Caribbean Report 01-04-2002 - Weir, Karen (anchor); Abena, Paul (speaker); Brunswijk, Ronnie (speaker); Venetiaan, Ronald (speaker); Vlassoff, Carol (speaker); Wijdenbosch, Jules A. (speaker); Udenhout, Willem (speaker) (The British Broadcasting Corporation, 2002)
1. You are listening to a special Easter Edition of Caribbean Report. Karen Weir takes you on a journey into the lives of an ancient people whose voices are seldom heard and who are rarely spoken about - the Bush Negroes of Suriname (00:00-00:25)
2. There are only three Maroon communities in the world: Jamaica’s Blue Mountains, Brazil’s Amazon jungles and Suriname’s forest interiors. Anthropologists credit Suriname’s Maroons with the greatest success at carrying on their African homeland’s customs. Paul Abena one of Suriname’s famous Maroons tells us about Suriname’s six Maroon communities and their chiefs or “Gaunmans” (00:26-01:52)
3. We hear Aleke music listened to by Suriname’s Maroons and Paul Abena tells us that a civil war which began in the interiors in 1986, forced the Bush Negroes to flee their homes there to live in crowed Paramaribo. Maroon Ronnie Brunswijk, a former Presidential bodyguard, led the insurgence and the Dutch government got involved in the war for their own economic and political interest (01:53-04:28)
4. Karen Weir gives the history of the [civil] war, highlighting Military Leader Colonel Désire Bouterse, [Ronnie] Brunswijk and the ruling government of the day, The Democratic Front. The war ended through a deal with the New Front Party and the signing of the Kourou Peace Accord. Terese, a Bush Negro, speaks to an Interpreter in Aukan’s dialect as to whether the [civil] war achieved its objectives of improving the social and economic status of the Maroons (04:29-06:19)
Keywords: Maroons -- Suriname; Blacks -- Suriname; African diaspora -- Suriname; Maroons -- Jamaica; Maroons -- Brazil; Chiefdoms -- Suriname; Communities -- Suriname; Manners and customs; Popular music -- Suriname; Civil war -- Suriname; Internally displaced persons -- Suriname; Paramaribo (Suriname); Netherlands -- Foreign economic relations -- Suriname; Bouterse, Desire Delano, 1945-; Brunswijk, Ronnie; Suriname -- Languages; Suriname -- History -- 20th century; Rural-urban migration -- Suriname; Unemployment -- Suriname; Families -- Suriname; Bauxite -- Suriname; Lumber trade -- Suriname; Gold industry -- Suriname; Health; Mental health -- Suriname; Older people -- Suriname; Maroons -- Government relations; Mining corporations -- Suriname; Land grants -- Suriname; Mercury -- Suriname; Poisoning -- Suriname; Water supply -- Suriname; Gold miners -- Brazil; Rogues and vagabonds -- Suriname; Rogues and vagabonds -- Brazil; Cost and standard of living -- Suriname; Poverty -- Suriname; Squatter settlements -- Suriname; Dwellings -- Suriname; Prostitution -- Suriname; Businessmen -- Suriname; Equality -- Suriname; Songs -- Suriname; BBC Caribbean Service -- Special Easter Edition; Bush Negroes -- Suriname; Buschneggers -- Suriname; Maroon communities -- Suriname; The Front for Democracy and Development (Suriname); Front voor Democratic en Ontwikkeling (Suriname); The New Front for Democracy and Development (Suriname); Nieuw Front voor Democratie en Ontwikkeling (Suriname); Kourou Peace Accord, 1989; Aukan dialect -- Suriname; Aleke music -- Suriname; Bush Negro men -- Suriname; Bush Negro women -- Suriname