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WIM HOOGBERGEN
Utrecht University, the Netherlands
DIRK KRUIJT
Utrecht University, the Netherlands

Ethnic Relations in the

Marowijne Region, Suriname:
Maroons, Indigenous Peoples,
and Brazilian Garimpeiros

After independence in 1975, Suriname was plagued by a military government (19801987) and a civil war (19861992). The most affected
area of this civil war was the eastern region of the country, where Maroons represent almost 80 percent of the population.1 As a result of the
civil war thousands of Maroons migrated to French Guiana and to Paramaribo, Surinames capital. Most of them who went to Paramaribo
ended up in the slum areas south of the capital. The Maroons in French
Guiana first lived as refugees in camps. When the war ended in 1992 the
camps were dismantled and they were sent back to Suriname. Some of
them did go back, but of those, many returned to French Guiana because of the better living conditions and more favorable employment
opportunities.
After the war years some ten thousand Brazilians who engaged in
gold prospecting took residence in the former Maroon territories. Currently the regional economy rests primarily on gold prospecting (Hoogbergen, Kruijt, and Polim 2001) and transport (Hoogbergen and
Polim 2002). Both Maroons and Brazilians earn the majority of their
income from gold. The Maroons also earn a substantial income from
transportation and sales of foodstuffs to Brazilians.2
The Marowijne region has changed radically both demographically
and economically. Whereas thirty years ago along the Marowijne River
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there was little difference in the welfare of those living on the Surinamese and French Guiana banks, the river currently forms a border
between the European Union and a developing nation. French Guiana
is a departement doutre mer (overseas territory) of the French republic; the currency is the euro and social welfare provisions are the same
as in France. There are sickness, unemployment, and social security
benefits, the government workers are paid the same as in France, and
children are taken by boat to well-equipped schools, not to mention
that anyone born on French soil has a right to French nationality. In
French Guiana the Surinamese Maroons are often living without permits, yet even an illegal immigrant in French Guiana seems to be better off than a legal Surinamese in his country of birth. There are now
more Maroons living outside their traditional areas than in the Surinamese interior. A third of all Surinamese Maroons are currently living
in French Guiana (Price 2002:82).
Following this (very brief) description of the foremost population
groups of the Marowijne area, we present a sketch of the inhabitants of
East Suriname and West French Guiana at the start of the twenty-first
century. We then discuss latent tensions that have existed throughout
the history of Suriname between the indigenous3 peoples and the Maroons. Furthermore, there have always been tensions between the
peoples of the coastal areas and the Surinamese Maroons. In this article we restrict ourselves to the tensions in East Suriname. After this we
discuss the civil war and its most important consequences, including
the arrival of the Brazilians.

HISTORY AND DEMOGRAPHY OF THE MAROWIJNE REGION

East Suriname and the bordering western region of French Guiana
were never plantation areas. The Europeans who settled in Suriname
and Cayenne in the second half of the eighteenth century had little interest in the regions either side of the Marowijne. There were indigenous peoples living in the area at the time, but there is no record of
their numbers. There were Caribs living on both banks of the river
mouth, in the Galibi region of Suriname and in Les Hattes in French
Guiana. There were also indigenous people living in the upper reaches
of the Lawa and Tapanahoni, the two rivers that merge into the Maro-

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wijne at Stoelmanseiland, but the population in this area has only been
documented from the time when the Maroons settled there. The
Ndyuka (also known as Aukaners) were the first Maroons to settle the
area. The archives show that in 1760, when the Dutch colonial government signed a peace treaty with them, they were already living on the
Marowijne and Tapanahoni, although at that time the Djukakreek, a
tributary of the Marowijne, was their main domicile. The second group
of Maroons to settle in East Suriname was the Boni Maroons (also
known as Aluku). These Maroons originally lived in the Cottica region,
but because they were constantly hunted down by colonial troops, they
crossed the Marowijne in 1777 to settle in French Guiana.
From French Guiana they once again waged war against the Dutch
with raids on the plantations in Suriname. This time it all went wrong
for the Boni Maroons, mainly because the Ndyuka fought on the Dutch
side. Boni was murdered by the Ndyuka in 1793, and the few Boni Maroons who survived gave up the fight against the Dutch. In 1809 an accord between the Ndyuka and the (then English) colonial government
stated that the Ndyuka should consider the Boni Maroons as their
serfs. They were to prevent those Maroons from leaving for the coastal
areas via the Marowijne River (for more information on the Boni Maroon wars, see Hoogbergen 1985, 1990a, 1992a).
Around 1810 the remaining Boni Maroons began once again to seek
contact with the Ndyuka, who by then were living almost exclusively
on the Tapanahoni. The Boni Maroons were then allied with the indigenous Wayana. Peace was declared between the two Maroon
groups, but the Ndyuka still considered the Boni to be inferior Maroons
and did not permit them to travel on the Marowijne.
Around 1830 it appears that a new small Maroon group was living
around the Paramaka Creek (a tributary of the Marowijne about level
with Langatabbetje): the Paramaka. Just like the Boni Maroons, they
were treated as serfs of the Ndyuka (Hoogbergen 1978; Lenoir 1973).
Around this period several Ndyuka clans departed for the Cottica region
where they have lived ever since. This group is known as the Cottica
Ndyuka.4 Shortly before the abolition of slavery in Suriname, and under
pressure from the French, the Dutch signed an accord with the Boni Maroons in 1860. Since then the Boni Maroons have been free Negroes
(even in the eyes of the Dutch). The accord also afforded them the right
to travel on the Marowijne (to transport timber). In the meantime several

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small settlements had grown up along the banks of the Marowijne, where
Europeans traded with the indigenous people and with Maroons. The
best-known settlements are Albina in Suriname and St. Laurent on the
opposite bank in French Guiana.
In the 1860s gold was discovered in French Guiana and Suriname.
The workers in the goldfields were mainly Creoles, the descendants of
former slaves from both Suriname and the English colonies in the
Caribbean. The inhabitants of the Surinamese interior, Maroons and
Amerindians, took little part in the exploitation of gold. The Maroons
specialized in the transportation of people and goods from the coast to
the goldfields. They had the only means of transportation across the
rivers, which were inaccessible to the inexperienced because of the
rapids and waterfalls. As a result of the huge demand for transport for
the gold industry, most male Maroons and many of the indigenous peoples of East Suriname went to work as carriers. In 1921 transportation
conflicts led to the first major strike in Suriname (Thoden van Velzen
2003). Gold production gradually dropped in the 1930s. As a result of
the search for gold several villages grew up along the banks of the
Marowijne and Lawa rivers with a mixed Creole-Maroon population.
Gran Santi on the Lawa is a good example.
The demographic map of East Suriname in the mid-1980s is approximately thus: Indigenous villages on both banks at the mouth of the
Marowijne and some smaller hamlets a little inland in the sand belt, with
a total population of around six thousand. In addition there are about
1,500 Wayana on the Lawa. In four regions we find Maroons: Ndyuka in
the Cottica region and on the Tapanahoni; Paramaka on the Marowijne;
parallel with Langatabbetje and Boni Maroons in Apatou (a village on the
French bank of the Marowijne, north of Armina Falls and on the Lawa
(around Maripasoula). In Albina we find Creoles and Ndyuka; in St. Laurent (French) Creoles and Maroons (of all groups). The Creole villages
along the Marowijne and Lawa have more or less died out, with the exception of Gran Santi, which now has a large Ndyuka population.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND MAROONS

Various publications show that the relationship between Maroons and
the indigenous peoples of Suriname was always ambivalent (White-

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head 1988; Scholtens 1992). The same can be surmised from the stories
both the Maroons and the indigenous people tell about their contact
throughout history. The fact that the relationship between the two
groups was frequently hostile is understandable if we take into account
the fact that the Europeans used the indigenous people in their fight
against runaway African slaves. In more recent times, however, the indigenous people and the (now descendants of) Maroons have again frequently come to blows. During the civil war many indigenous Surinamese sided with the government. Indigenous people were suspected
of carrying out a massacre in the Maroon village of Moiwana in 1986.
The story of the relationship between Africans and the indigenous
people has another side to it. The African slaves who were brought to
work on the plantations of Suriname met indigenous or red slaves
there. Some harmonious relationships sprang up between them. The famous Boni was descended from an indigenous father. In some documents in the archives he is known as a karboeger, the Surinamese word
meaning someone of mixed African and indigenous descent (Hoogbergen 1985, 1992b). The Boni was not the only person with this mixed
blood. In the eighteenth century a small group called the Karboegers of
the Coppename, people of mixed African-Carib blood, lived on the
floodplains of the Coppename River. Hoogbergen (1992b, 1996b) has
described that these Karboegers of the Coppename were almost permanently at war with the Kwinti, a new group of Maroons who settled
in the Coppename region between 1730 and 1770. In Dragtenstein
(2002:4547, 6066) we find many examples of villages with mixed
African-indigenous populations.
The slaves on the plantations learned much from the indigenous people about the uses of various plants. The allotments of the slaves were
generally planted with the same species as those of the indigenous
people. Cassava was an important foodstuff for the slaves as well. The
slaves learned from the indigenous people which roots could be cultivated; napi (yams; dioscorea trifida) and yamsi (yams; dioscorea alata)
were much loved.5 They also grew sweet potatoes (ipomoea batatas)
and maize. Just like the indigenous people, they also grew and smoked
tobacco. The Africans learned from the indigenous people of the healing powers of many types of herbs. Some Africans became intermediaries between Europeans, Africans, and the indigenous people. The
healer Quassie was one such person.6 One of the greatest contributions

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Quassie made for his white slave masters was his cooperation in tracking down runaway slaves. In 1730 he was presented with a golden
breastplate inscribed Quassie, faithful to the whites.
Although the indigenous peoples were so thoroughly used in the
struggle against the Maroons, the opposite was also true: there were indigenous peoples who not only helped Maroons to flee from the plantations, but also aided them in getting used to the difficult circumstances they came up against in the forest. When Boni settled with 350
fellow Maroons in the interior of French Guiana, he quickly made
friends with the Caribs who lived on the Lower Marowijne. Later on,
good relations grew up between the Wayana and the Boni Maroons. For
almost two hundred years the Boni Maroons and the Wayana have lived
harmoniously together. The linguist Hoff, who in 1968 wrote a standard
work on the language of the indigenous peoples of Galibi, remarked
that the inhabitants of Galibi remembered that their forefathers regularly attacked the Wayana. The settlement of the Boni Maroons on the
Marowijne, between Galibi and the area where the Wayana lived, put an
end to the persecution of wild Wayana (Hoff 1968:336). The Boni Maroons would not allow the Galibi to attack their friends the Wayana.
The traveler who goes up the Marouini Creek today will find a sanctuary on an island in the middle of the first strong current. This is living proof of the determination of the Boni Maroons not to allow their
enemies to travel up the Marouini Creek a second time without punishment. It is possible that the Boni Maroons retreated behind this barrier after 1793. According to the oral tradition of the Wayana, whose
forefathers lived in the same region two hundred years ago, almost the
entire Boni population was killed on the Marouini Creek. Only one
woman escaped the massacre with her son because a Wayana woman,
who was her trading partner, hid her underneath a huge beer pot.7 The
Wayana therefore clearly portray themselves as the saviors of the Boni
Maroons.
In 1802 a Dutch civil servant wrote that thirty wild Indians, probably Wayana, had been seen at the convergence of the Lawa and Tapanahoni. They used dugout canoes that had been made by the Boni Maroons and wore cotton clothing they had woven.8 In 1836 a French
marine officer made a voyage of discovery through the region inhabited
by the Boni and the Wayana. On July 19 he arrived in Aluku, the domain
of the Boni. The Maroons told him that they were delighted that a

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Frenchman had dared to come to see them in the company of their

friends the Wayana (Hurault 1960:11014).
The friendship between the Wayana and the Boni Maroons continues
to this day. Up until the 1950s the Boni Maroons functioned as a buffer
between the Wayana and the peoples of the coastal area. Between the
two groups there was cultural familiarity on the one hand and social
distance on the other; intermarriage, for instance, is very rare. The
American anthropologist Kenneth Bilby wrote in his dissertation on the
Boni that these Maroons see themselves as closer to the Wayana than
to the Ndyuka (Bilby 1990:234).

THE BRUNSWIJK REVOLT OF 1986

The indigenous peoples and the Maroons gained the right to vote later
than those living in the coastal region. In the early 1960s two electoral
districts were formed in the interior, each with one parliamentary seat:
Brokopondo (the area where the Saramaka Maroons live) and Marowijne (the domicile of the Ndyuka and the Paramaka Maroons). For the
Creole politicians of the coastal region extra seats of their fellow
blacks were not to be sneezed at. In order to emphasize the fact that
the peoples from the interior and the coastal Creoles actually formed a
single ethnic group distinct from the Hindustanis and bakras (whites
and light-skinned Creoles), the term Boslandcreolen (Creoles who live
in the Bush) came into existence. By offering special benefits to the traditional Maroon rulers, the granmans (paramount chiefs), the Nationale Partij Suriname (NPS)9 forged a political link and practically
all the Boslandcreolen voted for them.
The independence of Suriname in 1975 led to conflicts between the
Maroons and the Creoles from the capital. After the Creole-Javanese
coalition won the 1973 election by twenty thousand votes, the new Suriname government declared that the country wanted independence before the end of 1975. The opinions of the Maroon chiefs were not taken
into account and the majority of the population of the interior were probably opposed to independence. They had long considered themselves to
be independent and had built up a good relationship with the colonial
government. The Maroon population was afraid of being dominated by
the Creoles from the capital, the new rulers in the independent republic.

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In February 1980, less than five years after independence, there was a
coup in Suriname, lead by a group of sergeants. In the turbulent months
that followed, Desi Bouterse, initiator of the coup, managed to claim political power for himself. Sergeant-Major Bouterse, who was quickly promoted to major and then to colonel, was to play a vital role on the political stage for the next fifteen years. Between 1980 and 1993, he was
commander of the forces with dictatorial power in politics. On December 8, 1982, fifteen opponents of the administration were executed without any form of trial. After these December murders military rule became more and more dictatorial. Bouterse himself took over power from
a civil council with military advisors. In 1993 he had to resign from his
military career, but as permanent commander in chief of the army up to
1993, as serial president during the 1980s and backstage leader from
the end of the 1980s to the mid-1990s, as national advisor in the second
half of the 1990s, and as elected politician and party leader since 1996, he
has been an important player in the political arena.
After the 1980 coup relations between the Maroons and Paramaribo
improved. The Creole elite was temporarily put out of action, important politicians were in jail on charges of corruption, and the military
made various kinds of social provisions for the benefit of the interior.
Thanks to an improved registration system, there was a huge increase
in the provision of welfare and, perhaps for the first time, serious work
was done on a development policy for the interior. Bureaucratic obstacles that had previously prevented many Maroons from taking part in
public life disappeared (Scholtens 1994:122).
In the 1980s a large number of Maroons had joined the National
Army and among the recruits was Ronnie Brunswijk. Bouterse sent
him to a special commando training unit on Cuba and then installed
him as a member of his private security service. Brunswijk was fired in
1984. From August 1985 he led a group of Maroons attacking banks and
military vehicles, gaining the reputation of a kind of modern-day Robin
Hood. The Surinamese and Dutch press began writing about his activities, and the leaders of anti-Bouterse groups in the Netherlands wanted
to meet with him. Brunswijk traveled to the Netherlands and on his return to Suriname found himself appointed as leader of the Surinaams
Nationaal Bevrijdingsleger (Surinamese National Liberation Army),
and he was given all kinds of promises regarding financial support,
most of which came to nothing.

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In 1986 the acts of resistance escalated quickly. In an attempt to isolate the Jungle Commando from its sympathizers, the Surinamese
army resorted to intimidating the entire (some ten thousand) Maroon
population in the Moengo area. Soon the Maroons were the victims of
counterinsurgency operations. Villages and settlements were plundered, burned down, and flattened with bulldozers. In the Maroon villages of Moiwana and Savanna the military shot down everyone they
could get in their sight, killing scores of people including pregnant
women and small children (Memre Moiwana 1992; Amnesty International 1986:4347). The number of dead in the civil war, according to
various estimates and OAS observers, came to between two hundred
and three hundred people. Practically the entire population of the region fled to French Guiana.
Reports about the civil war ignore the role of the Paramaka. This
smaller group of Maroons was living on the Marowijne between the
Armina and Apoema Falls. The island of Langatabbetje was the main
settlement area for the Paramaka. They became involved in the war
very soon after the start of the skirmishes. The army bombed the island
of Langatabbetje. Although it did not cause very much material damage, it resulted in the closing of the mission of the Evangelische Broedergemeente (Moravian Brethren) and the boarding school they ran and
the recall of all the personnel to Paramaribo.

THE COTTICA NDYUKA IN FRENCH GUIANA

Almost ten thousand Surinamese refugees (approximately 8,500 Maroons and about 1,500 others, mainly indigenous peoples) fled to French
Guiana where some stayed with family or friends and others received assistance from the French government. A third group made their own way
in camps along the French banks of the Marowijne. The other (Maroon)
refugees were placed in camps with barracks: Acarouany, PK 9,
Charvein, and Camp A. Military personnel and gendarmes were stationed
in these camps to keep order, act as guards, and distribute food (three
times a day). In addition to security, protection, food, and housing, the
French offered health care and distributed educational materials.
A variety of NGOsmainly allied to the churchworked in the camps.
Some of the aid was administered by the Evangelische Broedergemeente,

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while the Catholic mission in the area was run by Franciscan nuns. The
Dutch government subsidized both NGOs (almost entirely). These particular organizations also offered education in the camps, using supplies
provided by the French government. The refugees received Surinamese
education; in other words, the teaching methods were those used in Suriname and the language Dutch. They were not allowed to receive lessons
in French because the government wanted to prevent integration of the
refugees in every possible way. Until the beginning of 1991, the permission of the military authorities was required in order to leave the camps,
then the refugees were registered so that identity cards could be issued to
them. With this PPDS card (Carte de Personne Provisoirement Deplac
du Surinam), the refugees were allowed free movement within a certain
area of French Guiana.
The French government saw the Surinamese refugees as temporarily
uprooted people who were allowed to stay in French Guiana for a short
period. An office of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR),
which was opened in St. Laurent in 1988, protected the legal position
of the refugees and regularly mediated between them and the local authorities. Although the French government did not call the newcomers
refugees, they were recognized as such by the UNHCR, who also felt
that these people should only return to Suriname on a voluntary basis,
and this was one of the primary tasks of the organization. Those who
did wish to return were supported by the UNHCR. The UNHCR official
regularly visited Suriname, and in particular Paramaribo where they
had a branch office in the Cottica region. In 1987 the French introduced
a plan to move the refugees to the Tapanahoni area, where they would
continue to provide food for a few more months. Quite rightly the Maroons rejected the idea.

PEACE AND REPATRIATION

In an empty East Suriname the Jungle Commando tried to wreak revenge for what had been done to the Maroons. This was no longer limited to attacks on military targets, but specifically to economic targets.
The Bruynzeel timber company, the Victoria oil palm plantation, and
the bauxite mines in Moengo were all targeted. In one guerrilla action
carried out by the Jungle Commando the electricity pylons between

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Brokopondo and Paranam (the heart of the bauxite industry) were

blown up and it took months to repair the damage. The result of the
various attacks was that the Surinamese military started negotiations
with the politicians who had been ousted in 1980. The damage from
guerrilla actions was considerable, further damaging the economic situation in Suriname, which was already in a disastrous state after the
cessation of Dutch development aid in 1982 following the December
murders, a world recession in the bauxite industry, and the monetary
policy of the Surinamese government in the years following 1982
(Kruijt and Maks 2004). The only chance for economic recovery lay in
the restoration of development aid and that could only happen after an
extensive process of democratization had taken place.
The elections on November 25, 1987, returned the Front (the old
parties) to power, but army leader Bouterse had managed to force so
many concessions from the old politicians that he was able to put his
stamp on the developments in Suriname for many more years. Prior to
the elections the leaders of the Front had said they would walk to East
Suriname if necessary in order to make peace with Bouterse (Van der
Werf 1988:8), but it would be a very long time before a peace accord
was finally signed and the Cottica Maroons could return to Suriname.
In March 1988 a Surinamese delegation went to Cayenne to negotiate
with the French. A Tripartite Commission was set up, consisting of representatives of the French government, Surinamese government, and
the UNHCR. The refugees gave the Surinamese delegation a list of conditions.
Before the question of repatriation could be discussed, the refugees
demanded certain guarantees. Although Suriname now had a civilian
government the influence of the military was still very strong, so one of
the demands was that the National Army withdraw from the three
stricken areas. They were to be replaced by police and possibly peacekeeping forces from abroad. Bouterse was to be given no position of
power either civilian or military and the peoples militia was to be disarmed and dismantled. The government was also pressured to come to
a compromise with the Jungle Commando. The president and the government were asked to make clear policies concerning the security, liberty, and recognition of the inhabitants of East and South Suriname,
with guarantees for the reconstruction of their regions. One important
demand was that the government make an inventory of those who had

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died and the circumstances of their deaths, and which citizens had
been injured as the result of army attacks or otherwise traumatized by
the struggle.
In 1988 the intensity of the fighting tapered off. Discussions in the
Tripartite Commission continued and finally, in July 1989, an accord
was reached in Kourou (French Guiana). The accord encompassed
agreements about the repatriation of the Cottica Maroons, the release
of prisoners, and relief for the desperate situation in the war-torn regions in the interior. The Kourou accord, however, proved to be no
more than a piece of paper; the government of Suriname did nothing.
There was probably little they could do because the military did not
want to allow the Maroons to return to East Suriname and they sabotaged the peace plans. The National Army began arming some indigenous groups, who then operated under the name Tucayana Amazones.
The army thus gained political influence in the interior, while at the
same time remained untouchable. With the support of army manpower
and materials the Tucayana, working together with a group of Matawai
youth (called Mandela) and Saramaka (the Angula) quickly gained control of a large part of the Surinamese interior.
After the failure of the Kourou accord, the Surinamese government
sent several delegations to French Guiana. They pressured the French
government not to be too hasty about the repatriation of refugees. The
French were of the opinion that a peace accord had been reached in
Kourou and they wanted to get rid of the Surinamese Maroons. In 1990
they presented a repatriation plan. Every adult refugee who returned to
Suriname would be given four thousand French francs, and each child
would receive two thousand. This plan also covered a joint French
Surinamese venture for the reconstruction of the villages in the Cottica
region. On paper it looked fine, but there was no mention of where the
money was to be found. Since it was unclear as to how the refugees
could be housed on their return and how their security could be guaranteed, at first hardly anyone took advantage of the repatriation
scheme. It was the end of 1991 before the first refugees began to trickle
back to Suriname.
Even before the peace accord (the accord on national reconciliation
and development) was signed under the supervision of the OAS on August 8, 1992, the French had felt that the Maroons could safely return
to Suriname. In order to ensure that they actually left, the camps were

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officially closed in June 1992. Free medical care ceased, the schools
were closed, and the education for the children in the camps stopped.
Even the food packets were withdrawn. Those who remained were refused permission to cultivate land so they had no option but to leave.
The camps were dismantled one after the otherCharvein being the
last. The French didnt care where the people went as long as they left.
They got their eviction money and were officially gone. Most of them
did return to the Cottica region, even if it was just to take a look, but
the majority did not return definitively to Suriname. By 2004 many Cottica Maroons continue to travel back and forth between Suriname and
French Guiana.

LEGAL OR ILLEGAL?
Saint Laurent du Maroni, fifteen years ago a sleepy little town with
around five thousand mainly French Creole inhabitants, is now home
to thirty thousand people and the main language is Sranantongo, the
Surinamese vernacular. Many shops have taken on Surinamese personnel to help the non-French-speaking customers. One of the most important consequences of the civil war, and the reason why the difference in the welfare situation between French Guiana and Suriname has
grown so much, is a massive migration of Surinamese people (mainly
Maroons) to French Guiana. There are currently around 37,200 Maroons living there (Price 2002: 82). In 1986 when the civil war began
there were no more than six thousand.
The Maroon population in French Guiana tends to be undocumented
and thus labeled illegal migrants, but the French government seems
to turn a blind eye. From their point of view illegality keeps the wages
low and the lack of work permits also means no unemployment benefits. In order to get any permits, people have to be legal migrants. The
Boni are always legal because these Maroons have lived in French
Guiana for over two hundred years. Paramaka are rarely legal because
their people lived in Suriname up until the civil war broke out, chiefly
around Langatabbetje. Naturally you also need to be legal in order to
get a permit to carry schoolchildren by dugout canoe. There is now a
situation where a Boni Maroon can sign a contract with the government for an annual specified amount of money to transport a certain

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number of children. In practice a friend or brother-in-lawan illegal

Paramakan, for instancecan arrange the transportation for a certain
sum of money minus 15 percent where the 15 percent is paid to the permit holder. This has given rise to a whole system where legitimate services are carried out illegally.
The legal migrants get their income so easily that it will be obvious
why they are opposed to the legalization of illegal migrants. Most of the
transportation for the French government is carried out according to
this system. The legal Maroons get the freight in St. Laurent and have it
transported for a lower sum by Surinamese, for instance, by Ndyuka.
And of course, before they set out on the Marowijne from St. Laurent,
they fill the tanks with much cheaper Surinamese petrol from Albina.

BRAZILIAN MIGRANTS
Six years of war left the interior of Suriname in a state of collapse.
Peace was restored, but reconstruction has never really come about.
The Jungle Commando stimulated gold mining as a source of income
for warfare. From the beginning of the 1990s gold replaced hard currency in East Suriname. Raw gold, dollars (formerly) francs, and euros
are freely convertible in this area, also as daily currency. In the 1980s
and 1990s, when the Surinamese economy was hit by chronic inflation,
the Suriname guilder more or less disappeared as a currency in the Maroon area.
When the war ended in 1992 the gold industry in East Suriname was
on the rise once again. At the same time Brazilian garimpeiros came in
increasing numbers to work in the Surinamese interior. They were not
in competition with the Maroons but were soon sharing the work and
cooperating with each other. The Brazilians have methods of collecting
gold that the Surinamese are not familiar with. They have the skills:
working on the layers of gravel, working with water pumps, sifting, collecting, and smelting the gold. The arrival of the Brazilians led to a culture of entrepreneurs and businesses wanting to produce as much as
possible, as fast as possible, and without any consideration for the
damage the gold mining would do to the environment.
In order to exploit gold (or other minerals) the proprietors must hold
concession rights. Under Surinamese law there are different kinds of

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mining and concession rights, varying in length from three to twentyfive years. During the 1980s and 1990s many concessions were taken
up by the Maroons and the Surinamese military (Ferrier et al. 2000:II,
12). Apart from this, the Maroons have little to do with the government.
They consider themselves as the rightful owners of the land in the
areas where they live. Once the concession holder is tracked down, a
prospector normally agrees to pay them a share of the gold found
generally 10 percent.
The extraction of gold is done in teams in which the patron (the boss,
foreman, or patro) bears the financial risks. The patron arranges the
shipping of machinery and workers to the gold mine. The patro owns
(or rents) the machinery and provides food, drink, and lodging for his
team and also has to make sure the team is guarded. In return he gets
the larger part of the gold, between 50 and 70 percent of the yieldnot
of the profit. The informal workers in fact bear no financial risk at all
other than that of not finding any gold. In this system only the patron
can make a profit or loss. The patrons (the Brazilians and the Maroons)
get two parts of the gold and the workers one part. The Maroons hold
the concessions and take care of securitya few French former legionnaires are among those subcontracted for this work. The work
teams in the jungle usually consist of seven people: the patron, a (male
or female) cook, and five workers. The encampment has some simple
houses for the workers and something a little more luxurious for the
bosses and a foreman.
Brazilians10 come to Suriname legally or illegally, usually traveling
from Amap or from Belm, capital of the state of Par, to Iapoque, one
of the most northerly cities of Brazil, and then by boat to French Guiana.
From there they go by road to St. Laurent where they cross the Marowijne illegally to enter Suriname at the border city of Albina. A number of
the Brazilians enter by another route: via Maripasoula (in French
Guiana), or direct from Brazil with smugglers and fishing boats to Suriname. They often start their adventure in the gold fields and do not
leave for Paramaribo until they have earned some money. In the Tourtonne-2 area of Paramaribo there are enough Brazilians to provide temporary accommodation for the newcomers. The Brazilians find Suriname an extremely easy country to migrate to: no one asks for your
passport, the police do not need to be bribed or offered kickbacks, and
the customs officers in the border town Albina are happily ensconced in

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their offices and not wandering around where the canoes are moored.
Migrants make no secret of it if they are in the country illegally.
It is interesting to note that in all our interviews in the garimpeiro
communities in Suriname there was a gender differentiation on the
basis of a pattern seen in other traditional mining sectors in Latin
America, such as the copper mines in Chile, Bolivia, and Peru, silver
mines of Mexico and Peru: men work in the extraction of the mineral
and the industrial refinement and processing of the metal. Women
carry out household tasks, care for the children, and perform sexual
services. This gender differentiation appears to differ from the garempagem mining in the Brazilian Amazon. In contrast to Graulau
(2001:7879, 81) who recently did research in the Amazon states and
who collected empirical evidence about female garimpeiras working
in the extracting sector, in particular in such activities as batear e requiar (collecting and washing gravel) we never found (female)
garimpeiras either in our own observations and our series of interviews with those working in the Surinamese gold sector, nor in consultations with other researchers.11
The Brazilians who earn a living panning for gold and who live in
these encampments spend up to 60 percent of their income on drink
and women (Antonius-Smits 1999:63). In the immediate vicinity of the
pontoons and open mines, in the jungle, and on the river, there are
countless small bordellos. Most of the gold miners are Brazilian and
most of the women also come from Brazil. The dividing line between
hard commercial sex and soft sexual relations is extraordinarily
fluid. The garimpeiros are attached to their noiva (fiance), at least, as
long as they remain in that area. Maroons do not allow their young
women to mix with the Brazilians. Sexual relations between Brazilians
and single adult Maroon women, however, occur frequently. For permanent relationships there are certain rules and codes of conduct for
both partners. Maroon society is polygamous; it is quite normal for a
man to have several wives. The same privilege does not extend to
women; they are permitted only one relationship at a time. Another Maroon custom is that when a man and woman conceive a child together,
the man is obliged to support the woman until at least nine months
after the birth. Since the Maroons do not trust the Brazilians to honor
this duty, they charge them the full amount immediately, as soon as it
is known that the woman is pregnant. At the time of our interviews

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Brazilians in and around Langatabbetje were paying one hundred

grams of gold. In the area around this island alone, where in November
2000 about three hundred Brazilians were living, ten Maroon women
were raising families of children of Brazilians. Several Paramakan men
have children from relations with their Brazilian noivas.

CONCLUSION
We started this article with a sketch of the multicultural society in East
Suriname and West French Guiana. Because of the civil war in Suriname
and the huge migration of the Surinamese Maroons to French Guiana,
and the arrival of the Brazilians in the Marowijne region, this area has
changed radically since 1986, both demographically and economically.
Maroon men are accustomed to migrating in order to find work, but the
current migration appears to be permanent because even young women
from the interior are moving out to settle in the coastal areas of French
Guiana. The relationship between Maroons and indigenous people in
the region seems to have righted itself once more. It would be foolish to
say that they totally trust each other, but there is at least a sense of mutual tolerance now. The indigenous Wayana and the Boni Maroons managed to steer clear of involvement in the civil war. For one thing they
identify themselves as French citizens and saw the civil war as primarily the business of (a group of) Ndyuka against the military.
Large numbers of Brazilians have migrated to Suriname since 1990,
employed as garimpeiros, workers in the gold sector. In French Guiana
the authorities tend to turn a blind eye to the stream of migrants, in Suriname they are more or less openly tolerated. For the moment Suriname
and French Guiana are perfect places for the migration of garimpeiros
and their families. The Brazilians know how to behave toward the Maroon authorities and seem to be accepted. The Maroon community has,
of course, a tradition of dealing with gold workers. In the forest and on
both sides of the Marowijne River the Maroons and the indigenous population have a, possibly faster-growing, Brazilian population living next
to them. Up to now, the process of immigration and settlement has gone
almost unnoticed. There is no question of any political influence from
Brazil.12 For the moment there is simply a constant stream of semilegal
remittances going to families remaining in the north Brazilian states.

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It is interesting to ponder what the long-term effect of Brazilian immigration will be. Surinamese society, with its strongly multicultural diversity, has come about by a succession of quickly consolidating
groups from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. It is to be expected that
this new group will also find its place in multiethnic Suriname.
NOTES
1. Maroons are the descendants of slaves who escaped from the plantations
during the period of slavery in Suriname. These fugitives organized themselves
in groups (tribes) in the interior. In Suriname there are five Maroon groups:
the Aukaners, the Saramaka, the Matawai, the Kwinti, and the Paramaka. The
Boni Maroons (also known as Aluku) who live in French Guiana, are also the
descendants of escaped slaves from Suriname. In the 1760s the number of Maroons was estimated at three thousand. The Suriname government signed
peace treaties with three groups of Maroons; the Ndyuka (also known as
Aukaners), the Saramaka, and the Matawai in 1760, 1762, and 1767, respectively.
It was through these peace accords that these former slaves officially attained
their freedom. Apart from the pacified Maroons, there were also nonpacified
groups: the Boni Maroons (Hoogbergen 1990b), the Paramaka, the Kwinti
(Hoogbergen 1992b), and the Maroons of Broos (Hoogbergen 1996a). In 1976
Richard Price compiled a bibliography of the Surinamese Maroons then 1,330
titles. In the twenty-five years since then, the number has probably doubled. We
refer the reader to several more recent publications: Hoogbergen 1990a, 1990b,
1996a; Price 1983, 1990; Price and Price 2002, 2003; Scholtens: 1994.
2. For instance, the Brazilians buy large quantities of kwak, grains of cassava that the Maroon women dry on baking sheets. Other types of food are also
sold to the Brazilians.
3. Since the beginning of the 1990s native Surinamese prefer Inheemsen
(indigenous) rather than Indianen (Amerindians or Indians).
4. Historical information about the Cottica Ndyuka can be found in de
Groot (1977) and Hoogbergen (1993). In 1979 the anthropologist Kbben published a book (in Dutch) on these Maroons, based on articles he had originally
written in English.
5. Yamsi and napi are fleshy, starchy tubers that can be cooked and eaten.
They are an important food crop and a good substitute for rice. Napi is preferred to yamsi because of its better taste.
6. Born in Africa around 1690, Quassie was brought to Suriname as a slave
when he was young. He lived on a plantation at the edge of the colony and thus

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frequently came in contact with the indigenous people. They taught him the secrets of nature. Quassie spoke several indigenous languages and quickly developed into an ethnic therapist and expert on healing herbs. He became famous as the inventor of the febrifuge Quassie-bitters (kwasibita, Quassi
amara), which is still used today in Surinamese folk medicine. In 1744 Governor Mauricius bought Quassie to teach his son Sranantongo, the language of
the slaves, and the languages of the Caribs and Arowaks. Mauricius later manumitted Quassie. He died in 1787. Stedmans famous work on Suriname (1796)
includes a portrait of Quassie. (For more information about Quassie see Price
[1979] and Hoogbergen [1985:5152].)
7. Oral tradition collected by Mirjam van Nie.
8. National Archive The Hague; Oud-Archief Suriname: Hof van Politie en
Criminele Justitie (code: 1.05.10.02, abbreviated as OAS/RvP), inv. nr. 182, defensie notulen, November 13, 1802.
9. De Nationale Partij Suriname (NPS) was founded in 1946. As the name
indicates its goal was the independence of Suriname. In the 1960s under Jopie
Pengel it became the most important party of the Surinamese Creoles.
10. Ferrier et al. (2000: II, 12) calculate the number of Brazilians as follows:
Assuming the existence of about two thousand mines in the jungle and fifty
pontoons on the rivers (data from 1998) the researchers estimated the number
of gold workers and their families to be 25,00030,000 (5,0007,500 Maroons
and 20,00025,000 garimpeiros). At present (2004) there are about
25,00030,000 Brazilians living in Suriname, in other words about 7 percent of
the total population.
11. Graulau (2001) did make it clear that in her case it concerned a secondary wave of migration by women after the earlier stream of male
garimpeiros had already settled in the Amazon region.
12. The presence of so many illegal Brazilians in Suriname was for Brazilian president Cardoso an acceptable reason to accept the delays of the repayment schedule of Surinamese foreign debt to Brazil due to military equipment
and jungle training during the Bouterse years (Authors interview with Mr.
Jules Wijdenbosch, former president of Suriname [19962000], March 5, 2004.)

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