The Guianas Of South America

[Baba Ahmed]

Peace! ... there is none without Justice. So we continue to struggle; surviving, preparing and hoping to be useful for capturing total liberation. Some of us study our histories for clearer insights, suggestions and answers. Usually at this site there's comparatively few articles or posts dealing with our traditional stories. A sprinkling of Ancient stories, which in my opinion is very difficult to translate for today's use. Both Ancient and Traditional source materials are focused on the Afrikan Continent. Akyeame Kwame and Asafo37 posted a brief exchange a few days ago that stimulated me to consider an area closer to our present home: South America. I suggested to the thread readers a book to consider: MAROON SOCIETIES But its subtitle struck a chord: "Rebel Slave Communities in the Americas." I thought why not study more about an area that is said to be more Afrikan than many parts of Afrika and where there're reports of resistances dating back over 4 centuries.

Brazil is a frequently mentioned country, along with Jamaica and Haiti.In one article, by B.K. Kent, he writes, "Without slaves from Africa, reported an early Portuguese source, 'it is impossible to anything in Brazil.' Although prior arrivals are suspected, the first known landing of slaves from Africa on Brazilizn soil took place in 1552, C.E. (Neive 1949, IV: 491-92). In 1580, five years after the founding of Loanda and on the eve of Brazil's sugar boom, there were no fewer than 10,000 Africans in Brazil (Calmon 1959, II:347).... Africa's impact on Brazil and, more generally, the role of the Negro* in Brazilian history and society are subjects of an extensive literature (cf., for example, Rodrigues 1962). [i]Its principal stress is on assimilation rather than divergence, and frequently the early colonial society has been postulated from descriptions left by European and NOrth American travelers who visited Brazil much later.... It is hence not surprising that active Negro resistance to slavery in Brazil has not received comparable attention and is consequently less known.

" 'According to one working definition, there were three basic forms of active resistance:

• fugitive slave settlements called quilombos;

• attempts at seizure of power

• and armed insurrections, which sought neither escape nor control but amelioration (Carneiro 1947:13)

The latter two prevailed in the first half of the nineteenth century, a period of political transition in Brazil and of accelerated slave trade with Africa (Gomes 1950, V:56m, Tables I and II. They encompass, for example, nine Bahian revolts between 1807 and 1835, which involved a number of Hausa, Yoruba, and Kwa speaking groups as well as the Ogboni Society, Muslim alufas, and even a back-to-Africa movement (cf. Basil 1909; Caldas Britto 1903; Nina Rodrigues 1935). The [i]quilombos constitue a pre nineteenth century phoenomenon and are of considerable interes to the African historian. They came closes to the idea of re-creating African societies in a new environment and against consistently heavier odds. Once formed, the quilombos were regarded as a threat to the Portuguese plantation, an inducement for escape from the slave hut. They were rarely, therefore, allowed to last a long time. Of the ten major quilombos in colonial Brazil, seven were destroyed within two years of being formed. Four fell in the state of Bahia in 1632, 1636, 1646, and 1796. The other three met the same fate in Rio in 1650, Parahyba in 1731, and Piumhy in 1758. One quilombo, in Minas Geria, lasted from 1712 to 1719. Another, the "Carlota" of Mato Grosso, was wiped out after existing for twenty-five years, from 1770 to 1795.

"Nothing, however, compares in the annals of Brazilian history with the "Negro Republic" of Palmares in Pernambuco. It spanned almost the entire seventeenth century. Between 1672 and 1694, it withstood, on the average, one Portuguese expedition every fifteen months. In the last [i]entrada] against Palmares, a force of six thousand took part in forty-two days of siege (Pitta 1880, VIII:239; Southey 1819, III:27; Ennes 1948:209-10). The Portuguese Crown sustained a cumulative loss of four hundred thousand cruzados, or roughly three times the total revenue lease of eight Brazilian captaincies in 1612. As Brazil's classic quilombo Palmares gained two more distinctions. It opened the study of Negro history in modern Brazil. Minutes of the Brazilian Historical Institute reveal that Palmares caused lively discussions in 1840, and that search for written materials relative to it began in 1851. Important gaps in knowledge persist, but enough primary sources have been found and published to trace the development of Palmares, to eamine it as a society and government, and to suggest its significance to both Brazilian and African history."

~~~~~~~~~

Baba note: Another important area to study is The Guianas.
==============================================

"For three centuries, the Guianas have been the classic setting for maroon communities. Though local maroons in French and British Guiana were wiped out by the end of the eighteenth century...the maroons of Surinam, known as 'Bush Negroes,' have long been the hemispher's largest maroon population, boasting (with the possible exception of Haiti) the most highly developed independent societies and cultures in the history of Afro-America. Unlike the countless maroon communities elsewhere, which were brought to their knees by an overpowering force of arms or those which, by gradual asimilation into the general population, are disappearing as sociocultural entities, the Bush Negro tribes can still be said to be vigorous, flourishin societies, in many respects still 'states within a state.'

"The ancestors of the largest Bush Negro tribes escaped from the planations of coastal Surinam in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centures and, after a half century of brutal guerrilla warfare against colonial and European troops, signed peace treaties with the government in the 1760's. The late eighteenth century witnessed new hostilities, culminating in the formation of still another independent tribe. For the next hundred years these societies were allowed to develop more or less in isolation, remaining dependent, however, on coastal society for certain manufactured items, from cloth and pots to axes and guns. (During the wars, such goods had been obtained by raiding plantations; following the treaties, the government instead supplied them as "periodic," allowing in addition grief trading trips to the coast; during the last hundred years, Bush Negroes have instead engaged heavily in logging and coastal wage labor.) It would not be hard for a casual visitor in many Bush Negro villages to imagine himself a full continent and several centuries away.

Today (1970's), there are six Bush Negro Tribes: the Djuka and Saramaka (each fifteen thousand to twenty thousand people, the Matawai, Aluku, Paramaka and Kwinti....

This entry is a randim selection excerpted fro Chpt 21, "The Bush Negro Chiefs Visit Africa: Diary of an Historic Trip." written by Silvia W. DeGroot.

"Several times the Tribal (or Paramount) Chiefs (Granmans) of the Bush Negroes had expressed a wish to journey to West Africa, the land of their origin, in order to re establish contact..... The journey...was offered them by the Government of Surinam and made during three weeks in November 1970.
"On Saturday, November 7, the Granmans arrived from Surinam at Schiphol [Amsterdam] Airport. They were given a VIP reception. To greet them, high dignitaries such as Minister Polanen and Minister Bakker were present. After the initial reception, they were taken to the press room and aided by Minister Polanen and the interpreter, tehy answered questions from the press. They were agreeably surprised but not at all overwhelmed by the great interest shown. Their answer to the question of how they liked being in Holland was, understandably, that they found it delightful, although they had seen nothing yet but the inside of Schiphol.... A telecast was organized. The problem of the 'transmigration' [the forced displacement of some six thousand Saramakeas by a hydroelectric project during the 1960's] entered into the discussion. Granman Aboikoni, in whose territory the lake was constructed and where the transmigration occurred stated that he had not been informed about the plans and that he was dissatisfied about their execution....

"R. Dobru, poet, writer, and revolutionary [Surinam} nationalist, answered [before the TV cameras] a question about what he thought of the Granmans' trip. 'What is happening now and what will surely be of great influence on them is that here they will be taken to the Queen and the Pricess, etc., and that they will be made much of by their colonial rulers. But when they get to Africa, they will be exposed to aware, revolutionary Africans, and that is going to change a lot of ideas they acquired about the colonial government in Surinam.... Thursday, November 12. At 8 a.m., we arrived at teh Ghana-Kotoka Airport and were met by among others the charge d'affaires for the ambassador Mr. Vos, the chief of protocol of Ghana, Mr. Ephson... Gazon said with emotion, "We stand on African soil." After being received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, we went to the Prime Minister pro tem (K. A. Busia was abroad), who presented us with photographs of Busia. Granman Gazon presented a (carved) paddle.... Addressing the Granmans in an emotional speech, the acting Prime Minister said (in English):[list]We feel that accidents of history always have therir bright sides too, and its providential consequences. We are happy that these accidents of history have not made them forget their origins. Had I not been told that they had come from Surinam as much as I have seen from them now, I would have identified them as coming from Ghana. So tell them that they have come home and that here at home we regard them as our chiefs. Thus the respect we pay to ur chiefs will be the same respect we pay to them. The central concepts in our chieftaincy is that the chiefs should reflect the very best in our way of life. And therefore it is the responsibility of every citizen to make the chief show their very best. So let them know that everything we Ghanaians can do to help them to show their people their very best, we wil try to do.

Following the offering of a drink of welcome, with both parties pouring libations;' to the gods and ancestors, Aboikoni pronounced words of gratitude, referring to the fact that his ancestors were taken across the ocean as slaves, but that they, the descendants, had the good fortune of being in a position to gret this beautiful country and its people. He invoked God's blessing over the land, and concluded with a prayer in "Kromanti," a sacred language (of the Bush Negroes) in which the Almighty, Nana Kediapon is invoked. This caused great emotions, for the same Supreme Ruler is invoked in Ghana. The Prime Minister presented the Granmans with an Ashanti stool, a symbol that expresses their entire cultural heritage as well as the power of their ancestors....
Friday, November 27. From Ibadan we went to Ife, where we were lodged as guests of the university, in the elegant guest house on campus, in this important traditional center of Yorubaland.... In the afternoon, the University of Ibadan historians organized a meeting with the Granmans to discuss history. The Granmans asked some aggressive questions about the background of the delivery of slaves. The historians were unable to etricate themselves in a satisfactory manner, neither in their own opinion nor in that of the Granmans.
Saturday, November 28. (Toward the end of our luncheon with the Timi of Ede) ... Gazon came out with a remark that we did not translate. "it is a fine meal," he said, "probably paid for with the money that was earned by selling us as slaves."

Monday, November 30.... It was the last day of our stay, and it was concluded with a dinner given by the Federal Minister of Information, His Excellency Enahoro. Also present was his very beautiful wife... and a few chiefs..... For the occasion, he tood an unopened whishey bottle in his hand, turned the cork till it came out, pulled off his right shoe and sock, sprinkled his large toe with whickey, and pronounced a blessing in English..... Next he offered the bottle to the Granmans. When Aboikoni got it, he also pulled off his shoe and his sock and followed suit. But of course he pronounced the blessing in Saramaccan and afterward in Kromanti.... During dinner an interesting discussion occurred about mutual cultural customs: burial rites, teh naming of children, initiation rituals, marriage customs, etc. Granman Aboikoni request an explanation of how it was possible that Africa had managed to preserve its ancient traditions yet at the same time grow to be a modern state. Enahoro's answer was that Africa had been accustomed since earliest times to mixing many different cultures and to absorb of each culture that which was most valuable.... He added that in the matter of the slave trade it is not only the white people who should be blamed. The Negroes themselves promoted it. Now howere was the time, he said, to make up for some of that.

Then Granman Gazon gave a speech in which he again used some of his elegant imagery. 'The same wind,' he said, 'that drove us against our will from Africa, has now aided us to find the way back....

"The wish of the writer Dobru, expressed on November 7 at their departure from the Netherlands, that the Granmans would have contact with revolutionary Africans, and through this that they would acquire a whole new set of ideas, seemed to have been fulfilled. The Granmans declared with great assurance that without wanting to give up their traditions they would strive for modern development, and that they would make a beginning by found more schools, and schools on a better level, in the interior of their own country."
==============================

Baba note: any comments? Is a study of South America, especially of Brazil and Surinam's Guianas with their quilombos, revolutionaries useful or necessary to complete a more effective SANKOFA JOURNEY? And note that the Granmans noted to found "more schools... in the interior of their own country." We don't have a country here, but access to land and structures we do have. Thanks for your time...


Kwame