{{Short description|Maroon ethnic group of northeast Suriname}} {{Infobox ethnic group |group = Paramaccan |image = File:Bijeenkomst onder een paalwoning in Langetabbetje in Suriname De Nederlandse vl, Bestanddeelnr 252-6713.jpg |caption = Meeting under a pole dwelling in Langatabiki (1947) |total_year = 2014 |total_source = estimate |total = 11,000 |total_ref = <ref name="population">{{cite journal|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/nwig/87/3-4/article-p323_3.xml?lang=en|title=The Maroon Population Explosion: Suriname and Guyane|series= New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids Volume 87: Issue 3-4|author=Richard Price|author-link=Richard Price (American anthropologist)|access-date=25 July 2020|journal=New West Indian Guide|year=2013|volume=87|issue=3–4|pages=323–327|doi=10.1163/22134360-12340110|doi-access=free}}</ref> |region1 = Paramacca, Suriname |pop1 = 4,300 |region2 = Urban French Guiana |pop2 = 3,900 |rels = Christianity, Winti |langs = Paramaccan |related = Ndyuka }} {{Infobox official post | post = {{lang|djk-pamaka|Granman}} | body = the Paramaccan people | image = | incumbent = Jozef Misajere Forster<ref name="paramaka">{{cite news|url=https://www.waterkant.net/suriname/2020/02/24/pamaka-stam-heeft-nieuwe-granman/|title=Pamaka stam in Suriname heeft nieuwe granman|website=Waterkant|language=nl}}</ref> | incumbentsince = 2020 | residence = {{lang|djk-pamaka|Langatabiki}} }} The '''Paramaccan''' or '''Paamaka'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Starnieuws - Traditionele leiders Marowijne- en Lawagebied vragen betrokkenheid bij grensakkoord |url=https://www.starnieuws.com/index.php/welcome/index/nieuwsitem/91500 |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=Starnieuws |language=nl}}</ref> (French: '''Pamak'''<ref name="french_guiana">{{cite web|url=https://www.populationsdeguyane.fr/peuples/pamak/ |title=Pamak|website=Populations de Guyane|access-date=20 July 2020|language=fr}}</ref>) are a Maroon tribe living in the forested interior of Suriname, mainly in the Paramacca resort,<ref name="suriname_nu">{{cite web|url=https://www.suriname.nu/175alg/sipaliwini01.html|title=Distrikt Sipaliwini|access-date=23 May 2020|language=nl|website=Suriname.nu}}</ref><ref name="gov_sr">{{cite web|url=http://regionaldevelopment.gov.sr/actueel/2019/paamaka-en-ndyuka-leggen-grens-vast/|title=Paamaka en Ndyuka leggen grens vast|website=Regional Development.gov.sr|access-date=23 May 2020|language=nl|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128031825/http://regionaldevelopment.gov.sr/actueel/2019/paamaka-en-ndyuka-leggen-grens-vast/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the western border area of French Guiana.<ref name="french_guiana"/> The Paramaccans signed a peace treaty in 1872 granting the tribe autonomy.
==Overview== The administrative centre for the tribe is located in Snesiekondre,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.starnieuws.com/index.php/welcome/index/nieuwsitem/2215|title=Bestuurscentra Sipaliwini bouwtechnisch opgeleverd|access-date=23 May 2020|language=nl|website=Star Nieuws}}</ref> but the main village of the resort is Langatabiki which is also the residence of the {{lang|djk-pamaka|granman}} (paramount chief) of the Paramaccan people.<ref name="planning">{{cite web|url=https://www.planningofficesuriname.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/STRUCTUUR-ANALYSE-IV.pdf|title=Planning Office Suriname - Districts|website=Planning Office Suriname|language=nl|access-date=23 May 2020}}</ref> The tribe controls 13 villages in Suriname,{{sfn|Plan Bureau|2014|p=169}} and the village of Providence in neighbouring French Guiana.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mallé|first1=Marie-Pascale|url=https://journals.openedition.org/insitu/2373 |title=Les maisons des Noirs marrons de Guyane|journal=In Situ|year=2004|series=Le patrimoine rural|volume=2004 #5|issue=5|page=4|doi=10.4000/insitu.2373|doi-access=free}}</ref>
The total population in 2014 was estimated at 11,000 people with 4,300 people living in the tribal areas in Suriname, and 1,000 living in the interior of French Guiana.<ref name="population"/>
==History== The Paramaccans were runaway slaves from the Handtros or Entros plantation who fled around 1830.{{sfn|Marten|Schalkwijk|2018|p=3}} In 1856, the August Kappler reported that the tribe had established villages near the Paramacca Creek.{{sfn|Marten|Schalkwijk|2018|p=19}} In 1872, they had signed a peace treaty with the Dutch colony giving the tribe autonomy,{{sfn|Marten|Schalkwijk|2018|p=19|loc={{sp}}|ps=:"Original publication:Koloniaal Verslag van 1872 page 543"}} and Frans Kwaku, the leader of the expedition to Paramaribo, was officially appointed granman by the Governor.{{sfn|Marten|Schalkwijk|2018|p=19}} In 1879, a group of about 90 Paramaccans led by Apensa created a settlement on an island in the Marowijne River near the mouth of the Paramacca Creek. The town was named {{lang|djk-pamaka|Langatabiki}} (Long Island).<ref name="encycl">{{Cite web|title=Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië - Page 155 - Boschnegers|website=Digital Library for Dutch Literature|url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/benj004ency01_01/benj004ency01_01.pdf|date=1916|access-date=20 July 2020|language=nl}}</ref> During the Surinamese Interior War, the Paramaccans sided with the Jungle Commando,{{sfn|Thoden van Velzen|1988|p=215}} which resulted in a large migration to French Guiana.<ref name="french_guiana"/>
==Language== {{anchor|language}} Paramaccan is also the eponymous term for their language, which is English-based{{sfn|Borges|2014|p=124}} with influences from Dutch, African languages,{{sfn|Borges|2014|p=167}} and other languages. It is similar to the languages spoken by the Ndyuka and Kwinti, and mutually intelligible with Sranan Tongo.<ref>{{cite web|title=Syntactic Developments in Sranan|url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/aren012synt01_01/aren012synt01_01_0003.php|website=Digital Library for Dutch Literature|author=Jacques Arends|date=1989|access-date=20 July 2020}}</ref> Paramaccan is the youngest of the Surinamese pidgin languages.{{sfn|Borges|2014|p=187}} The language had an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 speakers in 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.suriname.nu/302ges/archi169.html|title=Languages of Surinam|website=Suriname.nu|access-date=20 July 2020}}</ref>
==Villages== * Langatabiki (Suriname) * Lokaloka (Suriname) * Nason (Suriname) * Providence (French Guiana) * Snesiekondre (Suriname)
== See also == * Ndyuka language
Brother Mambo: Finding Africa in the Amazon, JD Lenoir with Phil Ceder (Kutukutu), Black Rose Writer, 2022. ==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite thesis |last1=Borges |first1=Robert |year=2014 |title=The Life of Language. Dynamics of language contact in Suriname |url=https://www.lotpublications.nl/Documents/348_fulltext.pdf |location=Utrecht |publisher=Radboud University Nijmegen }} * {{Cite conference|title=Conference on Slavery, Indentured Labour, Migration, Diaspora and Identity Formation.|last1=Marten|first1=J.|last2=Schalkwijk|first2=W.|date=19 June 2018|publisher=Anton de Kom University|url=https://lsil2017.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/schalkwijk-marten-the-pamaka-tribe-in-suriname.docx}} *{{cite web|last1=Plan Bureau| url=https://www.planningofficesuriname.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/STRUCTUUR-ANALYSE-IV.pdf|title=Planning Office Suriname - Districts 2009-2013|website=Planning Office Suriname|year=2014|language=nl}} *{{cite web|url=http://rjh.ub.rug.nl/index.php/sogi/article/download/20137/17609 |title=De Brunswijk-opstand: Antropologische kanttekeningen bij de Surinaamse burgeroorlog|website=University of Groningen|last=Thoden van Velzen|first=Bonno| date=1988|language=nl|publisher=Sociologische Gids}}
{{Ethnic groups in Suriname}} {{Ethnic groups in French Guiana}}{{Maroons}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Paramaccan People}} Category:Paramaka Category:Surinamese Maroons