IRSH 60 (2015), pp. 463–490 doi:10.1017/S0020859015000383 © 2015 Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis REVIEW ESSAY The Okanisi: A Surinamese Maroon Community, c.1712–2010* M ARCEL VAN DER L INDEN International Institute of Social History PO Box 2169, 1000 CD Amsterdam, the Netherlands E-mail:
[email protected] THODEN VAN VELZEN, H.U.E. [en] WIM HOOGBERGEN. Een zwarte vrijstaat in Suriname. De Okaanse samenleving in de achttiende eeuw. [Caribbean Series, vol. 29.] KITLV Uitgeverij, Leiden [etc.] 2011. xxiv, 360 pp. Ill. € 27.56; $35.00. [A]1 WETERING,WILHELMINA VAN [en] H.U.E. THODEN VAN VELZEN. Een zwarte vrijstaat in Suriname (deel 2). De Okaanse samenleving in de negentiende en twintigste eeuw. [Caribbean Series, vol. 32.] Brill, Leiden [etc.] 2013. xiii, 364 pp. Ill. € 91.00; $115.00. [B]2 “Joe sabi vo ron: joe moe sabi vo kibri.” [If you know how to run away, you should know where to hide as well.] Surinamese proverb3 As long as slavery has existed, slaves have tried to run away, when they are no longer willing or able to tolerate their living conditions. One widely renowned example is the brutally repressed Spartacus Uprising of 73–71 BCE, where the * Translated from Dutch by Lee Mitzman. 1. All references in the text to H.U.E. Thoden van Velzen and Wim Hoogbergen, Een zwarte vrijstaat in Suriname. De Okaanse samenleving in de achttiende eeuw (Leiden [etc.], 2011) are designated A with the appropriate page numbers. 2. All references in the text to Wilhelmina van Wetering and H.U.E.