By Marvin A Hokstam | Pictures by Ruth San A Jong

SANTIGRON–Suriname poured into the sprawling, sleepy Maroon village of Santigron on Monday, to witness the celebrations of the first National Maroon Holiday; people from all walks of life and races took the one-hour drive on the twisting road southbound from Paramaribo, to join in the festivities. Thousands of Maroons were there to welcome the visitors, many clad in colorful panyi and kamisa cultural wear tied in complicated knots around their waists and upper bodies, headscarves around their heads. In the center of the village, a joyous hum of activity abounded; men cooked up a storm in the Men’s Cook Out, women sang their folklore, music groups and dancers gave cultural performances … the first staging of Maroon Day truly brought Santigron to life.

Set on the right bank of the Saramacca River, Santigron is predominantly a Sa’macca village, but Aucans and Matawai people, all Maroon tribes, also live here. The Maroons are tribes of descendants of Africans who during colonial times chose freedom in Suriname’s thick forest above slavery on Dutch plantations. For centuries these people retained their distinctive identities based on their West African origins and desire for isolation.

One of the larger Maroon villages at such close proximity to Paramaribo, Santigron counts about 2,000 souls, of which approximately 450 live in the village permanently. The traffic the road to the village saw on Maroon Day probably doesn’t happen often.

Patricia Meulenhof of the Committee Celebrating October 10^th explained on Sunday that Santigron was chosen to host the first National Maroon Day celebrations, because of its multi-tribe character. Though Government only in February declared the day a National Holiday, Maroons have since 1974 commemorated the peace treaty that freedom-fighting runaway slaves signed with colonizers on October 10th 1760. “We have always celebrated this day in which we reflect on our forefathers’ fight; but this is the first time that we will nationally celebrate our day and we invite the entire community, Maroons and non-Maroons to join in our celebration,” said Meulenhof.

And Surinamers did. In true Suriname harmonic fashion, the celebration of National Maroon Day became a celebration in which all ethnic groups that make the Suriname people took part. Ministers Alice Amafo (Social Affairs), Celsius Waterberg (Health) and Martin Misiedjan (Justice and Police), all of Maroon lineage, were omnipresent, as were their non-maroon colleagues like Ramon Abrahams (Public Works) and several Members of Parliament.

The event that would go on till late, served as the perfect opportunity for reflection. Minister Waterberg called on his fellow Maroons to continue the fight of their forefathers.  “We have come a long, but there is still a fight to be fought,” he said. He said that there once lived a myth that Maroon People weren’t fit to learn, couldn’t attain wealth and would not prosper. “Those myths have been proven wrong. We can do everything we put our minds to, if we use the correct strategies and alter those strategies wherever needed. We have come a long way; many of us have attained wealth, there are many Maroons with all sorts of titles in front of their names. Now it’s time to consolidate. We should not give up the fight; but this fight isn’t fought with guns and canons, but with our brains,” the Minister said.