Morphology and distribution
The African rice we collected in Suriname and French Guyana had single-branched panicles and short and rounded ligules with an average length of eight mm. The grains were glabrous with an awn of an average length of 6 mm (Figure 1). Half of the ripe grains had dark brown husks and the other half pale brown. The grains shatter easily from the panicle and have a dark red pericarp (Figure 2).
The average plant height that we measured in 2023 was 160 cm. At this height, they tend to lodge when there is strong wind. We recently measured an average production of 2181 kg/ha on Maroon fields (Pinas et al., forthcoming), much more than the 700-1000 kg/ha that was estimated previously for Maroon rice in general (Budelman and Ketelaar 1974).
In 2021 we selected six Maroon rice varieties (one O. glaberrima and five O. sativa) and asked Maroon farmers to identify them. African rice was recognized by all 20 farmers who participated in the exercise as baaka alisi or matu alisi, while the Asian rice varieties were not always named correctly when they came from outside their village. (Pinas et al., 2023). African rice was grown in most Maroon villages where we carried out fieldwork (Figure 3). Notable is that we did not encounter black rice among the Paamaka Maroons along the Marowijne River and in the Okanisi community residing in the Cottica area. Adriaan Adawde, a well-established Paamaka pallbearer, explained to us that rice cultivation has been declining in his community since Brazilian miners settled in the area: “The Brazilians prefer kwak, a dry cereal-like food made from toasted yellow bitter cassava flour. Paamaka women nowadays focus on planting cassava to produce kwak and marijuana, to sell to the miners”.
The Cottica Maroons had fewer rice varieties than other regions, probably due to the violence experienced in this area during Suriname’s civil war between 1986 and 1992. Most people in the Cottica area fled to French Guyana, leaving their rice fields unattended for several years. Mame Malonti, a farmer from Wanhatti, recounted that after the civil war, she did not see many of the rice varieties anymore that they had before.
Black rice cultivation
Anne Huur, a Saamaka rice farmer and English teacher, explained to us: “Black rice is sacred, so every village must have a black rice field. When it is needed for medicinal or spiritual purposes, you will see that it is readily available. But it is uncommon that villagers or farmers will tell you easily where it is situated”. Despite this, 22 of the 99 rice farmers (22%) we interviewed had black rice either in their fields or in stock: among the Saamaka 15 out of 33 women grew it, five out of 55 Okanisi, and two out of seven Matawai. The Paamaka no longer cultivated black rice, but they did so in the past. Fleury (2016) documented black rice cultivation among the Aluku around 1997 but did not mention the percentages of farmers who had it on their fields or in stock. Although unmilled black rice is widely available in the herbal market in Paramaribo, where it is sold for ancestor offerings, farmer Jeanette Pansa explained to us that it could not be sold among Maroon community members.
Norma Aserie, a farmer from Tapoeripa (Brokopondo district), reserved a dryland patch in her field close to the forest edge specifically for black rice. She explained that birds would leave other rice varieties alone when black rice was available. This practice was seen also in Abenaston and Nieuw Aurora along the Suriname River by Baumgart et al. (1998). When we asked farmers about their methods to prevent the birds from damaging their rice, they answered: "We don't do anything because birds don't eat everything." Although several people owned shotguns, the mass killing of birds was never practiced. Some farmers placed a net or shot at birds with catapults, but others said in a very laconic way, "Well, even the birds have to feed themselves, they have a role to play in nature”.
Alieni Faandya, a Saamaka farmer in French Guiana, explained: “Black rice is always sown close to the forest edge so we do not have to walk through it. The leaves are sharp and they can cause skin cuts. This is the reason we sow it apart from the rest of our crops”. Other farmers planted black rice at the entrance of their fields as an offering and respect for the forest spirits, so the harvest of all other crops would be plenty. A few farmers had an entire field only allocated to black rice, a bit further hidden in the forest, away from their normal field with cassava, Asian rice, okra, and bananas. One thing all farmers agreed to was that black rice should always be sowed on dry land that did not flood, even during heavy rains, in contrast to some Asian rice varieties that could withstand flooding or thrive in moist soil (Pinas et al., 2023).
When we asked the Maroon farmers whether indigenous people also grew rice, they responded either that they did not know, had never seen it, or simply that they did not. Although surveying indigenous agriculture was not part of our research, we also asked this question to two indigenous men whom we met by coincidence near Maroon villages. An Arawak man from Alfonsdorp (Marowijne district), said that people in his village grew Maroon rice varieties now and then, “especially the black type, as it has lots of vitamins. We just mill in with a mortar and pestle.” A Carib man near St. Laurent du Maroni, French Guiana. said that his ancestors had exchanged rice for cassava with the early runaways, centuries ago. They had grown this rice for a long time on hill slopes. "But recently, our women have been more interested in fancy clothing and polished nails, so they don’t like to work the soil anymore”. As far as we know, the cultivation of rice by indigenous peoples in the Guianas has not been mentioned before in the literature.
Black rice as (ritual) food
Most of our informants were adamant that black rice was not used as food. Despite this, 15% of the farmers we interviewed consumed black rice similarly to white (Asian) rice. According to Jermain Keizer, a Saamaka from Jawjaw, large quantities of black rice were grown in his village and consumed similarly to white rice. Even within Maroon communities, the opinions regarding the consumption of black rice could differ. In Pusugrunu, Saramacca River, Matawai farmer Iris Emmanuel cultivated small amounts of black rice in her field of white rice. She saw black rice as a medicinal plant, and could not agree with her aunt standing in the same field who told her that black rice was perfectly edible. One Saamaka farmer assured us that because of its stiff panicles, black rice was good for making brooms and that was the reason for keeping it.
Saamaka healer Edje Doekoe also agreed that black rice is edible. “Our ancestors ate it more frequently than we do now. Therefore, we should continue planting it. Especially in times of crisis, it is planted: it can be ripe within three months. All the non-Christian Maroon villages grow it. The birds like it more than the other rice, so you have to keep an eye on it to prevent it from being eaten completely. Cooking is done as all other rice varieties: it does not require special treatment. It is very nutritious when you eat it, you will feel full for a long period. The only downside is that if stands long in a pot it becomes hard. However, if you add some water and heat it, it becomes soft again”. Alieni Faandya consumed black rice as well, but she said that there were two different types of black rice. The variety she ate (baaka alisi) was not the same as matu alisi, which was used for spiritual purposes and consumed solely by traditional healers and priests of the Afro-Surinamese winti religion who did not eat any Asian rice. Augustina Henkie, an elder Matawai woman from Pusugrunu, also said that matu alisi was not the same as baaka alisi. “Matu alisi is a grass that grows wild in forest clearings and savannas. It is not edible and is loved only by birds. Baaka alisi is edible and cultivated by people.”
Farmer Emelina Amalia from Godo-olo, Tapanahoni River, said that black rice was consumed by pallbearers. The family of the deceased receives (black) rice for all the funeral activities. In the end, the leftover black rice is given to those who carry the coffin to the grave to take home for consumption.
Ising (2022) interviewed 12 Saamaka and Okanisi women and all her informants agreed that all types of Maroon rice could be used for traditional dishes. However, when asked directly about black rice as a potential ingredient, only three dishes could be prepared with black rice: maipa sii alísi (rice cooked in the fat of Attalea maripa seeds), tan ini uwii (rice cooked with peanuts and plantain in banana leaves) and pinda alisi (peanut rice), which were mostly prepared for death-related gatherings. Ising’s interview data suggest that black rice is also included in food offerings such as tuwë njanjan (lit: throw away food) that take place during funerals and the closing of the mourning period (puu baáka).
Herbal medicine
As voiced by the majority of informants and farmers, black rice was prominently used in herbal medicine. However, when we asked whether they could tell us for what health issues it was used, the answers were often vague. Responses such as “for cultural things”, “I don’t know”, “to wash your head or body”, “we think for spiritual diseases”, “to call a spirit”, and “it is used by herbalists and winti priests” were common. According to co-author Noeki André Mosis explained: “People do not like to talk about black rice because it is seen as apuku [forest spirit] or yooka alisi [rice connected to the spirit of the deceased] and therefore is a sensitive issue”.
Even so, we documented a few herbal preparations for physical diseases. For the removal of thorns in the skin, black rice was pounded in a mortar into a smooth powder, applied to the skin, and tied with cloth. The thorn would resurface from the skin, making it easier to remove. When someone got burned by fire, black rice was burned to charcoal, ground to powder, and applied to the wounds. This would accelerate the healing process. Mr. Atanso from Gran Santi said that porridge of black rice boiled in a lot of water was used as medicine against diarrhea.
According to Anne Huur, Maroons who practiced the winti religion believed in reincarnation and thought that some children were born with a strong connection to their previous life. This was visible in physical symptoms such as sickness or disabilities. “For example, a person with a truncated index finger passes away will be reincarnated into someone with a similar truncated finger”. Reincarnation could also be revealed in dreams or visions through a close relative or a traditional healer. To separate the previous life from the current, a healer would prepare an herbal bath consisting of black rice and other herbs. The child would then be bathed at the intersection of two roads at midnight. It was assumed that from that moment on the child would be released from the spirit of the previous person. This separating ritual is known in the winti religion as prati or paati. (Wooding, 1979).
Offerings
Spirits of the forest, earth, and the ancestors require food offerings known as nyannyan mofu nyan ((food for all mouths) van Andel & Ruysschaert, 2011: 61). Adriaan Adawde explained: “It must be given so the spirits can continue to protect us or sustain the peace”. A food offering for an angry spirit that has attacked someone is also known as paati. Adawde knew the details: “When someone is troubled by an angry spirit, the person will not sleep properly and see visions of a diseased family member, or have a psychosis. A way to cure the person is by performing a paati ritual.” For this, he needed uncooked plantain (Musa sp.), yams (Dioscorea spp.), napi (D. trifida), black or white rice, placed in a calabash (Crescentia cujete). “We will take the person to the forest at the bottom of a hill or mountain, and split a piece of neku liana (a fish poison, Lonchocarpus sp.) in the middle, big enough that the person can walk through it. The neku is placed strategically so that the person is facing sunrise before the calabash bowl with uncooked food is thrown over his/her head. Afterward, the person walks through the opening in the neku that is then closed with a handspun cotton thread. Paati is often performed; you can be walking in the forest and see the remains of food on the ground.”
Every Maroon village has a captain and every Maroon group has its paramount chief. For the installation of those traditional leaders, extensive ceremonies are held. Edje Doekoe stated: “The ancestors are called upon for the newly chosen leader and his or her partner. Prominent in the ceremonies are herbal baths, prepared with black rice as one of the main ingredients. Christian villages do not practice those ceremonies anymore”. Black rice is also offered at shrines: wooden statues covered with fabric, often situated in the middle of the village (Figure 4). In Kajana, we saw an offering in which the black rice had already germinated.
Although black rice is no longer cultivated by the Paamaka, rice farmer Eva Ceder explained that food offerings were still common: “A lot of men work in the forest as miners and loggers, so troubling the forest spirits often happens. To settle this, food offerings are given, and they mostly contain black rice”. How the men obtained the black rice remained unclear.
Funerals
We received contradictory answers to our question on how black rice was used during funerals. Most farmers agreed that homegrown white rice should be taken to funerals, but eight farmers were certain that black rice could not be brought to a funeral. However, the term ‘funeral’ in Maroon communities is not one activity of burying a dead person, but a lengthy series of events (Price, 1990). According to co-author John Jackson, “When a [Saamaka] person is confirmed deceased in a village by a health worker or a winti priest, the elders call a public meeting in the gangasa (community center) and inform everyone. In this meeting, pallbearers and gravediggers (olo man) will be selected. The mourning period (go a baaka) starts right away. Family members, friends, and neighbors will rush to the house of the deceased (dede oso) to support the close relatives. Every day visitors will be attending until the burial takes place (beli dey). The night before the burial a small wake is organized, during which attendees often dance and sing. A week after the burial the atidey (litt: eighth day) is held to commemorate the deceased. A second commemoration is held after six weeks. The closing of the mourning period is known as puu baaka. During the mourning period close relatives and the partner of the deceased can only wear black and white clothes. The mourning period used to be between six months and a year, but now many people have migrated to the city, it is often no longer than four months, and obligatory rules like the cutting of hair and the prohibition of perfume and deodorant have been dropped”.
Although living far apart from one another, Okanisi farmer and wife of a chief Eline Apai from Moitaki (Tapanahoni), and Saamaka farmer Maisini Majokko from Kajana, both described the same details of black rice use during funeral ceremonies. “Black rice is always present but it is not used for daily consumption such as other rice varieties. It is kept for the day the deceased will be laid in his or her grave. Just before the coffin is placed in the grave, the pallbearer will cast a handful against the coffin while calling upon the ancestors, so that the deceased may freely enter the afterlife”. Thus, black rice is seen as payment for entrance into the afterlife: a process known as bai pasi. In Dangogo, Pikin Rio, Saamaka chief Abini Aboikoni recounted: “Black rice is pounded and at the open grave, when the coffin is already in the hole, a porridge of mashed black rice flour is offered to the deceased”. In Langatabiki, a Paamaka village along the Marowijne River, entire grains of black and white rice are placed in the grave when a paramount chief is laid to rest. For common people, this is not done. During the puu baaka, all persons who are officially in mourning are taken to a river or creek for a bath. Black rice is also used on this occasion, but we did not get the details.
Ising (2022) also noted that all traditional (rice) dishes prepared for a funeral or puu baáka are a collective endeavor: the ingredients are brought by close family or acquaintances of the deceased, and cooking is done in a group. Offerings (tuwë njanjan) either for a funeral or puu baáka should contain rice, including black rice. According to Nelda Majokko, “food offerings only take place in heathen villages like Kajana”, but when attending a puu baáka in the nearby Christian village of Ligorio we saw a secret food offer placed below the Catholic altar. Several Maroons told us that ‘church people’ do not offer rice anymore, and sometimes do not go to funerals where ‘food is thrown to the ancestors’.
Stories on the origin of black rice
Farmers told several different stories on how their ancestors obtained black rice, and these differed within and between Maroon communities. However, three themes emerged: enslaved women carrying it in their hair, ancestors finding black rice in the savanna during their flight from slavery, and encountering black rice in interior swamps.
Richenel Adama, a Matawai elder from Bethel, Saramacca River, told us how his ancestor Mama Tjowa escaped from slavery with rice. She found rice seeds that had fallen from a granary on the plantation where she was forced to work. It was impossible to take a whole bundle, as it would have alerted the slave masters of her escape plan, so she hid a few rice seeds in her hair. When she and her fellow runaways reached safety, Mama Tjowa removed the rice seeds from her hair and sowed them. After four months it was ready for harvest, which gave them food security and the possibility to move further away from the plantations. Adama could not recall what variety of rice Mama Tjowa escaped with, but Augustina Henkie told us that it was black rice she took along (van Andel et al., 2023).
Co-author Mosis explained that on slave ships enslaved women had more freedom than men. They were tasked with cooking for the enslaved passengers, so they could walk around a bit. Having access to rice and other crop seeds, they could hide some in their hair or bind it in their clothes. “Even though they were scarcely clothed, for rice you don’t need a lot of seeds. They did not know where they were going, but keeping crop seeds with you has been a practice even in Africa”. Although he was not sure which type of rice variety the enslaved women hid on the slave ships, he knew black rice was one of them, because it had been so significant for Maroons now and in the past. Edje Doekoe’s story of how black rice ended up with the Samaaka people was slightly different. He said that black rice came with his forefathers from Africa in a kuukuu, a wicker basket in which people transported important obias (spiritual objects). “A kuukuu is important to take along, it contains every [ritual] thing that you need”.
Okanisi rice farmer Lucia Pasoe from Nieuw Libi, Marowijne River (French Guyana), also knew that enslaved women hid rice on slave ships, but she was sure black rice was not one of those varieties. “During the escape from the plantation, Maroons had to walk long distances to reach safe places. It was on their way that they came across a savannah and saw black rice growing there”. Eva Alimeti from Portal Island (French Guiana) knew more details of this story. “A long time ago when our ancestors ran away, in a small group of six or seven people, they saw rice plants on a savanna. They were not sure whether it was edible. One man volunteered to try it out, collected the seeds, peeled them, and ate them. They spent the night there. The next morning, when they noticed the man had survived, they realized that they could eat this crop. They decided to take it along to a place where they would be safe. When they finally reached a good spot, they planted the rice and slowly learned how to process it by making a mortar to mill it and a flat wooden plate to winnow it”. This narrative of ancestors finding rice growing wild on a savanna just after their escape was told to us several times by unrelated Maroons.
According to Chief Albert Aboikoni, black rice was found by Gwagidi, one of his forefathers, in the field of a forest spirit. While he was hunting with his dog, Gwagidi discovered a mysterious swamp. “That place had a strange vegetation, different than the rest of the forest, we call it Gado Oso (God's house). This is not far from Asindohopo where we are now. Gwagidi saw matu alisi there, and a type of banana that he had not seen before. He harvested the rice, a bunch of bananas, and a banana sapling, and headed home. Then he realized that his dog was gone and he was lost in the forest. He apologized to the apuku forest spirit for stealing his crops and begged him not to kill him. He said: “I have a sister Yaya in the village, take her if you want”. Immediately afterward he found his way back home, and the apuku possessed his sister in the village. She asked him for the stolen crops, but Gwagidi had hidden the bananas and the black rice. The apuku was angry, but with the intervention of a winti priest, it could possess a family member for many generations”. Price (1983) recorded a variation of this story among the Saamaka in the 1960s, and we heard it again from several Maroons, but the location of the apuku field differed each time (Figure 3). Thea Paimi, an Okanisi farmer from the Cottica, told us that her father Johannes Paimi lived in Pina Tjaimi, a village not far from Mama Mofu Creek. “This creek is a well-known spiritual place. Once my father got lost in the forest and ended up in a swamp that was connected to the source of Mama Mofu Creek. It was full of black rice. He decided to harvest some and bring it back to his village. Shortly after he arrived in the village a couple of people were possessed by forest spirits and complained to the elders that their rice was stolen. The village elders asked for forgiveness on Paimi’s behalf, so he could keep the rice. But he swore never to return to that place”. According to Saamaka tree spotter Frits van Troon, there used to be a creek that ran down the Brownsberg and ended in the Suriname River. Its lower banks were full of black rice, but have now been submerged in the Brokopondo Reservoir. Other Saamaka told us that there was a similar apuku goon behind Pikin Slee.
Bono Velanti, the Okanisi paramount chief, explained to us that black rice was found in the Tapatosso Creek long before he was born. This creek is part of the connection road to Okanisi communities residing in Sara Creek. “It was on one of these journeys that my forefathers saw black rice and awarra (Astrocaryum vulgare) which they decided to collect and bring home”. Gold miners now working in that location had not recently seen black rice.
Although the Paamaka lost their black rice, Adriaan Adawde could remember the stories of his grandfather about how his ancestors encountered it. “When the runaways escaped from slavery, they had little food to eat, until they came across an abandoned field filled with black rice. They knew it was given to them by a forest spirit whose name should not be called idly”. When Adawde was young, the Paamaka community still organized annual food offerings for this forest spirit. “Now all this tradition is lost. Maybe this is the reason why so many problems are happening, such as children drowning in the river and the many accidents in the gold mines happening to young Paamakans”.
When we asked people what an apuku goon (forest spirit’s provision field) looked like, people described an open space in the forest, not made by people. Abini Aboikoni mentioned: “In the dry season, it is just grass, but in the wet season, it can be like a swimming pool”. John Jackson was a health worker in the hinterlands of Suriname during the Civil War. “The country was in turmoil. To escape the violence and get medicine for the hospital, I once had to walk through the rainforest across the Tumac Humac mountains with Indigenous people to reach the Brazilian border”. He encountered several open grassy fields in the rainforest. He recognized them as granite layers that were covered with a thin layer of soil on which grass grew, but no trees as there was no space for their roots. He did not see rice or any other edible crop in these locations. He encountered many grass seeds that were eaten by birds and could imagine that if rice seeds were dropped there by birds or people they would grow.
Edith Adjako recalled a story from the Okanisi traditional healer Ruben Mawdo: "The runaways always had a bonuman [ritual specialist] in their group. When they encountered a mountain or granite boulder, the bonuman would climb it to see whether soldiers followed them and where they were located. Possibly, those people brought along food, such as awarra, cashews, rice, and pineapples, and left the remains on that mountain. In this way, people in the past could also cultivate crops without having to burn the forest. The fire from opening provision fields would betray their locations to the enemies. These crops now continue to grow in such open spaces”.
In July 2022, we tried to locate an apuku goon. Our guide Abini Aboikoni and his cousin told us that they knew such a place approximately five km upstream of the last Saamaka village Dangogo along the Pikin Rio. Although a granite boulder indicated as ‘Okoberg’ is visible on Google Earth in the forest between the Pikin rio and the Gran Lio (3°.54’N 55°.30’W), we walked for hours but could not find it, although we saw some flat granite rocks with low secondary forest growing on it. Our guides then decided to show us another apuku goon named ‘Ananasberg’, a granite boulder with edible pineapples (3°.33’N 55°.39’W) approximately two kilometers behind Dangogo, which they often showed to tourists (Figure 5, for a drone video, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfXQBA8Rgy0).
This mountain is indicated as the Gaan Goon (great field) where Gwagidi found his rice in the 18th century on a map in Price (1983:64). The mountain slopes were full of small pineapples that grew by themselves. According to Jabini, they were of a different variety than those cultivated in the village. “You can eat them, but don’t take them home, as the apuku will become angry”. The next day, rice farmer Jaai Pansa explained to us that she once “before the year 2000” encountered the apuku goon we went looking for, and it was named Pukasa after the creek next to it (Figure 3). She found cashews, awarra, and black rice. “It is not planted by people. It just grows there. When it is ripe, you see it, but on other occasions, you don’t see it. I took some of these crops home, that’s why you did not find the spot yesterday. The apuku is still annoyed”.
When walking on the Ananasberg, we asked Jabini whether birds could also plant crops. He answered that this indeed happened sometimes. “When my mother had started to plant cassava on her field before sowing other crops, she saw saplings of pepper sprouting spontaneously. They had been dropped there by birds”. According to co-author Mosis, birds were instrumental in distributing rice seeds. “They travel from one region to another with seeds. In a song composed for their Paramount chief Oseisi [1884-1915], you could hear the women’s complaints about birds. “The birds, the birds, oooh. Tata Oseisi, the andoki [bird] came and is eating all our rice. That is not a big problem, but when they leave, they will spread our rice varieties to other people”. Those women knew that birds were seed distributors!”