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Material Beginnings of the Saramaka Maroons: an Archaeological Investigation

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Material Beginnings of the Saramaka Maroons: an Archaeological Investigation MATERIAL BEGINNINGS OF THE SARAMAKA MAROONS: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION By CHERYL N. NGWENYAMA A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2007 1 © 2007 Cheryl N. Ngwenyama 2 To my grandmother and friend Merlin Coombs 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I must thank Father God for bringing me thus far and keeping me of sound mind and body. Because of Your will I have prospered. Iwould like to acknowledge my supervisory committee members and most constant mentors on this journey Dr. Peter Schmidt for telling me in that uncertain first year to “follow my heart”, words I professionally lived by for the next seven years. I thank Dr. E. Kofi Agorsah for reigniting my desire for fieldwork and helping me realize my vision in the profession of archaeology. Kofi Agorsah made Suriname possible for me and for that he will always be warmly regarded. I thank Dr. Michael Heckenberger for always taking the project a step further and forcing me to follow. Dr. Marieke Heemskerk of the Amazon Conservation Team, Suriname branch, has been an important guiding force, as well as a colleague and friend. She has helped me immensely in the logistics of accomplishing all aspects of field research, from funding and professional liaisons to camp sweeping and backfilling and I am ever grateful. Recent additions to my committee include Drs. James Davidson and Abe Goldman. They gave their collegial support when it mattered most and were instrumental to the completion of my writing. I should acknowledge the continual support of those Surinamese individuals and institutions that made this research possible. My presence among the Saramaka and the continuation of this research would not have been possible without the acknowledgment and sanction of then—Saramaka Granmaan paramount chief, Albert Aboikoni. I thank him for sharing in our vision. I am grateful to Cyriel Eertstelling, of Suriname Safari Tours, for continued support and concern for the project. Ambassador Hermes Libretto provided interest and support through the years. Dr. Benjamin Mitrasign of the Ministry of Education Suriname's sole professional archaeologist, was always ready to lend a helping hand. Professional support was always offered from Laddy Van Putten and Hanna Van Patten, directors of Stichting 4 Surinaams Museum (Suriname National Museum), and also from the museum staff: Thank you for your continued collegiality. To Purcy Tchijn and Raimen Bijlhout, who provided all technical illustrations found throughout this dissertation: Thank you for your professional courtesy. Thank you Jolitha Rietfeld and Hugo Jabini, secretaries of Wanhatti, the Saramaka grassroots organization, and to their extended families for providing a warm meal, shelter, and much needed guidance when it was needed. I thank Dr. Lois Monsels of Adek Universiteit van Surinaams (University of Suriname) Social Science faculty for providing an academic platform from which to share my research. I must also extend thanks to the student volunteers of Portland State University for providing much of the archaeological field labor for this project. Tom Becker and Lane Justen have been continual colleagues along this journey and provided an enormous amount of logistical support—when and where it was needed. I needed help and support for the translation of Dutch text used throughout the dissertation. Renzo Duin, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to do a fabulous job interpreting and translating recent Dutch laws regarding archaeological investigation. An acknowledgement is in order to the staff of Curacao’s Jacob Gelt Dekker Institute and the Central Historical Archives in Curacao for their help in locating and elucidating the meaning of 16th and 17th century Dutch government logs—the insight to which would not have been possible without the help of Jeanne Henriquez and Anthony Damiana. Bob Durham of Portland State University, Joe Aufmuth, GIS coordinator and head of Spatial Information Services Unit, and Hesham Monsef Rasol, Spatial and Numeric librarian at the University of Florida’s George A. Smathers Library, all deserve full praise for their patience and the endless hours spent constructing the maps used throughout this dissertation. I thank them very much. I could not have accomplished such a task without their guidance and assistance. 5 I thank my family and friends who have kept me grounded and jovial: my mother, Avis Marshall, for her support through the years; my sisters, Renee and Theresa Plummer, for the jokes that do not stop; my grandparents, Don and Merlin Coombs, and my endearing friends David Ngwenyama and Tanya-Lee Ramtulla. In addition, I thank Vincent and Evelyn Mcketty for being my life partners in Gainesville. I love and adore you all. All journeys need that ever-present voice of encouragement that edges you forward to the next path; Keith Duncan, Carole DeMaio, Hope Merritt, George Campbell, and Noel Eaton were those voices for me. Thank you for always inquiring about my progress and keeping me focused; your encouragement was greatly appreciated. I thank each of them for giving me that burst of insight and vision that we all need. They helped wrangle my ideas and gave them perspective and relevance to make the learning process truly worthwhile. I thank Dr. Sue Boinski and Dr. Kenneth Sassaman of the University of Florida’s Department of Anthropology for the pep talks and good sound advice. They may not have known it, but they helped get me through some tough times. In the nick of time God showed his glory by placing Fredline M’Cormack, Aaron Hale, Alecia Bahadur, and Deborah Johnson-Simon back into my life during those intense months of writing. They provided joy, laughter, companionship, and love to pull me through frustration, anxiety, and doubt. And last but not least, to all Saramakaan, without whom I could not have realized my vision within the profession of archaeology. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................................11 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................16 ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................20 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................21 Why Maroon Archaeology? ...................................................................................................21 Defining Diaspora...................................................................................................................22 Explaining Maroons in the Discipline of Anthropology ........................................................34 Maroon Studies: Where Are We Now?..................................................................................36 Presentation of Dissertation....................................................................................................37 2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.........................................................................................46 Slave Trade Made Maroonage Possible .................................................................................46 European Colonies’ Maroon Societies ...................................................................................47 Mexico.............................................................................................................................50 Cuba.................................................................................................................................51 Jamaica ............................................................................................................................52 Brazil ...............................................................................................................................54 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................54 Dutch Presence in the Caribbean............................................................................................55 Dutch Guiana..........................................................................................................................58 Formation of Suriname’s Bush-Negros and Culture ..............................................................59 Peace with the Ndyuka ....................................................................................................66 Peace with the Maroons of the Saramaka and Suriname River Regions ........................67 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................68 Kumako and Tuido: Where It All Began................................................................................69 Modern Plight of Suriname Maroons .....................................................................................71 3 RESEARCH CONCERNS AND QUESTIONS ....................................................................75 Research Objectives................................................................................................................75
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