Some references for discussions regarding the enslavement ...



Legacy of Slavery and Indentured

Labour

Linking the Past with the Future

Conference on Slavery, Indentured Labour, Migration, Diaspora and Identity Formation.

June 18th – 23th, 2018 , Paramaribo, Suriname

Org. by IGSR, Faculty of Humanities, IMWO, in collaboration with Nat. Arch. Sur. , NAKS, Federasi fu Afrikan Srananman CUS, NSHI and VHJI.

Address: IGSR , Phone: 490900; 8749865 E-mail: diasporaconfsuriname2018@; mauritshassan@

Some references for discussions regarding the enslavement of Indigenous people in Suriname

D.J.H. Ferrier M.Sc.

1. Introduction

The objective of this presentation is to provide a brief review of some basic aspects regarding the enslavement of Indigenous people by the initial European settlers, from the earliest period of settlement onward until the abolition of slavery by the Dutch in 1863.

The presentation is strictly meant as base reference for triggering of discussions and initiatives for the undertaking of studies that can provide broad and in-depth insights into the matters concerning the subjection of Indigenous people to slavery by Europeans and the exploitation of Indigenous as slaves in Suriname.

Such studies may meanwhile also contribute data and insights of relevance for broader and more comprehensive efforts geared towards ascertainment and understanding of the significance of slavery for the integration, geographical and social mobility of Indigenous people in the colonial society, while such studies may meanwhile also facilitate to arrive at insights by which differences and similarities can be distinguished, between the slavery of Indigenous people and the slavery of people of African origin as well as distinctions that can be made in this respect between the enslavement of Indigenous people in Suriname and in the Spanish and Portuguese controlled areas of Central and South America

The information used for the preparation of this reference paper, was derived for the most from the diaries that had to be kept by the governors in control of the colony in the period 1720-1780. The collected minutes of the Court of Police of Suriname over the same period, constituted a second source of information, while also much references of significance for the discussion were found in the “West Indisch Plakaatboek 1667 – 1816’ by Schildkamp and de Smidt. Other reference materials were meanwhile also obtained in the form of oral statements from several outstanding Surinamese intellectuals with scholarly interest in this matter, which volunteered to serve as resource persons.

A few short notes concerning the most common forms of involvement of Indigenous slaves in the plantation operations, are added as reference materials that can be of significance for the ascertainment of a broad conception regarding way in which Indigenous slaves were exploited an treated by the European slave owners.

2. Contextual references

European interest in settlement of the area between the Maroni and the Corantyne river dates back to the first decennia of the seventeenth century. The ‘Wild Coast’ was in first instance considered a very inhospitable and also a highly unattractive area for exploration by the European explorers in search for precious metals.

The first settlers of European origins in the Suriname river basin were most probably French settlers that by 1620 were driven away from the Amazon by the Portuguese.

French and English attempts for settlement in Maranao - the lower Amazon region -date back to the first decennium of the seventeenth century. At that time, the Dutch already had established fortresses near Cabo Orange and Nassau in the Amapaca region north of the Amazon, for the protection of several well prospering settlements along the Atlantic coast, which were populated by Dutch families engaged in annatto and tobacco production. The French and the English attempted settlements in the lower Amazon region by 1602, while the Dutch followed in 1605 with the establishment of three small settlements in the lower Maranao region.

The northern-European settlers repeatedly suffered from obstructions by the Portuguese, who considered the entire Amazon River Basin to be their property. The settlements of the Dutch, English and French in the Maranau were often raided and destroyed by the Portuguese, which thereby at the same time also raided the settlements of the Indigenous people.

By consequence of the shared fears for the Portuguese by both the European settlers and the local Indigenous people, both groups revealed an increasingly desperate eagerness for good relations with one another.

The Indigenous people of the lower Amazon considered the Dutch, French and English settlers as allies, which were armed with similar weaponry as their Iberian adversaries. That condition implied for the Indigenous in the first place better protection against the Portuguese raiders and slave hunters, which periodically caused havoc among the tribes of the Lower Amazon by means of their relentless raids in pursuit of capturing and deporting of Indigenous males and females for employment on sugar plantations and mines elsewhere in Brazil.

On the other hand the northern-European settlers must have quite quickly discovered the significance of the Indigenous as resource persons with knowledge and expertise of prime significance for the creation of the conditions for survival and proper existence in the area and meanwhile also as resource persons of great significance for realization of the material goals they had come for to the Amazon, i.e. cultivation of tobacco and annatto.

But by 1624 the Portuguese succeeded in defeating and expelling the northern-Europeans form the Maranau. The majority of the Dutch, French and English settlers which in 1624 were driven out the Maranau area by the Portuguese, apparently moved in first instance to the inhospitable Wild Coast area and settled west of the Oyapoque river which area according to conceptions of that time was considered to be Spanish property. Most of the French remained in the Oyapoque settlement, while the fast majority of English, Scottish and Irish settlers moved to the island of Barbados for the continuation of their involvement in the cultivation of tobacco.

The Dutch also moved westward and settled near the mouth of the Essequibo river, where they established a trading post, geared towards trade with the Indigenous tribes living upstream of the river.

As mentioned earlier the first settlers of the Suriname River Basin apparently were French tobacco growers that were ousted by the Portuguese from the Amazon by 1624. This group was followed by a group of settlers from England arriving in Suriname by 1630, while in the course of the period after 1640 several former English indentured workers from Barbados were granted land in the Suriname River Basin for the cultivation of tobacco and sugar cane.

By 1654 Jewish sugar planters expelled by the Portuguese from the former Dutch colony of Recife and Pernambuco in Brazil, were permitted settlement in the territory, by the English which by 1650 meanwhile also had ensured themselves some kind of legal control over the area.

As it appears the first settlers must have had very good relations with the Indigenous people of the Suriname River Basin. Indigenous people assisted the Europeans in the cultivation of tobacco on the basis of barter agreements whereby the Indigenous voluntarily engaged themselves in crop maintenance, harvesting, drying and curing of the tobacco in exchange for European goods. However, as relations between the European settlers and the Indigenous deteriorated in the course of time due to severe misunderstandings between the parties, cohabitation of the Suriname River Basin in the later years of the seventeenth century was characterized by ever increasing skirmishes between bands of Indigenous and European settlers.

Although the first English settlers probably never attempted to enslave the Indigenous of the Suriname River basin as organizing of raids for the capturing of Indigenous to be sold as slaves remained strongly prohibited by British law, they did engage themselves in trading of so called ‘red slaves’ captured in other areas.

At the time that the Dutch forcefully took over the country (1667) from the English, the relations between Indigenous and the Europeans were characterized by ever enduring armed skirmishes. The Dutch government exercised tight control over the relations between European settlers and the Indigenous population by means of placards, ordinances and notifications indicating the kind of conduct prescribed and rules to be observed in contacts with the free Indigenous people.

By 1672 a placard was published by Dutch governor which revealed the rules to be observed in the trading of Indigenous slaves, obtained from areas outside of the Suriname River Basin.. A special ordinance was issued by the governor of the colony by 1675, which prohibited the organizing of raids on indigenous for the purpose of slave catching, while moreover the trade in Indigenous slaves became restricted to people licensed to that end by the governor.

Another placard published by October 1679 restricted enslavement of Indigenous to warriors captured in battles with Indigenous tribes. But exploitation of locally captured warriors as slaves was forbidden, as the authorities feared that the enslaved might flee and take revenge. Captured warriors should therefore be shipped for sale as slaves to other settlements on the Wild Coast, while only Indigenous obtained as slaves from other Wild Coast settlements could be exploited as slaves by plantations and households settled in the Suriname river basin.

In the period between 1667 and 1816 about eighteen placards, ordinances and notifications were issued containing special regulations pertaining to the Indigenous of the Suriname River Basin. These legal provisions were issued partly as means to ensure the freedom of the Indigenous and partly to ensure mutual subscription of essential forms of cooperation between Europeans and Indigenous for proper co-existence of both categories of occupants within the settlement area.

3. Areas of origin of the Indigenous slaves

In the diaries kept by the successive Governors which served in Suriname in the period 1720 – 1780, several notations are found, which pertain to the acquisition and supply of Indigenous slaves in different sections of the Wild Coast .In the diary kept by Governor Gerard van den Schepper (1737 – 1742) two notes are found, respectively in the 1739 diary and in the 1741 diary which mention the delivery of ‘ Bokken and Bokkinnen” – male and female Indigenous slaves – from the Essequibo area. The number of slaves supplied are not mentioned by these notes. The 1746 diary kept by Gouvernor Johan Jacob Mauricius also mentions the supply of a total of fifteen male and female Indigenous slaves (Bokken and Bokkinnen) from the Essequibo.

In several of the Governors diaries of the period 1720 – 1780 a total of 22 references is found regarding licenses granted for the ascertainment of Indigenous slaves at the Orenoque ( Upper-Corentyne area). And from the names revealed as licensed holders for the obtainment of slaves in the Upper Corentyne area, it may be inferred that several European persons may have made the collecting of Indigenous slaves the mainstay of their economic activities in Suriname. Some proof for the possible validity of theafore mentioned statement can be derived from the following.

According to the minutes of the Court of Police (Raden van Politie) by the 29th of June 1735 six Indigenous persons originating from the Orenoque (upper Corentyne area) were aangegeven as slaves hauled from the Wayombo area by the slave collecting license holders Erasmus Brink and Herman Dykman. The diary kept by Governor Gerard van den Schepper in 1739 mentions that by the 12th of November 1739 licenses for collecting of ‘Red slaves’ slaves at the Orenoque were granted to Ferdinand Bochom, Arend Vernold, Erasmus Velderman and Herman Dykman. Similar notifications are to be found in almost all of the diaries kept by the succession of governors that has been in charge of the colony in the course of the eighteenth century.

Information regarding, the organization of the slave hauling endeavor, the route followed to reach the Orenoque area and the duration of these slave hauling trips could not be detracted from the documents examined at the National Archives of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. But from other sources with information concerning inland travels in the 18th century by other explorers, it may be assumed that the trip was made partly by boat and partly by foot.

According to Indigenous people which in the past quite frequently visited to relatives in the to the Upper-Corentyne in a similar manner as the slave traders , roundtrips from Paramaribo to the Upper Corentyne area made in this way may require in the order of four to six months of time.

No information has as yet been obtained concerning the relations between the slave sellers and the persons that were taken along as slaves. Some sources assume that the persons traded as slaves by the tribes settled on the Orenoque, were for the most people captured from rival tribes or people purposefully purchased to this end from other tribes residing in areas south of the Acarai Mountains. Other sources also suggested that many of the Indigenous tribes approached for the delivery of persons as slaves, might even have sold their own sons and daughters to the European slave traders.

In view of the tasks assigned to the Indigenous slaves that were employed on the plantations, it appears quite likely that most of the Indigenous persons obtained as slaves by the European slave trader, were skilled adolescents and adults in the flower of life rather than older or much younger persons without any skills. It is obvious that from a commercial point of view, the slave trader could in no way suffice with the acceptance of slaves which lacked the physical strength and the skills, that granted Indigenous slaves instrumental significance to the economic objectives of the plantations and which made them as such desirable and valuable for his prospective clients.

The number of Indigenous slaves that were brought to the colony by the licensed slave traders cannot be established with any certainty. However, it may be considered a fact that the deliveries certainly did not include large numbers of persons. There are two records found in the Governors diaries, which mention the number of Indigenous slaves that were brought back by slave traders licensed to collect slaves in the Upper Corentyne area. One of these recordings was found in the 1752 diary of General von Sporche, governor ad interim in 1752, and concerns at total of eight Red slaves supplied from the Orenoque by one licensed slave trader. The name of the slave trader is not mentioned.

The other notification was found in the diary kept by his successor Governor Crommelin who registered the supply of five Indigenous slaves obtained at the Orenoque in 1752 by the licensed slave trader Velderman. In the Governors diary of the same year there is also a notification found regarding the supply of ‘Bokken en Bokkinnen (males and female Indigenous slaves) from the Oyapoque, however, without mentioning the number of persons included in the supplied quota.

Another source of significance for the supply of ‘Red Slaves” to the settlers in the Suriname River Basin, was probably the Oyapoque area. In the period between 1720 and 1780 most of the Indigenous derived from the Oyapoque area were traded at sea out of sight of the local authorities. The supplies derived from this area also appear to have remained very small by numbers of slaves. The Indigenous that were enslaved were for the most of Tupinemba origins, purposefully caught or purchased in small numbers by Carib tribesman for sale to the Europeans in the settlements west of the Oyapoque.

4. Tasks most commonly assigned to Indigenous slaves

On the plantations the female Indigenous slaves referred to as ‘Bokkinen’ were charged with simple household and gardening chores and with the preparation of manioko products that were used as food for the African slaves, mainly manioc. Next to these tasks enslaved Indigenous women were meanwhile also charged with weaving of hammocks and the manufacturing of indigenous pottery and baskets to be used by the European households on the plantation .In particular the so called manaries - squared baskets with a content of approximately twelve liters - were much in demand by the sugar plantations which used these baskets as containers for the coagulation of muscovado (liquid sugar mass). Indigenous women slaves were apparently also much in demand by the Europeans as housekeeper as well as life partner.

From the oral history current in many Surinamese families it be may inferred that many of the Indigenous women slaves became in due time the life partner and mother of the offspring of European plantation workers, be it the principal plantation manager or one of his field supervisors.

Indigenous male slaves – referred to as ‘Bokken’ were charged with hunting and fishing for the plantation manager. These male Indigenous slaves were apparently also charged with the tracing and recapturing of African slaves that had run away from the plantation. Other tasks generally assigned to ‘Red slaves’ on the plantations included the collecting of firewood and other forest conveniences, the felling of trees to be processed into construction materials and for building of canoes (curiara’s) on which the Indigenous slave quite often meanwhile also had to serve as the rower. Indigenous slaves were also selected to serve the white plantation principals as the carrier of the personal belongings of the latter, on extended foot trips to neighboring plantations and other more distant destinations, with if so required carrying his European master on his back across swampy sections, through shallow creeks and other less negotiable sections of the road..

On most plantations the Indigenous slaves were spared engagement in the backbreaking field work activities assigned to slaves of African origin. The involvement of Indigenous slaves in field activities remained for the most restricted to tending of the cassava cultivations and other crops on the food plot of the plantation.

As far as could be traced it is only on the earliest tobacco plantations in Suriname which date back to the period prior to 1650, that the chores of cultivation and harvesting of the tobacco were for the most left in hands of Indigenous workers, which as free people came to the assistance of the European tobacco grower, by means of barter agreements which facilitated them to exchange their expertise in the cultivation, harvesting, drying and curing of tobacco for European goods to be provided by the European counterpart.

5. Assessment of the share of the Indigenous in the total slave force of Suriname

Due to lack of data of relevance to that end it was not possible to provide in this presentation a numerical indication regarding the number of Indigenous people that at any time were kept as slaves on plantations and in the households of other European residents of Suriname.

In assessing the size of the Indigenous slave constituency it should be taken into account It should be taken into account that probably no more than a very small minority instead of a large majority of plantations and other types of households may have kept one or a few Indigenous slaves.

And it is also quite certain that most of the plantations and other European households included into that minority did not keep more than one or a few Indigenous slaves. Therefore it appears quite likely that the constituency of Indigenous slaves at any time between 1630 and 1863, should be considered to include no more than a few hundred persons at the maximum at the peak period of Indigenous slavery in Suriname.

With the number of enslaved people in Suriname amounting to 35.000 at the peak of slave exploitation, the share of the Indigenous slavery within the total volume of enslaved persons in Suriname may be estimated, to amount to no more than a small fraction in the order of no more than a few percents of the total slave force employed in the country at any time.

6. Concluding remarks

In summary may be stated that the exploitation of Indigenous people as slaves has taken place very modestly in the colony of Suriname. The extremely small share of Indigenous slaves that at all times was made up by Indigenous people in the total slave force of Suriname, as well as the apparently relatively mild nature of the overall treatment received by slaves of indigenous origin from European slave masters, might both be considered striking phenomena of the slavery of Indigenous people in Suriname, when that form of slavery is compared by volume and character with the enslavement of people of African origin and the harshness of the treatment to which African slaves were subjected by the European slave masters.

The afore mentioned traits may probably also outstandingly distinguish the slavery of Indigenous people in Suriname from the massive maltreatments, massacre and other humiliations which have been the prime characteristics of the treatment to which the Indigenous were subjected in the Spanish and Portuguese controlled regions of the American continent.

However, it should be kept in mind that it was not particularly because of altruistic or humanitarian considerations, but rather for reasons of their bare preservation of life that the treatment of the Indigenous people by European settlers of the Wild Coast has remained rather mild in comparison with the cruelties that the Indigenous people of other areas had to endure from the Iberians. Against the relatively mildness of the enslavement of the Indigenous stands the absolute rigid enforcement of rules aimed at restricting personal intimacies and commercial contacts between Europeans and Indigenous people out of safety considerations.

Although the rules set forward by the various placards do suggest that the Colonial authorities have attempted to facilitate the Indigenous to go undisturbed by their own ways on the one hand, the rules meanwhile also gave way to the brutal cruelties which were committed against the Indigenous by military patrols which were engaged against them in the course of the second half of the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth century.

Negligence by the Colonial authorities towards the adherence to treaties made with the Indigenous tribes, placed severe limitations upon the contact-opportunities and restricting in this way also opportunities for acculturation, assimilation and integration of the Indigenous in the new social order.

Paramaribo, May 2018

References

Boxer, Charles Chaplin, The Dutch in Brazil 1624-1654, Oxford University Press 1957

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Gallay, Alan, The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South 1670-1717- Yale University Press (2002).

Gallay, Allan, Forgotten Story of Indian Slavery. Yale University Press 2003

Goslinga, C.C., The Dutch in the Caribbean and on the wild coast, 1580-1680. Gainesville University of Florida Press, 1971

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Helman, Albert, De foltering van Eldorado: een ecologische geschiedenis van de vijf Guyana’s’s Gravenhage: Nijgh & van Ditmar, ’s Gravenhage, 1983

Hemming, John, Red Gold: The conquest of the Brazilian Indians, Mac Milan Publisher, London U.K. 1995

Hemming, John, Tree of Rivers: The Story of the AmazonThames and Hudson ltd. London U.K. 2008

Hoëvel, W.R. van, Slaven en vrijen onder de Nederlandsche wet. Zaltbommel, 1854

Lorimar, Joyce, English and Irish Settlement on the River Amazon 1550-1646Hakluyt Society London U.K. 1989

Raleigh, W., The Discoverie of the Large, Rich and Beautiful Empyre of Guiana, Transcribed, annotated and introduced by Neil L. WhiteheadUniversity of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1997

Schiltkamp, J. & T. De Smidt (ed.), West-Indische plakkatenboek. Plakkaten, ordonnantiën en andere wetten uitgevaardigd in Suriname 1667-1816Amsterdam - S. Emmering, 1973

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