SITUATION ANALYSIS OF THE SMALL-SCALE GOLD ... - WWF

Chapter III
SOCIAL DIMENSIONS
In this chapter we identify the main stakeholder groups in the interior, where SSM
takes place. We begin with a description of the traditional inhabitants of the
forest: Indigenous peoples ad Maroons. These forest peoples lived for several
centuries in relative isolation from outsiders and the Suriname nation state. This
changed in the late 1870’s, when thousands of miners came to work local gold
deposits. A century later a massive influx of Brazilian miners took place, often
returning to the areas that were mined at the onset of the first gold rush. We
characterize these foreign and local miners, as well as their living conditions in
and outside the mines, in sections 3.2 through 3.4.
Small-scale miners throughout the world are organized in cooperatives and
associations that provide financial, technical, administrative, and other support.
As we describe self-organization among miners in Suriname, we will seek to
explain the relative lack of self organization among Suriname miners. The chapter
concludes with a brief evaluation of the positive and negative impacts of SSGM
on individuals, families and communities. These impacts have been described in
detail in numerous other studies, and instead of repeating what has been said
before, the reader is referred to complementary books, reports, and papers.
3.1 Traditional inhabitants of the interior
The Suriname interior, where all gold mining takes place, is inhabited by forest peoples;
Indigenous peoples (or Amerindians) and Maroons (Figure 3.1). Each of these groups is
made up of several culturally distinct societies. Among the Indigenous peoples one can
distinguish coastal and inland societies. Coastal Amerindians consists of Caribs and
Arowaks. Trios, Wayanas and several smaller Indigenous communities live further
inland. The Trio and Wayana are linguistically related to the Caribs, even though they
live in the southern part of Suriname.
Among the Suriname Maroons, two language families can be identified: the Afro-
Portuguese and Afro-English. The Saramaka and Matawai speak an Afro-Portuguese
language dating back to the 17 th century that was developed in Central-Suriname on the
Portuguese-Jewish plantations. The languages spoken by the other four groups – Ndjuka
(or Aukaners), Paramaka Kwinti, and Boni (or Aluku)- are related to Sranantongo, the
coastal creole language that was developed on the English plantations around the same
time.
Nowadays most interior groups, particularly Maroons, rely to a greater or lesser extent on
goods and services from the coast. Where possible Indigenous and Maroon children
attend public schools; the ill tend to visit Western clinics; families may eat canned fish,
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