OSO. Tijdschrift voor Surinaamse Taalkunde, Letterkunde en Geschiedenis. Jaargang 3
(1984)– [tijdschrift] OSO–
Auteursrechtelijk beschermd
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A comparison between the history of maroon communities in Surinam and Jamaica: An introduction
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Between 1655 and 1807 about 350,000 slaves were imported into Surinam and 747,500 into Jamaica (Curtin, 1969: 160). In both territories the ratio of slaves to whites was about 20 to 1. The administrative structure of the plantation system, the slave laws and the treatment of slaves were very much the same. The intentions of the whites were also similar, as the planters' main purpose was to return to their homeland with as much profit as possible. This was more successful in Jamaica than in Surinam. Absenteeism occurred less frequently in Surinam, and at a later date. In both territories the endeavours of the mother countries to exploit the colony as much as possible led to a self-seeking administration, which frequently gave rise to conflicts between planters, between planters and the local administration (often planters themselves), and between the local administration and the home governments. Another source of conflict, which is of interest here, is the attitude to the Maroons. Both colonies were confronted with the fact that since colonisation, with the growing number of slaves, insurrections on the plantations and the formation of hostile groups of Maroons in the interior were a growing threat to the plantation system. In the 1730's an estimate of the number of Maroons gave both territories a thousand to several thousand. The number of insurrections and guerilla attacks escalated in both Jamaica and Surinam from the end of the 17th century. The measures taken by the whites also escalated but they were usually insufficient partly because of the planters' egoism and their reluctance to make either the financial or physical sacrifices required to organize and execute military expeditions. Another reason for the ineffectiveness of the measures was that the Maroons were militantly organized and competently led, they had a superior knowledge of, and were hardened to the geographical and climatic conditions. They were often supported, either passively or actively, by the slave population and were generally motivated as their freedom was at stake. Eventually the whites in both territories were forced to offer peace terms. Obviously, this was done grudgingly, but the fortifications, the military expeditions, the loss of lives coupled with little success and especially the high costs caused the planters to yield. Peace had been made with small groups as early as the 17th century, in Surinam in 1684 and in Jamaica in 1670. In the 1730's new attempts were made. A half-hearted and unsuccessful attempt was made in 1734 to come to terms with the ‘Leeward’ group of Maroons in the mid-west of Jamaica. A renewed attempt in 1739 was successful. In the following year the same agreement was reached with the ‘Windward’ Maroons in the east. Agreements were reached with the Surinam Maroons in the southeast in 1760 and with those in the mid-south in 1762 and 1767, after abortive attempts in 1731 and 1749. I shall come back to these peace treaties later. The colonists had vain hopes that they could now peacefully apply themselves to their own enrichment. Serious difficulties arose with the existing groups in Jamaica, and resistance and insurrections by slaves in both territories continued. In 1795 the dramatic rebellion by the ‘Trelawney’ Maroons took place, which was ended by deporting 500 Maroons to Halifax, Nova Scotia and some years later, in 1800, to Sierra Leone. In Surinam a new group of Maroons had formed; they were the renowned Bonis, who, especially from 1765 until 1776 and to a lesser extent from 1785 to 1793, attacked plantations, thus inflicting heavy military and financial losses on the colonists. The Bonis were eventually driven out of Surinam to French Guiana and a century later - in 1890 - chose to be declared French. To return to the peace treaties, the first treaty with the Maroons in Jamaica was concluded with Juan Lubola in 1660. He and his group had originally fought with the Spanish to defend the colony against the English, but later went over to them. In 1670 a treaty was concluded with another | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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group, the Karmahaly, who broke the peace two years later. A further attempt in 1734, as already stated, was a failure. After a large-scale, abortive campaign the colonists, urged by Governor Trelawney, offered peace terms to a group of Maroons led by Chief Cudjoe. The attempt was successful and the peace held. The articles of the proposed treaty were accepted after negotiation without major alterations. A similar treaty was concluded with the leaders of the Maroons who were entrenched in the Blue Mountains, in the eastern part of the island. As has been stated, treaties were also made quite early - in 1684 - with a number of Maroons in Surinam (as well as with a group of Indians). The ever increasing new groups, however, caused Governor de Scheuses to make an attempt, which was unsuccessful, in 1731. Later, in 1749, Governor Mauricius - after a large-scale campaign - offered peace terms to one of the groups. Governor Mauricius took the treaties which had been concluded ten years earlier in Jamaica and literally copied the whole with only minor changes to accommodate the situation in Surinam. This attempt was successful at first but broke down a year later and once again the Maroons reverted to guerilla. Ten years later in 1760, a successful attempt was made with a second group and an ‘eternal’ peace was concluded with the same conditions. Two years later the first group followed and in 1767 peace was concluded with a third group. It is important for my argument to look into what differences there were between the treaty provisions in Jamaica and Surinam. Firstly, the demarcation of the area conceded to the Maroons. The extent of the territory made it possible to agree to the unhindered movement of the Surinam Maroons in the area in which they lived but they had to stay at a distance of ‘two days or 10 hours journey’ from the nearest plantation. In Jamaica the distance was three miles and their territory was set at 1,500 acres. Secondly, in Surinam the number of Maroons who could visit the plantation area to trade was strictly limited. This was not so in Jamaica. Thirdly, the tradable products differed. In Surinam ‘wood, live-stock and commodities’ are named and in Jamaica coffee, cacoa, ginger, cotton and tobacco (with an embargo on sugar), cattle, goats and pigs. Fourthly, the Surinam Maroons were bound to give hostages, who had to be either sons or close relatives of the chief. In Jamaica, the chiefs were only obliged to wait upon the governor once a year. Fifthly, an agreement not mentioned in the treaty was that the Surinam colonial government would send presents to the Maroons regularly. Sixthly, the Jamaican Maroons were obliged to keep their communities accessible by constructing roads. This was altered to making and keeping the rivers and creeks in Surinam navigable, for obvious geographical reasons. Seventhly, in Jamaica there was a cordon of defence posts around the Maroon villages; in Surinam such cordons were laid round the plantations. It is clear that the Surinam administration was more concerned with the isolation of the Maroons than their Jamaican counterpart, because they were more afraid of attacks, even in times of peace, from existing or newly-formed groups. It was much easier to lead such an extremely isolated existence in Surinam than in Jamaica, as the Jamaican Maroons were closed in on all sides by whites. The Surinam Maroons themselves were also very much for keeping their distance as they thus felt much safer and freer. The geographical situation was decisive for the difference in development in more ways than those already mentioned. The isolation of the Surinam Maroon communities and the lack of contact between the various groups made it possible for them to form autonomous communities upon which the colonial government had little influence. The exchange of products | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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was also so limited (from the Maroons' side this was hardly more than wood) that their isolation or rather semi-isolation became durable. Moreover, many of the planters left the most remote areas, because of soil-exhaustion of their plantations and the constant threat of new attacks. In this respect Jamaica differed completely: contrary to the Dutch colony the English island developed itself in the third part of the eighteenth century. The colonists' hunger for land was insatiable, new plantations were continually laid out and the Maroons' territory became increasingly smaller. The difference in freedom of movement and the size of the territory can explain another striking difference. In general, the Jamaican Maroons kept to the treaty article which made compulsory: the handing over of runaways to the colonists; the destruction of newly-formed groups and the repression of slave insurrections. This was to a much lesser extent the case in Surinam. The planters' complaint of the scanty co-operation of the Maroons in this province are manifold and conflicts and threats were frequent. The Surinam Maroons handed over as few runaways as possible and took in newcomers gladly. They could do this, unlike their Jamaican brothers, as there was land, game and fish enough to allow them to take in small numbers of runaways. There were, however, limits. Large, newly-formed groups like the Bonis in the eigtheenth and the Paramakkaners in the nineteenth centuries were excluded from the territory of the already established communities. The number that could be taken in was restricted by their method of overcropping, unlimited hunting and fishing, which required having large areas at their disposal. It was also of great importance that the rivers should be kept open in order to remain in contact with the coastal areas. The establishing of new groups would prevent such access. Thus a newly-formed group like the Bonis received the finishing stroke from one of the Maroon groups who felt threatened by their presence. The same sort of situation also occurred in Jamaica in 1735. A group of about 300 ‘Windward’ Maroons tried to join the ‘Leeward’ Maroons after a dramatic march across the island. The leader of the Leeward Maroons refused politely but adamantly to take them in and sent them back after a few months. His reasons were: the area could not support any more people; he was afraid that the conduct of the newcomers would provoke attacks from the whites and that his own position of authority would be undermined. It would, however, be untrue to say that the Jamaican Maroons always handed fugitives and insurgents over willingly. Bryan Edwards (1801: 542-543) gives examples of Maroons who shirked this obligation. Nevertheless, the Jamaican Maroons are noted, and seemingly rightly so, for fulfilling this agreement. The above-mentioned reasons for not accepting runaways or Maroons were certainly valid after the peace treaties. There is also another point to consider: fugitives who had been accepted sometimes turned out to be informers. The Maroons' mistrust of the slaves was grounded in their supposed loyalty to their masters and for this reason they were usually pursued and handed over. Another difference in the approach of the respective colonial governments is manifest in the treaty articles, especially with regard to the supervision of the Maroons' abidance by the treaty. In both territories white civil servants were placed in the Maroon communities (four in Jamaica, two in Surinam). These were called superintendents in Jamaica and postholders in Surinam. In Jamaica the stress was laid upon ‘friendly correspondence with the inhabitants’ and the form the supervision took was more or less left to the superintendents' discretion. In Surinam the latter point was also part of the treaty, but spying for the Government and setting up one group against the other, was stressed in the instructions for the postholders. Again it appears that the Surinam colonists were more apprehensive of a renewed guerilla than their Jamaican counterparts and that they were | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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less capable of timely intervention. In fact, in both territories, the white civil servants did not have enough authority to carry out their tasks. Their position, amidst the Maroons, was usually no sinecure and their authority depended on their own personal capacity. The Maroons of both territories saw ways of making their wishes known to the government through the offices of the civil servants, which was not entirely the ruler's intention. It must be said that in Jamaica, more thought was given to suitability when choosing superintendents than in Surinam. The difference in situation is a consideration here. In Surinam, where the geographical and psychological isolation was so much greater, the choice of person was more restricted than in Jamaica, where contact with the plantation area was easier. In Jamaica the above-mentioned points resulted more or less naturally in ever-growing intervention: above the superintendent came a superintendent general, special, white officers were appointed to organize military expeditions to recapture runaways, and stewards, who supervised equipment, requisites and accounts, were attached to them. All of these forms of intervention did not occur in Surinam. Here the Maroons' aversion to, and the colonial governments' shrinking from, more contact than was strictly essential led the latter not to intervene. Both peace treaties were (whether intentionally or not) very vague as to the rights of the Maroons. Apart from the regulations of land rights, this found its expression in the arrangement of their self-government. In the Jamaican treaty with the Trelawney Town Maroons, Captain Cudjoe was acknowledged as commander-in-chief and all the Maroons who belonged with him were subject to him; he had ‘full power to inflict any punishment... death excepted’, further they would ‘enjoy and possess for themselves and posterity forever all the lands situated and lying between Trelawney Town and the Cockpits’. Nevertheless, there was often mention of their ‘subjection’ and ‘submission’ to the governor. Moreover, with the deaths of Cudjoe and those of his heirs who were mentioned in the treaties, the appointment of the chiefs devolved upon the governor. The real intention of the government, that of direct intervention, became clear in conflict situations. No new form of autonomous government replaced the Maroons' original form. The government in Surinam was not able to impair the Maroons' autonomy in this manner. This was recognized from the very beginning. Although they would have preferred to keep to the Jamaican articles, the instructions given to the white negotiators of the treaties stated that the Maroons must have the right to elect their own chiefs, who only had to be ‘approbated’ by the governor. The reason for the difference in attitude lay in the recognition that the Surinam Maroons were in a better bargaining position than their Jamaican brothers, who were closed in on all sides by whites and had been manoeuvred into accepting peace. They clearly negotiated from their own free will and the chance that the terms offered would be rejected was considered great by the whites, with the ensuing disastrous effects. Nevertheless, the later developments whereby the Surinam Maroon functionaries became, especially financially, more dependent on the colonial administration, caused an ambivalent position of authority in which the whites could exert indirect political pressure. This situation still exists today. Differences and similarities can also be found in the attitude of the Maroons and whites towards each other. The Maroons in Jamaica saw themselves as conquered, and forced into accepting a peace treaty, since they were encircled and besieged. Cudjoe's alleged famous prostration when the treaty was concluded can therefore be explained. The typically African way of affirming his subjection was in no way ‘abject’ (Dallas, 1803, 1: 55- | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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56). Having lost a fight is not the same as losing one's dignity or identity. They saw their new status as one of being under protection -under patronage-, with the obligations and also the rights which were attached to that protection (Kobyloff, 1973: 254-255). The attitude in Surinam was completely different. The Maroons felt in no way conquered. They had been offered peace because both parties had had enough of war. They negotiated with their opponents as equals and as free individuals in their own territory, without being encircled or besieged. The white negotiators were seriously taken to task about the objectionable behaviour of white plantation owners, which was one of the main reasons for the running away of slaves. Apart from taking oaths the Maroons demanded an additional token of trust: the negotiators all had to ‘accept the company of one of the most distinguished negresses during their stay there’ (Hartsinck, II, 1770: 798). In both territories the solemn ratification of the peace was performed in almost the same way, the oath was taken according to white as well as to black customs. The practice of Jamaican and Surinam Maroons show a striking similarity in this respect: blood from a cut in the arm (hand) mixed with water and a little earth (rum) was caught in a calabash and drunk by both parties (Hartsinck, 1770: 800; Williams, 1938: 389). The result of the Jamaican Maroons' attitude of ‘patronage’ was that the whites saw them as subjects with a special status, in whose social structure they could intervene. In this way the Maroons' internal authority was weakened, and their dependence upon outside forces increased. The whites in Surinam recognized - grudgingly - that the Maroon communities formed a state within a state, with their own internal autonomy, social control and hierarchical structure. There was clearly more mutual mistrust in Surinam than in Jamaica. The Surinam Maroons were always viewed as potential enemies, who could best be kept at a distance. The Maroons never lost their distrust of the colonial government, believing that the intention was to re-enslave them. All intervention in their internal affairs was averted. In Jamaica it was because of that very contact that conflicts could be resolved and even legal aid was available to the Maroons. The nature of the conflicts was also very different. In Jamaica they usually arose over land rights and in Surinam over smuggling with slaves or surrendering runaways. These controversies were the foundations of renewed treaties and measures, which were always imposed as white initiatives. I would like to go into some of these renewed treaties briefly. Slavery was abolished in Jamaica in 1837. From that point onwards the whites had no more use for the Maroons. The obligations which the whites had taken upon themselves were considered a burden. They wanted to be relieved from the tasks of maintaining civil servants in the Maroon territory, of paying salaries to functionaries and the defence of the Maroons' property. In 1842, therefore, the so-called ‘Land Allotment Act’ was promulgated. The main purpose of this act was to split the Maroons' territory into individual plots. The land had always been corporative and the colonials hoped in this way to weaken claims and break up the tenure. The resistance to these measures was so vigorous that the act was only put into practice in a few cases. Many conflicts resulted from this, some of which still endure to the present day. As already stated, the problems in Surinam were of a different nature. The old treaties of 1760-62 were changed in 1835 and 1837. On the one hand, the restrictions on the number of Maroons allowed into the coastal area were relaxed but, on the other hand, stricter rules were laid down for the handing over of runaways. The latter point was the real reason for changing the treaty. There was, however, no appreciable change in the | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Maroons' attitude. In the years previous to the inevitable abolition of slavery (which came about in 1863), the whites attempted to induce the Surinam Maroons to hire themselves as labourers for the plantations, as lumberjacks or for rubber tapping. The Maroons rejected plantation work out of hand. They were prepared to hire themselves out for the other tasks for short periods, after which they returned to their communities. This had always been their way of working and in many cases still is. In 1856 the colonial administration made another attempt to induce the Maroons to more intensive contact with the coast. All former restrictions were lifted and the paramount chiefs were given a salary. This new ruling had, however, again very little effect on the Maroons' way of life. They continued to live in their semi-isolation, travelling from time to time to the coast to take employment. When they had earned enough to buy the supplies needed by their communities they returned home. This was repeated whenever provisions were needed.
From the foregoing, two things become obvious. The contact between the Maroons and the colonial administration was more intense in Jamaica than in Surinam, and the nature of the conflicts which arose were due to shortage of land in Jamaica and shortage of labour in Surinam. The intense contact in Jamaica led to a distinct form of integration. By integration I mean that an interchange of many forms of labour existed; that a small-scale marketing mechanism existed quite early for the handling of products, which included cash-crops; that a distinct relationship developed at administrative and judicial levels. An important aspect, which I will not go into in this paper, is religion. Integration here is less distinct although syncretical elements are present. The influence of Christianity on the religion of the Surinam Maroons has been very slight. The self-chosen and retained semi-isolation of the Surinam Maroons retarded integration until about 1940. Intervention by the colonists in their administrative affairs was partially non-existent. The lack of tradable products made a regular marketing mechanism impossible. The labour supply was always of a very limited and temporary nature. I mentioned the year 1940. This year can be seen as the turning point in the development of the Surinam Maroons. Bound, as they are, to their habitat, the paradoxical situation arises that they can only use small areas of their immense forests. Shifting cultivation and the poor quality of their ground led to soil exhaustion. This, as well as transport problems did not permit cash-cropping. The fishing waters are overburdened, too much hunting is done in too small an area. One can talk of population stress as their numbers increase. Migration as well as the periods of migration increased considerably. Americans were stationed in the coastal area during the Second World War and they built airports, largely with Maroon labourers. It was well-paid work. New outboard motors on their ‘corjalen’ (canoes) increased their mobility and the Maroons wanted to share in the growing prosperity. The expansion of the Surinam infra-structure: roads, airports and a reservoir, and of industry (bauxite) provided them with other opportunities for employment than had previously been open to them. In the coastal areas a limited amount of schooling became available to them. Thus the integration began although with much less gradualness than in Jamaica. There is a note of tragedy around this shockwise development. The integration of the Maroons in the coastal society does not go smoothly, the psychological transition from bush community to city life is not easy. The bush communities are crumbling for want of manpower. A stagnating economy and increasing unemployment in the country also have their effects. The Maroons, pried | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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from their bush communities, are often reduced to poverty in the overcrowded city (Paramaribo). The development of the past few years looks less promising for the Surinam Maroons than for their Jamaican counterparts, who have, throughout the centuries, been able to form a relatively stable and integrated relationship with the surrounding society.
Appendix. Comparative Statistics. (Compiled from Curtin, Dallas, de Groot, Edwards, Long, Price. loc. cit.)
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