“When our ancestors fled…they did not carry anything with them. They learned how to live – what plants to eat, how to deal with subsistence needs once they got to the forest. It is our whole life.”

Saamaka MaroonsSaamaka Maroons - PFProven Free
Written by Blog Post Author

Wanze Eduards (wahn-zeh ed-wahrdz)

Saamaka Headcaptain

IMAGE SOURCE: “Wanze Eduards and Hugo Jabini: 2009 Goldman Prize winners, Suriname.” Screen grab. You Tube. 15 Apr. 2009. | TEXT SOURCE: Testimony. Inter-American Court of Human Rights Case of the Saramaka People. v. Suriname. 2007.

IMAGE SOURCE: “Wanze Eduards and Hugo Jabini: 2009 Goldman Prize winners, Suriname.” Screen grab. You Tube. 15 Apr. 2009. | TEXT SOURCE: Testimony. Inter-American Court of Human Rights Case of the Saramaka People. v. Suriname. 2007.

QUOTE CONTEXT: Testimony before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights contesting Chinese logging on traditional Saamaka lands.

QUOTE QUESTION: What and who helps you to know what is required to subsist where you live?

IMAGE CONTEXT: Speaking to a filmmaker about “why the land means so much to us.”

IMAGE QUESTION: Where do you choose to speak when conveying truth to others?

MEDIA LITERACY CONTEXT: The quote is from testimony before an international court. The photo is from an online video.

MEDIA LITERACY QUESTION: How do you know which government and media channels to trust?

READ WANZE EDUARDS TESTIMONY TO THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS: https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_172_ing.pdf

DOWNLOAD THE SAAMAKA MAROONS SLIDE DECK FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES:

View Slides
Blog Post Author
Previous

“It is more important for us all to eat today than to know that I can eat tomorrow.”
Next

“On September 19, 1762… our ancestors, the Saamaka maroons, signed a peace treaty with the Dutch Crown…acknowledging their territorial rights and trading privileges…It still goes on.”