Paanza’s Story sgson of the most Important Matjau runaway stole Paénz since she was OF the neighboring Kasiti plantation. Th nae knew her He aver” Tjn the fields near cach other. When he waa in the forest, he achern ae (0 orkin Hee back and stole her from a field where she wae ne ached (o see ing, rice. She wen 90 PE her hair and they fl wa gecds into ey fled, escaping to Badkawata. (Peléki 18 April i med nice 968) vy une peoPle of Kasitit, Painza’s people, they were the first people beside We wvatambils] that we [Matjaus] brought to the Pikilio. The sister's son Bre axisiar til he WAS causing real difficulties with other men’s wives. So he told an a ee OP vat ine would create @ kuinu [avenging spirit] if he didn't watch out. And = ° scop 1” umother’s brother, if you want me to stop it, you'll have to go ae paetayecrtaias ce tay PU “Then the older man went back to get her for him. His very own wife: T prother went £0 take her for him, After this happened, he did stay put. And he 7 nad been in the forest for a very long time, He'd been living at Badkawata 1s. avo Ayako .d his prother Lanu. They had brought Adjagbo there as a youth [kiéo mit]. Well, padnza’s Story (143-46) she tony of Padinza, in its simplest form, is a moving love story; but on closer inspection, it may be ee aso to reflect conflicting claims about interclan relations, as well as being a vehicle for the preservation of some fascinating glimpses of early plantation and maroon life. Paanza's descend vexpecame the Kasit clan, today centered in the Pikilio village of BendékOnd& and its Tower-river offshoot, Kapasikee. Because their collective “father” is the Matjau Adjagbo, they assess their lands, ritual prerogatives, and other rights a5 clients of the Matidus. However, relations between the groups have long been delicate. Late-eighteenth-century Matjaus believed that the elderly Adjégbd was favoring his own children (the Kasitus) over his sisters’ children (the Najius), and many of his most valuable possessions (inherited from Ayako, Lanu, and ig particular, his Gbias—were in fact passed on exclusively 10 his Kasitd sons. The nemess engendered by this conflict is reflected in the ways in which Paainza's story" told today aaa 143 represents one of my first hearings of any First-Time narrative, told me ne peal by Peléki in 1968. Its essence: the slave Adjégbo (though not mentioned by name) camfttza and escapes to the forest; he later returns Mo liberate her, Se Teaves wah hi Yersions 1 hy seeds jn her hair; and they live happily ever after. Comparison to later fuller rae heaed—some of which also came from Y sigki—reveals what was here meds conflated: there is nothing in 143 about Padnza’s ancestY or siblings. Adjagbd (the “Lem, a Satamajen, UASUrE about the meaning of thi sag of rice seeds in a woman's halt today attributed by vi ng of the bringing TC Ihe Maroons claimed that i€ a5 dely pelos 02a, and 7 the ww Believed” thy by Matawais to Tjowa (see 59-60). (One visitor tot ‘ tie 10 Sonia that their female eneesioes whe Facelen rice in theie hale in AfEICS fand thus transported ital tres cama Wallan 1948522.) Saramakss or pootatng from he taco, that Panza brought Heo soe at Before her arrival, their only as dite alist LOLS OF syild-ricat), which UY én ani People, ritual use. And at the shrine of Awonenge, when special meals are F prepared’ S oF arama *POrtane neg WAYS Pade cals tha seme that the raiders who HDS nza returnes ka, net ew variety of rice, but that Citavated hillside (nonwild) rice had already been present in reve " I cannot be sure. r Ne HEROI¢ YEARS 129ok someone's wife [todbt sémbé], Madi said. Then th, ce uml he took Tame ro try 10 Kill them [the Mati2us). wey they” Ithe le of the wronged hus in took someone's wife, and those people came to tey 4 until he once 4827 him too! But before he could, Lanu sag. ny)? Kill Ayako WBS Fea ed him over and said [gently], “Whae's weon Don . woman, you Screw her, then YOU gO t0 the yey a stay with none. If you don't stop this, ae ‘ill really fall yoy 2 serew her, Bul Yther's brother, its because 1 had ae loved, when we were AdjagbO sid, N ths at Djigoon ‘what do they call her? ‘Padnza ”“Padnza, ate the coast, in the savanna © yes, That's the problem. I keep thinking of her. 1 cany loved cach Orr ninking of her.” “Is that what's really bothering you, then? ty ?” Lay ell him. Leave : js doing this to you? You B she | ae woman without aa alled his brother [Ayako] and spoke we io " a 0 a yan asked [sarcastically “Well, does he think Be i B08 cio eta pre hy Linu said that he would do it. Lanu called a council meeting. le prepared everyone rqually] as flly as he wished: tn those days they didn’t travel by canoe. Then he set dries the way to the Kasité plantation, on foot. (My father used t0 rase his hand whey we were on our way downstream to the city to point out the plantation, right there Gpsream from Lamé [Rama] ) There they were cutting rice in the great field, the Savanah field, just cutting and cutting that rice... . He kept watching for Panza until suddenty he saw her clearly. He “took” her. He called her. The woman was bending over, arranging the sister's son”) acts completely alone; and there is nothing supernatural implied in this fragment This is, I think, rather typical of the “sterilized” versions of early history given by Saramakas toa bakda, even one who speaks their language well and lives among them, In contrast, fragment 144 bears witness to some of the ways that Saramakas typically withhold, mask, and condense historical information among themselves. This transcription comes froma tape recording (in which I played no part) of Captain Kala giving a careful lesson in First-Time history to his potential successor at cock’s crow. Again, comparison with fuller versions reveals key omissions: Padnza’s ancestry and siblings are not mentioned; her plantation is not named (though this may be understood by the younger man because of the “Kasitt” reference); neither Ayak6-Lanu nor Adjagbé is mentioned by name; and nothing is said about the raid/liberation Taree mahes deat, 1 think, why “learning” a historical “story” ae on a does, (also makes a “ why any person's information takes on the fragmented rut e ce a ie more remarkable the richness of information about the dist ly preserved by Saramakas.) The inf : famed ae 145, told me by Tebini, was given to him a half-century ago by Maaku, accepted hae iu cr of Kampu. In terms of its inclusions and omissions, it represen sion today. The techni i os s ae y Tel = iqué Of “boiling” a tioned here i i by Tebini, was one of anumber of way 18." a person, ment rine the the ally Peléki expl: lys used by Saramakas to gain control over the! : cal yo nett me (in fact revealing very litle about A Ero neni nares your name, put the 6bia pot on the fire [« — se [RP]. You're the one you're dizzy, you're boiling here* fire. [Said in the tone used for praying) You see ie Pot here. You're who we're boiling. AS WE PONT sere ring P4100. Hee we've put in the 130 E qHe EYhad “boiled” her. tn a flash he jce. He ‘WAS stand sted a have come t0 take you away, 10 pve yoy next ‘a hee, Me's nt dead. He's 19 the FOr Let's yy ay rps “Let ” Mo “ 10g do?" He sald, "Let's get poing” She way acting eae Woxt pick uP ad Fave, He aK, "Whats yy the d id us “ turned around, Picked Up the rice in one Motion, and thy ren aM ren sey FETE, they didn't se her yey he he white man’s daughter! The whites entered the forest, fo Aad Tom or pa aoe away. They searched and searched. But Pasnyg Was al, Of they heard she had ca erin an instant. (Tebini 10 Auguse 197, Sady In Badkawita, avis , Matjaus don’t know [admit] it. The tribal chic is story, oe , ‘ibal chief doesn’ 46 TM ean't acknowledge it, Kala doesnt acknowledge a ny i eee Tet me! These others refuse to hear it Y Brandfather Kositin cl anza. 2S not Only AdgDO'S Wife, She was his “er ae sister's daughter's daughter] They were both Matjius “py we ‘nan, he took Paanza’s mother and got her pregnant. He ie <4 did not look like a black person. She was lightskinn ince when they saw the mulatto child, the blacks were accept Paanza or her aes) as theirs any more, and they no longer treated them well, ‘the whites, t00, treated Panza and her mother i badly. The white man couldn't bear to see painza, but she was Very attractive to him. So he sold her to another white man She wes She exctaimed * of yours called "! [his mother's ‘The very same lineage. The {00k her to live with him red, But her mother came from angry. They didn't ‘want to In 146, the Matjau-Kasité conflict, mentioned above, comes to the fore. This highly “danger cus" version was insisted upon by the Matjéu elder Kositan, who was urging greater generosity toward the Kasitas, ata major 1950s (?) council meeting; his death almost immediately afterwards ‘was attributed to his having told this story in public. (The man from whom I heard it, Otiju, is Kositin’s “great grandson,” who is in a privileged position to have heard relevant fragments at ‘many points in his life. As mentioned above {1C], Orjtju is intimately linked to Painza through his ® néséki, whose own néséki was the child of Adjégbd and Paanza.) The details of Painza’ 'sprivileged Plantation life are not disputed by other Saramakas; have heard many fragments concerning her special position as one “white man’s daughter” and another's preferred mistress. For Matjaus, this Wersion is dangerous simply because if Adjégbd and Painza had in fact been consanguines, the. Kasitds would really be = Matjdus-by-another-name, and would therefore have as theic birthright thelands, offices, and Privileges they now enjoy by the grace of Matjau largesse. [ suspect that this ee claim is relatively recent (ca. 1900), and that it was designed as a foil to a veces Matjéu handling of Kasita rights. To my knowledge, itis not even widely known cumstances 4a but represents a powerful and threatening answer, useful in certain cir Our ee Maju Pressure on Kasitti rights, particularly rights to land. be snes with ecumentary nding Of Padnza’s story can be enriched by combining or gene wh Omving he ea THals. Panza would seem to have been bora very close to | sah abo With the nen te he was a boy at Matjéu Creek (where Saramakas remained in close conan Pio vtec Plantations) —and she died berween 1775 and 1780 (the inclusive dates of ne SOMetime per ee She is known to have been buried). Pulinza’s liberation must have taken’ place G “P1730 (the approximate date of the Mata arrival at Batkawata)and 1740 Mt have been 35 years old), since Pxinza was sill young enough when liberated 10 s, ane With Adidgbd. The location of Painaa’s plantation is well known to r Kasitd descendants are named alter it, Justabove Rama on the Suriname River he bear yah Wout Saram, THe y