ATLANTIC OCEAN 
Paramaribo, 
Former Plantation 
Area from Which 
Maroons Escaped 
K 
RA 
> J i " 
"\ % (’SURINAMER 
The Maroons live along rivers in 
central and eastern Suriname. The 
Djuka, Aluku, and Paramaka tribes 
speak variants of one language, while 
the Saramaka, Matawai, and Kwinti 
speak variants of another. 
executing the bowl carving herself. As 
she works, she constantly rotates the 
prepared shell between her hands, try- 
ing to remember the details of a partic- 
ular design she is trying to reproduce, 
and adjusting the position of the cala- 
bash so that she can cut each curved 
line. She discusses with the woman sit- 
ting at her side the design they want to 
replicate, and finally, when neither can 
recapture just how its appendages were 
curved, settles on a new version, which 
she later decides is even better than the 
first. 
The third woman, working steadily 
around the calf band, enlists the advice 
of her friends concerning the width of 
the red and yellow stripes that form its 
center. As the three of them work, their 
conversation alternates between village 
gossip and discussion of their artistry. 
We see in this gathering the influence 
of aesthetic considerations in all areas 
of Maroon life, from food preparation 
and meal service to clothing and 
grooming. We see the active participa- 
tion of Maroons in a wide range of artis- 
tic media. And we see the Maroons’ 
enjoyment of discussions focused on 
artistry and aesthetic evaluation. As 
the anthropologist Melville Herskovits 
noted fifty years ago, “Bush Negro art 
in all its ramifications is, in the final 
analysis, Bush Negro life.” 
Both graphic and performing arts 
have been elaborately developed by the 
Suriname Maroons. Visual media in- 
clude woodcarving and painting, differ- 
ent techniques of calabash carving, 
designs baked into manioc cakes, color- 
ful textiles made from narrow strips of 
commercial cloth, embroidery of many 
kinds, applique, decorative scarring of 
An engraving by William Blake for an 
eighteenth-century narrative by John 
Stedman depicts a slave guiding troops 
in pursuit of escaped slaves. The 
Maroons eventually won their freedom 
from the Dutch colonists. 
the body (cicatrization), hairdos, the 
carving of designs on imported metal 
spoons, and the manufacture of carved 
aluminum combs, decorative bead- 
work, colorful yarn tassels, crocheted 
calf bands, and a kind of knitted multi- 
color ribbon. 
The performing arts play an equally 
extensive role in village life. Specialized 
dances are performed by mediums be- 
lieved to be susceptible to possession by 
various gods, and there are many secu- 
lar dances, each enjoyed in a particular 
social context. Distinctive song styles 
are used in the whole range of Maroon 
ritual events, from complex funerary 
rites to the domestication of a new god 
believed to possess people, as well as in 
communal labor such as felling trees or 
hauling logs, and in many casual or 
even solitary settings. It is rare to walk 
through a Maroon village without 
hearing someone singing. Drums are 
used singly or in various combinations 
to accompany different secular dance 
forms; to announce, supervise, and 
comment on the proceedings of large 
public council meetings; and to com- 
municate with each kind of possession 
god, with other deities and spirits, and 
with the ancestors. And there are other 
musical instruments as well — bells and 
wooden trumpets, a stringed instru- 
ment made with a gourd, and a “finger 
piano.” Finally, the verbal arts — folk 
tales, play languages, proverbs, orato- 
ry, speeches made by possessed medi- 
ums, and prayer — exhibit a wide range 
of stylistic modes in the tribal lan- 
guages and keep alive a large number of 
distinctive esoteric languages that are 
used only in special ritual settings. 
The breadth of Suriname Maroon art 
extends considerably beyond the wide 
variety of formal arts. Even manufac- 
tured items imported from China, Ja- 
pan, the Netherlands, the United 
States, and elsewhere — including guns, 
Richard Price 
57 
