Saramaka (also: Saramaca) is a neighbourhood of Kourou,

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

. The neighbourhood is mainly populated by

Saramaka The Saramaka, Saamaka or Saramacca are one of six Maroon (people), Maroon peoples (formerly called "Bush Negroes") in the Republic of Suriname and one of the Maroon peoples in French Guiana. In 2007, the Saramaka won a ruling by the Inter-Ameri ...

maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas and islands of the Indian Ocean who escaped from slavery, through flight or manumission, and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with Indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into ...

from Suriname who settled in the area during the construction of the

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approxim ...

Background

The Saramaka maroons were originally living in

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

. They first came to French Guiana in the 19th century as freighters to the interior. During the gold rush, their services became important for the economy. In 1883, the Governor of French Guiana and the '' Granman'' (paramount chief) of the Saramaka, signed an official accord that Samarakas could stay in French Guiana under the legal authority of the Granman. The accords have never been rescinded and allow the tribe entry to French Guiana without the risk of deportation.

Overview

In 1967, Saramaka maroons from Suriname arrived in Kourou to work on the construction of the

. They built a

shanty town A shanty town, squatter area, squatter settlement, or squatter camp is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood, or from cheap building materials such as corrugated iron s ...

on the outskirts of Kourou. In 1968,

Richard Price Richard Price (23 February 1723 – 19 April 1791) was a British moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer and pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the F ...

visited Dangogo to discover that about half of the men of the village had left for Kourou. Some of them returned, others stayed. The Surinamese Interior War, which was fought between 1986 and 1992, resulted in more maroons crossing the border and settling in the village. In 1991, a rehabilitation program started, and 300 houses were constructed in the village. In 2006, a fire in the shanty town rendered 55 people homeless. The shanty town has been eradicated, and the village is now considered an integrated part of the town of Kourou, however social problems, crime, and limited knowledge of the French language remain. The main language spoken in the village remains

Sranan Tongo Sranan Tongo (Sranantongo, "Surinamese tongue", Sranan, Surinamese Creole) is an English-based creole language from Suriname, in South America, where it is the first or second language for 519,600 Surinamese people (approximately 80% of the popu ...

, the Surinamese ''lingua franca''. According to the National Centre for Space Studies, Saramaka village was known for its night life, however when

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

visited the village in 2008, they only found some food stalls selling nasi, bami and Ti' Punch (a rum mix).

References

Bibliography

* * * {{cite conference, last1=Price, first1=Richard, year=2002, title=Saramaka Maroons on the Brazilian Frontier, url=http://glc.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/maroon/price.pdf , conference=Unshackled Spaces: Fugitives from Slavery and Maroon Communities in the Americas , publisher=

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

, location=Williamsburg, Virginia Saramaka settlements Kourou Squatting in France