“A girl is the wealth of the bee,” a phrase that highlights the central role of women in the Maroon community. The bee is a group of Maroons, in which matrilineal kinship between the members can be demonstrated. Maroons are the descendants of slaves who have developed a new culture under extremely difficult circumstances with elements that are largely African. In this book author Martina Amoksi, a descendant of the Maroons herself, approaches the role and position of the Maroon women from a historical perspective. Her analysis shows that the Maroon women have made a major contribution to the survival of the Maroon communities from the moment of their inception to the present day.
The central question that Amoksi poses in this book is what the effects were of the urbanization during the second half of the twentieth century on the socio-economic position of the Maroon women in Suriname. In addition, she focuses mainly on the historical position of the Maroon women and its effect in the present.
It’s the first time systematic research is published that focuses on the Maroon woman. In addition, this historical research fills a significant gap in the historiography of Suriname with regard to the contribution of women in the history of Suriname. Amoksi hopes this research will contribute to a better understanding of the position of the Maroon woman in Suriname and recognition for their situation. This is a publication of the NiNsee series of the National Institute for Dutch Slavery and Heritage (NiNsee) and Amrit Publishers. This book is only available in Dutch.