I’ve always been intrigued by learning about different cultures and their unique habits. Suriname is a melting pot of different cultures. Taking trips to the interior made me realize how little I know about the maroon cultures of Suriname. To learn more about the Saamaka culture, I partnered with Gerno Odang, co-founder of the Saamaka Nenge instagram account. You may have seen their content on social media, but if you haven’t this is your sign to keep reading!

Who is Gerno?

Gerno is a spiritual & creative soul who expresses himself through his art page (@gernoartpix) and the Saamaka Nenge page. But that’s just my observation. When asked the question, he had this to say:

It’s difficult to really define who Gerno is if I have to tell you about what I do in my life. I will simply say that Gerno is a human who incarnated within the Saamaka Maroon community of Suriname in order to live earthly experiences that elevate my conscience and I hope that the little that I will do in this low world can be useful to me and also to other people who are here or who will come after me.

Born in the Saamaka village of Heikoenoenoe, he left at age 3 to settle with his family in Paramaribo where he attended school. At the age of 7 they moved again to Kourou, French Guiana.

I use photography as a means of expression, to denounce and question society or communicate my vision, my ideas and also my emotions.  You could say that I am an artivist.

*Note: all the banners and bold names in this post are clickable and linked to the relevant social accounts*

The beginning

I didn’t always grow up in my culture, but I kept a strong bond with it and often went to recharge my energy in my village in Suriname.  I am a curious person, so I try to understand everything that is in my living environment.  Understand who I am really at the core of my being. Understand my history, my identity, my culture, and spirituality.  I question my elders and I read a lot of books while keeping an Afrocentric look. Today I am doing research on the connection of the different Maroon communities in the world, their relationship to spirituality and to the African continent.

The culture comes from a West African influence since the slave trade. During this period our ancestors crossed the oceans with their ancestral knowledge and preserved this until today through oral transmission. After the escape of the Maroons into the Amazon rainforest, they were welcomed by Amerindians, we can see some influences that come from them too, such as the way of making cassava semolina and the tools they use.

The plantations where the Saamaka people were located were occupied by Portuguese Jews who had fled Brazil for political reasons.  It’s for this reason that the base of the Saamaka language is Portuguese, this language is different from the other Businenge (maroon) languages.

All of these things are part of the particularities of the Saamaka culture. Each of the Businenge (maroon) cultures has its particularities. Suriname Maroon societies were built on the same foundations from different regions or kingdoms of West Africa. As a result, the Saamaka have kept strong and intact traditions from the African continent, such as traditional marriages which are similar to Ghanaian marriages, the dowry.  This is specific to the Saamaka culture.  As well as the language which has a Portuguese base.

We have a chance today to be in a culture which is not assimilated by a system which would like to establish a single thought, but we mustn’t stay in our comfort zone, we must be vigilant and aware, we have to continue the transmission of our knowledge and culture because the world is in movement.

What is the importance of embracing your culture?

Today we live in a society which makes us believe that our customs, our gods, our spirits, our ancestors have no place to exist in this world. We grow up in an environment in which things are often reversed. Society makes us believe that we are poor because we live far from the city. Whereas the very essence of life is found in the natural, these are the essential things of life. Society makes us believe that we are devoid of knowledge whereas we hold ancestral knowledge that challenges modern science.

We have to let go of limiting beliefs and raise our consciousness.  Being aware of our power, who we really are and knowing that our ancestors fought & sacrificed so we can be where we are today.

Today, young people pay more attention to the material than to the immaterial because modern society has made us believe that only the material has value. Modern society makes us idealize a certain image of wealth that we spend our lives looking for outside of ourselves until we forget that real wealth is inside us.

If we distance ourselves from our culture, it can only cause loss of the culture. Ignorance is like starving at the foot of a tree full of fruit that could have fed us. Let’s be aware of our cultural wealth.

The IG revolution

The Saamaka Nenge account that my cousin Laurent and I created was born from the desire to raise the awareness of the community and expand our thinking beyond borders. It’s an introspective work on who we are from a personal and historical point of view and the connection we have to Africa or even the history before slavery. We talk about society, culture, the African continent and the connections.

Since the creation of the page, it has allowed us to make connections with Brazil through a collaboration with Gaby Amarantos, an artist who we have allowed to visit the Saamaka community, which allowed her to see the links with the Quilombos community of the leader Zumbi dos Palmarès of Brazil. We were also in the United States recently for Beaucoup Hoodoo a cultural festival in New Orleans. There we gave a talk on the spirituality of the Maroons and its similarities to Ghana (Akan). During this trip we also visited the Department of Africology and Afro-American Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia.

The end or just the beginning?

First of all, if you made it to the end, we both would like to thank you for coming along on this cultural journey. I’d also like to thank Gerno who’s words and explanations I found too powerful to paraphrase. This is the first part of a series on the Saamaka culture, which always piqued my interest.

In the meantime, get the knowledge straight from the source & follow the Saamaka Nenge IG, FB & Tiktok accounts. Also check out my latest adventures by following me on FB & IG.