Life at Maripaston

LIFE AT MARIPASTON JOHANNES KING and NOAH AD RAl VERHANDELINGEN VAN HET KONINKLIJK INSTITUUT VOOR TAAL-, LAND- EN VOLKENKUNDE 64 JOHANNES KING LIFE AT MARIPASTON edited hy H. F. DE ZIEL THE HAGUE - MARTINUS NIJHOFF 1973 Published trom a manuscript by the Matuari Bush Negro Johannes King, edited by H. F. de Ziel under the super vision ot J. Voorhoeve. The translation ot the Introduction and Summary trom Dutch into English was made by Miss M. J. L. van Yperen. Grants trom the Suriname Government and Sticusa made the edition and translation possible. J.S.B.N.90.247.1527X PREFACE The Matuari Bush Negro Johannes King (ca. 1830-1898) taught himself to read and write at an advanced age. Throughout his life he was fascinated by the possibilities of bridging with the written word the gap with later generations. He particularly wanted to see two of his works published: his 'Book of Horrors' (containing accounts of his dreams and visions, among other subjects), and the present book, which we have given the title 'Life at Maripaston'. King wanted to explain to later generations what was at the root of the problems between him and his elder brother, chief Noah Adrai, representatives respectively of the church and the state at the village level. King wanted to justify his life in the eyes of the church and of his own tribesmen. The book constitutes, therefore, an important contribution to the church history of Surinam, but at the same time offers interesting insights into the life of the Bush Negro communities in Surinam. Most important perhaps is the fact that the present book is one of the first original works in Sranan, the Creole language spoken in the town and the coastal region of Surinam. King did not use his own mother tongue, which had no written form at that time, but the related lingua franca. H. F. de Ziel, himself a poet writing in th is language, and also a qualified librarian, was staying in Holland in 1969 for reasons of health. He wanted to use this period for the benefit of his country. We dis cussed several possibilities in my office at Leiden University, and he was immediately fascinated by the idea of editing the manuscripts of Johannes King, and making them available to his countrymen and other interested scholars. I had formerly made a transcript of these manuscripts which was used by Mr. De Ziel, who was also given the opportunity by the Moravian Church of checking the transcript against the original manuscripts. The Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde at Leiden showed an interest in publishing the result of his work. The Surinam Government kindly granted Mr. De Ziel a year's leave to enable him to undertake the work. The Stichting voor Culturele Samen werking met Suriname en de Nederlandse Antillen (Sticusa) agreed to pay the cost of translation. The Faculty of Letters of the University VI LIFE AT MARIPASTON of Leiden gave permission for hiring a secretary to help prepare the manuscript. Mr. De Ziel began his work in March 1969, the responsibility for the supervision of which I took upon myself. We had weekly sessions of about four hours each to discuss difficult problems of interpretation and work out editing procedures. Although Mr. De Ziel has not had any formal academie training, he should be regarded as the responsible editor. Where we could not agree on details of the editorial work, his opinion has been followed. He had the use of this book by his own countrymen in mind, while I tried to defend as weIl as possible the interests of international scholarship. I am happy to say that there were not many differences of opinion between us. I hope that Mr. De Ziel will find the opportunity of editing the 'Baok of Horrors' as well. University of Leiden J. VOOR HOEVE CONTENTS page PREFACE (by J. Voorhoeve) V I INTRODUCTION 1-11 1. Introductory remarks 1 2. Biographical notes . 2 3. Bibliographical notes 8 4. Style and content 9 5. Presentation 10 MAP 12 II SUMMARY 13-49 III TEXT 51-142 I INTRODUCTION 1. Introductory remarks At the beginning of the second half of last century it seemed as though the whole of Surinam was in suspense for some sweeping event to take place and change the whole of society. The hardship suffered by the slaves had lasted long enough to fill them with an irrepressible desire for freedom. All kinds of rumours were giving rise to altemating hope and despair, until in 1863 the emancipation of the Negroes became a reality. Emancipation did not have equal significance for all Negroes alike. Some of them had made a bid for freedom on their own authority and had fought for this at the risk of exposing themselves to the most gruesome atrocities in the event of failure. Johannes King belonged to one of the Maroon tribes, for whom emancipation had an entirely different meaning than for the town and plantation slaves who had been given their freedom by an act of Parliament. The Maroons, on the other hand, prided themselves on having resisted the existing order and so having attained themselves that which had not been granted them. What they had thus gained had been placed in safety in communities protected by the impenetra bility of the Surinam bush, where rain-forests and rapids formed a natural barrier. Af ter an initial series of skirmishes between them and the govemment recognition of the independence of three Maroon tribes had followed, confirmed by peace treaties in 1761 and 1762. These three tribes were called Djuka or Auca, called Goenka in this book (along the Marowijne and its tributary the Tapanahony), Saramacca (along the Suriname river), and M atuari (along the Saramacca river). Johannes King belonged to the Matuari tribe, although his father's family belonged to the Djuka, and his wife's family to the Saramacca tribe. Later runaways formed the Boni tribe, which was defeated by govemment troops and found refuge on the French side of the Lawa, another tributary of the Marowijne river. The Maroons had always given their joys and fears expression either in the same ways as their forbears in Africa, or in different or even entirely new forms, as dictated by necessity and environment. They 2 LIFE AT I1IARIPASTON were conscious of their dependence on superior forces or dei ties, which for them possessed vivid reality. One of these, which was severely criticised by King as an un-African, new development, was called Grantata, and originated in the Djuka tribe. During King's lifetime its worship spread to the other tribes and it was even revered in King's own village, Maripaston. Grantata was said to have killed his brother Noah and claimed part of the inheritance and the right to appoint the new chief. See, for the political significance of the grantata cult, H. U. E. Thoden van Velzen, Politieke beheersing in de Djuka maatschappij. Een studie van een onvolledig machtsoverwicht, Dissertation Amster dam, 1966. 2. Biographical notes During the years before emancipation, around 1852, a young man of the Matuari tribe first began to attract notice. He did not at first distinguish himself in any way from the others, seeking after the same pleasures as they. But he feIl seriously ill, so much so that he seemed to be at death's door. During this time he had dreams and visions which were to give his life a peculiar turn. God would take away his spirit, showing it the tortures of heIl and the beatitudes of heaven. Moreover, he received the definite instruction, 'When you return to earth report to the Moravian Brethern in order to be admitted as a member of the church'. This man, Adiri, through these visions became firmly convinced that he was an instrument of God sent to help his people. 1t was probably already in his frivolous days that he was caIled King instead of Adiri by his friends. King was one of the descendants of the Matuari chief Josua Kalkoen, also called Kojo or Bojo, being one of the last children of his daughter Adensi. She was first married to the Matuari tribesman Akama Jaw, and of this marriage three children were born. Adensi then feIl seriously ill; her brother had aIlegedly cast a speIl on her. Af ter consulting with her father, she travelled to the capital Paramaribo in search of a cure. This she found thanks to the good offices of a European doctor. Adensi did not return to Matuari but found accomodation with some friends. Here a certain Djuka tribesman, Kwamina Atjodi, made her acquaintance and took her to wife. Of this second marriage of Adensi's th ree children were born, of whom Noah Adrai, who was first to become King's most ardent follower and much later his bittere st enemy, was one. Kwamina Atjodi died of smallpox while traveIling to the Maro- INTRODUCTION 3 wijne, whither he had been summoned by chief Beiman. When the period of mourning was over Adensi entered into another marriage, again with a member of the Djuka tribe, Louis, who came from the village of Krementi on the Tapanahony. Of this third marriage eigh t children were bom, among them Johannes King (ca. 1830) and Jacobus Vos, and perhaps also his elder sister Afiba. Around 1850 there was an outbreak of serious assaults and arson among the Bush Negroes of the different tribes living on the Saramacca river in the vicinity of estates occupied by Europeans. King writes about this in his book.

Load more