Kmtyw maroons of Suriname and Saramaccan-gctid38950

[KwameD]

An old National Geographic article I chanced upon talking about the Maroons of Suriname has caused me to return to this subject (of Maroons) that I have been interested in for a while.

These Maroons are those Kmtyws who escaped Dutch and Portuguese slave runners to eke out a living in the forests of Suriname (and elsewhere in South America and the Caribbean). They are among the first Blacks in the Amerikas to revolt against slavery. Their language, Saramaccan (Sa-ra-ma-akan), is a mixture of Kmtyw languages (Akan, Gbe and Kikongo) and eureurasiaan languages (Dutch, English, Portuguese), however their style of speech uses Kmtyw tonal structures. This is a topic I have explored in the past (Likely reason why Creole is spoken by Blacks).

The Maroons of Suriname have a matrilineal culture and some of them have names like 'Paul Abena'. In this particular National Geographic article, there was a photo of an Kmtyw in Suriname living in a village in the forest. She was carrying a bucket on her head (with a folded cloth in between her head and the bucket). She had another cloth wrapped around her body, under her armpits, over her breasts and all the way down. This is how people in Ghana carry loads on their heads, and how women in Ghana use cloth to cover themselves.

The fierce and independent spirit of the Kmtyw is what caused us to revolt against oppression. It was the same back then and it is the same now. It will continue into the future.

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

KwameD;38950 wrote: An old National Geographic article I chanced upon talking about the Maroons of Suriname has caused me to return to this subject (of Maroons) that I have been interested in for a while.

These Maroons are those Kmtyws who escaped Dutch and Portuguese slave runners to eke out a living in the forests of Suriname (and elsewhere in South America and the Caribbean). They are among the first Blacks in the Amerikas to revolt against slavery. Their language, Saramaccan (Sa-ra-ma-akan), is a mixture of Kmtyw languages (Akan, Gbe and Kikongo) and eureurasiaan languages (Dutch, English, Portuguese), however their style of speech uses Kmtyw tonal structures. This is a topic I have explored in the past (Likely reason why Creole is spoken by Blacks).

The Maroons of Suriname have a matrilineal culture and some of them have names like 'Paul Abena'. In this particular National Geographic article, there was a photo of an Kmtyw in Suriname living in a village in the forest. She was carrying a bucket on her head (with a folded cloth in between her head and the bucket). She had another cloth wrapped around her body, under her armpits, over her breasts and all the way down. This is how people in Ghana carry loads on their heads, and how women in Ghana use cloth to cover themselves.

The fierce and independent spirit of the Kmtyw is what caused us to revolt against oppression. It was the same back then and it is the same now. It will continue into the future.

Can you scan and post the article? Meda ase.

[KwameD]

Absolutely! I see that I can only post 5 attachments at a time so it may be better to create a pdf file instead
                            Attached files          

[KwameD]

I've attached the article. The landscape pages are those sections of the article (wide displays) that spanned 2 pages. Aseda!
                            Attached files  Suriname_article_landscape_pages.pdf (517.6 KB)   Suriname_article.pdf (3.9 MB)

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

KwameD;39104 wrote: I've attached the article. The landscape pages are those sections of the article (wide displays) that spanned 2 pages. Aseda!

Meda ase pa ara!
Downloading now...