Kwamalasamutu, also Kwamalasamoetoe, is a Tiriyó Amerindian village in the

Sipaliwini District Sipaliwini is the largest district of Suriname, located in the south. Sipaliwini is the only district that does not have a regional capital, as it is directly administered by the national government in Paramaribo. History Sipaliwini was created i ...

of Suriname, and home to the

granman Granman (Ndyuka language: ''gaanman'') is the title of the paramount chief of a Maroon (people), Maroon nation in Suriname and French Guiana. The Ndyuka people, Ndyuka, Saramaka, Matawai people, Matawai, Aluku, Paramaccan people, Paramaka and Kwint ...

(paramount chief) of the northern Trios. Kwamalasamutu is the biggest village of the Tiriyó tribe.

History

The village was built in 1971, because Alalapadu was getting too small. The population is estimated at about 1,100 as of 2020. Kwamalasamutu has a school, clinic, and a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

church, and since 2010 it has access to the telephone network. The economy is based on small-scale agriculture. The village is also home to small groups of the Wai Wai tribe. The last two speakers of the

Mawayana language Mawayana (Mahuayana), also known as Mapidian (Maopidyán), is a moribund Arawakan language of northern South America. It used to be spoken by people living in ethnic Wai-wai and Tiriyó villages in Brazil, Guyana and Suriname. As of 2015, the ...

are in Kwamalasamutu as of 2015.

Tourism

The

Werehpai Werehpai is an archaeological site in Suriname consisting of several caves containing petroglyphs of pre-Columbian origin. The site is located about from the village of Kwamalasamutu. With 313 identified petroglyphs, Werehpai is by far the larg ...

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

, which consists of caves containing

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

origin, is located about 10 kilometres from Kwamalasamutu.

Healthcare

Kwamalasamutu is home to a

Medische Zending Medische Zending Primary Health Care Suriname, commonly known as Medische Zending (Dutch for "medical mission") or MZ is a Surinamese charitable organization offering primary healthcare to remote villages in the interior of Suriname. History The ...

healthcare centre.

Energy

Like most villages in the Surinamese interior, Kwamalasamutu relies on diesel generators for electricity. The government provides diesel oil for free to produce electricity for about 5–6 hours per day. In 1994 solar panels were installed with the intention to provide electricity for the entire day, but an evaluation study conducted in 2013 showed that lack of maintenance has meant that none of the systems installed in 1994 still worked in 2013. Instead people have used the panels from 1994 that still worked for their own systems, with some having invested in additional panels themselves. New projects are underway to provide electricity in the interior in a hybrid way, with diesel generators taking over production during night.

Transportation

Kwamalasamutu can be reached by boat on the

Sipaliwini River Sipaliwini River is a river of Suriname, the main source of the Courantyne River. It gives its name to the village of Sipaliwini Savanna and to the Sipaliwini District. It flows through the village of Kwamalasamutu. The name translates to thornba ...

or by plane using the

Kwamelasemoetoe Airstrip Kwamelasemoetoe Airstrip is an airport serving Kwamelasemoetoe, Suriname, a Trio Indian village in the south of Suriname in the Sipaliwini District. The name of the village means bamboo sand, named after nearby Sipaliwini River banks partly over ...

which offers scheduled services to and from

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

Notes

References

* * * {{authority control Indigenous villages in Suriname Populated places in Sipaliwini District