short thread on maroonage in Suriname, which has remained autonomous from external rule since British colonization ~350 years ago. https://twitter.com/strugglerred/status/1390045083118960641

before i start, my main source is a 2006 essay by political prisoner russel maroon shoatz, “the dragon and the hydra: a historical study of organizational methods” — i’ll drop a link at the end of the thread

“...almost from the first importation of enslaved Africans, there developed a tradition of flight from slavery” — something that’s generically referred to as maroonage & is present wherever there is slavery

for a short history of early maroonage in suriname, we start in the mid-1600s, with British colonization, which established a series of beachheads in what would transform into a low-intensity war.

colonization also marked the beginning of the importation of chattel slaves to Suriname, and as a result, it also marked the beginning of maroonage in the region.

the transfer of Suriname into the hands of the Dutch East Indies company massively increased the number of slaves imported to the colonies & brought the war on escaped maroons to a new height for around 150 years

maroons would form loose collectives with a largely free-wheeling planning structure (anyone could contribute to strategizing) and a strict command hierarchy during missions (they’d listen to the people in charge of carrying out the raid)

the escaped slaves were of massively differing ethnicities with often non-mutually-intelligible languages and traditions — which had to be factored into communal life and organizing in favor of their common goal of liberating captive slaves

the lack of a central command made some communities more vulnerable than others — and numerous larger maroon communities signed treaties with the Dutch, some of them even helping hunt escaped slaves

even with the help of the Treaty Maroons, this kinda shit happened:

the Boni maroons are still autonomous from rule after fighting a second war against the new government of Suriname in 1980 — this was true in 2006, when this was written, and it’s true in 2021

please read the essay by Shoatz, it’s incredible stuff https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/15663/Shoats_Hydra.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y