Rebel destiny: among the bush Negroes of Dutch Guiana

Herskovits, Melville Jean; Herskovits, Frances (Shapiro), Mrs.

Book

Rebel destiny: among the bush Negroes of Dutch Guiana

Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. • New York • Published In 1934 • Pages:

By: Herskovits, Melville Jean, Herskovits, Frances (Shapiro), Mrs., Bush Negroes Of Dutch Guiana.

Abstract
This monograph describes the lives of the Saramaka tribe of Suriname Maroons and the Negroes of the coastal region of Suriname river. Included are, discussions of the beliefs and practices associated with birth, marriage, death, family relationships, community organization, folk lore, art, music, dancing, etc. The monograph is based upon two field trips to Dutch Guiana by the authors, a husband and wife team, in the summers of 1928 and 1929. The authors employed event centered interviewing together with participant observation technique to investigate Saramaka attitudes toward their own civilization, and their logic in explaining their own custom. They also compared Saramaka customs with those of town Negro of Dutch Guiana, Blacks of Africa and of the United States. It is the authors' contention that the history of Blacks in the New World can be considered as a vast 'laboratory' experiment in the processes of racial mixture and of cultural contacts. The materials on the concept, symbols, functions and hierarchy of supernatural forces; Saramaka's religious practices; and the unique decision making institution called KRUTU are especially valuable.

Revelation and divination

Magic

Saramaka

HRAF PubDate

1999

Region

South America