea
th;
when the end of life comes, the vor
ka retains its attributes in that nex
t
sphere between the living and the
gods, "from where it continues in
a
certain way its reiationship with man.
" The Boni, at least, have no
opinions as to whether or not the vor
ka will be rewarded or punished for
its earthy behavior. Such questions do not concern them
. Rewards in the
afterlife are aiien to their way
of thinking, and they do not envisi
on any
Paradise. In this, the Boni are
probably not alone.
All the same, they claim that wisimans
strength which eveny living thin will be deprived of the
g receives from the Divine, and
that thus destroyed as beings, they
shadows (Hurault, will be but ineffectual
l961:219. Tr. mine).
Distance and immersion in the tri~
lingual literature now tempt us
to derive an alternative explanation
of the man-akra~zorka reiationship.
Hurault has pointed out, as have othe
rs befbre him, that the akra "has
tastes, desires, and goals foreign
to those of the personality,“ but
he
goes a step further when he insists
that this is the normal state of
affairs, that the akra and its bear
er usually have different interest
s.
He documents this with a variety of caso
s among the Eoni, and adds:
One might believe that akra acts like
angered if its bearer misbehaves. Buta conscience..., that it is
itseif to be as arbitrary, as wicked in reality the akra shows
Gods of the Bush Negroes. When it and as venal as the Eesser
get
mandi) it is because its bearer is wea s mad (they say: mi_akka
t at does not piease the akra, or bec rin g clot hes of a color
an the other hand, we w aus e it desi res an offering.
have never heard of any case in whi
okra became angered at its bearer beca ch the
use he was a thief, a liar,
or an adulterer (Hurault, l96l:217. Tr. mine).
And aithough there are in all the trib
es a batteny of forces which impose
sanctions on such behavior, the okra
does not seem to concern itseif with
the correction of social misbehavior.
What does affect its moods is
grivate behavior which may reduce its
ability to enjoy life: neglect and
indignity (loss of "face"?).
 ~204-

In general, acceptance of the idea that one man‘s akra may be

stronger than another‘s implies that either (l) the Supreme Being from
Whom akras derive distributes these entity—forCes differentially, for

reasons known only to Him, or (2) the strength of the §§r§_waxes and wanes
according to its bearer‘s treatment and its experiences from one incarnation
to the next. Indeed, a case can be made that both of these alternatives
are involved‘ The internal consistency of the Bush Negro ideological
systems predicts that any major element of belief is "cross-referenced" in

explanation. Thus, one must assume that agggs are gifts of the Highest,
but are literally dependent upon man for their existence and experiences.
If this truly represents the folk system of explanation. we may

derive a falsifiable hypothesis on the relationship between the §§r§_and

the 39353, as follows:

Before birth, certain attributes of both structure and behavior

accrue to the fetus. Some of these are deternfined by actual biological

relationships, and include kinship, sex, some inherited physical

characteristics, and their Egggsg the patrilineal disabilities and taboos
(see Chapter XIV, gigg_and :ngu). Other attributes are inherited
spiritually and physically, and may derive from people not even related
by blood. This category includes minor physical characteristics and a

variety of personality traits which are discussed elsewhere (see Chapter

XIV. Reincarnation). The costs of these are certain taboos and disabilities.

Finally, there are certain characteristics which are purely spiritual in

origin, and these derive exclusively from nonhuman agencies, culminating
in the gift of the Divine by the Supreme Being Himself. Throughout,
certain proscriptions are, again, levied against the person.

At birth, then, the human being is not a person with multiple

 «205*

naturai power,
souls, as has been suggested, nor one controiied by a super
“In

of a iichen,
er

but a true symbiotic organism whose "parts," iike those

whose existence as
consist of essentiaiiy different lggg1§_of being, and
The human being
an organism is a function of their interdependence,
enjoy volition,
escapes being a mere "super~iichen" because both entities
them.
and because some communication is possibie between
the individuai
The ygggg is the compiexiy derived personality of

which we normaiiy caii the soul. It is a true reincarnation from previous

under the infiuence
1ives, and its characteristics change siowiy over time
of its interactions with
of its successive histories, as much as because

akres in different bodily environments.

of the
The egrgg are beings whose antecedents iie in the country
not know much about them.
gods rather than that of men, and therefore we do
Oniy the Granyorkas, the
Do they, too, reincarnate? How are they "burn"?

postgraduate yggggg, may know.

, coexist
In any case, the sacreo and the profane, §§r§_and gorge
gorge
in the body. Oniy one can 1eave it at wiii: the agga, When the
the
leaves, death has forced it to go. The personaiity (yggggo of
not only by its
individuai (the ygggayg§§a_symbiote) is thus affected
the synbiotic reiation~
accumuiated previous existences, but by the fact of

ship and its demands.

and
Xgrgg‘and agrg‘are thus, in a sense, "roommates" in one body,
upon tastes,
as such there is no need to postulate that they wouid agree
There is in Engiish
hopes, or purposes. Symbiosis would faii if they did.
concepts of symbiotes
no termfinoiogy which wouid adequateiy refiect these

and symbiosis on the human piane. I suggest the terms “cohabitation” and
terms was~-as desired~~a
“cohabitants,” since the archaic meaning of these
 ~206—

sexually neutral one.

‘M’ The xgrgg_survives the flesh, and ultimately returns to some non~
human, nonudivine world where it awaits reincarnation.

The agra, toe, survives, and also returns to some undefinable level
of existence which is neither human nor divine, although clearly mere
closely related to the latter. What it does in that place, which is
different from the place of xggggg, man does not know. There may or may
not be a Final Accounting for ggxgg, The Bush Negroes do not worry about

such things. Yet.

There is probably no Accounting for the zgrggs, unless we consider

the promised dissolution of a witch's {grgg as a retribution. But some

xggggg, those of exceptional people (who must perforce have had exceptional

relationships with their agggg) are singled out to become intermediaries

between men and the Supernatural. What the process of selection is, we

do not know. Perhaps the Bush Negroes do, but there is no report on this.

Are the living involved in the choice? Are the Grantorkas in some ways
equivalent to the saints in Catholicism? Who sets the standards? Is
there any postnmortem-progression of the Granxorkas? We do not know.
we do know that they are crucially important in all the tribes.
The Grangorkas create a link between the-Awful, the Mystery, the Incon»

ceivable, and the famfiliar world of ancestry and relatives. They are the
ObVlOUS pipeline to the gods, and are seen as such. In all Bush Negro
societies, the Gragxorkas have their mm cults, and sometimes these
possession cults are the only clear example at the communal cult insti-

tution in a tribe.
 CHAPTER XI

KUNU: THE KNOTTING 0F WARP AND NOOF

We are tossed about by external causes in many ways, and like

waves driven by contrary winds, we waver and are unconscious of
the issue and our fate.

Spinoza

kunu: a supernaturai force controiled by the ancestors and

gods, which punishes with extinction the families of those who
violate the laws of the ancestors. It would seem to be derived
from the Ewe (Togoland) word kunu, "death."
Herskevits a Herskovits, l934:350.
Mekoenoe or knee is the destiny or the curse which hangs over
a ?anfily or To. The kunu brings insanity, infant mortality,
quarrel and Eiscord, ennfity or coolness between relatives or
friends, breakdown of marriage ties, crop failure, adversity on
the hunt, sinking of boats in the waterfalls; or it makes the
members of“a family steal, commit adulteny, and pick fights with
other lgs, etc.
van Lien, 1940:178. Tr. mine.

Occasionally a culture develops an idea which at once reorganizes

and simplifies the universe so effectively that new evoiutionany alterw
natives become possible. fine thinks immediately of domestication, ail»

purpnse money, bureaucracy, or “the” scientific method. Kunu is such an

idea in the ideological sector of culture.
In View of the range and the variety of "restricted" information
that has been gathered and classified on Bush Negro beliefs, especially
recently by Hurauit. Kfibben, and Thoden van Velzen, it seems odd that the
concept kunu has not been integrated inte a holistic system ef general-

ization. It is true that Hurault tells us that it is a sort of organiza~

tienal cement: “Through its very nature. kunu is oppesed to all cleavage

of groups" (l96l:28; 229. Tr. mine). but Thoden van Velzen (l966b) points
out the predictable when he documents that kunu also ieads to intrav

*207~
 —208~

familial discord: often lineage members become angered at the person who

has endangered them all. he shows that there are at least three social

arenas in which conflicts can be generated through gong,

More surprising still is the absence of any reports on the folk-

system of explanation for the existence of gong, The superficial explana~

tions given often do not ring true; and when they do, do not integrate

beliefs. one gets the impression that the Bush Negroes do not often

discuss gong with strangers. Perhaps the reasons for this should be

sought not so much in any hesitancy to betray secrets or endanger self or

19, but in the very ubiquity of the concept: Maybe the topic is just not

very interesting any more, in the same way that telephones are not a focal

conversation point among Americans. 0r again, since gg§g_is after all a

handicap (in the full sense of that term), it may be something which polite
people do not mention, any more than polite Westerners volunteer information

about family finances, or about the “family skeleton."

Whatever the case, we note that van Lier‘s exhaustive cataloguing

and describing of Bush Negro traits and concepts allows less than a page
to the tonic of gong_(l940:l78—l79). Herskovits and Herskovits (1934)

devote a long chapter to gong, but in their later work on folklore they
list gg§_g_§igglgflproverb, riddle or song dealing with it (1936). They do

note that the concept was found among the city Creoles, where it was much
less central than in the religions of the bush. There is some evidence

that in the city, the meaning of ggmiis being lost. A Surinam Government

pamphlet claims that "through the influence of Western civilization and

the work of Church and Mission among the bushland people, this folk

belief has almost totally disappeared" (Anonymous, mimeo, n.d. Tr. mine).

And there can be little doubt that education has helped the Creoles to
 —209~

surrender 5333 as an explanatory mechanism. But recent workers indicate

that gong is still important in the Bush Negro societies.

Speculations aside, the data do enable us to arrive at an integrated
interpretation of the changing role of Eggg.which is simple without being

simplistic.

ANXIETY AND CONTROL

Social organization and ideology are practically inseparable when
at least ggmg of the Supernaturals are continuations of known mortals. The
achievement of internal harmony was the dominant survival problem fer the
early Maroon societies whose membership included so many~~and potentially

such hostile-~cultural elements. Kunu was developed locally as the

enforcement of the Divine Will, including the will of the ancestors. As

such, it evolved into a weapon to combat social disintegration. Over time,

it spread even into the coastal Creole culture, but there it never became
a basic issue. Among the present-day tribes, its political potential is

still recognized, and the dominant religions of the High Gods are beginning

to preempt its power as a social control mechanism. But this does not

mean that 5ggg§is disappearing. It is still both a mechanism for social

control and a part of the ideological fabric on both the ecclesiastical

and the communal levels of cult institutions.

As is generally true for preliterate societies, the institutions of

ideology and organization in Bush Negro life are so closely interwoven that

any attempt to assign a particular trait to one or the other category of

culture is ultimately misleading. For purposes of analysis such distinctions

are useful, because the psycho~social sector of culture would otherwise

defy reportage, but there is a vast area in which the very interdependence
of these institutions is crucial: that of social control.
 ~211—

soiutioo, for fear was a large part of the problemc But anxiety could be

used as a check on fear, as anxiety has often been used.

The enculturation of apprehension (which we call anxiety) has

another advantage over fear. Its successful socialization involves not

only the stimulusuresponse link of dread, but the acceptance of the idea
that certain socially usequ behaviors will reduce its goad.
For the Bush Negro, the locus and focus of anxieties lie in a

concept which goes far beyond more control of individual irascibility, for
it encourages the cohesiveness of the kinship group as well as the confornfity
of private behavior. This is gong, the most unusual and the most taxing

(in theory and for theorizing) concept in Bush Negro ideology. 533g is an

old concept in these societies, and it seems logical to seek its origin in

the logggg, even though there is no “hard” evidence that it is that ancient.
There is the fact of the term itself: gang is the word for death in sane

“m west African languages, but not in agg.5urinem tongg_, Apparently, then.

the concept is related to the days of saltwater slaves and the Maroons.
whatever the exact date or circumstances of its inception, whoever

the individuals responsible fer this sacerdotel innovation, some agency

served as the ultimate mechanism of supernatural sanction long before the

laws of Qggg_or the Great Deity stabilized social relations in a systematic

fashion. I submit that that agency was gonna.

gong has been called wreakgeest (vengeance spirit) by the Dutch,

for it is not merely an ac; of vengeance by the supernatural, but a

condition which descends upon an individual or group. The descriptions of

gong manifestations afford alternative interpretations of its animation;

§g§g_has been seen as an agency of vengeance released by the gods or

ancestors, and also as an ambient force which can be tapped and released by

anyone who has been seriously wronged.

 ~212-

e
ot he r ti me s an d pi aces which ar
of concepts in
There are a nunber neege of the
ugh the ii
Li ke Eg g, it is transmitted thro
evoked by m. a W
Li ke th e Fa te s of ancient Greece,
racted it.
person who has cont e of w in the
Bid
e curs
ea se d ca nn ot be recaiied. Like th
once re ‘l ious; it
h th e ge ne ra ti on s . £933 is capric
kes throug
Testament, it stri tives. Its
nd er , bu t us ua ii y one of his rela
the offe
strikes sometimes is rare).
to mo re di sc om fort (though that
or 1eed
strokes may crush, in stitution anaiogou
s to
ev en te d by an
may be eased or pr
And sometimes they
dulgences.
the seiiing of In statesmen
th at th e b1 ac k theologians or
ous, then,
A11 the more curi idea
vi no s id eo lo gi ca‘ i keystone: the
ncept missed an ob
who evoi ved the co ed the way for penite
nce,
wo ui d ha ve op en
This, after aii ,
of moron guilt. other socia‘fiy us
efu‘i
, an d wh at ev er
e, and indulgence
contrition, penanc a more"! wrong.
stitution of
hu ma n mi nd m y base upon the re
behaviors the ng sievery. The fa
ct
to th is id ea du ri
ve been exposed
The Maroons my; ha mean no more than
any ievei of ideology may
incorporated at
that it was not at it was
Af ri ca n wo ri dv iews, or mereiy th
t in with West
that. it did not fi rdiy
io n of be“ ! ie f. But then again, wo
e systematizat
unnecessary for th “Thereis no man so good
,
forbidden it. Montaigne said:
wisdom may have ns, wou‘id not
s th ou gh ts an d actions to the io
bmit aii hi
who, were he to su ve meant
hi s ii fe .“ Mo rai ouiit would ha
n times in
deserve hanging te e su dden, controiied,
angei
ions an d fo r th
oughts and intent
punishment for th at ur al dangers a1 read
y
re ai an d su pe rn
n. Added to the
which beset an me on the indivi duai
to
e an xi et y io ad
uld have raised th
encountered, it wo
.
intoi arable levels w shouid be cons
idered
r
rv er s ha ve “l on g disagreed on whethe
Obse dysfuncti
mo ny , or on e wh ich is basicaiiy
otes sociai ha
a trait which prom
 ~213~

Even those who appiaud it as a device which reduces physics} violence,

disapprove of its psychoiogicai implications. The reason for this

ambivaience is figngfs ubiquity, which to the Western eye appears to

constitute a potential threat to the very fabric of the Bush Negro sociai
systems.
533g is indeed widespread. Hnrauit, who incidentaliy warns that

the Bush Negroes do not typicaiiy invoke witchcraft as the source of

nfisfortune (uniike the City Creoies with whom they have been often confused

ideoiogicain), demonstrates the importance of Egan;

Here ... foiiow a few typical examples concerning the Boni

who worked with us, or whom we knew particulariy weiiz
In 1948, Fintiman (from the Dju~lg) faiis iii (violent trembling
of tge Tegs); kunu from a Kantamasu [the god of the termite
nest .
In 1948, Galmo (Papiston—lg) is accidentaiiy wounded (trappe-
fusiI, trap gun); kunu.
In 1§Z§, Dioie, captain a? the Djuelpg is struck by hemipiegia
and remains paralyzed. He dies in 1951; kunu of a Papagadu
[Snake god, see beiow].
In 1950, a Saramacca is kilied in a hunting accident (a shotgun
in poor condition goes off by itself): accident on ooku).
In 1951, Kanayen (Kotikaelg) drowns whiie navigating at night
on the river: wisi.
In 1951, Lake (Djuwlgj dies at the age of 70: kunu from an
Am uku [an evii minor deity].
In I , ... (Dju—lg) is seriousiy wounded when a branch fails
on him in his garden: kunu of a; orka.
In 1952, 0010 (Aware Bakka) dies quite so deniy with symptoms
of peritonitis: kunu, punishment for incest committed by
another member of his iineage.
In 1952, MaIEndo, ten year oid son of Osaya (Aware Bakka)
drowns accidentaiiy: natural accident (on ooku .
In 1954, Beniti (Dina-33) dies at nearly 75 years 0 age: kunu
from a Pa a ado.
In 1954, Agy s Aware Bakka) dies unexpectediy: kilied by
Odnn (he was a wisimani.
In 1955, Tabiki (Aware a a) dies at more than 80 years:
natural causes (illness).
In 1956, Kotoida (Afi Lineage) dies suddeniy, aged about 50:
kunu from a orka.
In I§§7, F... (Lang-lo) is graveiy i3] with the symptoms of
typhoid: ,kunu from a Pa a adu.
In 1957, Sokodo (Dipéiu II) gies at age 40: kunu from a
Kantamasu.
 ~214-

One notes that in the l5 cases cited, Eggg‘intervened ten times,

while in onl three cases were natural causes admitted: illness
and accident (Horault. 196l:23l«232. Tr. mine).

Note also that witchcraft was blamed but twice, and that in one of
these two cases death came as its punishment. Obviously witchcraft

accusations are less important among the Boni than among the Creoles, as
Hurault observed. But more importantly, this brief list gathered by the

French geographer indicates the incidence and the range of gggy.as an

explanatory device. Hurault further discusses in some detail the “5333;

load" of the various groups he became familiar with (l96l:221-235).

There are other difficulties surrounding the concept of 5333,

in the first place, there is a general lack of agreement on the speCific

Egon beliefs of each tribe. Yet there is so finch reportage on this aspect
of ideology that it is safe to assume that almost any attitude on the
subject is in fact shared by all the Bush Negroes. The second difficulty is

more basic: it is not possible to determine from here whether ggngris a

global concept of spiritual vengeance, or a ternzwhich is applied to both

an agency and a personification. But these hiatuses do not prevent

investigation.

In some ways, gggg is reminiscent of the ancient social condition

known as "outlawny.” The latter withdraws the protection of the law,

meaning that the individual or group may survive only through the good will

of other people, a tenuous security at best. figgg’operates either as a

withdrawal of divine protection, which allows the malevolent forces of they

1It is possible that things are even more complicated than Hurault
thought. Price fears that Hurault misunderstood the category on ooku which,
among the Saramacca at least, includes the class of events which French and
English Call accident and Dutch on eluk. This class extends beyond the
European meaning, and refers to espec1ally evil fortune, "whose specific
causes must be determined and acted on in each case" (Price, 1969:35).
 ~215v

middle—ranking Supernaturals to vent their displeasure on the recipients of

the kunu, or it acts as an active agency of vengeance unleashed by any

level of entity, or it is both. The following pages will make clear that
there is no necessaey disagreement among these interpretations.

TRIGGERING gygg
As the quotes heading this chapter indicate, gong.strikes in a

variety of fashions. and there is no way to predict just how it will affect

its victims. Only time and divination will tell. As far as the actual
contraction of the condition is concerned, the sources of m are many
and varied. For purposes of analysis, they may be grouped into four

classes on the basis of the agency and its native:

(l) gong may be invoked by the High Gods to avenge willful impiety. This
is especially the case in gigggg (incest, see Chapter VII) and £151
(witchcraft), both of which are forbidden directly by the divine law.
(2) gang may be unleashed by any supernatural, fronlxggfig through the High
Gods, to avenge willful social nfisbehavior. This categony deals with
breaches of faith, promise, and oath; the mistreatment of another human
being, the lack of honor due a supernatural, including one‘s own ogre;
and the findings of an unjust verdict in court cases. The hallmarks of
this class of sources are social irresponsibility and injustice.
(3) Egng may be invoked by living human beings on others both as a threat
and as an actual vengeance. Here we have the level of privately felt
injustices corrected by appeal to a higher power. This is a very

dangerous power play, not engaged in lightly.

(4) 5332 may strike unbidden hy humans or supernaturals to avenge certain

accidentally committed wrongs. Here we deal with taboos of‘a variety of

natures which have been broken, often unwittingly, but which will be
“pr-Fm «w .. Vt’“l‘w¢c>aww .. "goo—4m", 5,. «New l,“ e w “r ) .,_ new w» t-uw,W—nu we“

~216-

punished regardless of intent,

Some elaboration of these ciasses is necessary to demonstrate their iogic

and that of the Bush Negro ideological system”

(i) Ihg_High Gods. The wages of incest (pikedu) have already been
discussed in Chapter VII, and the cost of witchcraft (wisi) was indicated

earlier in Chapter X“ The punishment for witchcraft is death, sometimes

preceded by insanity. That no kunu usually results from this heresy for
the other members of the witch‘s 19 is an interesting footnote to the concept

of kin~group responsibility among these tribesmen. 0? course, once the

wisi has been diagnosed in one‘s kinsmen, the laws of the High God must be
followed exactly, or disaster wili strike. "Impiety" is a fluid concept,
and outside of the cases of pikedo or wisi, it is not clear when Odun or
the Great Deity will unleash kunu. Perhaps here, too, the Gods operate on

a "threshold principle.”

ihe iaws of Odun, whose effect is to forbid violence, \engeance,

and oppression, lend to Bush Negro society an atmosphere of
dignity and serenity which is not found to the same degree in
the animist societies of Africa. Most African societies forbid
sorcery and murder, but they ailow vengeance and various forms
of oppression. It is probable that the men who elaborated
these laws two or three centuries ago in the forests of Surinam
were inspired, more or iess consciously, by Christian notions.
But they introduced these notions into a system of thought which
was African. associating them with the idea of material sanctions
in Ehg_ resent life, without which they would have Been powerless
THhrault, 9 :197. Emphasis in original. Tr. mine).
Burault's own perceptive accounts of the Boni provoke an aiternative
hypothesis about the origins of the Tans of Odun. If one remembers the

unique history of the Bani, their persecution long past the period of the
Treaty tribes' travails, their vassalage to the Djuka, and their present

relationships with Creoles, indians, as well as, the other Bush Negroes,
there is no need to invoke any Christian ethic in the development of their

Guiding Principle.
 ~217—
we may assume that witchcraft accusations function not only as a

technique for compeiiing confornfity. but as expressions of ethnocentrism.

As such, they are a doub1e~edged blade: useful under certain circumstances,
dangerous under others, and always to be handied carefu11y. Witchcraft
Fears are more usefu] to eprOiters who contro1 by the “Divide and Rule"
phiiosophy than they are to a peopie banding together in spite of differences
for the common defense against a f1esh-and-blood enemy. The Maroons were
aggregates of people with all the handicaps of ethhocentrism and xenophobia

found in other human groups, and many of them must have seen enemies among

the 1itt1e bands with which they were unitedo InescapabTy, we must View the
existence of each and every Bush Negro tribe as proof of the efficacy of

some method to counteract divisiveness among these smaIT proud Cquues after
the threat of the Europeans was removed. For the Bani, who suffered the
enmity not only of the implacable whites, but who appareotiy were betrayed

and subjugated by bush1and h1acks, group survive? was recognized as a

function of interna1 so1idarity. The laws of Qggflysystematica1tyn-and to
an aimost unprecedented degree—~assure the peace and serenity of the
people within the group. The 1aws deal with oil the recognized activities
which create suspicion and dissent among the members of a sociaI group:

they outiaw violence, witchcraft, and the revenge against witchcraft which

leads inevitably to the social dissipation of feud; they protect the group

from the errors of previous generations by forbidding the IiVing to enter

into any but rituaT traffic with the dead; and they guarantee the individuaI
the broadest possible expression of his identity by outTawing any supernatural
controis over him in the form of spelis, potions, or'incantations, or zombie

controTs after his death. For this to work. there have to be teeth in the
1aws.
 -218-

on of
p e o u l i o r interpretati
unu, th e
e e t h a r e p r ovided by k e mes of men
go
Those t the best i a i d s c h
i n e f f e c t that when of the
which says o f the power
misfortunes edictabi i i t y , b u t
o f random unpr
is not p r o o f erpoiate a
awry, it er e is n o no ed to int
e iity. Th respoo»
at u ra is t o enforce mor e iodividoai‘s
Supern i o n o f th
ern reduct
er e is no West .
Christian char
it y, th
r o o fi s e of fu tu re rewards
on or p
a p t e r XV ), no“Saivati ristianitg
sibility, (s
ee C h
r e , s o m e t h ing whi ch Ch
he
ue “tragic V
iew of iife “
a tr tial
“existen
There may be
here Negro
ooes not'ins
giii; 't
c t s of an or igioai Bush
‘are prod u
these; too, ni
Greeks nor Bo
so , th en
anguish.“ If h e Ho me ri c
tact with t
a n d n e i t h e r prove coo he e d to postuia
te
meht e i i t y , h e r e a
Nor is t
e w r i t i n g s of Sar tre.
familiarity'wi
th th : the Bani
o r g a n i z at ionai tenets
ntroduction
“ of these tribe s to
an ac tu aT “ i
m t h at o f the Treaty
rent fro
f f i c ientiy diffe ioi
experience w a s s u
t o f r u l e 5 r egardihg'soc
of a se
i r . s y stematiza tion ion of
necessi ta t e * t h e
he fo rm an d the format
deuce. ‘T
on a n d pe rs onal indepen i c Teodor insti
iied
sc oo pe ra ti ha ri sm at
spired'c
e wh ether some in s
r e m a r k a b i ugh centurie
these laws is si owiy p e r f e c t e d th ro
, o r w h e t h e r they were
ce
them oil at on
ication.
ai e x p e r i m ent and codif
of soci any spirituai
uo ieashed by
Kuhn may be
rnaturais. eanc e
(2) Other Supe of be in QS ‘ to wreak veng
‘category'
h e most probah 1e ho
being. Evid e nt iy t
l y tr ea te d in 1i fe, or w
been unjus t
f t h o se who have The porka
as the york as 0
f a l s e l y a f ter death.
accuse d
treated ph
ysicaiiy or beiieve d that
fis is
have been o in te rment. and it
tu oi
otii its ac final
w i t h the corpSE“ ‘u se before its
st ay s from the corp
coiiected
f i n g e r n a i is and he ir mao or one
who has
the very e case of a Gr an
e yo rk a ne ar by ( as in th are
burial, keep
th
a i i pa ri og s and be dy hair
e some n
r f r o m ho me .) Therefor th e ca use of
death
died fo ed to d i v i n e
be a ne
if t h e r e appears to
pt
commoniy ke
 ~219—

cted
e. These relics are expe
al so if th e pe rs on who died was a notabl
and
r representatives
n be tw ee n the living and thei
‘uimi

un ic at io
to ease the comm 25292;
st or s (v an Li er , l940:290; Junker, l9
, the ance
among the Granxorkas

l932b:54; l947tl08-l09). , the

in s so me ph ys ic al remnant of the body
ma
As long as there re
wo rl d of th e li vi ng , and can be expected to
to the
xgggg_has an entrance lted.
ngerous if insu
ma n‘ s li fe , an d to become exceecfingly da
interfere in e
een this wo rld and the next, th
a true linkage betw
But since there is An example
e or insult.
op le lo ng de ad ma y also avenge irfiustio
xgg§§§_of pe
van Velzen follows:
taken from Thoden

@ deceased
W I 3.“;
.s.
A
living

3 Woes...”a.,........e.m....,._..s
..
g
«3;; C
Q
h B
' On
ared a witch
(A ) fr om th e vi ll ag e of Moitaki was decle had
An old woman ate that sh
r he r de at h. So on rumors began to circul er (8). This woman (c),
af te it y ... to he r daug ht
delegated her ev il ab il r lineage
d li fe made difficult by he
d si ck ly , ha r, and teased
who Was frail an
ci al ly he r el de r si ster (8) often beat he , perhaps as
fellows. Espe ) finally died
and negged her in evme ery way possible. (Ct certain. After (C)‘s
nt, but this is no red a state of
a result of ndstreat si st er ‘s daughter (8) ente
death, her cl as si fi ca to ry at the ghost of
tr an ce sh e told the villagers th by her
possession. In th e
th e in no ce n1 :w om en hounde to death
d
(C),
the unfortunate aunt n possession of her. The spirit announ
ced to
elder sister, had take th e ut te r eradicatfion of that
particular
have but on e go al :
metrilineage. ) was
ca me at an op po rt un e time: just then (Bver,
The announcement the villa e, howe
el in g we ll . Th er e were few people in patient %B) was not
not fe e
age of the medium. Th ld that (D) was tryi the
ng
who accepted the mess s. It wa s ge ne ra ll y he
of
among these believ er possession. So me
ll at te nt io n to he rself by simulating wever, and decided to
to ca ho
not share this view, oracle
village notables didgher authority by placing it before the eb iki.
refer the case to hi Dr it
it y (B ig i Ge du ), wh ich is established in multaneously
of the Great De re Sidence of the Eranma
v n, who is si
Th is vi ll ag e is th e
 -220s

the high Priest of the oracle.

The priests of the oracle called up the ghost, and after

listening to the medium declared that a true avenging spirit was
involved. The lineage in question was instructed to offer the
ghost of the injured party (C) a propitiation feast (pg;pj§§gg)
as soon as possible. Furthermore, the priests demanded an
honorarium of one dendjohn of tafia (native rum), four pieces of
cloth, and twelve bottles of bEEF'TThoden van Velzen, l966b:46~4?.
Tr. mine).
This example illustrates a number of characteristics about the actual

working of £339, First there is the fact that hung can be called not only
upon strangers, but upon one‘s own lineage, even though the lineage and the

m are £3 _a_ sense manifestations 3:, and responsible to each other.

Then there is the skepticism which greets an "unauthenticated" medium.

Further, there is the fact that the gang chooses a representative,‘in this

case the medium (D), to make its wishes and intentions known. flung
representation is typically a life-long affair and leads to some interesting

situations within the lg_(see Chapter XII). Finally, we note that the

ultimate arbitration and legitimation is handled by the priest of the Great

Deity, attesting to the powers of the Ecclesiastical Court.

That §g§u_can indeed be reckoned to exist as an agency of vengeance

for all gorges, not just the Bush Negroes', is evidenced by the fact that a

white man, too, can trigger it. According to Junker (l940:283), the Domfinie

subtribe of the Saramacca have such a curse. Their legends tell that a
long time ago a (nameless) white man lived with this group in its main gongrg,
the village Pikien Slee. Well—treated at first, he was later driven into
the jungle by the Dominie and died there. His x93§g_became the hung of this
subtribe. Its representative in the time that Junker worked among the
Saramacca was Anake, the Saramacoan religious leader who set up a communally»
oriented village under the name of Paulus. Junker reports that at no time
would Paulus discuss this position as kunu—representative (see Chapter XV).
 ~221~

Earlier, Junker was personally involved in a kunu case which combined

aspects of wisi and the malignancy of the dead:

Some inhabitants of the village Tumaripa stopped me on the
Granrio, and told me that the yorka of a dead Frenchman had already
killed three women in their village. From further information I
understood the fellowing: An inhabitant of the village, while
working on the Marowine found in the river the corpse of a convict
[French Guiana was until recently a penal colony]. He took the
head of the deadman home, to make a magic amulet (obia) out of it.
The yorka which still lived in the skull was just as malevolent as
the Frenchman had been, and continued the convict‘s lifeway. It
was now engaged in murdering the women of the village. I counseled
them to throw the skull into the Biabie, a much feared waterfall.
This was done, and luckily no more women died thereafter (Junker,
1922:78. Tr. mine).

An observation by van Lier illuminates this anecdote, and strength»

ens my belief that most of the kunu-related concepts are shared by all the

tribes, whether they have been reported for them or not:

When someone has drowned, the Djuka believe that kunu, a curse or
destiny, has been at work. They prevent the orka o? the drowned
person from returning to the shore by placing a ensive devices
along the water‘s edge, for instance an old rifle barrel, 3 broken
machete, the hoop of a cask, bones of animals, ...etc. An elder
of the village charged with these duties, pronounces something
along the lines of "Those who have drowned belong in the water
and must not return to the land." Now and then he renews this
incantation. Oh those occasions when food is offered to the orkas,
that for the orkas of victims of drowning is placed at the efige
of the water. No one touches it, although the dogs are allowed
to eat from it (van Lier, l940:289. Tr. mine).
It seems therefore that the villager in Junker's report who had
brought the Frenchnan's head ashore had taken a severe risk, and was involved

in wigj, Unfortunately we do not have any information on whether or not he

was punished for his offense against men and God.
The ygr§a§_are probably the most obvious seekers of vengeance, but
tony other beings wanting justice hey call upon gang. The list of examples

is endless. Even the killing of a dog (“which is alnost a human being")

has been the source of misfortune, though it must be noted that 3 gm-
kunu does not extend to the whole 19, but occasions (a limited) misfortune
 ~222—

on the actual miscreant alone. Herskovits and Herskovits (l934:62-79)

have reported a number of examples of kunus induced by yorkas and other

supernaturals.

(3) Human Being . Kunu hey be invoked by the living. If a person

truly feels that the treatment he receives is unjust, if insults become

unbearable or life is made intolerable, then even the most helpless can——

in theonye—avail himself of vengeance if he is willing to pay the price.

The price is standard, regardless of whether the provocation was great or
small. Consider, for example, the ability of a lender to enforce honesty
upon the borrower. In accordance with the general dictum that person and

matrilineage are expressions of each other. the lg_is held responsible for
the financial debts which the individual may have accumulated. These debts
are collectable ultimately through the engagement of supernatural sanctions;

Debts may be collected at any time. The creditor has certain

means of coercion. After much prodding, he may threaten the
family with his own suicide if the debt is not paid immediately.
Among the Djuka it occurs that such threats are actually carried
out, usually by the drinking of poison. Among the Saramacca,
[suicide after a suicide threat] is the rule, but they shoot
themselves through the head. As the result of all this, the
debtors fall under a kunu.

Among the Djuka, the service of Grantata is involved. The

creditor can force the debtors to pay 5y pronouncing a curse on
himself or on his own blood relatives.... The mortal sin
engendered in such an oath now falls on the heads of the delin-
quent borrowers. The latter hurriedly busy themselves to borrow
money from friends and neighbors, or to find a security which
will satisfy the lender before the fatal term expires (van Lier,
l940:25l-252. Tr. mine).
Hurault notes in this connection that the Bani consider any debt

a debt of honor; and if a person dies before his debts are repaid, his
relatives "chip in" to pay off his creditors as soon as possible. He does
not say that this uncharacteristic haste in financial matters occurs

because the Boni fear supernatural repercussidns, but presumably kunu at

 ~224~

(4) Kunu as Reflex. Vengeance may strike as an autonomous agency.

Usually this occurs when an act was committed unkno
wingly, and no impiety
was involved. Kunu may not begin its work until the person who unlea
shed
it is already dead. Nevertheless, divination about persistent misfortune
may reveal that it is caused by the working of vengeance
for some long«
forgotten act. Typically, the source is the killing of a Qagasneki
or the
destruction of a termite mound. These events, associated with the work of
cutting and burning involved in the clearing of garden plots
. are often
unsuspected hy the person who commits the transgress
ion.
The Akantamasu god was one of the strongest on the
river. He
ranked only slightly under the great obia spirits, which
the
Sky God when creating the world had sent as wisdom For the
living to combat the capricious lesser gods, and human
were dominated by evil spirits.
s who
Biffering from the obia
spirits, however, who befriended the living, and brought
healing to them, the Akantamasu god was an avenger, surpa
alone by the yorka, the ghosts, who avenged by killing ssed
instantly when they chose, while the Akantamasu god kille
more slowly (Herskovits & Herskovits, l934:233). d

As on the Gold Coast, Akantamasn is the god of the ant hill,

but
throughout Surinam the god is one of the personification
s of kunu. If an
ant hill is destroyed, one risks kunu, and even when this has
been divined,
there is no guarantee that the offerings and the posse
ssion dances will
save the lineage of whoever harmed Akantamasu’s home (Hers
kovits &
Herskovits, l934:69; van Lier, l940:l95).

An ingenious explanation of the evolution of the super

natural
protection of the Eanasneki is offered in an anonymous
pamphlet obtained
from the Surinam Government information service:
The former plantation owners knew that the carpet snake
boa) was useful as hunter of vermin, and encouraged his (canine
their neighborhood by enticing him with chicken eggs. Tostay in
slave
the
s, who looked upon this “baiting” as worship. the maste
r
said that the snake would keep him informed as to who
was
guilty of thefts In order to keep this “informer”
on their side,
the slaves followed the perceived example of their
masters, and
 —225*

also began to revere the snake. The name “papawsneki” was ans»
understood by their descendants, and became connected with “father”
(papa), leading to a pagan worship of this snake. The animal
was familiar to the socalled Papa-Negroes in Africa, but was not
revered there. .t. The above is derived from traditions of great
reliability (gggngg, n.d.: Tr. mine).
Supposedly, therefore, the gong which results from the killings of this
snake avenges the death of a supernatural being: the pagasnekl is divine
in the sense that the gods, the xggggs, and the kankantris are divine. The
story is charming even if it is naive. The danger of killing a pagasneki,
however, is very real. and methods exist to minimize as much as possible
the supernatural vengeance which descends at its occurrence. ENwI (634)
lists eight early (from l830) references to the “worship” of snakes,
including several reports by travelers who-witnessed a snekiprei, a feast

for the paclfdcation of the spirit of the snake which had died in the
burning of a garden. Thus efforts to counteract this form of 5gng_have been
long institutionalized, and most modern writers sooner or later mention the
reSpect for the snake's life, and the feasts and rituals designed to appease

its vengeance.

The kankantri just alluded to is the silk cotton tree (ggjoa

gentahdra Garth.), which is quite common throughout Snrlnam. It is a very
large tree whose name, according to Herskovits a Herskovits (1934:349)
derives from the Dahomean gangantl. It is the home of the god Gedeonsu.
which again is a Dahomean term, the "strong name“ for the tree. Sedeonsu
is primarily a woman‘s god, and it is primarily women who are possessed by
Gedeonsu. Because of its Sacred nature, it is a grievous sin to cut down a
kankantri, and there are all sorts of punishments mentioned: loss of
limb, sickness, death, and mental incompetence "which turns an honorable

person into a wisiwasi man,” a wishy~washy fool (van Lier, l940:l90~l91;

de Goeje, l908:lOOl; Herskovlts & herskovits, l934:l5l—l52). But note

 «226"

sible
reports that the kankantri is respon
that there is a total absence of
ks being invaded and possessed
for gong} Whoever cuts down a kankantri ris
ses of
siik cotton tree threatens the hou
by its spirit, and so if an aging
1940:235-236).
ve but to move them (van Lier,
a viiiage, there is no alternati
that a yfli§§_man can cut down a
0n the other hand, it is acknowledged
down such
wonders why a white man wooid cut
kankantri without risk, and one
hired
physicai Weber-was aii done by the
a massive tree, in an era when the
gglto do so as a favor to those who
biacks, uniess the white man was agg
t
mseives. Again, here is an indication tha
wouid suffer if they did it the
ent, but oniy because of the actuai
the gods strike not because of int
we note a
d. Throughout Bush Negro ideoiogy
performance of a forbidden dee
st in
_of the iaw, and a tote} disintere
tote} preoccupation with the l§§§§§
the reiationship we may caii “fairness
its ggigig, except where this affects
between people.“
data, three things become clear.
When we impose this ordering on the
ution,
gog g'o per ate s on a nun ber of different ieveis of cuit instit
First,
a different
is thu s a con nec tin g age ncy among them; second, it invoives
and
g 1ink
ego ry of sup ern atu rai s at eac h ievei, and is thus a communicatin
cat
s; and third,
wee n man and the var iou s typ es of non~man from Gods to animai
bet
izabie entity than as a generaiized
it is no less effective as a recogn
Deity
shouid the reiigion of the Great
state of “dye-grace.“ Therefore.
mechanim
ther es expianatory or as controi
ever suppiant the minor gods altoge
Chapter XII).
in the weapon that is 5ggg_(see
it could do so and stiii mainta
in its tripie
iy continue to be as effective
Untii that day, gong_wi11 probab
nsiator of the Laws of Chance as any
roie of Avenger, Entercer, and Tra
society,
Nevertheiess, as there is in any
ideoiogiCai innovation anywhere.
a
is an are a of lif e in whi ch the ruies do not operate. and this are
there
» WWW Mes-f
 e227~

t.
a fi na l in si gh t into the concep gy
gives us nt in Bush Negro ideolo
ms in he re
ntroi mechanis
When the sociai co nnty. The
w ei te rn at iv es to enforce confor
there are fe
fail to operate, e is agreement on the
basis
io ng as th er
iife work only as
rules of everyday rc ep tu ai categories and
which re je ct s pe
ries. Insanity,
perceptual catego ex am pie of such faiiur
e.
, 19 64 ), is an
Sharing" (Waiiace
denies “cognitive y and the desire
to
therap
tr ib es me n la ck both effective
Predictahiy, the if no wisiman
ur ai me th od s fail, that is,
If supernat
heip the insane. overed and forced
to
disc
bi e fo r th is 10 55 of agggpcan be
(witch) responsi in.
natura i sanctions rema
ne spark, oniy
return the divi rson. If
no t at te mp t to heai an insane pe take him
y do nuisance, they
The Djuka generall ly disturbed or a e him
the madman is co ns ta nt
ri ve r] , bu ii d hi m a hut, and leav m
the to hi
to an isiand [in t a boat. Food wiii be brought maniacai, he
there alone wi th ou pe and be co me
he repeatedly escastocks. Shouid he die, that
regulariy. Shouid e Viiiage in fo ot g sent by
nfiii be kept in th ok o he n ne ki ,“ the bakru [a bein as that
u br just
is caiied "na bakrhis necE. The corpse is treated is given to
a wisimanl EF oE e usual at te nt io n
, except that un metinns comes out that the mad-
of a normai person insanity. It so s his punish-
the source of the wisiman, and that the insanity wa
man himseif‘was a1940:275. Tr. mine).
ment (van Liar, ts, 1934:
(i nc lu di ng He rs kovits & Herskovi
rters
Since various repo lly "thrown away
”
e usua
at th e co rp se s of the insane ar
d th
95) have mentione be that the
Ta pe rs or of nisimans, it may
as those of
in the bush. just of ideoiogicai
here
vi or wh ic h Ti es outside of the sp
ha
area of deviant be kn ow le dge a high incide
nce
who do no t ac
ing. For a peopie
controi is shrink , su ch a development woui
d
d mi sf or tu ne
“naturai” death an
of "accidenta1“ or t except in the supe
r-
ad do no t pr ot es
edictable. The de
be iogicai and pr at the communai
ievei
thus
of po ss es si on and divination,
naturai fashio n shouid
re s a fi ex ib ii ity of sanctions:
ensu
ion. And this
of cuit institut g can he
to bewitches, the wron
de ad ha ve be en erroneonsiy thund
th e
d by kunu.
If ne ce ss ar y, they may he avenge
righted.
 ~228-

ior
The interpretation of insanity as a resuit of antinsocial behav
but it affords
by the victim or by an enemy of mankind is not on1y iogica1,
reiatives;
new directions in sociaT control. The anguish of the deceased‘s
, is 1ess
when it is posthumous1y discovered that he or she was a witch
against the
costly than the danger inherent in witchcraft accusations

living. The trend in these societies seems to be to nfininfize physica1

controTs in favor of supernatural sanctions.

 CHAPTER XII

THE COMMUNAL WEFT

It would be very difficult to condense the custom of the Bush

Negroes into a rigorous code. If one wished to do so, it would
be necessary to write as the first article: "The living must
conform to the will of the gods and the ancestors, such as it is
expressed through the mouths of the possessed and through the
movements of the porters of the dead.

Hurauit, 196l:63. Tr. mine

These comments presuppose that the nature of the desired sacred

values has been strongly influenced by the nature of the external
interestasituation and the corresponding way of life of the
ruling strata and thus by the social stratification itself. But
the reverse also holds: wherever the direction of the whole way
of life has been methodically rationalized, it has been profoundly
determined by the ultimate values toward which this rationaliza-
tion has been directed.

Max Weber in Earth & Mills, l958:286~287)

The perception of the Divine among the Bush Negroes does not stop

at the recognition of a Creator God and tribeuspecific High Gods. On the

contrary, their pantheons are both vast and complicated, reflecting a

variety of West African infiuences and unique adjustments to socio-ideolog-

ioal requirements. Until recentiy, no student had derived a rationaie

upon which future "taxonomies" of the gods could be based, and we still
do not know such relatively important facts as whether or not the Beings

accepted in any one tribe are identical except for name to those acknow»
ledged elsewhere. We dg'know that the Boni lack Gedeonsu and Gnangyella,
and that Odun is not found among the Djuka. Recently the groundwork for
analysis has been laid.

THE LESSER GODS

Thoden van Velzen proposes four attributes which distinguish

between the High Gods and the Lesser Deities. We learn from his

~229~
 CHAPTER XII

THE COMMUNAL HEFT

It would be very difficuit to condense the custom of the Bush
Negroes into a rigorous code. If one wished to do so, it wouid
be necessary to write as the first articie: “The iiving must
conform to the will of the gods and the ancestors, such as it is
expressed through the mouths of the possessed and through the
movements of the porters of the dead.

Hurauit, 1961:63, Tr. mine

These comments presuppose that the nature of the desired sacred
values has been strongly influenced by the nature of the externai
interest-situation and the corresponding way of life of the
ruling strata and thus by the sociai stratification itseif; But
the reverse aiso holds: wherever the direction of the whoie way
of life has been methodicaiiy rationaiized, it has been profoundiy
determined by the ultimate vaiues toward which this rationaliza-
tion has been directed.

Max Weber in Garth & Miiis, 1958:286~287)

The perception of the Divine among the Bush Negroes‘dOes not stop
at the recognition of a Creator God and tribe~specific High Gods. On the

contrary, their pantheons are both vast and compiicated, refiecting a

variety of West African inf1uences and unique adjustments to socio-ideolog—

ice} requirements. Until recentiy, no student had derived a rationaie

upon which future "taxonomies" of the gods cou1d be based, and we still

do not know such reiativeiy important facts as whether or not the Beings

accepted in any one tribe are identical except for name to those acknow-

ledged eisewhere. We dg_knou that the Boni Tack Bedeonsu and Gwangweiia,
and that Odun is not found among the Djuke. Recentiy the groundwork for
anaiysis has been iaid.

THE LESSER 603$

Thoden van Veizen proposes four attributes which distinguish

between the High Gods and the Lesser Deities. We 1earn from his

-229-
 ~230—

oissertation (l966:llO) that:

l. The High Gods are more powerful, may be able to order the minor Gods,

but cannot always ensure compliance with these orders. The Minor Gods,

in short, enjoy a certain autonomy.

2. A High God always has a coterie of lower ranking deities who follow his
orders blindly: the 51955:;

3. High Gods always maintain a positive and protective posture towards

men, as long as their laws are not broken or ignored.

4. diner Gods are in the main indifferent to man, but some, especially

the Bush Gods (Amgggg), are malevolent. That small group of Gods
known as the Kumanti or Kromanti is generally benevolent.

Whether these useful distinctions apply equally well to the

pantheons of the other tribes has not yet been demonstrated, but appears

very likely. In any case, some ordering of the wealth of divine titles and

characteristics was necessary, for the naming of the gods is apparently a

Job for Sisyphus. Herskovits and Herskovits mentioned in their glossary

the names and some attributes of 14 supernaturels above the level of 353g
and below that of the High Gods, which they had encountered among the

Saramacca. The following list is derived from their glossary (1934:346~355):

Afrekete, a Saramaccan goddess, whose origin is Bahamean.

Akantamasu, the god of the ant hill, from the Gold Coast.

Apgfig; gods of the bush who are seen as little people. From

southern higeria and Dahomey. (Also 5mgggg,)

figgggg, the earth mother. Ashanti.

QXQEQEQ god associated with the silk—cotton tree (Kahkentri), but

dreaded. Dahomey.

Gedeonsu. The regular god of the silk~cotton tree, not dreaded

 ~231-

but worshipped. Dahomey.

Snake deity. Dahomey.

Kentina gggggg,
gggggj, Snake deity. Togo‘ande
rminate) associated
Kromanti. These are the gods (number indete
(Kromanti on Kumanti obia)
with certain protective devices
s forms of harm by weapon.
which keep the bearer from variou
the tribes, primari1y as the
The Kromanti are important in a1}
of persona1 amuIets.
1egitimators and originators
Saramaccan nfinor deity. Dahomean thunder pantheon.
§gf3§_§§g§f
gg, the wif e of Ged eon su, who Tik e hinxiives in the silk~cotton
ljg
gigggi, Dahomean.
tree. Together they are the parents of
er gods. Dahomean.
193g, generic name for the riv

Tonugbwe. River goddess. Ashanti or Dahomey.

Iggggg, Snake deity a1so known as Papagadu.

h
Tudes many of these, and adds suc
Van Lier‘s compi1ation (1940) inc
a, Dagowe,
uku, Asamani, Aeigg, Busi Mam
gods as Afruku, Akrekuma, Amp
and {Egg}
u, Dyibri, Kangu, Loango. Opete,
Dahomex. Binge, Dyadya, Dyasof
domah,
Dduka. as well as Bubu, Tengj, Sin
alT of whom are found among the
genera1
Saramaccat He also mentions the
and Eggg, whom he reports for the
rits.
si munki: evil and benevo1ent spi
categories of buba’gados and bun
es of gods
er writers, the Tist of the nam
Once we examine the work of oth
end1ess, and we note that there is
and midd1e-ranking deities becomes
sumably
sin g1y 1it tle ove rla p in the inventories they compiied. Pre
surpri
ferent names
are dea lin g her e wit h an asp ect of the tendency to give dif
we
e
son; this hi}! be discussed in som
to the same object, spirit, or per
detaiI in Chapter XIV.
four types of Tesser gods: [goggiy
The Bjuka distinguish at least
 -232-

gados, those in the sky or air; Undrowatra

gados, those in and under the
water; Busi gados, the gods of the jungle; and
Grong gados; the supernaturals
in the gruund near villages and gardens (van tier,
1940:190). The Bani
also favor a fOUhfald typo1ogy for their minor
deities, but according to
Hurault (1961:203~204} they organize them quite
differentiy:
I. The first categhry includes the Kumenti, gods
who 100k like jaguars
and live in the jungle; the Qigg§§_who take the
appearance of aceiots;
the ggggg (vuitures) who ifve in the air; and the Bunsunki,
who have
the appearance of Indian women and 1ive in the
rivers. A11 of these
speak Kumenti (Kromanti).
The Amgggg form the second category. Like the Saramaccan A3353 these
are greatiy feared because they can 1oose 533g.upon‘
men. The gmgggg
speak a 1anguage which is different from Kumenti, and
the Bani do not
understand it. (This, of course, must be a facthr in the perceived
danger of these gods.) Both the Bani and the Saramacca claim that the
iatter gg_understand the language of the gggggg.
In the third category we find 5:111 other fearsome
beings, the ggggg
0r Pagagadu, gods who are incarnated in the boa const
rictor, gagggg,
These all speak the Papa Ianguage.

The Tast category is that of the Kantamasu,

the gods of the ant hi11s
and the termite nestsa No human being understands their Tanguage, and
they must use the Kumanti tongue to communicat
e with men.
Apparently the Saramacca type their deities in a manne
r similar to
that of the Bani, but the details are sti11 missing from
the 1iterature.
The actual number of supernaturals in the tribe
? pantheons, what«
ever it may turn out t0 be, is iess interestin
g than their soc§a1
implications. The 1esser gods infiuence mortals
in various ways.
 a233~

man. But all

saster. Others can aid
le vo le nt, and bring di
Some ar e ma onship which
sh es or ad vi ce in a relati
wi
lves and their ks for
manifest themse un xo r “b earer” who spea
tative, a me di
er s on th ei r human represen
cent
a trance state.
a god while in

ORACULARXTY
POSSESSION AND of Guiana
e Bush Negroes and do not
ac ti ce d by th
cults pr d Haiti,
The possession oes of Brazil an [in
e of th e Ne gr cults described
differ from thosrectly linked to the African
appear to be di
the literature]. Tr. «one.
99.
Hurault, 196l:1
throughout
st Af ri ca an d occurs also
We
widespread in
Possession is man being
as th e oc cu pation of a hu
cognized
where it is re
the Caribbean, ri od, will contro
l the
a br ie f pe
ich, for
uman entity wh not clear
by some superh Wh at these are is
pu rp os es .
s own
e person for it
movements of th uberant joys of
the
and ex
ap pa re nt ly in clude the sheer
to man, but they sonic-political
desires which
dance, and
ty pi fi ed by the possession advice.
fles h,
s th e li vi ng with demands or
es se
en the Being addr
are evidenced wh pect to posses
sion, that is,
an oraoular as
no t al ways there is
Ofte n bu t ons can he
r th e me di um so that questi
ente
y he asked to
the divinity wa
ugh the medium.
posed to it thro be used througho
ut this
“Pos se ss io n” wi ll
Anthough the term much a
Bu sh Ne gr o po ssession is as
ention,
eping with conv
discourse in ke cu lt ur es . In fact, it
will
em in th ei r
as any other it
Surinam artifact
misnomer.
cl ea r th at th e very term is a a
become th e [person] ... as
fe el s to
to he possessed ich his will is the
It is said that s through his brain, after wh d
al
glow that spir rm glow thrills through hi
s whole body, an ys
rt s of wa
paralyzed. A wa f in all so
one can mutilate onesel in is not felt,
belief is that un de r th at influence. Pa the soui is
ng, wh en s and
without bleedi on between physical awarenes double nature, or
and the connec en. The possessed now has a
ti
has
temporar il y br ok
mp le te ly aw ar e, but Another
. He is co
rather, identity
 ~234—

entered him and has overwhelmed his ego, his will. It is as if a

fog had been lifted from his brain: he remembers circumstances
and conditions which he never experienced here on earth, that is,
he thinks and acts through the spirit of another who has yoked
his volition. In this condition he may point out medicinal herbs
which he does not recognize in his sober state, gives all sorts
of advice, and his knowledge has doubled, even increased tenfold,
just as his physical strength» It happens that a possessed person
will begin to speak strange languages“ An untutored Negro who
has never been to school will take up a pen and write a page of
perfect.French, or English, etc., but usually the strange tongues
are those of African tribes or of the indians who used to live in
this country“ He himself does not know what he writes or speaks
while under the influence of the strange and unknown powers of
which he is but the tool (Penard a Penard, l912:l78-l79. Tr.
mine .

The Boni have no true possession cults, but smaller organizations

which ought perhaps to be called “possession schools.“ Each school is

headed by a Q§§'(from the Dutch Baas, "boss“), a master or teacher who,

although not himself possessed, knows the rituals which will ensure
possession. A has is not a priest but a private "coach." He trains a
smaller number of disciples (kineki) of both sexes without regard to

their kinship or village ties. The materials he teaches deal with the
three major factors involved in the achievement of possession: First,
one must learn the language of the god one seeks, and for the "cult" of

some gods the student must memorize inoantations to invite the god to come

to him. Second, the kineki must drink-tend learn to concoct-~the herbal

potions which attract the goda Finally, each god has his own manner of

dancing, and the steps and rhythms of the dance must be learned.
These exercises are apparently designed to instill conditioned
reflexes in the student. They have nothing in common with the
veny difficult tests which the medicine man of the Guianan Indians
inposes on himself, and they involve no form of asceticism. It
does not seem that chastity is demanded even temporarily of the
student, nor is he expected to fast or to do anything else which
might be at ail contrary to his penchants.

The Bush Negroes have not retained the idea of a spiritual

death and resurrection of the possessed person, nor do they haVe
the complexwritual that this involves [in West Africa]. There is
 ~235~

no long seclusion of the neophyte, no name~change far

the possessed
one [nor is it necessary for him] to be retaught all the
activities
of everyday life. And generally the atmosphere of solemn
gravity,
of mystery and fear which characterizes the Dahomean posses
sion
cults is not found among them (Hurault, 1961:202~203. lr. mine).
Possession achievement must be paid for, and the lesson
s are
expensive. Hurault notes that the successful achievement of a Kumenti

possession costs about 25,000 (1958 value) francs. Payment to the §§§_is
typically in cloth and rum. An element of legitimation is also involved:
a god not paid for is not really one‘s own god, and one
may lose him.
At this point it should be evident that the very term “Poss
ession”
is in fact misleading. The Boni do not see in these relationships with
the supernatural any true ownership of the person by the divine
. 0n the
contrary, the evidence indicates that the individual has
as much right to
the divinity, once contact has.been established, as the god
has rights in
the possessed. We saw that the 19553 and the 353g live syobio
tically in
the some body. Apparently another level of mutually benefi
cial co~habita~
tion is achieved in the trance state. It is true that the
gorge (and
perhaps the 335g) must be temporarily submerged under the
divine influence,
but this subjugation occursu~where possession has been active
ly soughtw-with
at least partial consent: the training period proves this acquiescence.
It is not known what benefits the god achieves from the relationship
,
although the generally acknowledged anthropomorphic qualities
of the
supernatural give some clues. It is in any case clear that humans gain
power from possession, and probably derive a number of psycho
logical
satisfactions and securities from being part of such a
relationship.
Possession, once it has been achieved, progressively contro
ls the
“gigg£i_more completely as he becomes more able to remain passive under
the
reins of "his" god. At first, the god may not succeed in the more complex
 -236r

tactics of control, such as actually speaking through the possessed's

mouth, and the kineki must then endure considerable training before he can

be considered a true bearer or hasi (horse) of “his” divinity.

Once the god‘s control is sufficiently practiced, a standard ritual

of communication develops:
When the god has just entered a man. he always begins in his
own language by rendering homage to Mesa Gadu, claiming to be
acting only in His name and by His will.
Then he greets the spectators, using expressions in his own
language which are the exact translations of the forms of polite-
ness among the Boni. This happens even if he is preparing to
speak to them in the harshest possible manner.
Then the god says things in his own language which are barely
intelligible to the audience, apparently relating to what is
happening in his own country and in his own fondly (for it is
supposed that the minor deities have families). Finally, he
begins to speak in ordinary language in order to be understood
by the spectators, and answers their questions (Hurault, l96l:
203. Tr. none).

When a god suddenly seizes an individual, he is asked his name,

what "country" (Krononti, Ampuku, etc.) he is from, and what his purpose
is. Usually the possessed person cannot yet Follow the directions of the

god well enough for his answers to be understood, and training may be

necessary even after possession has taken place. But often a Eggftrained

adept will be immediately understandable in his pronunciation of the

divine speech. Should the god be an evil ampuku, he will be begged to

leave the person, but this usually has no result. If the god is a

benevolent one, and if all the conditions surrounding the relationship with

his medium are fulfilled, then he becomes a sort of property of the medium;
and like other property, possession can he inherited. At the death or the

advanced senility of the heel, possession will be transferred from the

bearer to a member of the lineage, which is a factor in the working of
kunue Typically, a porter bequeaths his gado in accordance with the local
 ~23?“

refuse to
he ri ta nc e, an d al though the god can
operty in
rules governing pr on
elf in another pers
fest hims
no r th e be qu es t, and may indeed mani
ho sion with
pe rn at ur a1 ac ce pt s the medium‘s deci
y the su
a1together, generaii n Lier,
6; Kfibb en, 1967:30-31; va
ua ni mi ty (H ur au Tt , 1961:200, 204-20
» eq

1940:203—205). aker" for

si on by a ku nu . th e bearer is the "spe
In cases of posses
very
su pe rn at ur al , an d inheritance here is
ous
a particularly danger tive in the
Eg gg kw ou 1d us ua ii y pick a representa
past,
important. In the nt—
ho we ve rg mo re an d more Eggg:represe
ged party. Today,
1ineage of the wron person
of th e ac cu se d. In either case, the
neag e
atives are in the Ti s
fo r hi m ex er ts a great power over hi
atural to speak
chosen by the supern
1ineage.
31 as over another
own reIatives as we gg , he is
ur ce s ag re e th at wh en a person seeks a ga
The modern so influence
nst hi s enenfies, power to
seeking power. Power to aid him agai
perhaps,
sp ec t, pr es ti ge , security. Power,
rs, to have re
the affairs of othe es
(1 96 1: 20 1) sa ys that “§1§g§.mxstigu
neage. Huraul t
to aid one‘s own Ti om
os it y, ap pe ar s to be tota11y absent fr
flfish reli gi
désintéresses,“ unse ons
ni . Ot he rs ar e qu nter about the reas
of the Ba
the possession cuIts in
th e vo iu nt ar y su bm ission to the Dnvine
ors as
undertying such fact operate
th or ou gh ly co nv in ced that human beings
as are
possession: “Saranak (Price, 19 69:
e ba si s of ma te ri at se1f-interest“
on th
aimost exciusiveiy apparentiy,
T th e mo re re ma rk able that no one.
ore aI
28). It is theref
,
ggg§§.to represent 5332 muchacourted
fo rg ot te n th at the source of this
It must not be
e: more
ac u1 ar as pe ct of the possession stat
or
potency Wies in the n be
re wa rd . An d or ac u1arity, in turn, ca
has Tittle
hysterical behavior clearest
Th od en va n Ve lz en has written the
of'ways.
achieved in a number
 -238w

explication of Bush Negro oracles, and classified them for the Djuka:

Under oracle I understand every institutionalized method for

achieving a aiVine pronouncement. Along the Tapanahoni there
ex1st hundred of oracles which may be classified in a number of
ways. In the first place, one nay distinguish between permanent
and non-permanent oracles. The Great Deity is a permanent oracle,
because in prihEThle it can be consulted at any time. A non-
permanent oracle would concern the ghost of a deceased person.
This ghost allows itself to be consulted for only a brief period,
from the time of death to that of the final mourning ceremony
about a year later. It is believed that some of these ghosts may
later choose a medium, through which they become permanent.

It is further necessary to distinguish between carry oracles

and medium oracles. Carry oracles (luku or anuma) operate as
follows: The ends of a plank are placed on the heads of two
bearers. A bundle in which sacred objects (obia) are wrapped is
attached to the plank.

This then is the tabernacle of the divinity whose oracular

pronouncements are desired. Through this tabernacle the deity
exerts pressure on the heads of the bearers in such a way that
their movements disclose the answer to the questions of 3 Notable.
Sometimes the godhead has chosen a flag [see Fra tiki, Chapter
XIII] as its tabernacle. In such cases the flag is wound around
a stick which is carried in the same manner as above.
One speaks of a medium oracle if, during the consultation of
the divinity, aid is asked of a medium who, once in trance,
answers the people's questions under divine guidance. Half a
century ago, ... the Great Deity was both carry and medium
oracle.... At present His priests have only a carry oracle at
their disposal. In every village there is at least one, sometimes
more carry oracles, and many medium oracles.

Seldom, however, are oracles of any importance outside of

their own village. Except for those of the Great Deity [in
Dritabiki and Gran-bori], the oracles of only four [Djuka] gods
have meaning for more than one village:

a. the carry oracle of Gedeonsu in Tahiti,

b. the carry oracle of TEbu in Granwbori,
c. the medium oracle of gjfleaanda in Fisiti,
d. the carry oracle of Afaku in Malobi.
(Thoden van Velzen, 19652i22~l23. Tr. mine).
Since at least a participatory power role is available to anyone

who can achieve the possession trance, it is understandable that a number

of institutionalized techniques have been developed to aid the individual

in achieving success in this fashion, and that people often spend a great
 «239-

oeai of time and effort in preparation fOr such oracular roles.

There is an important aspect of possession which is not volunt

ary,
however. In the first place, only about heIf of those who seek to
become
the hos; of a god ever succeed, and in the second, certain types
of
possession occur without the individual's intent or voiftion. Especi
aily
possession by a 5ggg_is not generaIIy looked for.

Moreover, the danger of offending the ggQg_is not to be taken

lightly, even when the god is basica13y benevolent. Any god who takes
over a person immediately imposes a gin§_upon him usuaily a prohib
ition of
food, see Chapter XIV), and teIis the person the ru1es he must
foilow to
remain in the god‘s graces. As Iong as the rules are fo1lowed,
the person
enjoys a degree of safety beyond that of most mortaIs, but
if he trans~
grosses, the gggg may punish him savageiy. On the other hand, it is
acknow3edged that the hg§i_has a degree of power over the very
god who
possesses him, and can ianuence the goggfs behavior.
An interesting and surprising trait connected with possession
is
its importance as a form of entertainment for the onlook
ers. The Kromanti
gods especiaIIy--but not gglzy—impart a degree of [hysterica
1?] invuIner~
ability to their oasis in their typica1 possession dances. Men
possessed
by the Kromanti may safeiy swaiiow broken giass, ciinb spike-covere
d trees,
wa1k through fire, and even strike themseives or each other
(if there is
more than one Kromanti~dancer) with machetes. This invoinerabiIity is we11
attested by numerous witnesses. inc1uding the Herskovitses, van
Lier. and
Hurault.
These frenetic dances whose participants, entire1y covere
d with
{Eggyg (white clay), are like hypnotized peop1e, have a bizar
aspect which is evident to the Roof themseives. The dances
re
have
no secret nature and constitute ... a prime spectacle. The
audience is convulsed with 1aughter at the contortions and
strange actions which the gods inspire the possessed to perfor
m.
 ~240~

For days aftennards, they talk about the events, the humor
iefitating what they saw without any fear of irritating theists
(Hurault, 196l:206-207. Tr. mine). gods

Similar mirth is reported not only for the generally benevolent

Kromanti
gados. bet for generally feared supernaturals.

As I pointed out, the Djuka‘s fear of the avenging spiri

ts (kunu)
is
considerable. Yet it occurred at a large feast that
of half-inebriated young people brought a mock-offering a group
kunu, with loud laughter even from the older people (albeto the
it under
vehement protests from the keno-priestess which, howev
er, gave
rise to even greater hilarity}. One might interpret
this as an
expression of religious decline, thus as an indication that the
traditional religious emotions are losing their meaning.
Personally, 13m inclined to reject such an interpreta
tion....,
and would rather propose that such scenes also occurred in
times. But groof for this contention I cannot offer (Khbbe earlier
l968:60). n,

Finally, there is the drama which surrounds the mediu

m‘s role as oracle, a
drama which is a clearly recognized form of art as
well as prophecy (see
“Murder of a Co—wife,” below). This appreciative attit
ude is reminiscent
of the easy familiarity which the clubs in Western socie
ties arrogate
when their idoi is performing. This, in turn, illustrates
again the
danger of translating any alien conception with existing
Western terminol-
ogy: Are the Bush Negroes' spiritual entities really "gods"
in any
recognizably Western sense?

From the viewpoint of organization, the major characteri

stic of
these linkages between man and the supernatural lies in
their lack of
structure. There are no real priesthoods of or for the minor deiti
es.
Although the Kromanti everywhere are sought after, only
the Herskovitses
(1934:322m323) have reported a club for Kromanti mediums (who
are all nan).
Apparently, therefore, the term "possession cult" is a
double misnomer.
Possession is unlike possession elsewhere, and the term as
such is mislead‘
ing. There are no real cults, no organizations or hierarchie
s of the
adept. The problem is compounded when we remember the non—perman
ent oracles.
 ~24l~

THE VOICES OF THE DEAD

Not surprisingly, death is the signal for a series of
major ritual
events in Bush Negro Society. The fact is well—attested. No single trait
of these cultures has been reported with greater frequ
enqy—-or relish~«
than the ceremonies which surround the final separation of $531
and gorge;
mourning, divination of the cause of death, and funerary feasts
. They are
indeed the most bizarre I and startling feats of the communal
cult level,
and at their extreme they would challenge the indulgence of even
the most
entrenched cultural relativist. (Herskovits & Herskovits open
Eggs; Destin y,
their major work on the Saramacca, with a lengthy chapt
er on the topic.)
Details and variations on funerals, necromanqy. and the
psycho—social
activities which--for lack of a better term-~we call mourning,
are suffi»
ciently rich to warrant a separate study. But for the prese
nt, a brief and
general introduction must suffice.

The most thorough descriptions on the subject are those

of van Lier
(1940:276-291) for the Djuka, Donicie (a careful observer not
contradicted
by any major writer, stationed as a Catholic priest among
the Saramacca)
for the Saramacca (l948), and Hurault (196l) for the Bani. Unless othenuise
indicated, these will be the primary references for this sectio
n. For ease
of comparison, the major segments of the rites of the dead will
be described
separately and in chronological order.

Pronouncement gf_Death. Among the Djuka, the safest place to die,

quite literally, is in bed. If one dies anywhere else, a reason for it
must be divined. Therefore, a sick Djuka will not sleep in his hammock but

TBizarre by European standards, at least. The term

and possibly imprecise:' Americans, especially in California,is relative,
tolerate a degree of necrolatry in their funerais which both apparently
Tribesmen would judge bizarre, even though both would "unde
Europeans and
rstand" it.
 ~242—

immediately take to the bed which is generally reserved for his wife (see

Appendix II). A dying Djuka is helped and held into a sitting position,
for it is not a good idea to die lying down. Relatives fill his house; no
one dies alone if it is possible to avoid it. When the elders have ascer~
taineo that the g§:§_has indeed left the body, the Agienti drum announces
the fact to the world at large. If the deceased was a notable, one who
held an official position in the organization of the tribe, then the Granman

must be notified before any ceremonies may be started. His representatives

again establish the fact of death upon their arrival (which may be some
days after clinical death) in order to make it official. Only then can the
ceremonies for the corpse begin. The Sarametca may send messengers or
drum messages. The Bani send messengers to all the nearby villages.

Social Connfitment Q: the Living. Among all the tribes, the rites
of death are the most compelling and essential duties which face the living
as a growo.hll authors agree on this. For the Djuka the funerary rituals
are the only.events which involve mandatohy cooperation, and apparently

they are also the only activity in which a preordained division of labor

(outside of the sexual one) takes place. Early in life boy-children

must choose whether they are going to he kisimans (coffin makers) or

glgflggg (gravediggers and pallbearers) when they grow up.

Among the Saramacca, this mandatory cooperativeness is also

evidenced. The gravediggers egg the pallbearers, however, and are chosen
by the corpse itself when it is first interrogated. In the same fashion
that the tabernacle of the High Gods is carried about in the carry oracle,

the bier with the corpse is carried on the heads of two bearers. These
take it through the village, stopping at various huts. The man living
 ~243—

there must come out to ask the corpse if he is needed, and in the usual

manner of movement forward or sideways, the corpse indicates those who

are to be chosen as gravediggers and coffin makers.

The Boni have three groups: kisimans, o1omans. and wasimans. The
Iatter have the task of washing the corpse. In each lineage there are at
1east one man and One woman who know the correct procedore for the role
of
wasiman. There is no wasiman organization beyond this. The kisimans and
oTomahs have actuai hedemans (chiefs) without whom the work cannot be

carried out. If the local hedeman $3.919 is not present, only a hedeman
from another village may take his ro1e, and select the site for the grave
in the cemetery (which is usua11y across the rtver from the viIIage.)
A
similar qua1iffication appites to the kisiman chief. Kisimans and oiomans
have very specia1 privi1eges: they can draft anyone to aid them, to feed
them, or to lend them tooTS, canoes, etc. This, as among the Djuka who
haVe similar ruIes, emphasizes that a1} the people are united in
the
oingation towards the dead. The Boot treat strangers who die among them
with exactly the same ritual as their own. A Djuka or Saramacca who travels
through their country and succumbs is given the standard funeraI.
Whites
of a11 colors do not rank as believers, and are sent to the Coast.

Preparation g§_the Corpse. The Djuka wrap the corpse in a sheet

or shroud. and place it on a bier which two men carry out of the hut. A
priest of the Great Deity addresses the Mg of the deceased, telh'ng it
the o1omans are ready to take it to the kreihoso (Titera11y "crying house,"
also dedehoso, "house of the dead“), where a1! righteous dead peop1e belong.

If the ciomans take the dead person straight to the kreihoso and circIe
the
prayer pole there, this is a good sign, for it is a1most certain then that
the deceased was not a witch. The spouse of the deceased moves to the
 .244...

kreihoso and strings his or her hammock aiongside the corpse

, head to head.
Usuaiiy other relatives aiso live in the kreihoso untii the
funeral.
Among the Saramecca, the corpse is undressed and wrapped in a sheet,

but the head is ieft free. The body is then pieced in a canoe from which
the pointed ends have been hacked off. The canoe is taken to the dedewosu,
the house of the dead, where it stands on four botties which have been
stuck
heck~first into the ground. Reiatives guard it around the clock; the

spouse must sieep in his (her) hammock aiongside the corpse, head to
foot.
The Boni typdcaliy*aiso out off some of the deceased's hair and
naii parings which are hung in the kreihoso. They do not wind the corpse
or use a shroud, but mereiy wash the body and dress it in clean oiothes
.
A11 objects and ghjg§.are removed. As elsewhere, cotton is pieced
in the
corpse‘s nostriis, and a chinstrap is fastened around its head, to
be
removed when the corpse is put into its coffin. This keeps the zgggg_from
leaving too soon. The spouse, chiidren, and nearest iineage members of the
deceased stretch their hammocks near the corpse, and wiii live
in the
kreihoso until the actuai interment.
w...

Ejg§§~lg§§_fgg'yi§i. If the deceased was a witch, he may never

arrive at the Kreihoso, or it may be a long time before his arriva
i there.
In either case, the Djuka have another test of the righte
ousness of the
deceased. One who has died in a "state of grace“ will have the ability
to
see and understand everything, and this ciairvoyahce is the
first test
given the deceased. As soon as the corpse ieaves for the kreihoso, three
randomly chosen persons are hidden hy the‘viilage elders
in various pieces
in the viiiage. The goggg_demonstrates its sanctity by running its bearer
s
through the viliage and bumping against the doors of the
houses where these
persons are hidden. If this is done with aiacrity, the xgggg is not a
 ~245-

witch. If the deceased yg§_a witch, the goggg'wiil lack clairvoyance. and
the hidden peopie wiii not be discovered: the bearers may bumbie about for
hours, even for days, untii the viilage elders decide to take matters in
their own hands and to curse the xgggg for a witch. Then the corpse is
placed in a collapsed hovei, or in cases where everyone is 3551 certain of
its gigi, it is exposed to the elements and the scorn of everyone. It may
be thrown away with its possessions, and its house may be burned.

There is an interesting interpretation of the test: it disproves

innocence, but it does not prove guiit. Thus, no witch can conceivabiy
pass the ciairvoyance test, because the eyes of the xg:§g_are biinded by
the Great Deity. But it is possible that a person who has condemned a witch

because his corpse‘s bearers couid not locate the hidden peopie wiii Tater

prove«~perhaps through 3333 for the insuit--not to have been a witch, but
to have been prevented from oiear vision through some other mechanism, Iike
ggj§g_bewitched, or not having fulfilled some obligation.

The Saramacca compietely iack the ciairvoyance concept and the

associated hide-and-seek test.

The Bani test and interpretation are quite simiiar: the major
difference is that oniy two peopie hide.

Kisimans. Even before the deceased has been cleared of ngj, the

Djnka kisimans begin the actuai construction of the coffin. Planks are cut
and shaped by adze or axe, aithough it is increasingly common to find
prefabricated planks which the iineage chief keeps for just this purpose.
Once the coffin has been finished, the kisimans wash the corpse and 5293:

gg‘gjgj," iay it out in the coffin. This is much ierger than the corpse
to accomodate the presents which relatives and friends wiii bring, and to
ailow room for the deceased‘s favorite tools and utensiis.
 -245~

The coffin is left open, so that the corpse can be seen, and to

make it possible to address its goggg, Presents are usuaiiy cioth itens,

but sometimes inciude liquor, tobacco, and even cash. Presents are given in
accordance with the importance of the deceased: few cloths for a nobody,

many for a notab1e. Not a}! the gifts are buried with the corpse; some

remain as part of the deceased's 1egacy to the matrdiineage. The kisinens

and oTomans are aiso rewarded out of the graveegifts,

The Saremaccan coffin is a yard high at the head-end, its Iid is

covered with cioth, and its sides are painted with ggmgg3 the sacred white

eiaye The coffin is ciosed as soon as the corpse and its grave~goods have

been pieced inside; it is naiied shut and further secured with strong ropes.

Weapons, tools, food, drink, and many gifts are enciosed. Midwives and
Tapers do not get a coffin buriai but are placed in a canoe which has been

cut in two to make a container, one part as the top, one as the bottom.

They are buried as soon as is decentiy possibie.

Among the Boni, it is understood that the deceased must pay for the
services rendered by the kisimens and olomans. Usuaiiy his brothers pay
off the "undertakers"; each kisiman must receive at ieast 6 pieces of cloth,
each glgmgg at least 10. If the deceased was too poor to pay the reguiar

fEe, then a single piece of cloth may be torn into enough smaii pieces to
reward diggers and coffinmakers at Toast symboiicaiiy. Women prepare food
for the kisimans. Friends and reiatives bring gifts of cloth and rum and
other items, but most of the gifts go to the immediate reiatives of the

deceased, not into the coffin. The kisimans and oiomans also receive gifts.
As soon as the coffin is finished and the body has been pieced inside, it
is ciosed without further fermaiity, and the kisimans as their iast activity

carry it out of the kreihosos This is usuaiiy the end of the second day
 ~247—

after the death took place.

Establishing the Cause of Death. The 19551 is interrogated on the

heads of two bearers, just like the carry oraclesl The questions concern
the life of the deceased, and especially the cause of its death. In the
case of a Brahman, there is also the need to determine his successor. For,
though the Granman announces a successor during his lifetime, the Captains
may not agree upon this heir~apparent. Since the 19x§§_of a deceased is
clairvoyant and perfect, the figggggg_is invited to reaffirm or change his

decision according to his xgggafs new omniscience.

Interrogations, even for an old and unimportant individual whose

death is generally accepted, usually last a couple of days. In the case of

a notable, they nay last for weeks, and in the case of a Granman, months may
pass. Throughout this period, of course, the corpse decomposes; and in the

tropics the stench of putrifying flesh becomes offensive even to those

inured to it. Often the mourning relatives consume great quantities of rum
as a deodorant and to desensitize their olfactony nerves. If the interro-
gation is going to be unusually long, as can be expected for any Brennan‘s
death, an effort is made to conserve the corpse by smoking it on the

barhakot (a drying rack, from the Carib term, from which comes also the
American term “barbecue") in the same manner in which fish or meat are
preserved. This was done with the corpse of Brahman Oseisie, which was

kept out of the ground for fully three months when it-was interrogated in
l9l5.
The fluids which drip from the corpse are carefully collected. At
one time they had a number of ritual uses, such as the bathing of pregnant
women, to ensure that the sterling qualities of the deceased would enter

their unborn children. Sometimes the coffin bearers are rubbed down with
 ~248v

the corpse fluids, presumably to increase the yorka‘s contro

l over them.
The Saramacca do not vary much in these respects. when Brahman
Jankusu died, his body was interrogated and kept unburied for 60 days.
Papaya leaves are burned continuously in an effort to
combat the stench of
putrefaction. Bearers are normally rubbed down with the corpse fluids,
and
Kobe reports that some of the fluids were

... passed around from door to door, while the corpse is

carried
in the rear of the procession headed by the witch~doct
ors and
obeioh priests. Any one who refuses to drink part of this fluid
is supposed to be the one who inflicted death upon the deceas
ed.
There is a modification of this ceremony, in which the
putrid
corpse is carried from door to door suspended upon the shoulders
of four individuals. The procession stops in front of each but
and the witch~doctors ask the question of the corpse, “Is this
the men who killed you?" The four men carrying the body
then
move slightly in such a way as to cause the head or the entire
body to incline to one side or the other.... (Kenn, l929:484).

Beginning with the end of the second day after the death,
the Boni
lanti-krutu (general council) meets in the village of the decea
sed to
render a verdict on the cause of death. It makes judgments on
how well the
deceased has lived, whether the corpse has gained the
right to an honorable
funeral, whether indeed it belonged to a yorke of such
stature as to
warrant being invoked as an ancestor, a granyorka. First, of course, the
decision that the yorka was not a wisiman‘s must be made
official.
The actual interrogation of the gorka on the second and third
day
after death is carried out by two lineage chiefs delegated for
this duty
by the Granman. The yorka, which belongs after all to a person who has
sworn loyalty to the Grenman as the representative of Bonn,
is considered
subservient to these chiefs and will answer their questions.
he relatives
may serve as interrogators. The rites of interrogation are village~specific:
each lineage has its own rules. In some, the corpse is carried before the
coffin is finished, in others the method and type of questions
are unique.
 n249~

The corpse is not carried by the kisimans, olomans. or wasimans,

but by others chosen in some local fashion. The front porter must aiways
belong to the lineage of the deceased. The rear porter (who carries the
heavy hoad~end of the coffin or bier) may be anyone. "Fraud may exist in
isolated cases, but most of the time the good faith of the porters cannot

be doubted" (Hurault, l961:l62. Tr. mine). when the porters become too
tired, they are relieved. Infants are not interrogated, but anyone old

enough to speak--say four or five years of age at the time of death-sis

questioned. Infants are expected to point out their killers in the possessed

trances of some local medium.

The Boni interrogations reveal that the primary cause of death is
£§gflg(see Chapter XI). The interrogation also concerns the inheritance:
unless the dead man has publicly bequeathed his property, his possessions

are named off one by one, and the coffin indicates the recipient of the

item by turning towards him.

Mourning. When the Djnka interrogation is finished, and all is

feund to be well with the dead, the agienti drums play funeral music; Trice
each day, for about an hour, the temporary dwellers in the kreihoso must
cry. Their singing nail is loudest for the rust important notables, or
fOr truly beloved relatives. There is no wailing at night, so that the
x335§§_of evil people will not be attracted. Crying time is announced each
morning with a gunshot.

For the honorable dead's entertainment, there is also the 3352, the
funeral dance which is held periodically as Tong as the corpse remains out

of the grave. This circle dance around the kreihoso is rhythnfic and

accompanied by dirge songs. and it is very popular, especially among the

children.
 ~253-

the bearers take the corpse around the village for the last time, and then

take it to the landing. Drumming accompanies the xorge across the river

to the cemetery, where the relatives of the deceased wait to witness the

burial. The olomans take the coffin, lower it in the grave, place a bed
of branches across the coffin and then fill the hole with earth. The
funeral is over.

Postannerary Ritgals. 0n the third day after the burial, there is

an extensive food offering to the yorka of the newly deceased Djuka and

his xggggrguests and companions. These Eggygj_nzaggan (literally "throw

food") rituals are periodically repeated for generations. The relatives
leave the kreihoso a day or so after the burialt The widow(er) new enters
mourning for a protracted period, usually for twelve months. The matri~
lineal relatives of the deceased dress the spouse in mourning (29§§3_£g
giggfig). and his physical and social activities for the next year are
severeiy curtailed. Periodic weeping is required: during the period of
gigj,glg5§g (deep mourning), which lasts at least three months, the

surviving spouse must cry at least twice a day. It is understood that

the spirit of the deceased hovers around the survivor fer some time.
Therefore, at meals some food and drink are placed on the ground in offer—

ing. When walking, the mourning spouse carries a staff with which he

touches the ground in the manner of the blind. A widower must live with
the family of his wife during mourning. They feed him and take care of
him, and he may not work.

Polo blakka, the taking off of the mourning clothes, may come as
early as three months after the burial, if the deceased's relatives agree
to it. If they do, a delegation of the matriiineage solemnly cuts the
 ~254~

mourning staff in two. But they may insist that the mourning
continue:
some of the truiy conservative groups
may insist upon very much ienger
periods of digi biakka.

If the man had mistreated his wife, or

to her (or if this happened vice vers had been unfaithfh]
a), the fanfiiy of the
deceased might refhse the mourning.
Very poiiteiy they wOuId
say: "Act as if you had divorced shor
tiy befere her death.”
The survivor and his famiiy wii] not
for it wouid make them vulnerabie to the acce
reve
pt this, however,
deceased's spirit. They try to argue the nge of the
out of its attitude, and faiiing this, nega tivist famfily
viiiage councii and eventually the Gran they will turn to the
man. It has never
happened that in [this] highest instance
refused (van Liar, 1940:283. Tr. nfine). the mourning was

A Granman never enters mourning, for

his duties preciude it.

gxgggiggi, the feast of the break

ef day, refers to the rituai
:eiebration which guarantees rest to
the deceased ‘5 $0111. For the Djuica,
this occurs about a year after the
burial. It basicaiiy repeats previous
patterns of singing, dancing, and the teii
ing of aggggjytggi, the tales-of
the spider (see Herskovits a Herskovits,
§§§1ng Folkiore, 1936). The
feast iasts fbur days. This is the signal for several succesai
ve festivi~
ties, each deaiing with some aspect of
normality, such as §g§i_§gf§a
(setting table), the feast for the guests
at the funerai. This too may
iast severai days. Continuousiy after the hxghgvggi and the succ
eeding
feasts (which may iast several weeks) there are
§§g§g§_(councii meetings)
to determine that no one wiii leave the feas
ts with any hard feeiings.
Since the Qggggnggiiis usuaiiy heid fer
a haIf—dozen or more dead people
at the same time, the guests may run into
the hundreds, and the famiiy
which pays far these festivities garners
quite a bit of esteem.
The series of festivities ends the way most
of the individual
feasts end: with a Iibation to the yorkas and the
gragyorkas at their
 ~255-

prayer pole, the-fragatikl.

Saramecce rituals to solemnize the break between

the living and the
dead are very similar, except that there are
a number of reports that the
danger of the deceased's xgggg is not completely
nullified until. at the
end of the mourning, a wldcw has intercourse with
a classificatery brother
to her husband, or until a wldower has slept with
a women from a 19.0ther
than his wife‘s.

Among the Bani, the 23932 gel takes place on

the third clay after
the burial, and the number and length of othe
r rituals seems to be extremely
limited, more cursory, and varied according to
local lineages.

This is a minimal outline for Bush Negro mortuary

customs. Like
everything else in these societies, the funer
al customs undergo change, and
there are numerous variations on these basic
themes due to the character
of the death. There are var?atlons-which-are
-standardized for children,
victims of drowning, albinos, suicides, twins,
etc. Almost the only true
universal is the disgust for the concept of crem
ation. Although the tribes-
men are faofillar with it (the dena and some
other Indian tribes practice
cremation), there is nothing about the custom which they find
attractive.
It is difficult to say whether the mortuary
complex is more
important as a ritual acknowledgement for the soli
darfitx of the living, or
as a ritual proof of the interest of the supe
rnaturals in the doings of
more men.
It is unnecessary to indicate the opportunities
for social control
or the institutionalization of redress which
the mortuary rdtes offer, but
one should consider their aspect as boundary
-maintenance devices:
If some [Bani] leave their group permanently to
and do not return periodically to renew the Oath
liveamong Creoles,
to Odun, it is
 ~255~

believed that they have renounced His laws, and they are suspected
of wisi. It happens that people who have spent a part of their
life among the Creoles return to live in their native village
because they are the prey of adversity or sickness. They are
always welcomed (the lineage cannot expel one of its members) but
they have the greatest chance of being declared wisiman on their
death. This was the case with A., an old woman o? 96 who died
at Asisi in January 1957. After living with Creoles in her youth,
she had returned to live in her native viilage for at ieast 30
years, and had neVer given cause for any unfavorable remarks.
However, on her death it appeared that she had wisi (Hurault,
l961:198. Tr. mine).
obviously even the Boni, who appear to be least preoccupied with
fonerals,
employ them as a check on deviation.

It would seem that each death is seen as a potential-morality play,

an example of the consequences of good and evii, a happy instance
whereby
the social fabric can be strengthened. Obviously, the value of the person—
as—corpse is aimost as great as that of his vaiue as a living member of the
group. But there are limits, and these are also thought«provoking. When
the Saramacca bury a newborn baby or a child too young to have tasted
life,
there is no ceremony. The house it was born into becomes its crypt and is
deserted. And if a woman dies in childbirth, there is no wake, no dancing,

her house is torn down, and she is buried quietly in a fiat coffin,
or
sometimes in no coffin at all. There are no feasts, and no one laughs much,
especially not the other women. Some things are too frightening to be used
as lessons in morality.

The major attribute of the dead, that which makes them indispensabie
to the living, is their faultless ability to perceive the future, to

interpret the present with a vision uncluttered by the flesh, to dispense

a superior and sacred wisdom. The Divine Plan is communicated to the
living via the living. Sometimes the gods themselves speak, sometimes the

carny~oracles illumfinate the mark of alternatives. And each man in his

time may play the part of oracle. Mediums and gorkas demonstrate and
 ~257-

maintein a direct iinkage with the other worid, and provide the contin
uous
reveiation which allows these societies a maximum of ideoiogicai adepti
veness.
Ideology and organization are the two sides of the same cioth.

But therein iies a potentiai danger.

Where the gods speak through the mouths of mortals, their represent-
atives inevitabiy acquire certain charismatic‘attributes.
Where there are
many such representatives, there is a high danger that the "noise-to-si
gnai“
ratio of the divine nessages wili become so great that confusion wiil
resuit
as contradictory messages are "transmitted." When this occurs, the disrup-
tive deviations (which gong so admirebiy reduces on the ecciesiastio
ai ievei)
recur, for 5ggg_cannot operate against the gods or their mediums.
Mediums
and xgr§§§_are the major individual avenues of supernaturai control for
everyday life. Xgrggsfiare seIf-iimiting: after some time a xgrgg_1eaves,
and is not heard from again. And xgrggg, as we have shown, are magnificent
devices for integrating the attitudes and vaiences of the society.
But
possession mediums are Egylx_individuaiistic: no other beings intervene in
their messages, unlike the carry—oracles or the bodies of the dead
they
are not "filtered" through the consciences or consciousnesses of bearer
s.
Theoreticaiiy at Toast, the mediums should be considered the single
greatest
potentia} threat to the organization and cohesion of Bush Negro societ
y.
The tribai groupings do not equally recognize this denger--if
it
exists. Oniy the Tapanahoni D§uka have organized and systematized the

worship of the Great Deity and the reception and expression of His
divine
messages to an extent which effectiveiy controls the transmission
of other
mediums' oracuiar pronouncements. It is not immediateiy evident whether
this posture resuits from an understanding of the potentiei divisiv
eness
which a profusion of divine messengers can bring, or whether it reflec
ts a
 ~258-

mere impatience with competition, Perhaps both explanations are valid.

In any case, we note that the downstream Djuka, the Cottica group,
have not
organized as effectively against the mediums of the lesser gods,
and
neither have any of the other tribes.

ECCLESIASTICS VERSUS REVELATION

The functionaries of the church of the Great Deity, led
by a
Highpriest, form the strongest power group in this [Tapanahoni
Djuka] society, because they can make use of the dependency of
the believers to exert political pressure.

Thoden van Velzen. l966:3. (Tr. mine)

Within the framework of the service for the Great Deity, the
priests perfbrm four tasks:
.9me

. the consultation of the oracle,

the distribution of the Sacraments,
!

the perfOrmance of purification rites,

O

the celebration of offerings to important ancestors.

I

Thoden van Velzen, 1966:122‘ (Tr. mine)

Since the advent of the church of the Great Deity, privat
e possession
is no longer the major technique for divining the will of the supern
aturals
among the Djuka of the Qggyclans. There, the organization of oracularity
has so diminished the opportunity for "amateur" possession that
an actual
nonopoly has been created which gives a single gee of a single
lg the
ultimate control over both sacred and secular behavior.
That this power
base affects the structure and the alternatives for Bjuka social
organiza-
tion needs no further emphasis since Thoden van Velzen (l966)
has elaborated
and documented the concept.

The basis of the monopoly is simple: no one may sacrifice to the

Great Deity, or invoke His aid or advice, without the intervention
of a
priest. Since only the male members of the black gee of the 0ttro~lg may
become His priests, that lineage’s importance increases as the service
of
 -259~

the Great Deity spreads throughout the everyday life of the Djuka.

The actual body of knowledge which the priests possess is trans-

mitted within the lg‘by the expressed consent of the god Himself. From
among their nephews and cousins, the consecrated priests elect a pious young
man who seems to show talent in this field, and enter him upon an intro-
ductory course of study. When the novice has been sofficientiy educated
and tested, the Great Deity is consulted in the form of His Oracle (see

below), to see if the lad is acceptable to Him as His priest. In case of

an afiirmotive answer, the novice next accompanies the priests to the

fragatiki, the altar to the Granyorkes (the ancestors), where o lihation

is offered and the ancestors' aid is requested in the new priest's future

work. This constitutes his ordination.

In the Pediujg‘at Tabiki, the priesthood to Gedeonsu is taught and
perpetuated in the some fashion as Gwangweila‘s but there are far fewer

priests. Van Lier (1940:203) believed that this indicates an attempt to

center the power and wealth of the priesthood in a few hands. Whether or
not his interpretation of motive was correct, it is a fact that the Gedeons
u
worship is of far less importance today than the Great Deity’s. This is
evidenced in the quite disparate attention given the two entities. There
are five churches dedicated to the Great Deity: Two are in the Tapanahoni
area, in Dritabiki and Gran-bori; one is in Cottica territory, in Agitiondre;

near Paramariho there is one in Santigron; and the last one is in Pandasi-
kiki on the Sara Creek. But there is only one church of Gedeonsu "the god
of agriculture," in Tabiki (Thoden van Velzen, 1966:122)t
“Church,” as Thoden van Vel zen employs the termrhas a specific

meaning which I accept for the purposes of the present discussion. His
attention is focused upon the organization of power groups in Djuka society,
 e260“

and naturally centers on priests (lukumans) as the diagno

stic aspect of
ecclesia. He defines the concept "church" on the basis of its discus
sion
by Max Weber:

The definition of Max Weber gives us: “....a communit organized

b officials into an institution which bestows ifts 0 race...
rth an Mi 5, p. 28 . I on erstan y t a concept c arch"
an organization which gassesses a monogoly over certain sacraments.
fly 'or anizat on" I mean a rou whic eVi ences a carefu
delineated division of labor amen its méfihers lThoaen van
Velzen,
i§§§zl§l. Emphasis his. ir. mine}.
It is only in Djuka society that the ecclesiastical levei
of
religious organization has been achieved. For the Bani and the Saramacca.
possession is still the central social mechanism for divination, and
especialiy among the Saramacca the trance is seen and sought as an
avenue
towards personal power.

Among the Boni, the rites to the cult of Odun are known to
only two
persons: the Granman and another aiderly man who takes his place when
the
Granman is on a trip. Since the Granman is the last member of his lg,
the priesthood of noun cannot be restricted to one lg_amo
ng the Bani, and
it will not die out when the Dikan lg ends with the death of the
present
(l958) High Priest and Granman.
[The rites of the cult of Odun] are practiced only on the occasion
of the renewal of the collective oath against wisi, thus every two
or three years, and when it is necessary to implore Odun*s mercy
for a sinner. The officiating priest washes the transgressor
's
body with a potion of mashed leaves which only the priest knows
how to prepare (Horaclt, 1961:l97. Tr. mane).
Junker reported (1922:453) that the worship of Grantata has been
taken over from the Djuka in some of the Saramaccan villages,
but that it
was far from typical. There are priests among the Saramacca. of course,
but they serve Gran Gado in His sacred village of Dahomey, and neithe
r the
number nor the functions of His consecreated servants is clear.
We do not
know if Gran Gado and Odun are the same being: Hurault‘s implication is
 ~261-

that these are two names for the some god, but the names may in fact refer

to different manifestations, or as in the case of Grantata-Gwanggeiia and

Gedeonsu, to quite different entities. It is odd, in this connection, that
the carefui end extensiveiy researched van Lier (1940) does not mention
Gdun as a Saromaccan deity at 311: he describes Him exclusiveiy as a Boni
god.

A true church with a true ecclesiastic priesthood must inevitabiy

ofinimize the disorganizing effects of diviners, of reiigious figures in
the lower levels of cult institution. As was noted above, this is true
among the Djuka for the priests of Grantata, the Great Deity, who apparently

are graduaiiy succeeding in their attempt to iinfit the infiuence of the

mediums of other gods.

No efforts are spared to prevent the possibiiity that the mediums

nfight become charismatic ieaders who wouid undermine the control
of the church. But there is a gratefui use of the mediums, and
they may certainiy be supported if the poiitical situation demands
it (case 18). [See Murder of a co—wife.) In generai, the priests
exhibit a ndid distaste for ecstatic forms of religious experience.
They taik about the mediums of gods and kunus oniy with great
reserve. Possession is viewed as an inferior form of contact with
the gods; very often it is aiso seen as something vuigar, fitting
oniy for women and the peopie Downstream. Through systematic
investigation in three Upstream viiiages I found, however, that
of the 87 men above the age of 30 there were stiii 33, (38%) who
were mediums. If we count the women aiso, then the percentage of
mediums in the age group above thirty becomes 43%. Among the
personnei of the church, only the second priest is a medium.
During the 18 months of my fieidwork, his deity did not manifest
itseif even once. The third priest has tried for years to beoome
a medium. He underwent the rituai and Tearned the songs for the
Kumanti gods in the hope that some iucky day one of them would
manifest himseif. In the end he had to a ree that this wouid
never happen to him. One of the bearers of the God] remarked in
this connection that he was certain of never being possessed by
any god, either. “he priests aren't that kind of peopie," he
added. ... It thus appears that the priests of the Great Deity
can afford to ignore this important power mechanism (Thoden van
Veizen, 1966:191. Tr. mine).
Van Lier (1940:203) and Junker (1925:158) aiso reported that the
priests of the High Gods (Grantata and Gedaonsn) were not normaiiy
 -262-

possession-prone. Van tier states that seizure §gg§§_occurs among them. to

which de Goeje (in van Lier, 1940:203) adds the editoriai comment that
"one may deduce from this that these High Gods are continuousiy active in

their priests" (Tr. mine).

Carry-oracles aiiow the priests a degree of social control which
they Tack when mediums are speaking. Who knows what the possessed wiii
say? But the priests are not possession-prone, and when the carryuoracle
is interrogated, its bearers are priests and its interrogator is a priest.
This is also true among the Saramacca, as Price attests:
The typicai seance involves a very subtie interplay between
bearers and interrogator, with first one, and then the other
taking the Iead. In fact, a particular outcome is usuaiiy
irreievant to these diviners; any of several canses-—either
sociai or religious-«which need pubiic expression is
appropriate. The game is iargeiy a matter of who (bearers
or interrogator) can fabricate the most interesting,
piausibie, or entertaining reiationship between the problem
at hand and a potentiei explanation. (1959:44-45).
He adds here in a footnote:

The techniques by which interrogator and bearer cue each other

are highiy nuanced. I was aware that interrogators signalled
with eye movements, intonation; sentence structure, and order
of questions. The comparable techniques of the bearer(s)
depend largely on the particuiar type of divination. But
even the mute bearers of hand-borne sacred bundles can easiiy
steer the interrogation by their answers and suggestive
movements which often initiate new iines of questioning. The
most challenging probiem-fbr‘anaiysis is the means of communi-
cation between the two bearers of such an orecie, who ostensi-
biy act as one. The ieve] of consciousness with which partic-
ipants understand these various cues is difficuit to assess,
figge tgough used by many, to discuss them wouid be sacriiege
- 9:4 .

There is thus.nothing mysterious about the priesthood’s obvious preference

for carryaoracies both in necromanqy and in the questioning of the Divine.

Nor is the denigration of the mediums surprising.

Thoden van Veizene(1966) notes other aspects of this ecciesiasticai
battle against the possession mediuns. The priests habituaiiy unmask as
 ~263~

fakes any gaggyh§§i_who interfere with the politics of the churc

h, and at
all times try to subject the mediums to their control and
direction.
Public possession dances are obstructed as much as possi
ble, and are almost
never held in Dritabiki. The inhabitants bemoan this fact
"since it
severely reduces their appertunities fer fun, convi
viality and artistic
expression.“ And when the mediums §5g_allowed to utter the words of the
supernaturals, they just are not treated with the respe
ct which these same
priests show towards their own Oracle.

Against the competitors from the West, the missions, there

are
simiiar postures. The major difference is that the Christian churches have
been consciously emulated both as organizationai and as
ideationai models
(see Chapter XV).
It is difiicolt fer Westerners to keep from automatically
separating
the functions of institutions according to the agencies which
fulfill these
functions in the West. In other words, it is difficult
to see how the
ggtggl maintenance of a society and its relationships
can he a function of
prophecy or divination, how the legal and the religious
organizations can
be one. In order to clarify this central aspect of Bush Negro
society, and
to illustrate some attributes aiready discussed such as
possession and
revelation, an actual example is needed. The one which foilows is an
extremely detailed-and unavoidably lengthy quotation from the
oniy western
expert on, and personal witness to, a great number of
Djuka ecclesiastical
court cases. Thoden van Velzen witnessed a hundred divinations in the
court of the Great Deity at Dritabiki. He describes seventy of these
in his dissertation. Our example comes from his notes {1966:137—141. Tr.
mine):
Case 18.‘ Murder of a co~wife.
 ~264-

A Captain from the Downstream village of Niki reports to the

assembly about a young woman named Sa [sister] Naju, from the
village of Klementi. She became very ill in the Commewijne
district, and began to have attacks of possession. Her family
thought that she had been attacked by an evil spirit which was
making her sick. Naju‘s father, continued the Captain,
immediately stopped his work in a lumber camp in order to take
her to Dritabiki as fast as possible. The Captain adds: "We
know that only the Granman can help us." Barely has he finished
speaking when the bearers [of the oracle] run straight at the
high priest; the first bearer almost trips over him. This
“nudging” is considered one of the possible expressions of the
oracle besides fiyes" and "no" reactions and furious outbursts.
It means that the Deity invites the high priest to take part
in the secret discussions.

The bearers turn around and disappear between the huts. The
priests follow the bundle, led now by the high priest. After
ten minutes, bearers and priests return to the assembly. The
hi h priest addresses the speaker ... and has him ask the Neutrals
E a whether the ghost of Naju has said anything yet.
Committee discussions follow among the Neutrals to prepare the
answer. After five minutes they return, with Bakisi, the Malobi
Captain, as reporter. The Captain announces that the ghost
indeed has spoken many times, but that no one has been able to
make heads or tails of it. In an emotional tone he recounts how,
when they were nearing Dritabiki, the spirit had suddenly entered
Naju again. “The men had to hold her down. The boat almost
capsized. Do you think that that can all be aboveboard?“.
Here the Captain makes an open attempt to have the spirit disqualiw
fied as evil, something which has to be exercised as soon as
possible. and to which no one need listen.
The holy bundle once again disappears behind the huts, and this
time the High Priest accompanies it without being asked. 0h
returning he is again the reporter: "The Great Deity orders the
ghost to speak. Let him show us whether he is good or evil.“
The bearers bless Naju by moving the bundle across her. The
Speaker of the Oracle faces Najo and says, addressing the spirit:
“Great Lord, you have heard. we are waiting“.

Naju, who is sitting on the patient’s bench, bends fonnerd,

while shocks jerk through her body. For ten minutes, nothing
else happens, and there is only patient waiting. Suddenly the
girl gives wild cries which can be heard throughout the quiet
village. The spirit has manifested itself. Curious women and

1The Neutrals are neither priests nor litigants, but representatives

of the larger society; usually people from other lineages and villages.
They act as official witnesses, friends of the court, and incidentally, one
suspects, as a sort of jury.
 ~265~

children, avidly seeking sensation, run toward the assem

take places under the overhang of a building which...
bly. They
serves as
public galleny.

In a clear and strong voice, very dramatically and

solemnly
because she is tnying to speak in the fashion of the
city Creoles
[ ], the girl narrates the story of a murdered woman
from the
village of Tahiti, named "Sadjeni" ...,

“During the reign of Chief Amatodja (1937-1947). Da Sando

Naju's father, was married to Ma Maiki, a woman from Klemen
li.
He decided to marry a second woman, and chose Sadje ti.
ni. From the
beginning, the relationship between the co-wives was tensa
it became explosive when Sadjeni let it be known that
, but
she was
expecting Sandoli's child‘"

“One day when Sadjeni was washing dishes at Klementi's

warf, Maiki, Naju‘s mother, picked an argument with her.
She
accused her co-wife of trying to cheat her out of her husban
Soon the two women were fighting, Maiki, aided by her mothed.
and
r
mother‘s sister, pulled Sadjeni to the ground. They kicke
he; 3? the stomach, because of which Sadjeni had a d
nfiscarriage
an ed."

Naju told this tale in short sentences interspers

ed with
moaning. Here is an example of how she uttered the accus
"How in the world is it possible “it they call themselves ation:
they held me down l.“ he Maiki, her mother, and that one's human ...
they tread on my stomach it“ First one, then the other
sister ...
... they
tread until the red fluid came .l. my ggngi_was soake
d with the
red fluid ... the red fluid All I defended myself ... I
foo ht to
be free ... as only a woman from Tabiki can fight ... (etc.
During this indictment, a number ot’wvmen on the public ".
sit head in hand, in the correct posture of guilt. They
galle ry
belong
to Naju‘s lineage. When the medium has finished, the high priest
concludes that this is no longer a case for the Deity. “Here
but one answer will fit: ‘The Klementi people are guilty‘."
The high priest orders Sandoli to get food for Maiki and
mother's sister. (The mother was already dead). The judgmeher
that the women will stay in Dritahiki to serve forced_lahor
nt is
.
Also, the high priest lets it be known that the spirit of Sadjen
has his complete pernfission to run rampant among the "murd i
clique," as he calls it with unusual violence, erers

The Neutral Captains now leave for secret committee talks.

After long deliberation they return, and Bakis
i, again reporter
for the group, announces that the Neutrals
approve the fury of
the deity and accept the judgmentl In the
name of the Neutrals
he begs the high priest, however, to do what he can to have
the

[1] Among the Djuka it is normal for the medium‘s words to be

pronounced in the accents of Paramardbo Sranan (Thodeh van
Velzen 1966:28).
 ~266-

Kuno reconciled to the peopie. Since this spirit has

as his victim, it is feared that he means to kill the taken Naju
lineage
members of the girl. Further, it is felt that more punishment
fer the guilty will not temper the anger of the Kunu.

when the captain finishes his plea, the bundle on the

swings wildly to and fro. “hell, you asked far it," says beare
the
rs
high priest, "and there it isf The Deity is angry with the
shameiessness of the Downstream peopie. They commit a
crime and
then they have the nerve to ask for favors. They are
rotten
through and through! With their foolhardy behavior they call up
one Kunu after another. Yes, we have witches here too, even if
most of them live with you people. But Kunus? (turning to his
villagers) Have you heard about any Kunus the last few years?
"
A general mumbling among the priests to the effect that
has been such a long time we can't even remember it“. The "it
high
priest continues: "The basis of all this lies in the fact that
people do not come to me with their troubles. They beat each
other up whenever they like. And then later on ye are expected
to clean up the mess. I‘m going to ask the Government Assistant
to give mgflthe salaries of those Captains in the future." In
a matter-of—fact aside “I already know what I‘m going
to spend
it on." He ends with the pathetic outcry: "Downstrea
m People,
return to the path of righteousness." After this tirade.
new
committee consultations of the Neutrals are followed with
new
pleas to the high priest to help. Finally the high priest
acquiesces, and no one is surprised: he is supposed to acquie
sce.
He now gives practical directions aboot what is to be done next.
Bakisi he expects to shoulder the costs of the judgment, since
Bakisi is the counsel for the Klementi group. Since this is a
serious case in which one person has died already, these
court
costs involve four liters of tafia [native rum] instead of the
customary one liter. Again there are connfittee discussions
among
the Neutrals. Their speaker, now another Captain, reques
ts the
high priest to be satisfied with two liters, since the treatm
ent
of Naju hasn‘t been completed on this day. The high priest
considers this a reasonable request and agrees.
A week later we return to this case. The spirit of Sadjeni
is again called forth. Naju, again in trance. tells the same
story. This time she is confronted with her mother and her
grandmother‘s sister. After Naju's "deposition." the high
priest
asks the women whether the spirit speaks truth. After a
long "
hesitation, one of the woman answers that it happens exactl
y
as the ghost says. The high priest warns them that they must
realize that they cannot expect a light sentence. He announ
ces
that both women must remain in Dritabiki for an undetermined
period. Furthermore, he demands that their lineage give a great
reconciliation feast to the ghost of Sadjeni in the village where
she lived. that is, in Tabiki. The high priest then orders one
of the Neutral Captains to "lead the ghost back“. The Captain
takes the medium by the hand and brings her to the Captain of
 was

«267-

Tabiki. The latter solemnly beg

s the ghost to leave things as
they now are and not to kill
anybody. Medium and Captain
hands for a long time. Finall shake
y, Naju is ritually washed, and
priests put a stole around her the
as a present from the Great Dei
ty.
Thoden van Velzen adds that this
court case occurred in November
1961, and that the next year the
women did indeed work for the
Brahman.
Forced labor does not mean con
tinual lab0r, but implies onl
y that the figggmgn
has the right to expect work fro
m those who have been convicted,
whenever
he wants it. The usual period of servitude
is two or three years. The
“prisoners” receive room and boa
rd from the Brahman, but no pay
ment.
Usually their service is enlist
ed only during periods of high
activity,
such as at the cutting of a new
garden plot, or during the harves
t. women
perform various household duties for
the figagmgn and his fhnfilies, and
cook for the men who have been
assigned to "public works projec
ts" by the
Oracle. The two women in question nevert
heless lived in their own villag
e
most of the year. in order to
work their own gardens. That
in the past
suc "convicts" actually moved
to Dritabiki was probably becaus
e their own
clansmen rejected them. There is no evidence that the people
in Dritabiki
discriminate against those who
are undergoing punishment. In particular.
those who do change their residence
to Dritabiki are completely accept
ed
in the group called "The Granma
n's People.“ In fact, their close associa-
tion with the chief gives them
unusual opportunities, and they
enjoy a
degree of protection which others
lack.
If the method of judgment and
the punishment in the above cas
e
appear relatively uncomplicated and
lenient, the background of this ora
cular
decision shows a great deal of pol
itical manipulation. Sadjeni’s mur
der
did not take place in l960, but
in the early ’forties, and was
the reason
for a massive vengeance action ('g
gtg fgti) during which all the men
from
Tabiki attacked Klementi villag
e, beat on all the permanent inh
abitants,
 ~268-

destroyed the househoid goods of these peopie, and

cut down their fruit
trees. Amatodja, then the chief in Dritabiki, ordered
the notabies from
both viiiages to meet with him, but according to Thoden
van Veizen‘s
informants, no decision was reached, perhaps because
no way had been
discovered to punish Maiki's 1ineage. A haif a year before the reported
Gracie, the affair had been dredged up once again. There had been many
recrinfinations and insuits, and finally Bakisi,
the~€aptain from Maiobi,
secretly informed the Brahman, who caiied both parti
es to Dritabiki.
In Kiementi there was much anger at Bakisi, who was
caiie
sneaky sienderer (“Konkuman”). During the deiiberetions, d a
Bekisi
takes the rote of reporter. Though in the beginning he keeps
quiet and thus realiy piays a neutrai roie, iater he chang
tack hy disqueiifying the medium, thereby aiding Kiementi es his
again.
Perhaps this is an attempt to regain some of his iost
reputation
in that village, (Thoden van Veizen, 1966:142. Tr. mine).
The phenomena are exempiified in this Case of the Murde
red Co~wife.
One is the seifeconsciousiy dramatic aspect of the
perfbrmances. Through
a process which must be analogous to the “wiiiing suspension
of disbelief”
required of participants in any fictive performance, the
pubiic and the
actors themselves watch the dramatis personae pursue a
pint as rigidly
predetermined as any stage play. There are fewer reai surprises even than
in a Western court case wherein at least the gossibiiit
y of unexpected
evidence exists. In short, the ceremonial aspect of Bush Negro moot law
extends far beyond the overt and expiicit behaviors
of the litigants, and
demonstrates a fine sense of rituei. This on the surface somewhat
insincere behavior is attested by Thoden van Veizen when
he notes:
The medium gathered much honor with her "performance". Immedi
ateiy after the one of her trance, the women from her matri- -
1ineage knotted-two stoies around her shouiders. It is said
this is done to honor the ghost, but in fact it depends on that
whether or not the act is considered sufficientiy impre
ssive or
not. The giri was aiso embraced by many women who told her how
weii she had brought it off (1966:143. Tr. mine).
 ~269—

The other factor is that the Djuka High Priest takes an active part
in the decision-making process. He decides not oniy what the punishment
is to be, but is the head of the committee of priests who divine the deity‘s
wiii. He takes over as reporter, and decides when the case is no ionger to

be decided by the deity.

It must he noted that there jg‘reai shock at the crime: no one
argues with the judgment, even though it is standard procedure for the

Neutrais to attempt to 1esseo the sentence.

Finaiiy, §§§§_l§*demonstrates that Egng_is being downgraded as a

controi mechanism. Apparentiy the church does not encourage the ambiguity

of private heiis.... It was noted eariier that the priesthood activeiy

attempts to limit the infiuence of mediums, who are reai or potential

competitors for the priests' power in Djuka society. In addition, siight-
ing remarks were made about peopie who have 53335 in the court case above.
Obviousiy. gong, too, is a competitor to the monopoiy of power:

Not every person who is murdered by the lineage actuaiiy becomes

a 5333, A few years ago two women beat an old woman to death in
a quarrei. ,"The oid woman‘s spirit piays nasty tricks on the two
women who killed her, for instance by frightening them when they
are aione in the forest to reiieve nature. But it is not a real
gggy_yet, for it has not manifested itseif in anyone so for. The
two women are being treated by the priests of the Great Deity to
prevent it from turning into a reai 5232? (Kobben, 1957:18).
l: the priests of the Great Deity can learn to control the expression of

5392) and if they can iinfit the effect of the goggyrepresentatives in the
various lineages, then they wili have defeated the most powerful obstacie
to their totai domination of Djuka society. We may be witnessing the

birth of a new Ievei of sociei organization in the bush. It is too earfly

) to tel} whet wiil be deiivered. but the most obvious aiternetives are a
theocracy of hereditary priest~ru1ers, or a conical—ciao system based

upon kinship-distance from the black gggpof*the Gttro-lg.

 "270—

If the black iine of the Ottro cian succeeds in consolidating its

monopoly over both the sacred and the secuiar centers of power in Djuke

society, their evolving structure wiii probably be copied by the Saramacca,

for the latter have organizationai probiems in profusion because of their

"nomadism." It is much less Tikeiy that the Bani wili be intrigued by

this assauit upon the individuai's decision-making capacity. What will
the other groups evolve? There is not enough data avaiiabie an the Paramacca,

Matuari, and the lesser groups of bakabushi iineages even to warrant any

hunches.

In any case, whether the Djuka develop the conicai ciah system or

an even mere fermaiized erganization, the "State Within The State"I wouId
open a who1e new universe of aiternatives. What if the Church of the Great
Deity begins ts presertize among the other tribes? What if, under a centrai
authority, the Djuka again deveiap a "favorite status" with the Surinam
government, since they wi11 be sinpier to deai with than Tess centraiiy~

controiied tribes? What if they succeed in “modernizing” to the point

where they can successfuiiy compete with Christian missionaries, even among
the City Creoies? Opportunities abound, if, indeed, the church of the

Great Deity defeats figgg and the independent mediums. That is a massive
presupposition, however. gang, as outiined eeriier, is still the mainstay
of both the explanatory and the iegitimation functions of the ideoiogy,
and the controi device fer excgamy. But apparentiy, as deben indicated,

W933 be manipuiated.
Shouid we see in the next féw years the entrance of the red beg of
the 0ttro~lgfiinte the power role cf the Djuka, we wiii have to consider

1This is how Junker (1932b) referred to the existence of rela»

tiveiy independent tribes within the Surinam coiony.
 ~27l~

the possibility that conical clanship is developing.

Should we see a different change in the relationship between the
two Ottro Qggg, such as their split into separate clans, we can be assured
that a still greater level of power centralization is being developed.

There do not appear to be any effective institutionalized checks

upon the development of such centralization among the Djuka. The obvious
alternatives to a power grab would be (l) a renaissance of the importance

of Gedeonsu or another oracle—end, or (2) general ideological conversion.

The latter is extremely unlikely for reasons already discussed (see Chapter

IX). Since the Paramount Chief and the High Priest of the Djuka both legit~

imately come from the Ottro-lgé and therefore in face £332 authority. the
position of Gedeonsu, Tebu, fij_Geanda. and fifggg is of necessity weakened
by their very division.

The evolution of power control among the Djuke is a foregone

conclusion. Judging from the creative originality which the tribesmen have
developed their other institutions, the next step in this evolution ought

at the very least to be an instructive one.

 CHAPTER XIII

THE SHAMANISTIC PATTERNING

The shaman ... is a ubiquitous figure in the reiigious iife of
the worid. He is an individuai practitioner who performs
ritaai for a fee on behaif of individuals or groups. Aithough
the services of the shaman are, in principie, capabie of being
directed at any reiigious 90a], he tends to concentrate on the
diagnosis and treatment of illness. Because of his association
with therapy, he is also often 1inked with witchcraft and may be
suspected of seiiing his skiiis to controi, coerce, or injure
human beings (Wallace, 1966:125-126).
All ideoiogies must deai with the fact that bad iuck befaiis hen
regardiess of the quality of his relations with the supernaturai. The agents
of misfortune must be uncovered so that they can be deait with. Sometimes
they are physicaiiy obvious, other times they must be divined. Witches are
loci of evii which must be indicated either through their sociai behavior
or through divination. Medical expertise attempts to iocate the perpetrators
of 1ess obvious eviis. be these supernatural or secular, and to correct
and
prevent future mishaps.
The biack cuitures in the Surinam bush incorporate a variety of

concepts which aid the individual in reducing the aabiguity of his environment.
Some of these may be ciassed under the rubric of sickness and heaiing; others

are definiteiy devices for maintaining

the relationship between man and
gods. In genera}, they require the attentio
n of an expert, a part-time
speciaiist. As such, the shamanistic ievei of cuit inst
itution includes.
first, the concept‘ggia and its associat
ed rituai paraphernalia, than a
category of people who perform shamanis
tic services, and iinaiiy, the
psychosociai concepts incorporated in ethn
o-medicine.

OBIA

A number of different spirit objects prot

ect the community and the
~272w
 ~273v

individual against natural or supernat

ural dangers. On the tribal scale,
these obias are exemplified by the
Djuka reliquarios of the Great Deit
y at
Dritabiki. Purportedly this obia
consists of sacred objects such as
the
head, hair, nails, or blood-spatte
red clothes of heroes fallen in bat
tle
against the whites, and of seeds and cott
on from the first plantings in the
bush. Some nail clippings and head hair of
the previous Granman are always
kept to guide the present Paramount Chie
f. At his death these are buried
with him and replaced with clippings from
his corpse to guide his successor
(van Lier, 1940:131«l34).

The Gran-obia of the Saramacca was firs

t described by Junker, who
reports that the tribesmen told him
they had brought it with them from
Africa:

The obia consists of three parts, which

but the priests.
are served in a temple by
The primary portion [or aspect], feti
might cail the war god of the Saramacca. obia, we
smells their nearness. He is also very He hate s whit es and
If many shots are fired, he suspects
sensitive to gunshots.
that
engaged in battle with the whites, and thenhis black children are
great difficulty in convincing him of his his servants have
error, and in calming
him down.

The second art of the obia heals

all wounds, especially
broken bones. ffiunker grudgingly implies
efficacy of the aspect of the obia, havi his belief in the
ng seen its effects.]
... The third part of the chic announce
in the upper~river area. KIT, even thes the intentions of whites
Paramount Chief, are
subject to its decisions (Junker, 1922:457
u458. Tr. mine).
At his writing, the Saramacca still beli
eves that war with the whites was
inevitable, but that the Gran-Obie woul
d bring them victory in battle.
The large tribal obias are usually too
secret to be seen by outsiders,
and often their very discussion is cons
idered dangerous. The village in
which the Gran-obias is kept is Dahomey,
and it is forbidden to whites,
“who would die in a day shouid they put foot
inside it." Junker (l922:457)
claims to have tried to visit it several
times in 1917, always without
 «274-

success. The fact that he 1et it be known that he wished to "spoil"

the
ghig_mey have had something to do with that. Herskovits (1934
:17iei72)
found that the natives wouid not even show him Dahomey‘s
ianding pier as
they paddied his boat past it. He was told that he must
have faiien asleep
when it was pointed out to him,1 and that this usuai
iy happened to white
men whom the gods did not want to kill but whom they
wouid not aiiow in the
viiiage. There is a multitude of individual charms:
usuaiiy anything
which has pgg§g_(white ciey) covering it is an ghig, and
pgmhg is used on
a variety of pretexts. There are certain rules about the treatment of
nggs, Since they have protective strength, there is a dange
r of‘weakenihg
that strength, and certain substances such as §g£g_(fish
poison) may not
be placed near or on an ggig, Test it spoiT the ggigf
s power (van Panhuys
in ENNI:164).
The Kromanti amulets have a special function: they not oniy protect
the wearer, but the iron armband or ggi_(from Dutch gggi;
shackle, fetter,
handcuff) actuaiiy warns the individuai of danger by
tightening around his
biceps. (Kromanti and other ghjgg are discussed at
1ength in Herskovits &
Herskovits, esp. 1934:307«321.)

Creveux was the first to report that the Bani posse

ssed a major
ggjg, "a crude statue of ciey, remarkabie for its
immense breasts; This
type of deity is caiied Mamagron, Mother of the
Eart " (Creveux, 1883:43.
Tr. mono). Mamagron is made of clay and appears to
be reiated to the
Kromanti Mama which the Herskovitses reported for
the Saramacea. Kromahti

11h 1963, Professor Herskovits toid me that he

and his wife passed
Dahomey several times during the period of his
fieldwork, but that they
"slept" through the passage so often that they began
to beiieve there was
something invoived beyond the protective deceptions
They never of their boatsmen.
aetuaily §§w~Dahomey.

m. A "a... M ,,. m. _ ,, W, ,4 t W”. New—«w .. We. W W We “no /»« » ow" _ u News..." «W mwtmwnw.“ mm W
 ~275—

ggjggflprotect the members of the Kromanti socie

ties among the Saramacca,
and in the Kromenti houses “there are paintings on the waiis
in bTack and
red, the Kromanti coiors, and in the white of the sacred pemba.
There
were, we were told, whitened benches that had about their
tops the grass
skirt of a kind worn by the obia man when he danced.“ The Kroma
nti flame
itseif was made of Egmhg and was shown to the Herskovitses
on a ggmgar
covered bench {Herskovits & Herskevits. 1934:324-325).

The Boni have other important ghjg§, among which are the Kumenti
ggj.and the ޤg_ngggg.ggig, The former are Functionaiiy identicai with
the Kromanti ggi‘of the Saremacca, and are probably deriv
ed from them.
Kumenti ggi§_are fiber braceiets which are not worn, but are
kept in a
safe pTace in their special ggig_boxes. They are generai purpo
se Qgigg,
which ensure not only an invuinerahiiity to weapons when
the wearer is in
a trance, but aiso provide heaith, wealth, and peace of mind.
Like aii
Kumenti ghiggg the bui must be periodicaiiy and rituaiiy renew
ed at the
orders of a Kumenti god, that is, when the god‘s medium orders
it.
The "ggigpfor male Negroes,“ the Egg aggggggggya, affords a
sinfiiar general protection. This too is an armband, but made of iron and
worn high on the biceps. This ggj§_protects the wearer permanently from
weapons, without any trance aspects. Like the Saramacca version of the
Knomanti 231, the armband warns its wearer of danger by tighte
ning around
the upper arm. To get such protection, the buyer of the ggjgtundergoes

a pretreated ritual bath in herbaT waters, and is washed carefu

iiy by an
obiaman, an eider who has the knowledge of the gag neggg'ggjg, To
retain
the protection, one must renew the ggig_fbur times each year: each
time,
the washing is repeated three times per day for fifteen days.
A11 this is
done in great secreqy, and the wearer ef the obia must far
this period
mm . “unramw

~276-

abstain from ggz'contact with the female sex; even conversati

on is forbidden.
Hurauit notes that this is the same ggig'which in the past
was referred to
as Egg fggi,g§jgfi "fighting men’s obia“ (Hurauit, 1961:249). None of the
dangerous ggjg§_are worn by women, although the femaie
Bush Negroes in oi?
the tribes use a number of lesser protective devices‘
The majority of
these are specific to the individuai and wiii be discussed Iater.

Aside from the major and the personai ggigg, there are other
types
which serve to protect smalier groups from erg}. Every viiiage entrance
is draped with a fringe of paim fronds (txi;;nga or kifunga‘),
which
supposedly wards off wisimans and the spirits of the evii
dead (do Goeje,
1908:995; Herskovits & Herskovits, 1934 Bessim; Hurauit,
1961:253; van
Liar, 1940:244—245; van Panhuys in ENWI:164. Others wiii be discussed
later in Q§j§§_§§_fimglg§§, see Chapter XIV).
Qgi§§_can be used aggressively. According to ENWI (515~516)there
are certain ggigs which can harm an enemy. These are usuaiiy pieced
inside a bottle and buried where the enemy is expected to
walk. (Here the
9&1; thus has some of the characteristics of gigj:) The Djuka sometimes
use the drippings from corpses to strengthen their ghjgs,

One who knows the secret of making a special charm is an obiame

n.
Most such individuals have extremeiy iihfited repertories becaus
e their
knowledge oniy comes from one particular deity, who will not divuig
e the
secrets of other gods. A Bush Negro, who typicaiiy would own a variet
y of
Q§i§§, therefore has to buy them from a number of obiamans. Among the Djoka,
the term refers to a person who has a possession reiationship
with a_g_a_§ga
a god, as well as to one who prepares charms and amuiets. Consequently it
WW

lhureuit also noted the term a259, which he says (1961:253) was
borrowed from the Fan of Dahomey.
 -277--

is difficult to determine whether obiamens are in fact shaman

s or priests.
Possibly the former are being replaced by the latter.

0n the personal level, obias are frankly magical. But it is

necessary to remember that this fact does not imply that all,
or even most
of the tribesman's thinking is therefore “primitive”:

The magic of the Bush Negroes could lead one to believe that
they think they are acting directly on men through the mediation
of plants which have magical properties. This would be a serious
error. The spirits of animals and plants are placed on an
inferior level, and are absolutely incapable of acting independ~
ently upon man. Plants are supposed to act only to the extent that
they appear to be capable of attracting and holding the vital
strength which emanates from the gods.

A currently popular idea about aninfisniwould lead one to think

for example, that before cutting down a tree, a Bush Negro would
speak to it and make offerings to it. This is entirely absent
from his thoughts. Either the tree is capable of serving as the
pedestal of a god, in which case one nfight touch it only after
complex rites have succeeded in transferring the god elsewhere,
or else it is simply a tree, and one cuts it down without furthe
r
ado (Hurault, l96lzl93. Tr. none).
The concept “Obie” is found at all levels of cult institution. There are
a number of other concepts which are related to obia, but which have a
meaning which is separate and distinct from it. Foremost among these
are
pemba and fragatiki, both of which have been mentioned throughout this
discourse, but both of which require further explanation.

PEWA
White clay, kaolin, pipe clay, China clay, whatever its name in

English, is sacred among all the Bush Negroes. Herskovits a Herskovits

(1934:353) and Hurault (1961:248) claim the word to be a Bantu term from
the Congo. Spelled bomb; or gjmga, it has been reported by all major

students.
g§m§§_is the basic holy substance, it is used in all rituals and
in all holy objects, and is holy of and by itself. Pemba is found in
 ~278-

ggigg of aii types, it decorates the benches upon which the major canny—
eracies rest, it covers the bodies of the possessed in speciai, god-

specific patterns, it fixes and fastens ante the fiesh the magic infiuences

of herbai potions. ggggg is daubed and then calied gembaudotti (polka

date), or smeared thickiy as a protection against evii spirits, as a
fortification of one‘s personai 9§j§_such as the kromanti, and is used as
a generai ingredient in medicines. Junker (1925:127) claims to have seen
worried Djuka cover themseives with ggmgg before braving the dangerous
infiuences in the godiess downstream areas. Herskovits a Herskovits
(1934:222) report that among the Saremacca, women wash in Egm§§.solutions
after giving birth.
The clay is combined with other substances for specific nituai
purposes: mixed with biood and water it constitutes the ggjggjy§gggi, the
blood—oath drink which solemnizes treaties between tribes or other groups;

mixed with herbs and water it becomes an ordeei drink used in giving
testimony. The Saramacca caii this potion ggj, and Junker writes that it

has only a laxative action (1922:454). [This is a curious observation

in the light of the fact that keoiin makes up 90 per cent of anti~
diarrhetics such as Kaopectate.) The Bani ciaim to have a true poison
oracie, based on ggggg and the sap of a particular tree, but again this

drink is probabiy harmless (Creveux, 1883:60).

Egg§§_appears to be a major ingredient in ail the major g§i§§,

and some, iike the Boni's Mamaugron, the Saramacca‘s Kromanti-mama, and the

Gren~obia, are made whoiiy or iargeiy out of lumps of the ciey.

White is the coior of the Divine. This is evidenced in the

fregatiki, in the Egmgg3 and in the winding sheet of the corpse. Van Lien
gave an atypicaliy ethnocentric explanation of this trait when he wrote
 ~279—

that “the Supreme Being and the other gods are white; anything black is
of the devii. gang made human beings out of ciey. Therefore the Bush
Negro daubs himseif with pemba“ (1940:236. Tr. mine). In fairness it
must be pointed out that he aiso indicates a more basic impiication of

Egggg; it signifies a bond between the individual and the soii of his

birth (van tier, 1940:221-222; 237).

There are some indications that this less color-conscious inter~
pretetion is vaiid. The Domini subtrihe of the Saramacca honor their
deity with 32g clay, which they mine in the hiiis near Jews Savannah, a

piece iong deserted by Bush Negroes, but the piace where their ancestors

had been ensiaved (Junker, 1925:161; 1932:334). Then there is the

indirect evidence of the widespread and ancient habit of ggtigg‘ciay:
cider writers (Hartsinck 1770, 11:907; Biom 1785:376, 418; Hostmann 1850,
11:25) mention that sieves wouid eat earth as a form of suicide, literaiiy

killing themselves through geophagy. ENWI (i«2) reports a weii-documented

pathoiogicai factor, Anchyiostomiasis, as we}! as the cuiturai trait, but
notes further that saitweter sieves were convinced that suicide through

geophagy wouid ensure their spirits’ return to their homeiand in Africa.

This belief was not restricted to Surinam, of course. but has been reported

throughout the early Caribbean.

By itseif aione, Egggg has certain aspects of 1uck: it certifies
a good journey, luck in iove, and a long life. It can therefore be given
in much the some way that cowrie shelis are associated with smaii
presents, or are small presents in themseives. Egmgg, alone or in combin-
ation with other substances, purifies, improves, soiemnizes, sanctifies,

and generaiiy premotes positive results (ENWI:562~563; van Lier, 1940:236—

237; Hurauit, 1961:247~253).
 -230-

FRAGATIKI
Although there is a variety of techniques for ascertaining the wiii
of the Supernatural, it is sometimes necessary--or just emotionaiiy

satisfying-wto communicate with the Divine Beings through the

medium we
cai] prayer. worship, as such, is not reaily present in the Bush Negro
societies: there is no real adoration of the gods or ancestors, and there
is a totai lack of seifiess veneration, awe; or exaitetion.
Certainiy the
self~abasing, ego—surrendering, volition—negating, groveiing’humiiity

which according to Eveiyn Underhiii (3957:3—19)accompanies a theoce

ntric
universe. is alien to the bush, and wouid probably be considered disgusting

and proof of iiiness.

The tribesmen do, however, acknowiedge a need to personify or

té*
give form to the workings of the supernatural. This need is fuifiiied in
shrines and aitars where the living may pray to the dead: Every natai
viiiage has such a specie] place of prayer. The shrines are identified in
name and form by fragetiki (literaiiy "flag stick"). These are iong poies
with a side arm (sometimes two in the shape of a taii cross) from which
hang the {:39g, long white cioths which are the symboT of the supern
aturai.
It is here that the deities and the ancestors have their open-air
altars,
here that the suppiicant may pour his iibation into a font for
the super-
naturais to enjoy. Van Lier (1940:244) notes that the fragatiki for the
high gods, typicaiiy has a suppiy of botties of water nearby to be
used
in the offerings, and notes that the gods do not receive or request
offerings of food or of liquor. Food offerings are associated with
funerals and usually inciude the meat of the tortoise, which the super*

netureis find a deiicacy. In ceremonies to end the mourning period, the

biood of chickens and tortoises is aiiowed to drip on the feet of 311 the
 -283~

mourners, even of those to whom the tortoise is gjng or groin.

There are different types of fraggtiki for different purposes. Some

clans honor their dead with special poles. Various minor deities have
their own poles. The major frenetiki are often associated with the

funerary functions: for instance, they are placed in front of the mourning
houses (kreihoso) and the shrines wherein live the ancestral spirits (the

granwanhoso) in Dritabiki. Not Just anyone may plant the pole of the
fragatiki. Among the Djuka, only consecrated priests may erect them. Van
Lier reports that once when he had replanted the Dutch flag, the Djuka

pointed out to him that one cannot simply move a fragatiki in that way.

They invented a ceremony for this planting wherein, among other things, they

prayed for the Dutch Queen (van Lier, 1940:234~235).

One goes to the fragatiki to prey whenever an important change occurs

in one’s life: at marriage or upon illness one preys at the fragatiki of

one‘s ancestors; when misfortune strikes one might pray at the pole of the
Great Deity; should one be contemplating a long journey, it wouid be wise
“ to pour some 3gfig_(rum) at the shrine of the river gods.

Individual households may have their own smaller altars. These are
called begi-presi (prayer-place). A typical begi-presi would consist of a
small bench or table for the offerings and libotions, and some sticks with

pennants. When cloth is used as an offering; it is fastened to long sticks

which are pushed into the ground (van Liar, 1940:235).

The Saramaccan term g§§g_pgg (god pole) is the equivalent of the

more common fragatiki.

SNEKinOTI

Snakes are feared by Westerners and Africans alike, although the

latter have more experience with them. The poison of snakes is unpredict-
 ~282—

abie: sometimes it kills, sometimes it mereiy sickens the victim.

The
avid search for a clarification of this ambiguity
has ied to a plethora
of cause-and-effect expiahations, which in turn have borne a variet
y of
countermeasures. Throughout the Caribbean there were snake
bite treatments
which inveived the kiiiing of the offending snake as
a major ingredient
for heaiing. The Seventeenth—century Negro slaves on Martinique
beiieved
that the immediate death of the snake wouid mfinimize
the effect of its
poison. Their medicine men appiied tourniquets between
the area of the
bite and the victim’s heart, and bled the poison
from cuts above the
wound. Meanwhile, a brew of herbs mixed with the ashes of a burne
d snake
of the offending species, a mixture calied snakiwkoti, was
appiied as a
poultice to the wound. Success was expected oniy if no artery had been
hit (Pére Labat, quoted in Lichtveid, 1932).

This sophisticated treatment and expiahation did not survi

ve in
Surinam among either the whites or the biacks. The sieve
s and the Bush
Negroes use the term sneki~koti in a sense which reminds
one of inocuiatio n:
it refers here to a substance which wiii not en1y
cure snakebite immediately,
but wiii prevent snakebite in the fature. Head and tai], or sometimes
oniy the fangs of poisonous snakes are burned or smokewdrie
d, nfixed with
at least three types of herbs, powdered, and bottied. The potion may
either be swallewed as a preventive, or rubbed into smaii
cuts in the
wrist or ankle. Some of the 3333§_(Lichtveid claims that this is a west
African term referring to poisen) are so pawerfui that
the very nearness
of a man inacuiated with the antivehin is enough tn stiff
en a snake into
immobility.

Once a ciViiizatioh has reached a high 1eve1 of medical compet

ence,
it is easy for its members to shrug off the magico~med
icinal practices of
 ~283r

preiiterates. But when its emissaries visit pieces where exotic deaths
await, and where their customary curatives are unavaiiabie or inappiicabie,

than local superstitions often become accepted by the civiiized. One wouid
rather be superstitious than poweriess; and after all, it is reasonable to
assume that the locals have iearned something in aii the time they have

iived here! Ethno—medicine wins converts because it reduces the ambiguity

of the situation for visitors, and the reduction of ambiguity is no iess

important for Euro-Americans than it is for a Poiynesian fisherman beyond

the reefs of his lagoon. Not all_ioca1 beiiefs wiii be embraced, of course.
Those which are obvious deniais of the Jodeo-Christian-Scientific ideoiogy

wiii be scorned out of hand. But those which offer perceptuai controis

over areas of insecurity which the Western ideologies do not cover, and
especiaiiy those which manage to do so in a fashion which appears to
approximate some famiiiar scientific principle, are often eageriy weicomed.
The curious correspondence between an obvious expression of defensive
magic of the imitative or sympathetic type, and the much more recent
Western invention of inocuiation, which to the uniettered might have

seemed to work on the same principle, ied a great number of Europeans and
Americans to accept the idea of sneki—koti. The generaiiy gullibie Father
van Coil absoluteiy accepted the idea, and added that snakes bitten in a
fight by other poisonous snakes wouid quickly rub themseflves with an herb

which is aiso used in sneki~koti, whereupon they would be immediateiy

healed and return to the fight (1903:556). Kenn (1929), the American
medicai man, aiso attested enthusiasticaiiy to the efficacy of this
mfiraculous procedure, and the 1917 ENWI (643) feit it necessary to warn
against the practice. The attraction of the "medicine" to supposediy
sophisticated Westerners may become somewhat more understandabie if we
 «284»

recognize the general level of medical awareness

which prevailed among
Euro—Americans in the last century. The following “receipe” from Ihg_Familz
Doctor speaks for itself:

To Cure Rattle-Snake Bites

Chew and Swallow, or drink, dissolved in water,
alum the size of a
hickory nut.
Put thoroughwart leaves pounded on and keep wetting them
If the perso with water.
n is very sick, black or purple, let him drink a
of the juice. Nenew the application after two hours little
(Anonymous
U.S.A ., circa lBSl).
Contemporary writers have not mentioned sneki~koti.
whether this means
that the idea no longer is accepted by the Bush Negroes, or
is just over-
looked hy recent reporters, is not known. Van Lier wrote
that all adult
black tribesmen have in their obia~kedere, that is, their
box of amulets,
not only sneki~koti, but a specific against the river
stingray: sigari~
koti. There is no further mention of this latter medicine (Benj
anfins.
1930a,b, 193l; Caster, l866; ENWI:643; Kahn, 1929, 1931;
Karbaat, l962;
Lichtveld, l930, i932; Loth, lBlO; van Coll, 1903; van
Liar, l940:2l2,
242).

FIOFIO
A concept less evocative of homeopathy and more
related to psycho-
somatic medicine is the belief that hiccups, especially
while eating. are
related to an internal state brought on directly
by a smelly insect and
indirectly by a condition of stress between members of
a lineage or clan.
ihere are two explanations of fjgfig, The older (Penard & Penard, l912:
l68) blames breach of faith or promise for the developmen
t of the insects
within the body. More recently van Liar (l940:160;
179-180; 252) found
the cause to lie in any unsettled differences which linge
r between
relatives.

In the extension of guilt to all relatives, which is

so typical
 ~285«

of Bush Negro ideoiogy, even an unborn child may aiready harbor

fiofins
which wiii kiii him if there is no settiement of the “bad biood."

Fiofios leave the corpse either as larvae or as insects. Van Lier (1940:
179) and Hurauit (1961:253) teii us that during the last breath of
the
victim, the Spirit of the jjgfig exits through the tear ducts in the form
of the iittie figfig_bug. Fiofios are not engendered by a quarrel, but
oniy by an unsolved or unsettied disagreement after which the
parties act
as if nothing had happened. It is interesting that the physicai act of
hiccupping shouid be seen as reiated to this “festering grudge."

Van Lien (1940:179) adds that among the Saramacca, to change one’s
mind after a pronouncement is considered sufficient to cause 119539; “If
we should have a quarrel, and I say 'I wen‘t use this pencii again,
‘ but
I use it anyway, then my flgglg_[§5gg, spirit] becomes angry and makes
me
sick, g 51§i_jjgfig,“ This expiains some of the variation between his
View and the Penards’.
Saramaccans sickened with fjgfig must, according to the Penards.

bathe rituaiiy in a tub of herbal water, rub themselves with

the ieaves of
Spannias 13331, and repeat an incantation. Among the Djuka, claims van
Lien, the jigfgg can be driven out only by the pledging of an
offering at
the fragatiki, so that both parties to the unsolved problem may
take back
before the Granxorkas, the ancestors, whatever intent evii their
grudges
mey have ioosed.
According to the Herskovitses'(i934:348), the word jigfig comes
from an aid Dahomeen term meaning "anger," and it has eiso been found
among Bantu speakers as the name for a medicine! herb. Somehow the concept
flee has becone associated:with figfig, eithongh the organism which the
Bush Negroesrcaii a fiea is actually oniy a snail hug, not a fiea but a
 ’ ~285-

member of the Rhynchota (ENNI:304). The Dutch term for "fies" is gig or
31293, which is evocative of fig, but that stili does not
explain the
connection between a smaii bug and the concept
of grudge.
Functionaiiy, the major importance of jjgfigfi as
was discussed
eeriier, lies in its ability to counteract or centr
e? the threat of
Suicide as a weapon of extortion (see Kunu, above).

hithough shamanistic patterns pervade Bush Negro cuiture,

it is
difficult to assess their importance. Insofar as medical
technoiogy is
concerned, no doubt the various 59§j§_wiil become less impor
tant as tine
and the medical arts progress. Recent writers have noted
that the
tribesmen do not reject modern medicine, and that ethno
medicine and the
Western heaiing arts can coexist. Kfibben describes this relationship as
foilows:

One might Suppose that these beiiefs keep the Djuka from
the doctor. But on the contrary, the Western Physi
visiting
cian is veny
popuTar.... The missionaries even compiain that many go
church oniy to get medicines (1968:76). to

He adds that existing vaiues do influence the attit

udes towards Western
medicine:

Sa Kumba's baby suffers from intestinal disturbances,

serious condition. She takes the baby to Agitiondro toand is in
treated (seeka) by her father, who is a priest of Ganda have it
(a
powerfui God, aithough Tess important than the GreaE UEity)
She aiso plans to take it to the doctor. who holds ciini .
Wednesday in Agitiondro. As she weiks through the viiiacs every
Wednesday morning, the Tittle boy in her arms. she ge on
passes her
father's hut. He tells her that Geode would take offense if she
went first to the doctor and only iater to him. The woman
gives up the visit to the doctor, and that afternoon Tats
herself be treated by her father. He teiis her that it
aiready too late, and advises her to return with the
is
chiid to
the viiiage, that it may die in its own environment. The
day, next
it is dead.

In other cases, when it is feit that someone is doome

die, his remove? to the hospitai is denied because there d to
objection to his dying in such alien surroundings (Kfibben,is
1968:77).
 «z?.§.7~
Kobben feeis that Western medicine wiil have no
appreciable effect on the
Djuka belief system, at ieast in the near futur
e. He notes that the
Djuka "go to the Great Deity's oracle egg to the hospi
tai; sacrifice to
the avenging spirit ggg_swa1iow patent medicine; let
themselves be
rituaiiy purified egg_treated by the doctor" (1968
:77). But their very
preoccupation with this “maximum~gain strategy,“
if we can caii it that,
would predict that certain aspects of the Bush Negro
heiief system wiii
prove to be more resistant to change than others.
Sneki-koti and most of
the oersonai ggjg§_are manifestiy inferior to the
workings of modern
medicine and medicai treatment. These we must expect to diminish in
importance. But such concepts as Eggg_and jigfig'expiain and clari
fy
dependencies between beheviorai states and attit
udes in a way which
western ideoiogy cannot reaiiy equeic Outside of the more rarified and
esoteric aspects of psychoanalytic theory, the Weste
rn medicai viewpoint
cannot benefit the tribesmen in this area of reaii
ty. Their own jjgjig is
more cuituraily relevant than any existing psych
o-sociai theories on
guilt and illnessi

One concludes, therefore, that the shamanistic Tove}

of suit
institutions among the Bush Negroes is due for major
revision in minor
aspects, but that the psychoiogicai sector of their
ethnomedicine wiii
continue to be relevant and, iike other 1evels of
the ideoiogy, wiii
resist repiacement.
 CHAPTER XIV

THE IhDIVIDUALISTIC TEXTURE

He who iets the world, or his own portion of it, choose his
plan of iife for him has no need of any other faculty than the
ape~iike one of imitation.

John S. Miii, On Liberty

Bush Negro ideoiogy at the level of the individualistic cuit
institution has proiiferated a variety of private beliefs and rituais

which both demonstrate and ceiebrate the freedom of the individuei within
the supernatura1 fabric. For instance, the may one honors one‘s £553 is
a pureiy persona] thing, based upon no other ruies than those worked
out
between the individuai and his spiritual cohabitant. This expiains to a
ierge extend the variety of dress and ornament seen among the Boni and
the
other tribes. But the ogre concept is not, of course, iimited oniy to
this ievei of religiosity.
If the adoration and feeding of one‘s egg; require individuaiistic
cuit patterns, these are in part expiained by another related concept:
the
taboo or 515g, Especiaily at the level of individuai food taboos and their

origins,.we see again that a man’s relationship to the supernatural is

interoreted at different organizationai leveis in different fashions, and

that the Eyeing, the private taboos. are in their combination as individuai~
specific as the whoris at the tips of one's fingers. Other trait oompiexes
are aiso represented in this level of coitus. Personal ggjgg are expreseions
of a compiex beiief system at the private level. Magic is usually, but not
aiways, a part of these behaviors, and some traits commonly interpreted
as
magicai must be reevaluated.

The foiiowihg sections make no pretense of exhausting the rich

variety of individuai cuit institutions found among the Bush Negroes, but

~288—
 ~289-

wii] attempt to reduce the surface incoherence by ordering the seeming

anarchy of fOrms, and by relating them uitimately to the worship of the

High Gods. The thesis here is that sogerstition in the bush has been
vastiy overestimated, and that the variety of reiigious behaviors found in

Bush Negro societies are integrated into a systematic and sophisticated

ideology, even at the private cuit ievei.

KINA AND TREFU

Kine means approximateiy “act prohibited by higher powers."

A genera} kina which affects the whole tribe, is fer instance
the prohibition on pronouncing curses, which are acts against
Grantata. Another kina which appiies to everyone is one against
nanfing places such as waterfaiis whose ados do not want to hear
their names pronounced. No Bush Negro w1 utter the name of the
place or fails when on the river or near the area.
And each territony has a certain day upon which no one is
aliowed to do any work. This is the kinadéi (van Lier, 1948:177.
Tr. mine).
Like obia, kina is a concept which cuts across the cult institu-
tions with somewhat different implications at each levei, which helps

expiain the variety of interpretations which it has received. It aiways

impiies a prohibition of some not or Food, but this prohibition is

acquired in at ieast three different fashions, apparentiy reiated to the

cult level.
A kina may sometimes be understood as a sort of divine kandu

(a supernaturai protection of one‘s possessions. See below, kandu gig;

mule). This is demonstrated in the fact that in the possession cults of

the Bani, the first time that a Divine Being takes contro1 of’a human,

it imposes a kina on that person which will henceforth be the symbol of

his Owner. These ggdo kina vary from one god to the next, but generaiiy

all of the "porters" of the same god share the same kina (Hurault, 1963:

200).
 ~290 -

There is apparently no limit on the variety of phenomena which

can
be kina. Junker mentions that the Saramacca had creek kinas and bush kinas,

referring to the idea that certain labors or poiiuting acts are not
to be
engaged in aiong some stretches of water or parceis of jungle.

Accordingiy, no work with an axe may be done in the forest of

the Tumabakuba crack on Pikien saba (Wednesday). In 1913 I had
to have some boiietrie trees cut down .... The Bush Negroes hired
for the job arrived on Wednesday morning and informed me
that on
that day no trees might be chopped down under penalty of
ail our
deaths; in order to fulfiii my task I had to submit ... for if
one were to fire a Bush Negro in order to make an example of him,
one wouid never be abie to hire another.

No sugar cane may be thrown into the Marowine creek. In the

Mooi anwojo, no pots shaii be washed.

In the Para, too, such customs prevail. No one may wash with
soap near the 1anding of Onoribo. The poiice commandant of the
post, a native, once warned me about this. He said that
it might
have no dangerous consequences for me, since I was a European,
but he, the commandant, wouldn't dare to use soap in that piace
(Junker, 1922:#75. Tr. mine).
Van Lier (1940:197) explains that the rationaie behind the kina g§_
is that each river or region has its own god, and this god must not be
disturbed on his day of rest. How the particular behaviors which each god
considers disturbing were discovered is no longer known. But for the
Djuka as much as for the Saramacca or Boni, the breach of these animis
tic
taboos is a very dangerous affair.

Hurauit has iisted five categories of Rina. These are:

I. Bwasi kina, the most fundamentai type, which is specific to the

patriiineage. Its breach results in ieprosy (bwasi).

2. Akka kina, or gadu kina, as it is often named, is divined and suppos
edly
imposed by the akka or akra (spirit).
3. Gadu kina is the mark of possession by a god.
4. Ohio kina is the prohibition attached to any object which has magicai
powers. It is absoiuteiy necessary to fuifiii this kina to the Wetter,
 “29]”

or the power wiTi dissipate.

5. Kine g§_is the iocaily specified day of rest.
Traveiers must observe
the iocai kina gg_or suffer the consequences
which the gods prescribe“
Hurauit notes, however, that the wishes of the
Europeans who hire a canoe
nay be aiiowed to override this taboo. The understanding is that the
responsibiiity for this act rests totaliy upon
the European (Hurauit,
1951:255). [This point raises certain theoretical probiems.
See Chapter
XV.]

The usual way to acquire a kina is through inheritanc

e. Every
child, regardless of tribe, acquires the kina of his
father, insofar as food
taboo kinas(trefg§) are concerned. if the father and/or his trefu are
unknown, it must he discovered through divination
, for to break a trefu
leads to Teprosy, in every tribes herskovits first described this concept
in Engiish when he tinked Tcina (the Saramaccan term
for a trefu kina) and
kandu (q.n.). Intrigued by the taboo, he showed its possi
bie antecedents
in an extensive footnote:

That this particuiar type of recognition of diffe

rent eiements
contributed to one‘s social situation is derived
from the
Ashanti expianation of the parts the two parents contr
one's being (which is also refiected in Ashanti socia ibute to
ization) is a conciusion that becomes atmost inesc
i organ~
apabl
quote Rettray, from Ashanti, p. 36: “It is the ntoro e. To
of the
men mingling with the mo a of the woman that, the Kshanti
iieves, forms the chi} .... Thus each man and woman be—
them two distinct e1ements——mogya (or blood) and have in
ntoro
(spirit); the former inherited from the mother and
transmitted
by her alone, and the iatter received from the fathe
r and
transmitted by him to his offspring." ..t (Herskovits,
9 . 1928:

ENNI (685~687) accepts a West African origin for

the concept and
quotes J. Leighton Miison as feiiows:

Another custom in Kongo which excited the dispieasure of the

missionaries [in the 16th centuny], was the habit of intern
dicting to every person at their birth some artic
le of feed,
which they were not through life, upon any consi
deration, to
 ~292-

E:§£2§3$§§335§3§224f“hW£i% 13* W’
The concept may have been West African, but the word Eggfliis Sranan,

having been developed in Surinam out of the Hebrew word Tereefa (ferbid
den
food and its viddish equivalent.

Anything at all way be Eggfgr-meat, fruit, vegetables, even rainwater

or tobacco. And since Eggfgs are related to the dreaded leprosy, all skin
disorders are obvious indications that a grgfg is at work. Thus. at one
totally individualistic level, §§g§g_may refer to an allergic reaction:
any such reaction proves the existence of a personal Ergfgf But more
commonly, a 35gfg_is disclosed to a relative in a dream or some other

mystic fashion around the time of the individual‘s birth. For example:
A woman saw in her dream a phantom, a person holding a fish in the
hand who told her that this fish was Eggfy to a particular child.
Before the dreamer could determine what type of fhsh it was, the
phantom disappeared. For the unfortunate child~victim of this
dream, all fish were now trefu. And for all time: (ENWI:685.
Tr. minETT ““"‘*
ENMI goes on to report that the Creoles, who share this belief,
have professional grgfgftellers, who determine for a fee just what one's
Eggfg§_are. This has not been reported for the Bush Negroes. ENNI further
(686) repeats an 1852 report that there were tribes in the bush who did not
have the Eggfig concept. It is not possible to evaluate such statements,
Just as it is impossible to judge the occasional report that some individual

has no 532§§_at all. It is certainly possible that the Eggfig idea spread
from a single source, such as the Saramacca, who were heavily influenced

by the Jews. But as the evidence indicates, it is not enough to accept

the idea that 333:3.came from the Jewish planters: there were African
antecedents, and in any case, where began the broader kina concept? No
doubt diffusion played a role, but it is noteworthy that all the recent
 ~293-

(Twentieth century) authors who mention the idea at all, agree that it is
impossible for a tribesman to be totally free of such taboos. Especially
the trefgs, the patrilineal food taboos, appear to be ubiquitous.

However it is acquired, it is the trgfg, the personal king, which

is most clearly an individualistic cult institution. It connects the
generations, primarily through the father‘s1 line, but it allows additio
ns
through allergic reactions or the dreams or divinations of’one‘s relatives,
and ultimately grows into a quite personal profile of avoidances. Hurault
gives the following example:
A...of the Dju-lo, aged 28 in 1958, has to observe six kinas:
-n His bwasl kina. the Cayman and the jaguar; --His akka kina,
the otter (yanauig

These three kinas were imposed on him at an early age, but

their meanings were not explained to him until much later.

~~ The conger eel (mansi) was lmposed upon him as a kina by

his father after the latter had given him a nan'nen e obfa, a
protective obia against the sabre or the gun, materla‘ized in
an iron armband [see Obias a§_Amulets, below].
This obia involves yet another klna: A... must never speak
a word to a menstruating woman.

~~ Finally, the crab (kaabu), a klna attached to an obia

which he does not like to talE about. probably a kumenti Eui
(a bracelet of the Kumenti type, an instrument for divinatTfih).
A... does not possess a adu kina in the proper sense of
the term (Hurault, 1961:255~g§3. ir. mine).
This distinctively individual aspect of the trefu type of klna
is attested in the fact that no student has yet discovered a universal

1Van Ller (1940:177) claims that the Djuka also reckon a lg~kina,
a food prohibition shared by the members of the matrillneage. Hurauit
has tried to resolve this puzzle by suggesting that van Lier confused
local day kinas with matrlllneal kinas. But as the quote which opens thls
section demonstrates, van Lier knew that difference very well. Neverthe—
less, Hurault states the prevailing view when he concludes: “In any case,
no klna can be transnfitted through the mother. All the Bush Negroes are
adamant on this point“ (Hurault, 1961:255. Tr. mine).

,. .4”... _ . ._ ....._........_..._. e
«PM

-294-
Eggfg, or even a food prohibition which affec
ts one whole tribe. Most
Boni, fer instance, have the cayman as part
of their Qgggi King, but
HurauTt knew a Bani to whom the Cayman was not
taboo (1961:256). SimiYar
findings are reported by others.

Shouid someone discover that he has accidenta11y eaten

something
which was gjflg_to him, he may sti11 forestaT] the
working of the Fate by
drinking sangrafu and smearing a mixture of Qgg§§
_and sangrafu on his body.
Sangrafn (identified on1y as §Q§£fl§‘§23) is a
piant whose sap has a variety
of rites} and medicine] attributes. It is an ingredient in a variety of
obias, and is a1so drunk as a cough medicine. Its most important ritua?
values lies in its ability to prevent the working of
gggg or Teprosy as the
result of a 5193 accident, But it works onTy if the transgression was
indeed unwitting: sangrafu and other Yess important correctives,
such as
the licking of the bottom of the pot in which the
forbidden food has been
prepared, do not work for mere gluttOhous exces
ses (ran tier. 1940:178,
240; Horault, 1961:255—256).

Leprosy has dec11ned since the advent of moder

n medicine in the
bush. This fact may iessen somewhat the sa1iency of
the observation that
at the time of ENNI‘s writing (the first two decad
es of the century) the
Bush Negroes rejected the concept of contagion
so comp¥ete1y, that they
engaged in quite casua? contact with Iepers.
"Thus, in spite of the
universai fear of the disease, healthy Bush Negro
men wouid 1ive with
Ieprous women, and vice versa. This factcr codaubtedTy inf1uenced the
spread of Ieprosy around the turn of the century"
(ENWI:686. Tr. mine).
The prevailing View noids that the infectiousne
ss of Teprosy is greatly
overrated, but even if it were not, inevitably
the tribesmen‘s view of
its supernatura} origin, and the concept of kingroup~s
hered responsibi1ity
 f.-295«
for the breach of a 519g, wouid have kept them from adopting
effective
Mv‘”

quarantine measures. It is interesting to note in this context that the

tribesmen did view consumptive diseases (such as, presu
mably, tubercuiosis)
as being contagious (Penard & Penerd, 1912:183). We do not know what
treatments are prescribed however, nor whether this impiies
that diseases
which have a cieariy European genesis are viewed in a diffe
rent Tight than
those known as African. The possibilities are endless, but
information on
the subject is scarce. Among the Saramacca of the early 1930's
, Tapers
were not given the usuai funerai, but were buried coffinviess
in the "Bad
Bush.“ This is the same type of treatment given to wisimans and
to madman,
aii of’whom were buried "with no more ceremony than a chiid
, who came on
earth, and wouid not stay. They say it‘s aii because of a bad spirit, and
they don't want bad spirits on earth“ (Herskovits & Herskovits
, 1934:95).
So it seems that a person who contracted leprosy was not
shunned, for the
cause of the disease was between him and the gods, but he was
considered
"invaded" hy an evil spirit. Efforts were made to impress that spirit
with the Fact of its unwelcomeness as soon as the soui
had ieft the corpse,
by insulting it rudely through the manner in which its fieshi
y remains
were treated.

NAMES AND NAMING FEAR

The Bush Negroes see the name of a person or object as being

direotIy connected with his or its spirit. A great deal of circumscription

is therefore attached to the process of assigning or using names:
The
individuai has several names which protect his person. Under difficult
circumstances alternate names may be “exposed,” and force
the user 0f the
name to be carefui in their intonation, for the spirits of peopie
and
natural objects do, after 311. have power. One does not iightiy risk
 ~296w

offending these powers; one

does not use names careiessi
y, especiaily
those of spirits or animals
which one fears.
The individual tribesman is
commonly known by oniy one nam
e to
outsiders, and it may occur
that different groups of peo
pie know him by
different names“ “Thus one of our cancers was
Fintiman to his maternai
kinship group, Gobiyo to his
father and some of his friend
s, Loamba to his
paternai grandfather and Nak
iyu to his first wife" (Ho
rauit, 1961:123.
Tr. mine). Typicaiiy, one of the names
is the name of the day on whi
ch
one was born, and these names
vary Tittie from one tribe to
the next. The
names, according to all obs
ervers, come from the Ewe
and “N1 Tanguages:
Sunday, fer instance, is fiygggi
hfbr a maie, (from Ewe and TWi
Egggj) and
Akwasiba or Knasiba for a
female, (out of figg§i§g_and
Aknasiba). Saturday
(usueiiy, as among the Ashant
i, considered an unlucky day
) is gygmi for
maies, (from §§g_§y§gj_and Fwi Kwa
mena); for femaies it is Amba or Agg
gggg
(out of age and fimmg). The chiid‘
s father bestows a name upon him,
as
does the mother, and other nam
es are added during his Iiféti
me. Occasionaiiy,
when taiking with ciose ass
ociates, one may be coiled
by three or four
different names in one con
versation. Yet is is inprob
abie that a stranger,
such as a white empiqyer,
wii] ever know 311 of a Bus
h Negro's names. De
Goeje (1908:55) writes:

been Taft behind (Tr. mine).

ENNI (502) adds that the tri
besmen do not like hearing
their names spoken
in the jungie at night, and
if forced to respond at suc
h times can be
expected to give evasive answer
s.
Among the Djuka, the ieast
secret name is the day name,
and this
 -297-

is usually the one that strangers are taught to

use. A newborn child nay
aIso be named after a respected person, or afte
r anyone who possesses some
admired attribute. But the individual 935g his or her name, as is
indicated by the practice of giving the current
bearer of the name a small
present fer the priviiege of using his appeiiation
for the newborn. There
is no ruie about the eiigibiiity about Such borr
owing, and the names of
people from other tribes, Indians, Creoies, and
even some whites have been
used as names for a baby. Van Lier (1940:261) reports that he found at
Ieast two QE,fl§Qfl§§fS. a nggggig, and severai ggnlgjgg
g along the
Tapanohoni, but noted that none of the European
s had been paid for this
privilege.... It is customany for the person who has granted the
right to
his name to a child, to bring the “nemseki” (nam
esake) a present, There
is, however, no belief that in these cases ther
e is any spiritua1
relationship between the two parties {ENNI:164; 501—5
02; Hurauit, 1961:
123—126; van Lien, 1940:260-262).

The Saramacca keep the day name a secret, acco

rding to Herskovits
and Herskovits, and allow its mention only during
the times when a person
is in trance. Associated with this is an almost
astroiogicai beiief that
a man and a woman born on the same day will not
get aiong with each other
because they share too many traits, and that
certain combinations of
different day names are eSpeciaiiy fortunate,
ieading to happy marriages
and strong friendships (1934:222~226).

The Boni tend to choose the names for newborn chiid

ren from the
paternal kinship group of the child, and they
avoid giving it the name of
a very 01d person, or of someone who has died
recentiy (see Reincarnation).
There is nothing, according to Huraoit, whic
h requires the Bani to
perpetuate names or to have them transmitted from
the dead to the 1iving.
 «298»

If it is decided to give the child the name of a person in

a lineage other
than the parent‘s,that individuai's permission must be obtai
ned. A snot]
gift is usually accepted for the privilege, aithough not demand
ed. But
such is the association of name with spirit, that the
donor of the none
typically worries that his name might be taken by a person
who later turns
out to be a good~for—nothing of a thief. Again there is
no ruie to the
choice of names, and both parents may bestow a name toget
her, or separateiy.
The Boni appear to worry less than the other tribes about the magica
i
significance of names], and three out of every four
Boni are known by one
name onIy: the others have either feiien into disuse, or the individua]
has never bothered to acquire any more (Hurauit, 1961:123—1
26).
For aii the tribes there are certain associations between twins
and names. Mixed twins are calied--with local variations in pronun
ciation~~
Adam and Efa; male twins are always Adam and Agosu (Augu
sti); femaie
twins become Sisi and Chimba or Simha. There are special names for the
first child to be born after the mother gave birth to
twins (Dosu if it is
maie, Agosi if femaie); and among the Saramacca especially
, there are
dances and even a cuit about twins. Further, twins share a
protective
power, a speciai god whose soie purpose, apparentiy
, is their security not
oniy in body but in Spirit. Like other gods, the god of twins may withhold
protection if the twins have been mistreated, and iike the
other gods, he
may be pacified with specie} offerings (EMIRSM; Herskovits
& Herskovits,
1934:218; Hurault, 1961:126; van Liar, 1940:177).

1In fact, Hurault points out that the naming of Boni child ren is
an occasion for jokes and 1evity. One Boni "named one
of his nephews
Canada, because that is the country where they manufactur
e Evinrude motors,
which he admired a great deal" (Hurnuit, 1961:125. Tr. mine).
s. W)... M m\ dam-.44 M.» «u

~299—

REINCARNATION
If the Bani do not admit any supernatural reiationship between the

sharers of a name, the Djuka certainiy do. There appear to be_two concepts

for the term nemseki or ninseki. One refers mereiy to the fact that two

iiving persons share a name. The other is a ciear indication of paiin-

genesis:

The ninseki (namesake) of the person is that which reincarnates.

Each BjuEa chiid is born with the spirit of his ninseki. This
ninseki may be an ancestor from the same famiiy, but it may aiso be
a non-reiati ve. even someone of another race, a“! though that is on-
common. But a woman can never return as ninseki in e mascuiine
chiid, nor a man in a female child.

The ninseki continues to exist after death, and returns in

another chiid. This may take a long time, or it can occur rapidiy.
Until its return, the ninseki stays in the domain of the spirits;
and when it has entered a chiid, it exists both in the chiid and
in the domain of the spirits. Oseisi (Djuka Granman, died 1915)
for instance entered the body of a second cousin in Dritabiki, yet
he continues to exist in the spirit world,andis prayed to at the
ire atiki. These prayers do not concern the chiid (van Lier,
1930:772. Tr. mine).

Among the Djuka, even as there is no natural death, so there is no nature}

beginning: all children as born as the namesake, the reincarnations, of

other human beings. It is understood that the ninseki must be recognized
and honored with reguiar offerings, for otherwise the chiid wiii sicken
and die. The supernatureis have iittie patience with human error, and it
is thus of the greatest importance that the reincarnation is acknowiedged
as soon as possibie“
The divining of the namesake consists of the questioning of the

bundleeoracie, the Afroko obia (van Lier, 1940:261). In typical fashion,

the bundie plank is carried on the head of two bearers, and an eider questions

the obia in the same fashion as at funerals. Sometimes it takes weeks to

ascertain the relationship, sometimes but a few hours. The obia bearers,
typicaiiy young viiiage males, are rewarded for their iabors with rum or
 ~300~

cloth upon the success of the investigation.

The namesake is often divined without the orecle's aid" An

obiaman may trace the spiritual descent; a blood relative may be informed
through a dream which deceased person has entered the body of the newborn
;
and among the Saramacca, who have substantially the same belief, a physical
characteristic may link the child to the nemseki: sometimes this is a
behavior oddity, other times a physical blemish or scar. The Seromecca
belief differs from the Djuka‘s in that for the former it is possible for

a male spirit to return as a female, or vice versa. They also hold that
the degree of difflculty of ascertaining the namesake is a function of the
earthly satisfaction: of the namesake's past existence: “If someone was
always unhappy in his earthly life, he would hide, would not disclose
himself in a dream, and it is only through a sign on the child itself that
one can see who it is that has entered the baby“ (van Lier, 1940:173.
Tr. mine). The same nemseki may live in as many as four different people
at one time. These people may all have different names, for the name g5

gggh_is irrelevant.
The most important factor about nemsekis among the Saramacca is
that one inherits a gigg,from one‘s namesake. This means that if the
relationship is not rapidly established, the newborn and his relatives
face supernatural sanctions for the breaking of a food taboo (van Ller,
1940:l78).
Apparently for the Djuka and Saremacca a human spirit does not
ever enter an animal, something reported as a Saramacca belief by some of

the missionaries around the turn of the centunye According to van Ller,
the Saramacca believe that animals, too, reincarnate. However, he does
not elaborate the statement beyond noting that the markings of animals
 ~30]-

killed in the hunt may be recognized later in other animals of that species

(l940:l74)a

Loth (l9l0:345) implies that the Djuka have a belief in the trans~
migration of souls, when he writes that his boatsmen begged him not to
chase away a particularly noisy tree frog, with the explanation that the
frog was the canoe guide‘s child. But this is an isolated report, and has
not been bolstered by later data.

KANDU Aha MULA

One very useful hit of individual magic is the Baggy, a protective
device which guarantees the safety of one's property in much the same way
that siwfilar "packaged curses" serve the Uohuans (Fortune, 1932). The Kongo
consists of an object or conbination of objects which have the power to

repel. A person who ignores a tangy will sicken, and say even die. There
is a great variety of these devices, all with their own specific powers:
one may cause a pain in the side, another constipation so bad as to tear

the anus, still another will result in accidents with a machete, or bone

breaks, etc. Since there are so many, and since new ones can be devised
by almost anyone, one would be a feel to risk an unknown Egggg. But
unlike the “trumping” of one curse with another, which Fortune describes
among the Dobuans, the Bush Negroes do not attempt to overcome the gggghg;
of other people.

Apparently there are few rules to the making of a gangg, One

collects the objects of power, and places them as a warning in a conspicuous
place. Some of those reported for the Bani include a bow and arrow stuck

into the ground; a shovel hung up or stuck into the ground in front of the

house to be protected; fringes of banana leaves draped across canoe or

house; and often, white cotton ripped into long shreds which, like the
 . more-
.
Aw)! rgkqu-w'r-

~302~

g W (Horeult,
s t r o n
efore are
t h and ther a
v e } , r e m ind o n e o f d e a
i o d u d e 01d knives,
sh o uka W
19 40 :2 19 3). The Dj juka
9 6 1 : 2 5 2 ; v an He r ,
e t c . U s u afiy, the D
1 rockery,
m s , broken c a
r n c a s s a va pre s s , b r o o
9 4 0 : 2 1 8 3 . The Saramoc
w o an Liar, 1
r of item (v often
_ i n c l u d es a h o m e
( 1 9 3 4 : 1 3 8 1 invo‘ves
W kovitse s
o r t e d by the Hers ons.
ock “ r e p and even d
"spiritofl l may inv o l v e w
'X e o f twigs, but shaped
no more th
an a bu nd
rt ‘i c u t e r type of w
ns, a pa
that osenga al“:
Junker (192
2:4 7 4 ) n o t e d
e s t a h ‘ fi s h lg or individu
sed t o
t w o h a t e r s high, were u d by most oth
er
d o o r w a y r o b o r a t e
like a ater co r
r a i n , a n o b servation I
new ter
ownership of
efu'ihess.
authors. ma y a n ti ast its us
at a W
is a re a‘ ! danger th u' td be able to
Ther e
d ? N o o n e wo
p l a c e d the Egg, die w
erson w h o gardens, ro
What if the p t o w o r k h i s
or
remove his corpse.
se, even to ua‘fity.
ent e r h i s h o u
n a n s w e r t o this event
e is a
o r u s e hi s tools. Ther a l creation, t
here
his c a n o e , i n d i v i d u
but an
a m a n istic item, he
c e w a re no t a s h
h s ; b u t t h e W may
Sin ocksmi t
t as spiritofl T the
o s p e c i afist s t o a c
b e s , a n y one who has
MW

ar e n “ the t r i
es. Among a of
re ia t’ iv
he closeness
MW.W

b y c erta i n s o f t
m o v e d rd ‘t es
re
the same foo d taboo, rega
, e of the
same 513 ; , t h a t i s
e c t i o n . This is on
e the prot
m a y s afer remov e no
and there ar
, M

nsh i p ,
the re‘! atio e mom fine,
h
r i t ed through t rother
very few po
we r s i n h e
h fi d o r m a t eran haw-b
or stepc
s h o u l d a man‘s wife h e f un strength
excep t i o n s : e d t o t
e expos
, t hey wmfld b
emove t h e W an Liar,
attempt to r H u r a u i t , 1961:2252; v
439;
its , 1934:138
ce (Herskov
of the devi
@393
. acer of the
1940:8841?) some 333 1 as t h e M
n o t share the do 5:
Persons w h o d o
w g r a n t e d the power to
xpress
t h e y have been e o tresp
a y d i s a r m it o r fl y i f
e y o n d t h e m ere right t
m goes b
mu ‘fl a, a c oncept which
ed
This is cafi
 Figure 3

The Bush Remro Cabin

ROG?

ha: in

Ckildreh'g
MWVM.W,
H ,m, WWW .W:

After Hurault, 1965:68-69.

 "W" W a ' WWW” eawaww‘wmv I a

APPENDIX II

THE BUSH NEGRO CABIN

(The following is a direct translation from Hura
uIt, 1965:69~70.
Figure 3 is based upon drawings in the same sourc
e.)

Most of the homes consist of a sing1e, complete

ly enclosed room.
One enters through but a single door which leads
to the front part of the
house, a sort of‘vestibu1e. It is here that the
occupants live during the
day. The cTosed room is used only as a bedroom, and
to keep items of
vaiue locked away. Furniture has been reduced
to its sinpiest form:
hammocks are attached to hooks in the beams; somet
imes there is a bed
made of rude p1anks with a mattress made of old hammo
cks. The wemen
generally prefer a bed, as do the elderTy men, but
young people use the
hammock whether at home or traveiing. Like the Djuka and the Saramacca,
the Bani use carved benches which have often been decorated with
censiderab1e taste. These pieces of furniture seem
to have been borrowed
from the native Indians. Bush Negroes are never witho
ut their benches;
they even carry them when traveiing by canee. Occas
ionaTIy one finds Tow
tab1es, adjusted to the height of the benches, which
are used primari1y
for eating or for the women‘s sewing.

The houses of the men and those of the women have'bas

icany the
same interior arrangement. Objects of vaiue and Icincioths (some
individuals own severe} hundred of these) are locke
d in trunks and boxes
of aluminum. Bottles or jerrycans fiIIed with
food sopp1ies are pIaced
on a special plank (hgljgj), which has been made extr
a~wide far this
purpose. The houses of the men often contain a 200~Titer
barrel of oii
and reserves of salt and soap. The women typica11y own an impressive

-351-
 —303~

One granted the right to remove,

dispose of, or ignore a Bongo does
so
after rituaiiy being endowed with someth
ing which the owner of the gaggg
conSiders personai property, per
haps a piece of the ioincioth he
is wearing,
which is to be returned afterwards.
Eglg.is also involved when one tra
nsfers
one‘s knowledge of an ggjg, or in
any situation in which one person
transmits
spiritual power to another (van Lier
, 194D:279~220; Hurauit, 1961:252—253
).
The basic idea, it seems, is tha
t the ganggirecognizes the Tegiti
maqy of
the owner and his expressiy appointe
d guest or deiegate. This recogn
ition
is invoived in aii transfers of know
iedge about things supernatural,
indicating that gyigg, for instance.
are seen as having awareness, perhap
s
a pseudo~iife.

It is interesting in this connectio

n that the Bush Negroes have been
reported to be quite preoccupied wit
h reguiar Iocks. The Bush Negro ioc
k
consists of a rectanguiar wooden cros
s, whose grooved bar allows the
insertion of a spoon-1ike key, who
se "teeth" operate a number of loo
se pegs
in the lock which fit into grooves cut
into the her. When these pegs are
lifted, the key aiiows removai of the
bar (Dudschans Dentz, 1935) The
saiient aspect of this lock lies not
in the tribesmen’s skiii or ingenuity
in creating it, but in the fact
that iocks afford a totai lack of
protection
gg’lgggg; the design of the Bush Negro cabin is
such that any valuables
within it could easily be removed
by sticking one‘s hand in between
the
rafters (see Appendix II). Furtherm
ore, why would one go to the troubi
e of
buiiding a cioveriock, or buying
a iock in the white man’s store,
when
gaggyg'are just as effective? The answer
most iie in an attitude reminiscent
of that found in the American sayi
ng: "Locks oniy keep the honest peopie
out." It seems reasonabie to interpret the
Bush Negro's preoccupation with
locks of ail types as an extension
of the kandu concept: locks are speciai
 -304,

gongus, In other words, there exists in the Bush Negro univ

erse a class
of devices which are imbued with retributive power
. These “kandus” are
"tuned" to their master, the individual who
owns or creates them.
“Doorlocks” are but_a ontogeny within this class.
They are important not
so much because it takes a key to open them -- all
g§§gg§_have a "key"-—
but because they are symbolic of ownership and
the power that accompanies
it. In some ways, locks are more effectively individual than
other ggflggg:
it is impossible to nfistake them for accidental colle
ctions of refuse; and
they incorporate the possibility of an incontrovertibl
e 931;; the key. It
is thus less acourate to View Egggus as spiritual
locks than it is to View
locks as personalized kendus.

THE MYSTIQUE OF FIREARMS

The rifle, an integral part of Bush Negro life fbr

centuries, has an important place in their magic two
. It is the
symbol of virility. A Bush Negro without a gun is
and almost dishonored man. As one of them expla
a humiliated
ined to us, while
begging us to help him replace his old rust-eaten
you can't present yourself to women with a sword
pop-gun: “If
, a hunting-bag
over your shoulder and a gun in your hand, you aren’
t a men."
This idea has been transposed.into the realm of
magic, and
it is admitted that the wisiman, by calling a curse
on the weapon,
can strike at the virility of its owner. They
say that it is
enough for someone to stick his finger into the
barrel of the
gun while intoning a formula of vengeance, or even
concentrating on his hatred against its owner, for while just
lose its ability to shoot straight. To avoid such the gun to
the Bani are never eventualities,
separated from their guns and do not lend
them to anyoneo If in spite of these precautions they have the
impression that the piece does not function.correctly,
to the obiaman to have him wash away the evil influence.they turn
are sever There
al remedies for this, all of which consist of soaki
the rifle for from one to three days in a water ng
y extract of
leaves, which inevitably turns it to rust. he saw a
hammerless rifle spoiled in this may by an intel late model
ligent Boni canoe
chief, a fine mechanic and a man of habitual good
senses
We have never witnessed among the Boni either indiv
idual or
coliective hunting rites for attracting game or
for ensuring that
it will be located, while we are aware that such
hunting charms
 -305...

are extreme1y widespread among the Creoies (Huraolt, 1961:254o Tr.

none).
It is not surprising to find a number of traditions and amuIets

associated with guns and hunting in a meatwscance society, but as Horauit

indicates, the importance of firearms goes far beyond the economic sphere.

That guns and viriiity are associated has been surmised by other authors

fer the other tribes. But there are more curious aspects to the gun

complex. “

Bush Negroes, who va1ue both shotguns and rifles, never own handguns

(pistols or revolvers). This probabTy hinges as much on the inabi1ity to

acquire such weapons as on any diSTike of guns as sidearms. A150, they do

not make their own guns, which is sti11 connon in much of the hush country

of modern West Africa, but rely echusiveTy upon cartridge rifTes and

shotguns for hunting and ceremonies. Apparent1y they do not use muzzle

1oading weapons, or h1ack powder guns of any type (information on this is

inadequate). It is therefore a1} the more surprising that they continue

to shoot their modern, Western guns in the 01d African musketny faShioo.

The typical Bush Negro firing stance is to face the target straight on,

holding the weapon at one point onIy, that is, with both hands wrapped
around the piste? grip just behind the trigger, at arm's Iength. Thus,

the butt of the gun never touches the shoquer or the chest, and the

shoulder arm is hand1ed in effect if it were a very Tong hand weapon.

This shooting technique is inherentiy inaccurate, as it takes far more

strength to hold a rifie steady at arm's length than to do so when the

stock is cradted between the cheek and the shouider, the typicaI way to

point a rif1e a1most evenynhere in the world outside of the Sahara and

west Africa.
This shooting technique obviously introduces an unnecessary element
 saga.

of chance into the concept of accuracy. Hurauit's descriptions of the

ways in which this accuracy is “improved” emphasize the nonpragmatic View

taken of guns. And much of what he found among the Bani is standard for
the area, aithough the Djuka have been reported to practice hunting charns

much like those used among the Creoies. There are a variety of ggigg
associated with the accuracy of the gun, inoiuding one which approximates,
conceptuaiiy, the idea of the choke mechanism on the shotgun: The 9&1;
consists in part of adding some secret herbai powder to the shotsheil,

which supposediy wiii narrow the spread of the shot pattern.

Djuka men do not like it if someone steps across their rifie as it
lies on the ground. To do so is to rob the gun of some of its power. There
are other avoidances associated with guns, but they have not been investi~
gated systematicaiiy» There is a curious effect which the Kromanti or
Kumenti gods have over firearms as weii as over ail other metai weapons:
their infiuence is so strong that it attacks weapons regardiess of the ggigg
their owner may put upon his property. A man who is skiiied in the ways
of his Kromanti gaggpis.especiaiiy among the Saramacca, incapabie of keep-
ing a gun functioning. Kromanti shrines are associated with this emanation

from the gods: most shrines can be recognized because of the resting

weapons which typify it: an aid gun angled into the ground, or perhaps a
worn machete. show the piace is sacred to the Kromanti.

Among the gassi‘ggj§§_empioyed by at ieast the Djuka are those which

protect against gunshot wounds (see Q§1§§_as Amulets), but more common are
those which aid in the hunt itseif. At least one of these, according to van
Lier, (1940:238). consists of a washing with the brains and intestines of

animals of the species which one wouid iike to be abie to shoot. He ciaim
that a man so treated would carry a corpse-iike stench fer at ieast the
 ..307-

week that the rituai bathing Tasted, but that neither the
wouldwbe hunter
nor his feiiow viiiagers seemed to suffer from this
side-effect“
Finaliy. it is necessary to mention that in oil impor
tant ceremonies
dealing with strangers, such as meetings between gover
nment officiais and
tribesmen, between hosts and visitors From another tribe
, at funerais, and
at certain feasts, selves of gunfire are considered
necessary. When witches
were stiii kiiled, before the days of the government's poiic
e powers, and
before the laws of Qggg and of the Great Deity tempe
red the treatment of
wisimans, the method of execution was often rifie fire.

In the face of all these observations, we are left

with the
conciusion that for the Bush Negro the pragmatic function of
the gun is
inferior to its psychoiogicai attributes. Obviously,
and in good psycho-
analytic fashion, the gun is a symbol and a manifestation
of personai
virility, and as such it is obviously related to the
concept of figflgg as
interpreted above. It is an exciusiveiy maie item and it is vuinerabie
to some of the iiis that fiesh is heir to. Since it is a manifestation of
the personaiity, it may be attacked by 313:! and the cores
for the fieshly
aspect of the personaiity are seen as appiicabie to
the troubles of the
metai aspect, the gun. No other expianation makes sense in the light of
the Bush Negroes' obvious and totai disregard for the facto
r of rust and
its effects on the functioning of a firearm. when it is easy
to demonstrate
that the tribesmen know how to care for more compiicated equip
ment such as
outboard motors (de Goeje, 1908:971, 1001; Geijskes, 1954b; Hersko
vits &
Herskovits, 1934, 20 and gagging Hurauit, 1961:250, 254;
Luyken, 1961;
van Lier. 3940:164, 167, 195, 238, 271; van Panhuys, in ENWIzi
fii).

OBIAS AS AMULETS

At the beginning of this century, when most of the eariy

reports
 “303-

on the Bush Negroes were published, there were a great variet

y and number
of personal g§1g§_in use among the tribes. It is interesting that the
modern writers do not mention them: apparently their use has declined
enough to make them less remarkable. This implies that either the amulet
concept has been replaced with a more global protective mechanism,
or
else the dangers against which the ghigs were to guard have ceased to
exist. The latter possibility can safely be ignored: van Lier (1940:
237-242) and others who compiled.long lists of g§i§§_showed that most
of
these were devices which protected one from other human beings and their
influences, and humans continue to exist. The fellowlng are/were among
the more commonly encountered ghigg:

KassabaghieJ worn on the chest, is a traveler's amulet which aids

one in receiving hospilality. (Cassava is a staple feed.)
Eggirggigg are designed to give one the upperhand in a fight without

creating accidents fer one‘s opponent, for that would be ngj, and agains
t
the teaching of Granteta. The manfeti and kromanti obias are fat? obias
and usually have the ferm of an iron armband worn over the bicep.

Iégryyxgrggyg§j§_protects against evil spirits, and is worn just

below the knee. (Villages, too, have such ggjgs‘to protect the inhabit-

ants against the xorgas, but instead of small kneebands these consist of
the ritually displayed carcases of vultures.)

The term 991g is a complex appellation: it refers both to the

nfincr gods or spirits and to the protective devices and medicines. (Regular
medical potions obtained from a doctor or a city druggist are called Qgggg
ggjgg, white man ghias, and these are seen as magical in the same sense

that the bush ggjg§_are magical.) There are varieties of herbal baths,
the wassi chic, and various selves made in part of gemba, the sacred
 white clay, which protect the individual against all ferms of evil which

men any devise. Van Liar says that the immunity so conferred is temporary

and that the time at which it has to be renewed varies from one tribe and
1g_to the next. The renewal ceremony takes place not in the village, but

in the bush, because it would be spoiled by the presence of women.“I Van

Lier also relates the Boni legend that their founding Chief, the Maroon

Bonni, enjoyed total immunity through ritual bathing:

Only the day befbre the renewal of the ohia-washing was he

vulnerabl
a
e, and could enemies approach him because other times
his mu embu, his premonition, warned him. By sending him a
beautifui girl, the Djuka found out which day that was, and
that is when they killed him (van Lier, 3940:238l Tr. none).
To this account Wong contributed the information that the Djuka priestess

Cato had been behind the strategem. and that she was rewarded by the Dutch
Governor Frederici in 1793. For the same deed, the njuka Bambi was

recognized hy the English Governor Bonham in 18l2. The Gttrofilg still

possesses the silver collar and the shield with the engraved heads of Bonni
and Cormantine Codjo, which the Englishman had given to Bonham. The
shield is engraved:
In remembrance of the faithfullservice of the Chieftain of the
Aucaanders named Bambe in the years 1790 and i79l by his
delivery the heads 0? two celebrated Chieftains of the Bush-
negroes Bonni and Dormant n Cojo, given by his Exceliency the
Governor~§§neral Ben am an Government of Surinam (In Wong,
1938:335, Italics in original).
Bush Negro legend thus attests to the efficacy of herbal baths as it does
for other magical phenomena. That the importance of such charms is
declining, however, would seem to be a function of a change in ideology
more than of any increased technical competence in dealing with the

1We see here either a vestigial remnant of a secret men‘s society,

or a weak attempt to create such a male~oriented organization.
 -310-

environment. The example of‘the ritual bathing of rifles, above, indicates

that mechanical understanding does not necessarily diminish dysfunctional
behavior. Much more likely. amulets have become unnecessary or even
dangerous in the face of religious evolution.

THE DECLINE 0F SUPERSTITION

Here, as in other societies, there are reports of ritualized behaviors

nhlch presuppose perceptions not in accordance with the prevailing gxgtgg

of beliefs. For lack of a more expressive term, these will be referred to
as “superstitions.” Superstitions are characterized by having either no
discernible ideological basis at all, or also one on a much lower level of
sophistication than that inherent in the religions of the High Gods. They
are, in effect, isolated and nonintegrated beliefs about the nature of

things and about cause-and~effect relationships.

The early writers especially delighted in listing large numbers of

"Negro beliefs“ without usually distinguishing between those recorded among

the Surinam slave or Creole populations, and those found in the bush.
Modern investigators mention Bush Negro superstitions (as defined here)
almost not at all. It is not clear whether this means we should interpret

the record to mean that (l) the level of superstition has declined over the
years; (2) the long lists of folkloristic traits and individual magic

techniques were predonfinantly Creole traits rather than Bush Negro behaviors;
or (3) the modern writers have not bothered to comment upon such patterns.
The third possibility is the least likely. We can safely assume that a
combination of the first two factors explains the decline in the number and

variety of superstitions reportedo Consider, for example, the following:

De Goeje (1908:l00l) mentions that the Djuka fear being photographed.
This is a fear encountered in many places where cameras are new, and
 «313-»

usuafly reflects the belief'that the picture is reIated to the souis

5“.»

Possib1y the belief existed in 1907 (when de Goeje made his expedition)
that the ogre (spirit) might be lost in this wayr It has not been reported
since.
The stone axes ieft behind by the Indians who once lived in what
is now "_j1§flggggggg§f are much prized as dondruston (thunderstones) which
fall from heaven during storms (Junker, 3924:80). We are not told what
these stones were used for, but we may surmise that.they became ingredients

for ggigg. There are no further reports.

Some superstitions which have been we]! documented in the pest,
appeared to function much as jjgfig and other eiements on the shamanistic
TeveI of ideoiogy; Others were true amulets, protecting the individuaI

against a variety of misfortunes without any adequate explanation of their

working.

Individuaiistic cult behaviors which postulate a link between

private and social weTT~being inciude such concepts as gggi_§j, 19§j_gggg;§,

and sgmg'mgfgg, Qggj'gi leads to a sickness characterized by listiessness,

1ack of appetite, "heaviness" and fatigue. This "evfI eye“ when viewed as
a disease is the resu1t of envy, hatred. jeanusy, or even misplaced 1ove.

The Eggggg_who has cast the evi1 eye does not usually even know he has
done so, and therefore the deed is difficu1t to avoid: it does not require
a specie} powerg Misfortune from the same source may befa31 the gardens,
which WiTI fail to bear corps, and may cause fires in houses or even in

clothing.
The beIief in the eviT eye and other nonintegrated superstitions
is 1ess prevalent among the Bush Negroos than among the city CreoIes.
Whether this implies that the nominal Christianity of the Creoles does not
 ~312-

organize the universe as effectiveiy as does the pagan religion of the

Bush Negroes is certainly a possibi1ity ta be considered. For one thing,

the treatment of such psycho-seciai disorders is a very different thing

between the two Negro groups. Among the Creoies, the gggj_§1_(aiong with
a great number of other supernaturai functions) is best cured by "a pious
Jew“ (apparently the same professionai exerciser in Paramaribo described
by various writers from 1900 to the late 1920's), who drives out the 2351
ai.hy holding a kerchief or a cap over the victim's head, reciting a iong
Hebrew prayer, and then sprinkling water and sait over the affiicted.
Among the Djuka there is no recorded cure at aii, eithough they have been
reported to protect their chiidren and themseives against this evii hy

painting white ciay eyes aiongside their own to ward off the effects. It
is not known whether the other tribes ever had the beiief (ENWI:146; Loth,
1910:345; Penard & Penard, 1912:167—168; van Lier, 1940:222).

Eggnggggi is simiiar to the North American superstition of

“knocking on wood.“ If a Bush Negro mentions an eventuaiity which wouid be

harmful, such as "Your boat is so overloaded that it wiii capsize at the

first rapids," and scares himself with the utterance. he wi11 rub some
earth over his mouth to neutraiize what he has said by symboiically burying

it. The term means “rub earth (dirt)" (van Lier, 1940:222).
Nine out of ten times when the origin of a disease or accident is
sought, it turns out to be gisj, One time out of ten it wiii be caused by
§gm§,mgffg, s1anderfi To taik in such terms about another human being may
resuit in a decline of that person‘s 355g, which inevitably wiii sieken
him. To defend oneself against this sort of attack, there are a number
of personal amulets. §gma mgffg_g§i§ protects the individuai against
siander, jealousy, and gossip, and is thus a fairly broad-spectrum
 defense against even the evil eye (van Liar, 1940:222, 241)‘
There are some other 016 beiiefs which do not fit the woridview
taught by the major trihai reiigions. But 311 cf these suffer from the
fact that they have been reported only once, and it is difficult to see

them as gglg items rather than as persona? idiosyncrasies. One wonders

‘ whether any of them ever had any greater infTuence on Bush Negro life
than our own superstitions about Friday the thirteenth, biack cats, breaking

mirrors, rabbit‘s feet and fourbleaf clovers have on us. lf_they are more
important, there is a need to explain their integration into the major

tribal religions. Faiiing that, we shouid justify the obvious compartment~

aiization of thought which such importance indicates. To shrug them off

as “survivals” is reasonabie only if they are unimportant.
The veny paucity and Iack of repetition in the reportage of these

beiiefs indicates that their importance is decreasing. Though it is unwise

to specuiate on g§§§_importance, the fact that the Creoles have aiways had

a vastly iarger body of superstitions to their credit than the "backwoodsmenfi

strongiy suggests that the latter have had better ideologicai controi of the

universe, and did not really need superstition.

 ’ ‘ 3’“ ‘ '1 "m n Wm“ {as-«Am n ,¢.MA,.~.M 5:9...“ r” _

PART FOUR

THE 314ng 95 CHANGE

 CHAPTER XV
\m

THE WESTERN REALITY

TheBush Negroes are the oniy popuiation of Guian
who may he thought of as perfectiy adapted to their a‘s interior
and as capahie of surviving through their own environment,
efforts. They
enjoy a defense against maiaria such that, even if
do contract this
their children
endemic disease, they deveiop a resistance which
protects the adults from its attacks.

They are subject to certain serious skin disor

ders, especiaiiy
yaws, but these have Tittie demographic effecto Oniy
are seriousiy afflicted with venereai diseases. the Boni
The
experiencing a strong popoiation expansion (Huraoit, Djuka are
Tr. mine). 1961: 13.

The previous chapters focused on the development

of that unique set
of‘cuiturai adaptations which we Cali “the Bush
Negro Societies," without
adequateiy acknowiedging the continuing roie of
the west in their existence.
Thoden van Veizen‘s 17th thesis (1966, no page)
cautions that Djuka
isolation, both past and present, has been exag
gerated by Westerners. No
doubt he is correct. It is Tess certain that this is as true for all
the tribes as it is fer the Djoka, but that is now
not as important as
the fact that the tribesmen of today are incr
easingiy influenced by a
world they did not make.

One need not even go so far as to contempiate the Saram

acca miners
in French Guiana, or the Djuka Tahorers in Param
aribo. Once one acknowl-
edges the spread into the tribal areas of radios,
schools, missions. money,
merchants, and motors, the rising infiuence of
the Nest becomes obvious.
The Netheriands needs space, and Surinam is the oniy
part of the Kingdom
in which space is still avaiiabie. The State's
economy needs Surinam‘s
resourCes, Surinam industry needs iaborers, and the
simple fact of
cooperation demands shared symbols and vaiues.
We must anticipate
tremendous changes for the Bush Negroes within the
next generation.
~3I4~
 415.
Further colonization attempts will become necessary to drain off
the
surplus of what is still the most rapidly increasing population
in Europe.
Factories, lumber mills, and other industry will require that the
free
rivers of Surinam be tamed and harnessed For power and cooling.
And so.
the pressure on the Bush Negroes will increase as attempts to enlist
them into the industralization effort become more direct: they are,
after all, the only people in the Kingdom who are physiologically
adapted
to the ecology of central Surinam.

But there is a limit to the usefulness of laborers from alien

cultures with strange languages, especially when they do not share many
of the precepts, the cultural truisms, of their employers.

This limfited usefulness of the black tribesmen has long been

recognized as an obstacle to the economic viability of Surinam. Van
Capelle, who was among the first to explore the western areas
of the
(then) colony in 1900, and who published an early geophysical
description
of the terrain, included in his Foreword a statement of his faith in the
future of Surinam, a faith which hinged on his assumption that “the
Bush
Negroes over time will temper their demands and their preten
sions, and
... who knows, may ultimately adjust themselves to regular labor.
..“ (van
Capelle, 1903. Tr. mine). And he certainly was not the first to recognize
the pivotal position of the tribes.

Inevitably, if cultural attributes make the native, and if the

native “stands in the way of progress," and if various conditions preven
t
his removal. then attempts will be made to change his culture. The parts
of the culture which Westerners would most like to see changed are
those
which socialized the native into perceptions of the universe which limit
his usefulness in the Western reality: his attitudes towards clock~time,
 ~316~

towards monetary wealth, towards labor, towards consumption and production-~

in brief, his ideology.

This is no way implies that some scheming Machiavelli has drmun

up a long~range plan to destroy or replace the native cultures: there is

no need to reify a process. The Bosh Negro‘s deviation from current
Western perceptual standards makes him an object of interest to persons

preoccupied with governing, manufacture, business. education, medicine,

and religion. And therefore, attempts will be launched from every

conceivable sector of the Western culture to “improve” the tribesman's

lot either for his own sake, or for that of the larger community, for the
sake of his soul, or for that of his offSpring. Such interference is
inevitable, ubiquitous, ancient, and aiways morally justified and good

for business.

But it is not always conducive to the viability of the recipient,

society. And not, we hasten to note, always successful even in the terms

of the originating culture. Occasionally, a preindustrial society has

worded off the advances of the West. One thinks of Zuni, Lapps, and
Hotterites not because these groups avoided change, but because one sees

in them a continuation of cultural integrity. The adaptation of alien

culture elements into their societies was not random but controlled;
they are whole, and wholly different from their neighbors in the urban-

industrial state.
what of the Bush Negroes? Like the Zuni, they have a long
history of contact on the ideological level. Like the Lapps, they live
in a terrain which is inhospitable to Westerners. And like the Huttorites,
they appear to predicate their cultural continuation on the basis of two

related tactics: rejection of the morality prevaient among their

 —3l7-

neighbors, and disdain for education beyond the obviously pragmatic level.

Throughout the third part of this work it has been maintained

that the present vitality of the Bush societies is a function of their
ideologies, and that the viability of'any ideology is based on the

effectiveness with which it structures perception and legitimates social

structure (see Chapter IX). The question now is whether the belief systems

of the Bush Negroes will prove to be sufficient to prevent mass conversion

to competing ideologies. Will the western View of reality replace the

View from the bush? Will Western perceptions destroy the ability of the

old beliefs to satisfy, and can the undeniable temptations from the West

guarantee greater satisfactions by the tribesmen‘s own standards?

Admittedly any answer must be speculative, since only time is a

true test of viability. Nevertheless, the question is meaningful because

a number of historical trends reduce the randomness of the future, and

allow us to consider its probable direction with some confidence. Foremost
among these trends are the past and present attempts to supplant the pagan
ideology with Christianity. 0? lesser~~but increasing~~importance have

been the ongoing efforts to effect revisions in the tribesmen‘s perception

of the non-supernatural world through western-styie education. Both of
these tactics have had some success, but a closer examination is required

before we may consider their future effects.

THE TEMPTATION 0F CHRISTIANITY

Christianity's contact with the Bush Negroes is almost as old as
the tribes themselves. But not ggi§§_as old. and that discrepancy was
enough to ensure the evolution and survival of a hierology whose origins

were mainly syncretized Africanisms.

In the early days of the colony, the plantation owners in Surinam

 ~318-

made no effort to convert their siaves. It is true that a few of the

ma” ‘

Negroes bought in the co1ony had been fercibly bapti

zed in African ports
befOre being loaded aboard the slave ships, but
there was no question of
teaching them the precepts of the Judeo-Christian
beiief System. In fact,
no need was feit to explain to these few slave
s just why they were being
sprinkled with water. It is doubtful that any
Negro so treated was much
affected by the ritual.

In the first centuny of Surinam‘s existence as a piant

ation
system, in the lgntgg when most of the ancestors
of today's Bush Negro
tribes escaped, Christianity was thus a concept with
which most slaves
could not have been familiar. Deep in the jungies, the groups of
runaways which coaiasced into societies spent cruciai
generations deveioping
the bases of relevant and integrated belief systems.
Their materials were
the hodgepodge of African culture traits at hand,
those represented by
actua1 African cuiture carriers, those borrowed from
the Indians or the
whites. and those created on the spot. The overwheiming "African-ness“
of Bush Negro ideoiogy is therefore not surprising
.
In the coastai strip where the piantations 1ay,
sieves continued
to receive no reiigious instruction at a1] untii two
conditions were met:
First, it had to become recognized that Christian
slaves were both more
tractabie and moneproductive than pagan ones; and secon
d, there had to be
people wiiiing to go to the troubie of converting
the heathen without
cost to the plantation managers. The first of these
conditions, requiring
as it did a true change in perceptions, took a long
time to occur. The
second was never a probiem;

In 1732 the Herrnhutters, a group of reiigious refugees

from
Moravia, settied on the estate of a pious Saxony
nobleman, Count von
 ~319~

Zinzendorf. The Moravian Brethren-«who have close doctrinal and historical

ties with the better-known Hotterites~~reected to peace and its associated
v prosperity by beginning a program of evangelization among the heathen. In
l732 the Brfidergemeine (Society of Brethren) sent its first nfissionaries

overseas, to the Danish Nest Indies. In 1734, Spangenberg, one of the

Society‘s leaders, received assurance from the Dutch that the Brethren

would be given free passage to Surinam, and that they would there enjoy

complete religious freedom, freedom from oath, and freedom from military
draft or service. In 1735, three Brethren were sent to the colony on

reconnaissance, and four years later the first five ofissionaries arrived
with orders to start a mission among the Indians. Numerous reverses,

including the destruction of their mission during the Great Slave Revolt

in Berhice, soon convinced the Herrnhutters that their attention should

be focused upon the black slaves and their descendants. When in the

1760‘s the Government of the colony had successfully completed its treaties

with the Maroons, acknowledging their status as Freeman, it requested the

Herrnhutters to begin to teach the Bush Negroes the Gospel, “in order to

bring them more amenable manners, discipline, and tolerance." 50 began

the first effort to christianize the Bush Negroes (Kleinschnddt in
ENWItl78). The first period of the Herrnhutters work among the tribes

ran from I765 to 18l3. It began among the Saramacca, where the evangelists
were given a friendly reception. in l77l a son of the Saramecca Granman
reasons the first Bush Negro to be baptized. But this initial success was
misleading, and the cost was high. The climate and endemic diseases
killed missionaries almost as fast as they were recruited, and the extreme

disparity between the religious conceptualizations of the two groups held

no great promise for future successes. The Moravian Brethren therefore

 ~320-

began recalling their peopie from this messiah field, and the iast missionary

Ieft Saramacca country in 1813.

But some successes had been achieved, and the Herrnhutters ieft a
foe Christianized Saramacca behind“ These repeatediy requested that the
mission be reopened, and in 1840 the evangeiists returnedo They tried
moving the mission to heaithier climes, but with iittie success. By 1869
the Moravian Society was forced to leave the Saramacca fieid to native

workers. Kieinsohmidt (in ENWI:181) reports that by 1915 there were about
a thousand baptized Christians among the Saramacca, who were served by one
native preacher and six native evangelists trained by the Herrnhutters.

The first truly successful missionary in the Surinam bush was the

Matuari tribesman Johannes King. 1830~1899, who preached the Gospel among

his own peopie. In dreams and visions. King had received the Caiiing from
the Christian God, and in 1860 he therefore went to Paramaribo where he

sought and found baptism in the Moravian Brethren Society. Appointed a

teacher, he received orders in 1861 to return to the bush to spread the
Word among the pagans. Around 1864, he began to send extensive reports
to his superiors in Paramaribo. These were written in Creolized English,
the eariy Sranan which the Herrnhutters encouraged. Around 1885 King wrote
a book of his dreams and his visions of he}! which he caiied his Skrekibuku,
(iiteraiiy “Start1ebook” or “Feerbook” in which there are also some detaiis
on the origins of the Bush Negroeso In 1893 he wrote another book about
the difficulties of being a man of God, and of his banishment from the
Bush Negro community at Maripastoon. And continuaiiy he wrote diaries.1

1A fairiy extensive and growing iiterature on the "Bushland Prophet“

has been coilected by Lichtveld, Voorhoeve. and van Renselaar (1958, 1962).
Much of it is based upon King‘s own diaries-~which are now in the Moravian
archives—~and the reports and reminiscences about him by his co-workers.
The interested reader is referred also to G. At Freytag, 1927, and J. M.
 ~321~

From the latter, especially, certain changes in the aboriginal beliefs of

the tribesmen can be dated“ They indicate, far instance. that the spread
of the Grentata cult beyond the baundaries of Djuka territory dates from

1879 (Voorhoeve & van Renselaar, l962:200).

That King's success was far greater than that of any white missionary

must be in part due to the fact that he was 50 much prophet as preacher,

that both his methods and his theology were far from standard" Certainly
King‘s visions and those of the gentle Herrnhutters differed a great deal.
Nevertheiess, he is universaily credited as a major force in the opening

of the interior to the Christian Gospel.

When King died in 1899. there were, largely as a result of his

proselytising, nearly a thousand baptized Matuari being served in their

religion by‘a native preacher and three Evangelists (Kleinschnfidt, in ENwI:
182).
The people of the Marowine Complex (Djuka, Bani, Paramacca) have

shown a much greater resistance to conversion. This is in large part due

‘to two related factors: the domfinance of the Djuka in the Marowine~Cottica
regions, and the vitality of the local religions. Both the cult of Qggg
and the Church 0f the Great Deity area-for all their differencesuoeffective

barriers to the spread of Christianity. In turn. the tenacity of these

beliefs rests upon differences in organization between the peoples cf the

Marowine Complex and those of the Western tribes. historically, the

Saramacca welcomed the early nfissionaries, and the Djuka resented them.

The first Saramacca to be baptized belonged to the family of their

Paramount Chief Abini. In contrast, the Djuka Granmans are universally

van der Linda, 1956. A fragment of King's Skrekibuki, translated into

Dutch, can be found in Lichtveld & Voorhoeve, l§§§=§2~119.
 ~322-

accused of hindering all missionary efforts. The reason for this is not

hard to find: as Chapter VIII explained, the effectiveness and security

of the ?aramount Chieftaincy among the Djuka is a direct function of its

ideological powers. Especially where Paramount Chief and high Priest are

one, where there is neither need nor opportunity to play off 99333;

missionaries against local §1§§g_priests, any advance of the Christians

among the Djuka must be perceived not only as a threat to the belief

system. but as an assault on the very social fabric. The Djuka leadership

has been aware of the danger inherent in alien belief systems ever since

Granmah Oseisi (1888nl915) diluted the power of the High Priest Arabi by

developing the cult of Grahtata beyond the limits of a local divinity, and

took over control of its new territories. 80 during the very time when

Johannes King was at his most effective, Djuka organization evolved the

socio-religious mechanisms which would prevent the Christianization of the

Marowine Complex. (In typical Bush Negro fashion, however, this has not
prevented individuals in this area from making a bargain with the Cross.
But many such conversions are made fer largely hon—Christian reasons, as

will be discussed below.)

The Moravians were the earliest but not the only group to

proselytise among the Bush Negroes. The Catholic Church has also made

some minor inroads into the bush. According to Abbenhuis (1956), except

for a brief period from l683 to 1686, all Catholic priests were legally

banned from the colony until 1786, Then some were allowed to operate in

Paramaribo parish. Once there, they soon influenced the lifeway of the

slaves. The constitution of 1816, which guaranteed total religious

freedom, led to a successful Catholic petition in l817 to grant the

slaves the right to contract a religious marriage. By 1840, the

thhanWfi“ “Ma-WWWMW" ‘ fe WM, eiisimgwgmeewycfiay» owmflmsw 1:, \3 or»: In; -» o,

-323—

nfissionaries had gained the right to instruct the Government‘s sieves in

) Cathoiicism. At Emancipation in 1863, the sieve church had some 12,000

members. In 1866, nfission work began among the Amerindians, and soon
after that among the Bush Negro tribes. Ahbenhuis reports that progress

among the iatter has been slight, especiaiiy after 1900. Over 311, the

Catholic church in Surinam has grown considerably since that time: from

some 17,800 souis in 1900 it reached about 40,000 in 1955. But most of

the gains were among the Creoie and white popuiations: The Hindustanis

account for a mere 2100 members, the Amerindians for 3800, the Javanese
for oniy 600, and the Bush Negroes for 2600. Yet the iatter number

seems excessively high considering the statistics which Abbenhuis himseif

gives on the numbers of Bush Negro chiidren who attended Catholic schooi in
i955. He reports that there-were 134 Such children, five of whom were not

baptized as Cathoiics. This seems to inpiy that either Pater Abbenhuis

defines "Cethoiic" as anyone who has been baptized in the Church, regardiess

of circumstances or coonfitment, or eise that Bush Negro Cathoiics have

surprisingly few children.

Actually, neither of these interpretation is indefensibie. But

neither iliuminates the basic probiem of the reiative faiiure of the

sessions. In the light of the previous chapters, the question that needs

to be asked is not why Bush Negroes overwheimingiy reject the blessings

of Christianity, but why some of them choose to embrace an aiien ideoiogy.
Whatever answers may be obtained from individual converts, we may

generaiize oniy a few expianatory factors. The most obvious of these are

True Conversion, Opportunism, and Reinterpretetion.

TRUE CONVERSION
As was discussed earlier, true conversion requires a quite tote?
 ~3Z4~

rejection of the lifenay into which one was socialized, and a perceptuai
reintegration according to the precepts of the aiien society to which one

is converting. Obviously the rates of such substitution must be very ion,

until and unless the aiien society is dominance In terms of the bush this
means that the persons who become true Christians are usually aiso the ones
who wiii embrace the Western attitudes towards other aspects of life, and
therefore effectiveiy become strangers to their own people. In other words,
we must expect that an occasional tribesman will become totaiiy Creoiized,

in that he wiil accept the Judeo—Christian*8cientific perceptions of the

West. But we must also predict that persons in such positions wiii be so
aiienated from their own societies that their very sorvivai as converts

and as sane individuais requires their transfer to a Western environment.

Herskovits in his eariiest report on Bush Negro sociai organization
acknowiedgeo that much of his data was obtained from one "Mr. R. M. Schnndt,

a Saramaccaner Bush-Negro who, having been educated in Paramaribo, is at

present head-master in the Moravian Mission schoo1 at Gansee, on the Middie
Suriname River” (Herskovits, 1928:714). In effect this Mr. Schmidt had
been removed from the life of the Saremacca because they could—~and wou1d1--

View him as a ggggg, a cuiturai white man.

Nor does the historica] Fact of Johannes King‘s teachings argue
against this interpretation. The Bushland Prophet was successful precisely
because he was not a Eagra_bot a local messianic figure. King preached a
lace] interpretation of Christianity which he had achieved in the iocaI
fashion, that is, through dreams and visions.
The impiication of true conversion for the occurrence of ideologicai

change is one of absoiutely minimai effectiveness in societies which have

functionaiiy adequate ideologies. At worst, certain (possibiy unstabie)
 ;“~325-

members of the group will leave its terrain, in which

case they will not
be able to influence those who remain. At best, such
conversion provides
an avenue of escape to marginal members of the group,
and so strengthens
the institutions of the fully participating members.
"Especially when we
consider Christianity as a substitute, that is, when it prete
nds to take
the place of the traditional religion, its success is limite
d“ (deben,
1968:72; italics his).

OPPORTUNISM

This is probably the most important explanation fer conversion

,
especially among the Djuka and the Bani. The reasons for this have been
elaborated by deben (l968), who finds that the Djuka see Christ
ianity not
as a substitute for, but as an addition tg’their own beliefs:

The Djuka say in all sincerity: "I've been baptized; I'm a

church member; I’m Catholic." At the same time they take part
in heathen rituals and fulfill various functions thereby (of
priest; of master—of~ceremonies; of possessed). They View
Catholicism g§;somethiog additional, and in this sense they
readily accept it: the supernatural is so important that one
can‘t have too many contacts with it: This position is
further understandable because of the nature of the traditional
Djuka religion, which consists of a number of pantheons.
Each
pantheon has its own gods, with its own temples, priests,
rituals, and secret language (of; Huranlt, 196lrl90~2l5).
Christianity, as an addition, fits perfectly into such a
conception: It may appear bizarre to us to hear a church choir
of Bush Negro children, singing in Latin, but the Djuka them~
SB‘VES‘flfld it to be self-evident: it is the secret language
which fits with this new oantheon (deben, l963172).
He also explains just what reward Christianity holds out.
It is,
basically, the guarantee that one will have an honorable funeral and
will
not be tossed into the bush as a despised witch. Pagan funerals were
delineated in Chapter XII, and one recalls the high (and
possibly rising)
incidence of witches discovered among the dead. Many aging Bush Negroes
are suspected of wisi for the simple reason of their survival;
to be so
 ~326~

old is suspicious:

It is true that one may not accuse a

living person of witchcraft
in so many words (since the proof
of witchcraft can be established
only after death), but nevertheless
people‘s attitudes are
suggestive: in the long run the very
old
believe that they are witches“ (As a mattthemselves begin to
grapher, too, can think in these term
er of fact, the ethno—
s, and can predict with great
accuracy who will be called a witch afte
r his demise and who will
not, for example). As a result, to
escape their fate, they let
themselves be baptized. But the sad thin
ment sees this as an implied admission of g is, that their environ-
not they lose what little goodwill rema guilt, so that with this
ins them (Kfibben, l968:
74-75).
But at least the witch receives a buri
al, and neighbors and relatives troo
p
to the churchyard where the body of the
convert is to he interred. Yet,
as deben has made clear, everyone knows
that probably every Bush Negro
buried there was a witch. And that, in
turn, implies that the usual
disposition of a witch‘s estate also awai
ts the possessions of any elderly
convert: sooner or later all that the old witc
h owned must be surrendered
to the Great Deity. Baptism strengthens the native church.
Undoubtedly
this possibility is understood by the righ
tful heirs of any elderly person
who is considering baptism ....

It appears that even if‘the fear of witc

hcraft accusation leads to
baptism of the elderly, this very behavior
, by being interpreted as
possible proof of wisi, leads to a check
on baptism of the young: (This
might explain the scarcity of child~Cathol
ics.) In efTEct, it can be
argued that the Church of the Great Deit
y has succeeded in institutional-
izing baptism ("white man‘s obia”) of elde
rs as an effective control on
potential conversion of the young.

In the past, mourning requirements were

suspended For persons who
had become baptized. And since mourning
is a considerable burden among
these peoples, it has been suggeste
d that spouses of dying individuals
hurriedly became baptized in order
to prevent this onerous obligation.
 ~327-

Van Lier (1919:36) considered this the most probebie reason for baptism

among the Djukaa Regardiess of the accuracy of his observation then, it

is inapplicable now: mourning is obiigatohy for at} members of the

tribe regard1ess of their reiigious affiiiation, and it is hasicaiiy the

same set of rituals for Christian as for pagan“ This again attests the
native church's abiiity to cancel out the advantages of its Western

competitors.

We may conclude that the different tribes~~depending upon the

particular organization of ideology which each of them espouses-«niii

remain‘able to centre] and even more or iess integrate the ideoiogica!

infTuences which are diffusing from the politica11y doefinant Surinam

Coast. Viewing the Djuka example as one aiternative, we see that the
stronger the church of the Great Deity becomes, the greater wili be the

possibi1ity that the Djuka wiii survive as a separate, perhaps as a

secessionist society. The more a single ideoiogicai viewpoint becomes

abie to expiain, justify, and organize the universe, the more it wiii

integrate the individual‘s experiences, and the greater wiii be the

Djuka tribe‘s ability to resist the siren caii of Christianity and the
Western reaiity, Note that it simpiy ggggg§_do so if it surrenders any
of its major tenets: at the moment Bush Negro ideoiogy thrives because

it explains and integrates more of the individual's life experiences

than the Christians attempt to deai with. To reject 5333, for instance,
wou1d necessitate the introduction of a non-supernaturai device fer

maintaining sociai control“ Yet no secular tactic ever imagined coqu be

as effective and self-maintaing as Egan is new. The same hoids for

witchcraft: if it were to be elimfinated as a basic tenet of Bush Negro

ideoiogy, the missionaries wouid begin to make real inroads among the
 ~328~

wouid
younger peopie, to the point that sooner or iater individuai Djuka
‘wwé'

and Christ
be abie to make rationai and deiiherate choices between Grantata
on the basis of their reiative costs and rewards. Such choices couid not
of controi
fail to affect the centralization cf authority and the patterns
with such
among the Djuka. One notices no tendencies among them to flirt
fish.

REINTERPRETATION: CGNTINUITY IN CHANGE

Pius ca change, pius c'est 1a meme chose.

French Proverb

God [Masagadu] created a brother and sister, Adam and Eta.

[hey were twins. He put them in a place where they iived
happily without working. But he forbade them to touch the
fruit of the custard appie tree.
e.
One day the deviicame in the form of the serpent da
He said to them: "Eat the fruit of this tree and you wiig
know a11 things, as God does.“
Adam Tet himseif be tempted and ate a custard appie. He
made Eta eat one. He found the fruit good and said: “God
has deceived us.“ His heart changed: he stopped looking
at Efa as a sister and lay with her. She became pregnant.

Sometime afterwards, God came to earth and saw what had

happened. He said to Efa: "You will beget in misery.“
And to Adam: "You wiii eat only what you have harvested by
the sweat of your brow.“ He gave Adam a stone axe and told
him: “Go to the mountain; there_you wiii find piahts from
which you wiii henceforth be abie to saw in order to feed
yourse’l f. “

Efa had twins whom she again caiied Adam and Efa. and
then some other chiidren. It is from these that aii men
have descended.
(Hurauit, 1961:194. Tr. mine)
y to
This Bani creation myth demonstrates the tribesmen‘s abiiit
local
imbue the traits borrowed from Western ideoiogies with a pureiy
ature.
relevance. Exampies of this taient abound throughout the iiter
) that in October
For instance, the Surinam justice Samson recounts (1947
 ~329~

1930 the zzzyear-oid Saramacca Evert Natan was sentenced to ten years

imprisonment with labor for the murder of his fellow tribesman Darius.

Natan was a Christian, a member of the Evangelical Brethren Society. He

shot Darius in the back with a shotgun because Darius had sickened him

and some other people“ Barius was a wisimanc Natan killed him out of
pure public spiritedness, not out of rancorfl we F. van Lier testified at

this trial that according to Bush Negro belief there is no other-way of

rendering a wisiman harmless, and that one who kills a wisiman gains much
honor but at a fearful cost: by having killed a witch he becomes a

witch. Therefore a truly philanthropic executor of a wisiman immediately

commits suicide. In Natan‘s case he drank fish poison, but it was old and

had lost its strengthi Natan was reieased from prison in June l940.

Unfortunateiy, Samson does not tell us what course Natan’s life

took after his release, One suspects that he became Creolized. If he

rethrned to his Eggggg, it would be as a known witch, for although wjgi can
oniy be proven posthunously, in the case of a wisiman-slayer there can be

no doubt. It would be difficult for a person to continue to live with

such certainty. At the very least, Naten's continued survival must have
intensified his dependence upon Christianity.
But what is more arresting is the fact that although he was
considered a Christian by himself and his tribe, Natan believed in wj§_
and, in spite of the Christian taboos and the tribal controls which center
in the fear of gong, committed murder and attempted suicide. Surely the
Christianity which the Saramacca accept is a different ideology than that

which the missionaries dissense;

Kfibben pointed out that Christianity is primarily an addition to

the iocel beliefs. One could go further and suggest that the new Western
 -330-

influence is encouraging experimentation with a whole new set of

opportunities. This is so obvious3y true in the area of techno1ogy as to

require no documentation" More interestiogty, it hons just as true for

ideoTogicai evoiution. The cuits of‘the High Gods have benefitted greatIy
from the teachings of the missionaries, not oniy in the increased

effectiveness of their organizations, but in their very precepts:

witness
the humanizetion of the penalties for witchcraft, for example» But more
than that, there is the actual innovation in reIigion which the new

aIternatives have afforded”

In true Protestant tradition, iocal acceptance of the Gospei

resuited almost immediate1y in schism and the development of a Toce] sect.

This was the cult of Pau1us Anake, a Seramaccan convert to Christianity

who empioyed the vistas opened by Johannes King and the other Moravi
ans as
one part of a most curious blend of sociai and theo1ogica1 doctrines.
According to Junker (1940), Paqus was a faith heaier, who espouse
d polygyny
(forbidden by the ufissionaries, of course), practiced possession by Christ

(in the standard fashion of the bush), and rejected the idea of private

property fbr individual and lineage“ Voorhoeve & van Ronselaar (1962)
have documented that 9auius was a true messianic Ieader, and have detaiIe
d
some of the “Cargo~Cult“ aspects of his teachingss

Anake was the son of the leaders of the Grantata cuTt in his
viTIage, and a 5333 representative in the Domini or Dombi 13y His career
as prophet began during a fanerai ceremony when he was a bearer. He became
possessed, evidencing confusion and stupor. “0n the third day he co1lected
the cuit objects of the grantata suit from his viliage (twelve in all),
hung
them in the big Egg; tree which was the centre of the grantata cuit in
Sophiboeka, and began to chop at the tree“ (Voorhoeve & van Renselaar,
 —33l~

l962:202). Soon after he was dissuaded from this iconoclastic behavior.

he deserted his wives and their chlldren and began his new role of God‘s
divine messenger to the bush.

All this happened in 189l, when Johannes King was still active
among the Matuarl, and the missionany Albltrouw was working among the

Saremacca in the nearby village of Aurora. Albltnouw, much disturbed by

the heretical and possibly sacrellglous implications of Anake‘s behavior,
documented the development of the new rellglon in details
Anake soon collected the faithful about him in a new village
called §y§g_§9_h§_gg§g_(feet never have rest), where he preached his new
message, and his people lived in a communally oriented atmosphere under
his divine guidance. He renamed himself Paulus, spoke in a tongue which
the faithful interpreted as Butch but which Alhltrouw celled nonsense.
Paulus insisted that the church recognize him as the highest authority

on earth; destroyed whatever colt objects of the dangerous Saramaccan gods

he could reach, but protected those of the benevolent ones; prondsed

children to barren women, health to the sick, wealth to all his followers,

and eternal life.

He predicted that huge ships would moor at the jetties of his
village and that wide avenues of shops would appear. He
instituted something resembling a church service at which he
read from the palms of his hands, and sang. He also estab-
lished something like baptl5m_ln which the candidate kneeling
before him received a sharp blow on the head (Voorhoeve &
Renselaar. 1962:202).
Anake‘s disruptive activities were directed primarily against the
repressive and dangerous old gods and against the cult of Grentata (the
Great Deity), which was a Djuka development and thus a foreign element

in Seramacoa ideology; The truly regenerative aspects of his new

religion were of Christian origin.
 ~332~

Pauius Anake died in 1949” Long before that, he had returned to

the church and was baptized. But untii his death he remained the spirituai

leader of his viiiage.

In his social innovations Anake was entireiy originai. He
instituted a system with communai features. The fruits of
iabour were divided among the viiiagers according to their
needs. He even seems to have asserted his rights with
respect to ail the women in the viliage. There was some
protest against innovations of this nature. It was thought
that Anake took advantages for himself and his favourites,
and there was talk of immoral practices in the viilage.
Part of the villagers remained faithfui to him, however.
After-his death, one of his grandsons attempted to continue
in the same direction under the name of Jo e foe waarheid
(spirit of truth), but even before Anake s eEEW the movement
had)iost its original éian (Voorhoeve & van Renseiaar, 1962:
205 .
The nfissionaries have apparently never ciaariy understood that

they and the Bush Negroes are using different symbolic referents, or also
they have discovered themselves unabie to change this fact. Nor would
such a change be easiiy effected even if both parties to the communicating

process were fniiy aware of its

Kobben noted that true conversion, the actuai suppianting of

native be1iefs with Christianity, is a rare occurrence indeed. To

understand this, and to understand the behavior of a Naten or an eideriy

convert among these tribesmen, we must briefiy inspect the truIy distinct

universes in which missionary and pagan iive. The discussion of kina,

trefu, and sangrafu (see Chapter XIV) introduced a cruciai area of

difference between the reiigion of the tribes and Christian ideology.

Generaily, it is the egg, not the intent, which is cruciai to the High

Gods, although there are mitigating circumstances‘ If a tribesman eats

something which is trefu to him, or cuts down a sacred tree, or kiiis a

Qagasneki, or commits some other forbidden act, the Gods wiii strike him

regardless of why he did it. Oniy under certain conditions can retribution
 ~333-

he stayed: the act must have been involuntary, eggtexpiated, g§g_the

corrective behavior must occur a7most immediately after the

taboo was
broken. It is quite irreIevant that one-is honestiy sorry for a rash
act,
or that the act was unintentionai, even unwitting,

In Christianity, the ideas of intent and contrition are crucia]

in determining religious guiit for a taboo act. In cathOTicism,
for
instance, an act is a sin on1y if it was committed with knowIe
dge, intent,
and free choice. To Qggg.and Grantata, an act is punishable simpiy

because it is contrany to the ions of the Gods. In Cathoiicism. a sin

may be forgiven because, basica11y, the sinner repents out of
the fear of
punishment. This is “imperfect contrition,“ and the sinner nilI sti11

have to pay for his act in Purgatory, one of the possih1e stage
s in the
after7ife. The High Gods forgive a sin only if the act was
invoiuntary,
regerdiess of repentance, and a forgiven sinner is not punished.
If a
sin is goggforgiven, the punishment occurs here on earth. It
is reaiistic
to fear punishment, and we may assume that "imperfect contri
tion" is always
present in the tribesman's acts of atonement, as Hurault
(1961:299)
impiied.

Christienity‘s “perfect contrition," that is, repentance for the

reason that the sinner regrets that his (knowing) act has offend
ed or
wouneed the Deity, is always fo110wed by God‘s abso1ution, even
though it
must stili be expiated in Purgatory. There is no equivaIent
to this
concept in bush fdeoiogy just as the concept of c011ective
gui1t for
private acts is unknown'to Christianity (beyond the concept of
originai
sin).
Obvioust we are witnessing an independent evoiution of ideolo
gy
in the Surinem bush“ But just as obviously, the direction of its
 ~334~

development does not reduce the individual's reSponsibility for his own

condition, or for that of the world in which he lives. The religions of

the High Gods are more existential than modern Christianity, primarily

because of their fundamentally different assessment of the individual.

The tribes view the person as an instance of a category, an example of a

class. A man does not grow up or live in“a vacuum, but is shaped and
nurtured by his kin. At all times, group and individual interact, they

affect and change each other, and each reflects the other's existence.
Thus, if the lineage has sinned, the individual is punished. If the
individual has sinned, the lineage is guilty. why should I pay for my
brother‘s debt? Because my brother and I are one.
Western religions, on the other hand, persistently view the
individual as a static creation of historical forces over which he has no
control: He is a product of psychohsocial machinations which existed

before his arrival. His perceptions are formed as his responses were

programmed—~without his consent. Justice requires that he be held to have

but dinfinished reaponsibility, if any.
This distinction between the two views of man underiies not only

the failure of the missions, but is the bulwark of Bush Negro ideology.
That is an ideal interpretation. of course. Until the systematization of
belief is completed in these young societies, a number of problems will
remain unexplained. There is, far instance. Hurault's (196l:255) observa“
tion that Bush Negro river'boatsmen will break the giga_gg_taboo (the
prohibition against labor on the locally «sedated day of rest) hy working
on that day if a European orders them to, holding him solely responsible.

Assumdng that Hurault means that the §§53g_will be punished for the act of
transgression, not that he will merely be blamed for whatever future
 ~335-

disaster may befall the rowers, we are left with a legical inconsistency.
Are we dealing here with a vestigial or newly developing cencept of

reduced responsibility? Must we infer that under certaln elrcnmstances the

individual can take chances which may affect the welfare of his relatives

as much as his own, because the bond between kin is temporarily held in
abeyance fbr some reason not known to us and that there j§_thus no danger?

Is this apparent inconsistency of behavior unique to the Bani? 0r

finally, is the observation of the gingagg_se unimportant that Qggn no
longer enforces it? We cannot say. In the light of the fact that
tribesmen living in Paramaribo, who are often unable to follow the commands
of the High Gods, are nevertheless liable to Their punishment for such

failures, the second alternative seems unlikely. It is possible that

behavior on the river does not follow the same rules as behavior on land.
But this also seems unlikely, since no ene has wade a point of it. In any
case, there is no need to View such minor inconsistencies as a serleus
challenge to the general ideological plan or to the effectiveness of its
systematization. As Kabben recently observed:
Our conclusion can now be formulated concisely. Djuka social
structure and culture contain strong defenses against
acculturation. The external factors of change are not suffl~
clent, not even in combination. to break this resistance.
Therefore, although this society does absorb new elements and
does exhibit change, for new continuity is dominant (Kfibben,
3968:89).
 CHAPTER XVI

THE VIEW FROM THE BUSH

Here, then, is the basic problem. The anthropologist

learns some sort of folk organization of his data fhom his always
formants. But this folk organization is not in itself adequain~
te
for his purposes, so he must create an additional organ
izati
on-—
an analytical organization-~in order to compare the facts and
the folk theories.
Now, both the folk and the analytical viewpoints may be
perfectly sound, but they must not be confused with each other.
The folk organization has as its purpose action in daily life.
Overt or covert, it is adequate to the extent that it is succe
ful from the point of view of the actors. The analytical ss-
‘ organization, on the other hand, has analysis and theor
izing as
its purpose‘ It should be entirely overt, and it is as adequa
as the theory and understanding to which it leads. te

The direst trap for the anthropologist is to confuse folk

organization will analytical organization. The most heinou
fault that a work of social anthropology can have is assignsment
of ideas from an analytical aystem to people who act merely
terms of a folk system. in

Bohennan, 1963zll
Box you knock him in teeth him any.

New Guinea Pidgin for "piano"

WELTANSCHAUUNG: AN INFERENCE
How does one demonstrate to an intelligent native from the
New
Ginea Highlands on his first contact with a piano, that this
black box is
not magical? One could show him that each key is related to but
a single
sound, explain the principle of chords ("You do gg§_need 88
fingers"), and
outline the logic of musical notation. The clever native would
then
understand that any tone he can imagine can be reproduced
on the box.
But would he be able to play?
What does any alien make of‘a truly new and complex idea? How
can the Westerner be sure that he understands such a concept as
Caste,
-336~
 -337-

fer example, unless he feels that he could “play”? The fact that mission~
cries, Peace Corps volunteers, Foreign Service personnel of all
nations,
and anthropologists usually survive their sojourns in exotic climes,
attests the basic tolerance of human beings and their willingness to

“suffer fools gladly." But it does not prove that the survivors always

knew what they were doing.

Communicating to Westerners how an exotic group structures its

perceptions goes beyond—~or at least emphasizes another aspect of4~th

e
problem which Bohennan identifies above. How can the anthropologist
describe the native‘s world in the terms of the Nest? Bohannan (1963:11-
12) suggests that it is usually enough to define certain crucial native
concepts and to employ their terms for these instead of whatever
Western
words have a sinfilar but not identical meaning. But when it comes to
making a statement on Weltanschauung, on a people‘s psycho-culturally

unique perception of the universe and of their place and role in it, the
task for the theorist exceeds that of the translator of a poem. The
latter, at least, can control for cultural factors. The theoretician
cannot. But he must, if he insists upon being regarded as more legitimate
than an art critic.

There appear to be only two defensible procedures, each of which

is probably more tortuous and debatable than the (similar) taSk of

programming a computer for Ethical Judgment would be.

a; One records one's native informants while they philosophize freely

about the universe, life, purpose, and whatever etceteras their culture
holds dear, Then one treats this data as poetry, or ethno-philosophy,

or theology, or whatever one's research-orientation holds dear, and calls

it worldview.
 ~338~

fig Gne deduces (in the fashion of the Beheviorist~~and

the poet) from
the recorded acts and utterances of one‘s subjects what
motivations guide
their behavior, and defends the pattern one has glimp
sed in these
motivations as the people’s worldview.

Only the second road is open to us here. There is no record of

Bush Negroes "freely philosophizing." And even if there were, I do not
speak their languages. What follows is therefore inductive and intuitive.
It is impossible to reproduce directly into standard theol
ogical or
philosophical terminology that version of veridical reality
which is the
Bush Negro perception (as I now understand it). I must
make do with
analogy. The analogy that will be used here is neither original nor
exotic: Huizinga (l944) long ago suggested that we look at cultures
as
complex games. reminded us that different games have diffe
rent rules, and
that rules and goals are difficult to separate.

The rules of the game called “Being a Bush Negro" are no more
and
no less complex than those of other such pastimes. One
is introduced to
them at a very early age, and one's socialization is compl
ete when he is
incapable of questioning the rules or the purpose of the game.
When one
knows that this is the only game in town, he is a player
.
The game is played on a multidimensional field whose param
eters
include the physical universe (which operates quite indep
endently from
the players), the social universe (one‘s fellow players
who may be neutral
or competitive), and the supernatural universe (whose embodi
es powers are
often potentially useful and always potentially dange
rous).
The object of the game is to exercise one‘s autonomy in the

creation of personally satisfying psychoesocial structures

. One plays
by manipulating the potentials available to one’s position
in the field.
 ~339-

Changes in position result in changes in potentials. Ultimately the

potentials associated with a single position-~that is, with one matrix of

the field's dimension-~are connected to the potentials of any other

position. To manipulate potentials, one interacts with objects, animals.

people alive or dead, and the nonhuman Supernaturals. One commits his
resources according to his "System," a unique and complex code which one
develops partly fYom experience, partly from assigned windfalls and
handicaps. as the maximum-gain strategy for the achievement of one‘s own

ideals.

As in all games of this type, "Being a Bush Negro“ provides certain

inequalities to the players which tend, over time, to randomize the play.
Some of these, such as King and kinship, are assigned at the player's birth.
Others, such as Kong or possession, may affect the play in mid~game.

“Being a Bush Negro“ is not a team sport. Comnfitment to the fray is

individual. Sometimes by design, but usually by some freak of chance, a

player may find himself temporarily aligned with another, but it is rare
that such alliances remain mutually advantageous; and most successful
addicts will seek a divorce from their partner and return to the play

alone.

As in any enduringly fascinating game, one never achieves certainty

that his moves will structure the field to suit his designs, but the
probability of such success is vastly increased if one becomes sufficiently
expert. One learns that for every move on the field there is a possible

countermove. One accepts that moves in one dimension may be countered by

changes in another. One expects that every stroke of luck carries an
implied threat, that every handicap implies the existence of a tactic for
transfbrming it into an advantage. One studies the odds, practices his
 ~340~

skiiis, perfects his “system.”

The game is on a scale so grand, the permutat

ions of the possiv
biiities are so far beyond the comprehension of
even the best piayer, that
there is a superobundance of randomness for each
player to structure. No
one can structure a1] of it. Every player is aliowed to organize a part
of the Whole in any way he sees fit. There is but one Commandment:
"Thou shalt not improve thy own universe by sabotaging
another‘s." One
may reduce randomness, maniouiate the odds in his
favor by any means
imaginabie, as iong as one does not reduce the
chances of another. To do
so would mean that the game was no longer "honest,"
and then it wouid not
be worth piaying for anyone. Therefore, cheaters
are despised.
The game is endiess, but the game evoives. Aithongh each player
moves as an-individual, he undeniably influences
and is influenced hy
the potentials of neighboring positions. Littie groups affect each other.
Any Structuring of even a minute part of the fieid reduc
es the area
which other players can transform, and the effect
which groups of piayers
have is an ordering of the fieid for other group
s. It is this which
expiains the faiiacy of luck or fate or acci
dent: whatever at first
appears to be a random occurrence can inevitabiy
be traced to the
purposefu} behavior of another piayer in anoth
er matrix. even another
dimension of the field. Thus even when one is unaware of it, one‘s
behavior has impiications for other piayers, and
every action has a
reaction.

Over time, the interaction of free agents has

structured some
important areas of the fieid, and the fieid therefore
looks different
from one are to the next. Piayers come and go. Structures created for
one purpose may be used for another by a diffe
rent player, as Tong as
 ~34l~

the latter does not unfairly diminish the former‘s potential. Structures
may limit alternatives, but in removlng the risk of choice, they also
allow one a maximization of effort in other areas. The field is limitless,
so each structure can be an opportunity. New neighbors, new tools, new
ideas, all can be of use to the expert player if he learns to manipulate
them.

Humans are not the only players. There are supernaturals in the
field, as well as entities (e.g., Qagagadu, aggg, or the silk-cotton

tree) which occupy a position in at least two dimensions. Large areas of

the field have thus been structured by various types of players long
before one joins the game. One may employ any existing structure in any

fashion one desires, but it must be remembered that each structure has

its own integrity, the rules by which its originator constructed it. To
violate this integrity is dangerous. Multidimensional structures such as
the supernatural players build are usually more dangerous than the struc-

tures of more people. But even the latter have an integrity which must
be respected by any user. Among the unexpected rewards of play are the
structures erected by other players. Often these are pleasing even to
those who do not understand their purpose, and it is possible to enjoy,

for instance, the artistry of some god as evidenced in a comical Possession.

For a game to retain its challenge, there must be penalties. But

the very penalties levied against a player may be turned to advantage by

an outstanding talent. Lesser players can wait for new opportunities to

change their position; and if the penalties appear to doom the play, one

can quit. Suicide transports the player From one dimension of the field
to another, the supernatural one, where new systems and new vistas will

be possible.
 ~342~

One‘s system depends upon his experience, and one‘s experience

depends upon how he first received his training. There are a number of
basic attitudes towards the game, all of which affect the major tenets of
one‘s system. Although all are oriented towards choice making, the Bani
school de-emphasizes organization, the Djoka school emphasizes detours
around any Christian structures but emphasizes organization, and the

Saramacca school teaches a pragmatic view of ali existing structures.

There are thus competing philosophies about the field and about the game.
Since these phiiosophies affect the play, the difference between the tribes
are sometimes exceedingiy important. But they are never more important
than the simple fact that uon—tribesmeh are non-piayers.

To devotees of Western games, it sometimes seems that in "Being a

Bush Negro“ the piayers must count for iess than the accumuiated totai of

their structures.
But the oiayers cannot believe that.

The view from the bush is intrinsicaliy fascinating. It is so

alien, and yet so "§§1§*2g5" that one must eventually surrender to the
temptation to “explain” it. ‘
After such an attempt, after immersion in the literature, one

empathizes again with the tendency among the earlier students to see in

Surinam an extension of Africa, a macrocosm into which various traits of

whole culture areas have been transplahted and wildiy exaggerated, a
place where time stood still and growth went wild. Although that attitude
is intellectuaiiy stifling, it is also emotionally satisfying. One courts
a certain melancholy in considering the role of forgotten individuals who
nurtured this or that eiement into local blossom: What force of wiil was
required to establish keno as a nonwvioleht control mechanism? Whose
y. sewsxrwmnww .oavwwrm «ammmmm».wmmmm it» seem «new: i . . whom a '\ \Mrn n w or uw «w mum, -» .M i, «we -

~343~

charisma shored the early Court of the Great Deity? What private faiths
and ioyaities encouraged the germination of the tribes? And who were the
philosophers responsible for the many checks and balances in these swiftly
evolving cuitures? If it is possible to admire and identify with the

heroes and peopies of fiction, how much more probabie is it that one wiii
empathize with contemporaries whom one has contemplated (even vicariousiy)

for some years:

There is iittie enough food for such romantic hangers. Few cuiture
heroes have been described in the literature, and heroes never have faces,

anyway. ant impiicitiy in iaconic aside or fhlsome praise, explicitiy in

open admiration for certain individuals, even the oidest writers have

seen the Bush Negroes as men; and that is a tribute to the authors as we}?
as to the peopie. Where the early writers faiied most often was in their—~

often remarkable-~effnrts to synthesize the material before it was

availabie. A truly phobic attitude about disorder characterized most of

the students who wrote before the 1930‘s when neat and estheticaiiy

pieasing taxonomies of behavior were everywhere:

Empathy, curiosity, objectivity, and a toierance for embi-

guity are not always comfortable attitudes. Nor are they Tikeiy
to be congeniai to temperaments wedded to rigorous and elegant
abstractions fer whom rationaiism, materiaiistic deternfinism
and science are fbcai values. Rather, they are attitudes and
virtues congeniai to humanists (Cora Du Bois, 1963135).
There is neither joy nor profit in the easy criticism of a van 0011, a

Junker, or a Kahn. They were not, after ali, anthropoiogists. By the

precepts of their miiieu, they were sensitive and humane exponents of the
best scientific attitudes. at a time when it was considered inteiiecte
uaiiy viriie to create order out of chaos, even if the order was imaginary.
Anyone who wouid systematize the wealth of information which previous
generations bequeathed us most similarly risk being judged lacking in the
 ~344~

tolerance for ambiguityt

THE TEST OF THE FABRIC

The further retreat of the Bush Negroes to the western interi
or
[of Surinam] must be completely prevented, In place thereof,
Bush Negroes should be offered extra settlement areas in [Dist the
rict]
Coronie, in order to assinfilate them to the Coronians. The
generation raised there will cease to be Bush Negroes and
parasites
on our country, and will be made ready to be accepted into the
Creole Society of Surinam.

Stahel, 1944:28. Tr. mine

...it would be unthinkable to make a group of Creoles and one
Bush Negroes live together harmoniously fer any length of time.of
Attempts at this, notably in Snrinam, have always failed.
When
economic necessity requires them to work at the some jobs in
the
same locale, Creoles and Bush Negroes form two distinct groups
,
each living according to its own laws.

Hurault, 1961:l98o Tr. mine

Can the tribes prevail in an age of nation states and mass
communication? There are other factors besides ideology which will affect
any prediction one might wish to venture. If more survival is meant, the
answer must be "Obviously." If "prevail" means survival in some condition
less artificial than that of “living museum" and less dependent
than that
of Reservation or Bantustan, the answer is that there will probably
be
Bush Negroes for a long time to come. The tribes are undergoing change,
but as Kobhen so eloquently documented (1968), there is an
underlying
integrity in the cultures which makes their evaluation of
new traits a
self-conscious and controiled process. Ideologically, the Bush Negroes
deal from strength: the tribesmen know their superiority in their own
kondres. Their beliefs are sufficiently holistic and exclusive to defuse
any threatening new prophets: their faces on their ideological differences
from the City Creoles gives than an immunity to whatever new nation
alism
or Future black racism Sorinam may contract from Guyana or the
UtS.A.
 ~345~

The physiological adaptation of the biacks in the hush adequately provides

for their continued occupation of the interior, in spite of European

attentits to co'lonize. Ultimateiy. they wi 11 prove to be the best adapted

labor force.
One; often-overiooked factor in the future of the tribes is the wide-
spread ignorance about them. This had Iittie importance when the uninformed
had no influence on policies concerning the Bush Negroes. But in their
endless need for "copy," some popuiar journa’lists and traveibook authors

have taken to publishing irresponsibie or chiidish distortions about the

tribes, their importance and their future. anortunateiy such perversions cap-
ture more of the pubiic imagination than the elegant scholarship of such

anthropo‘logists as Kiibben and the Thoden van Veizens, readablethough these

are. The professional 1iteratore is largeiy ignored by empioyers, traders,

officiais and other representatives of the latest, most of whom fail to even
try to understand the wor‘id from the bush; When the uninformed become

misinformed, policy-making wi'fl inevitably be affected.

MW: .
There is danger for the tribes in suchmignorance. A massive

introduction of western eiements by an inundation of heliumaning “civiiized”

men heiibent on “rescuing the unfortunates from themseives“ eouid begin an

exodus from the bush to the city, from independence to minority group status.

he society is indestructib‘ie.

There are also occasional rumbiings about the danger which the

tribesmen themselves represent. From his ana‘iysis of Bush Negro agri-

culture both from the air and from the ground, Stahei (1944) warns that
their practice of shifting cultivation is Tending to the creation of

“permanent ant~ka£g“eWeris". (A W is a discarded agri cuitural

ground which has becone overng with secondary shrubs and bushes.) In
 ~346~

Surinam, the ants take over these kapoeweris and prevent the trees from

growing back. The High country Indians fiee the ants in their gardens
before they become a problem, thus preventing the development of kapoewe
ris.
Stahei fears that if current practices are aiiowed to continue, the present

area of arabie land in Bush Negro country (the Surinam and Saramacca Rivers)

wiii have disappeared in twenty years. In another century the whole

interior of Surinam wii] be one Iarge ant~kapoeweri. The Tribes, by then
five times greater in number than they are new, and unable to move into
neighboring countries, wili begin to move onto the Coast. where it wiii be
impossibie to assimilate their numbers. This view ied Stahei to the
suggestion which opens this sections

The twenty years that Stahei granted in 1944 have passed, but as

Oudschans Dent: (1946) suggested then, the permanence of kagoeweris has

not been demonstrated. Even if it had, it wouid seem a better aiternative
to encourage the Bush Negroes to ieave there gardens eariier, as the
Indians do, than to encourage them to settie in the coastal areas where
they cannot help but become a dependent minority group.

In some respects, the Bush Negroes are already a minority, as this

term is used in the United States. Niiiiams (3964:304) defines monorities

as “any cuituraiiy or physicaily distinctive and seifnconscious sociai
aggregates, with hereditary membership and 5 high degree of endogamy,

which are subject to poiiticai, or econonnc, or social discrimination by

a dominant segment of an environing poiiticai society.” By Wirth‘s
(1945:347n372) ciassification, the Bush Negroes are a secessionist minority.
Whatever the iocai implications of such definitions may be, the reai
issue here is that they are a successfui nfinority.

On any rea1istic scale of Afrounmerican traits, the Bush Negroes

 APPENDIX I

AFAKA‘S DJUKA SCRIPT

The fo1lowing example of Afaka's writings was copied by the late

Father Morsink, who received it from Afaka in Augast, 1918. The page of
script and the transcription into 1atin letters is found in Gongghyp &

Dube1aar, 1963:235. The English trans1ation is §g$_a direct transiation

of their Dutch, since English Tends itseIf t0 a c10$er approximation of
the meaning than Dutch does. The oniy changes imposed on Morsink's

transcription of the Djuka is the use of y_fcr a1} gg,vowels.

a bigi fu a buku fu de afirika
fu masa gadu, di 3 be suku na
afirika konde, sibi ge na sarana, a be
pun, afu na sarana baka, sibi 90 na busi,

da a taagi baka a taki de mu Ieri,

de afirika, fu de Tibi, ning de taki de

fe-e1e bakaa e kari de fa kisi.

da amakiti tata opo wang sitari fu ai 5?,

a taki w? 53 kisi 1eri suds w? sabi,

da a meki wang fu de djuka siibi dipi,
da a kari eng usa. a piki a taki de

wang buku, da ju 1eri de tawang, make wi

Ifbi, aga gaduywanni, da gadu 5a de
na wi Fesi, aga wi baka, bika a gi

ala sanni karakiti fa de Iibi, ma 3

karakiti fu gadu, morn bigi more eke

sa 3 paati, da wi mu biiibi na

gadu, a konni di a g1 de santawang

~349-
 mm

~348-

amalgam. Eat the Djuka wit} stiil be experimenting with socfa

} contra}.
{" f) and the Bani wi11 stil? worship freedom.
 w 0 M4?l
s

j
l ' -

filgmw my. «6"

Wag .é’W Mfl'fi’
‘

m.
O-

a}: _ .
.. ‘7 a") L mam k ‘ gnu“, MW!” vafl _ w
4%» fl , w . v w #1 A w fine/[y a .
._ g 915;“ a 3 5 a. ., i «a v, ;
M _ .r, k, _ é m. _ my? g a w it”?
._ . a 9,726,,“ . x %a wig 3 a
 ~350~

a sa gi wi to, to na saute katoiiki

di mesa bi 9i na suioto fo tapu.

The beginning of the book of the Africans

of Master God, who He took from
Africa country, and sent to Surinam. from
them in Surinam took back a portion which he sent to the bush.
Then he told the whites they must teach

the Africans, for their 1ife. Then they said

they feared.the whites wou1d cheat and capture them.

The Aimighty Father made a star rise for the eyes to see.
He said we wii? learn without knowing it.

Then he made one of the Djuka sleep deepiy,

him he caITed: "Usa," and when Use answered, "See this

book, then you teach the others, so we may

Iive, as God wants it, then God wili be

with our faces and at our backs, because he gives
all things power to iive, but the
power of God is bigger than
what he parts with, therefore we must beiieve in

God. The knowiedge which he gave the Saints

He wiii give us, too. Ah, the holy Catholic church
the Lord has given the key from above,
 rm a W , ., I , N V. w, , w.Wm»mqmwa~ , .A. “My. gm;\Hmunhvwk Mn”
, \MflflMX

~352-

array of aiUminum kitchenware (tjggglj),

always carefuity scoured, to
which some idea of osteotation is attached
. Spoons and utensiis are
arranged in the roofing, wedged between
the layers.
Most of the Bani use snail oi} lamps
with open flames for
iiiumination. For severai years, the richest have been
using gasoiine
lanterns. In Boniviile in 1958 there were 10 such
lamps among 60 houses;
in 1962 aimost aii the Boni owned them.
although they did not aii use them
often.
The apparent poverty of furnishings is
surprising at first, but
is in fact one aspect of their perfect adap
tation to the geographic
milieu. In 1957 one ingenious Bani succeeded
in building and furnishing
a house of approximately European norm
s: it had a wooden fioor, double
hails, dressers with sliding drawers,
and a bed with a mattress. In less
than a year, this house was so infosted
with rats, cockroaches, spiders
and ants that it became uninhabitabto.
In this country, just as the
ioincioth is more hygenic than the trousers
, the hammock is preferable
to the bed, and an earthen floor is superior
to a wooden one.
The Boni are very fond of their cabins,
and carefui with them.
They are always iooking fhr some superior
Took to fit to the door,
although it goes without saying that such
a device is primarily of symbolic
value: a prospective thief has but to stick his
hands through the 1eaves
of the roof.

Most cabins have no outbuildings. The women work and cook under
the roof overhang or in the room which is used
as a vestibuie. Each Bush
Negro viiiage usuaiiy has several storage
sheds whore vats of cassava
meal are kept. In Boniviiie, for 60 houses there were but nine
kitchens
and sheds; in Loka, for 48 cabins, oniy
eight. There are no granaries
 ~353~
because the products of the gardens
are taken from the ground when needed
,
and are not stored. Rice is the only exception: it is colIected and
stored in a special littTe shelter
in the garden itself. What féw rice
granaries are found in the viIIag
e wi11 be shaped 3ike tiny houses
. placed
on pilings, and sealed against rodents
and birds.

. w »~%m~wwi‘w.mmn A.» M... «.M. m...“ A.” M

r ._~_____A__........_~.. w w- w w.”
WW,W w W4
M» w W»
~< WW ‘ “Mw