|
The main Maroon groups today are the Paramacca, Aucan (both of whom also live in Suriname) and the Boni (Aluku). The Aluku are the only Maroon group established traditional villages in French Guiana, and that mostly live in French Guiana. All Maroon groups in French Guiana are descendants of Maroon groups who formed earlier in Suriname where the colony and sugar plantations were founded earlier than French Guiana. Most of the freed plantation slaves in French Guiana over time adopted a French life style and are today a largely mulatto group known as Creoles. Maroon communities continued to survive in the interior and have life styles much more akin to the Amer-Indians, although it is dufficukt to know to what extent African culkture played a role. And adapting to their new forrest enviroment must have been a major factor. This postcard from the1920s shows a Maroon family still basically untouvhdd by the modern world Figure 1). There still are maroon communities in French Guiana and unlike the Creole population are not urban communities. One source suggests that the Maroons/bushinenge constitute over 20 percent of the French Guiana population. [Bellardie and Heemskerk] This is higher thn other estimates we have noted. We suspect that there may hasve been an influx from Surimane. The French Goverment largely left the Maroon oeople in the interior alone. t wsas not until reaktively recentkly that the Goverment extended the French administrative system upon the traditional communitiesto the traditional Maroon communities in the interior. Aluku communities now have government schools, clinics and gendarmeries as wll as a range of generous French social subsidies. Suriname Maroons negan ,igrating toi French Guiana because the Suriname Govermebnt began cancelling traditional rights as wella as generraous French social welfare benefits (1970s). The poor Syriname economy as ethnic violence against the Maroons in Suriname resulyed in massive movement into French Guiana (1980s). [Bellardie and Heemskerk] Large scale commercial mining has become an issue among the Maroons in French Guiana among both traditionally groups and the increasingly well educated younger people.
Navigate the Chikdren in History Website:
[Return to the Main French Guiana Maroon page]
[Return to the Main French Guiana slavery page]
[Return to the Main Maroon page]
[Return to the Main French Guiana slavery page]
[Return to the Main French Guiana history page]
[Return to the Main French Guiana page]
[Return to the Main South American history page]
[Return to the Main Latin American history page]
[Return to the Main Latin American page]
[About Us]
[Introduction]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Climatology]
[Clothing]
[Disease and Health]
[Economics]
[Freedom]
[Geography]
[History]
[Human Nature]
[Ideology]
[Law]
[Nationalism]
[Presidents]
[Religion]
[Royalty]
[Science]
[Social Class]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Children in History Home]