book chapter

Dangerous ancestors: ambivalent visions of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century leaders of the eastern Maroons of Suriname

Slave cultures and the cultures of slavery • Knoxville • Published In 1995 • Pages: 112-144

By: Thoden van Velzen, H. U. E..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document

This article is about the ambivalency with which Ndyuka historians regard leaders of the past. On the one hand, Ndyuka leaders are celebrated for leading both the flight to freedom and the subsequent struggle to resist recapture. On the other hand, there leaders were regarded as murderers and witches, having obtained dangerous powers from the outside the realm of ancestors. Thoden van Velzen attributes this ambivalency to the contradiction between the normal egalitarian regime of Ndyuka society and the need for strong leaders in times of crisis.

SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF

Traditional history

Status, role, and prestige

Shamans and psychotherapists

Chief executive

Priesthood

Humanistic studies

cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)

Ndyuka

HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document

1999

RegionThe area the document pertains to

South America

Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region

Amazon and Orinoco

Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs

book chapter

Evaluation

Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.

Ethnologist

Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.

4: Excellent Secondary Data

5: Excellent Primary Data

AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection

Ian Skoggard ; 1997

Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document

1961-1988

Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to

1700-1988

Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)

Suriname

NotesAdditional notes

H. U. E. Thoden van Velzen

Includes bibliographical references (p. 142-144)

LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number

95004374

LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings

Djuka people