Book

The remaking of the Aluku: culture, politics, and Maroon ethnicity in French South America

University Microfilms InternationalAnn Arbor, Mich. • Published In 1997 • Pages:

By: Bilby, Kenneth M..

Abstract
Bilby has written a rich ethnographic account of cultural change and identity among the Aluku. The first three chapters lay out the theoretical perspective, ethnic landscape and history of French Guiana. The following chapters focus on five different communities, including two interior, predominantly Aluku communities, and three ethnically-mixed coastal towns: St. Laurent-du-Maroni, the French space center of Kourou, and the capital of French Guiana, Cayenne. Bibly shows how the Aluku maintain a distinct identity in each community in relation to other ethnic groups, primarily other maroons and Creoles. Settlement patterns, demographics, Aluku cultural history, and the ideology and bureaucracy of a modern nation state have all influenced the way the Aluku construct their identity and maintain their uniqueness. Bilby provides a good account of traditional Aluku social organization and religion, as well as, the settlement patterns of coastal shantytowns.
Subjects
Internal migration
Cultural identity and pride
Settlement patterns
Ethnic stratification
Inter-ethnic relations
Territorial organization
culture
Ndyuka
HRAF PubDate
1999
Region
South America
Sub Region
Amazon and Orinoco
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Ian Skoggard ; 1997
Field Date
1983-1987
Coverage Date
1500-1989
Coverage Place
Aluku tribe, French Guiana
Notes
Kenneth M. Bilby
UM 9030171
Includes bibliographical references (p. 682-717)
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- Johns Hopkins University, 1990
LCSH
Djuka people