from 26 august 2006, in Gunsi

«Krutu» is the council meeting, an important formal event in the Maroon community of Suriname.

Of all the New World Maroons who struggled to forge independent communities in opposition to slavery and the harshness of plantation life,only the Maroons of south-central and southeastern Suriname continue on as culturally and politically distinct and viable entities through the present day. The Surinamese Maroons still live in relatively thriving independent communities in traditional tribal territory. Elsewhere in the Americas, Maroon societies were either destroyed or became integrated into the culture and society of the larger ‘host’ nation.

Participants:

Tribal or paramount chiefs (Gaunman, Gaamá)
Head chiefs (Ede Kabiteni)
Village chiefs (Kabiteni)
Male and female under-officers (Basia)

Frans Dinge (njanjanman) van Kajana - Langu region, Granrio, foreman of the «Krutu»-ceremony
Basia Pompea, Stonuku, Granrio
Wanze Eduards, Head Chief, Chairman of VSG (Assosiation of 12 Saramaccan tribes)

Hugo Jabini,
Initiator of the petition at Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR),
President of Tooka Foundation, Suriname
Fergus Mackay,
Coordinator, Three Guyanas and Legal/Human Rights Programme
Forest People Program

Principal topic of this meeting

The UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) has interpreted Article 27 to include the "rights of persons, in community with others, to engage in economic and social activities which are part of the culture of the community to which they belong." In reaching this conclusion, the HRC recognized that indigenous peoples' subsistence and other traditional economic activities are an integral part of their culture, and that interference with those activities can be detrimental to their cultural integrity and survival. By implication, the land, resource base, and the surrounding environment also require protection if subsistence activities are to be safeguarded.