Boston Band negotiates peace on behalf of the Ndyuka

A report to the Society of Suriname described the revolt and cautioned against alarming investors. The archive exposes how colonial authorities managed information about resistance to protect...

A group of former colonial officials warned the Society of Suriname about the revolt’s scale and the danger to settler property. Their private alarm contrasted with public attempts to reassure...

The Society’s representative Francois Dandiran replied to Boston Band, a leader who advocated negotiation between Ndyuka Maroons and colonial officials. Boston’s literacy, diplomacy, and political...

Crommelin wrote that only peace could prevent the colony’s ruin. His appeal followed decades of failed military campaigns and acknowledged Maroon power. The letter documents the strategic position won...

At a peace negotiation, an unnamed Ndyuka speaker defended Maroon attacks against plantations. The statement reframes the violence as resistance to enslavement and colonial aggression. The surviving...

The treaty recognized the Ndyuka as a political community and established formal relations with the colonial government. Ndyuka resistance compelled the Dutch to negotiate rather than achieve military...

Colonial authorities and residents in Paramaribo celebrated the treaty with the Ndyuka. The celebration recognized a negotiated end to a costly conflict, though the treaty remained shaped by...

Crommelin complained to Boston Band that too few escaped enslaved people had been returned. This correspondence shows the conflict between the treaty’s recognition of Ndyuka autonomy and the...

A diplomatic mission succeeded in opening negotiations with Saamaka communities. The colonial government sought peace after repeated military failures; Saamaka leaders used the opportunity to...

The agreement formalized peace between the Saamaka and the colonial state. As with the Ndyuka agreement, the treaty followed Maroon resistance and was negotiated by political actors who had secured...