Course:CONS370/Projects/Actors and victims: assessing the participation in and impacts of gold mining on Maroons and Indigenous Peoples of Suriname.

This study considers the relationship between gold mining and the Indigenous and Traditional Maroon Peoples of Suriname. Suriname is a small country in South America that borders Guyana, French Guyana and Brazil. The country was colonized by Europeans in the 1600’s and later taken control of by the Dutch in the 17th century. Suriname was home to various Indigenous Peoples, but after colonization became primarily occupied on plantations dependent on African slaves. A number of these slaves escaped and formed communities, living in the forested areas of the country.

Suriname is heavily influenced by a gold rush that began in the 1980's and continues today. This is a main source of economic growth and development for the country. The majority of people working in the small scale gold mines are Maroon peoples, often those who live in nearby communities in the forest. These mining projects have caused concern over land use and rights, especially by Indigenous groups.

Rosebel mining in Suriname

Description

Flag of Suriname

History

Suriname is a small country with a land area of 163,820 square kilometers in South America. It has a coastline on the Atlantic ocean to the North and to the south, the majority of the country is Amazonian rain forest. Suriname was originally inhabited by a number of distinct Indigenous groups, the Lokono (Arawak), Karinya (Carib), Warrau, Wayana and Akurio. In 1498, Christopher Columbus was the first European to observe Suriname. From 1500 to 1651, European settlements in Suriname never succeeded due to the resistance from the Indigenous peoples. In 1651 however, the first British settlement was formed. The Dutch then seized the country from the English in 1667. Suriname then became a plantation colony, producing mainly sugar, but also cacao, coffee and wood. An approximately 300,000 West African slaves were forced into labor by the Dutch working in these plantations. Suriname remained a colony of the Netherlands until 1975, when Suriname became independent from Dutch rule.

Traditional and Indigenous Peoples of Suriname

In the present day, Suriname is an ethnically diverse country with the largest ethnic group being Indo-Surinamese people, who make up over a quarter of the population. Now, Indigenous peoples of Suriname account for less than 4% of the population. A number of groups of traditional peoples, referred to broadly as “Maroons”, are the second largest ethnic group, who make up approximately one fifth of the Surinamese population.

Maroons are a traditional people who descended from West-African slaves of Ashanti and Akan origin that fled from Dutch forced labour in plantations to the interior rainforests. There they developed into six distinct groups with distinct languages, culture and social structures. The Eastern branch consists of the Djuka (Aucaner, Awka), the Aluku (Aluku nenge, Boni), and the Paramaka (Paramacca). The Central branch consists of the Saramaka (Saramacca), the Matawai, and the Kwinti.

Gold Mining in Suriname

Historical gold mining in Suriname

A gold rush has been occurring in Suriname since the mid 1980s, and has been a main source of income for both colonial citizens and Maroon peoples. Deposits of gold are especially rich in the upper river basins of the Marowijne (Tapanahoni and Lawa) and the Saramaca River. There has been a long running tradition of small scale gold mining operations living along these rivers. The communities of Ndyuka, Paramaka, Aluku and Matawai Maroons account for approximately a quarter of Suriname’s small scale gold miners.

Approximately 10,000 to 20,000 small scale gold miners work in Suriname. Maroon people make up the majority of the quarter of small-scale miners who are Surinamese. The remaining amount are migrants from Brazil called garimpeiros, as well as a small number of Chinese immigrants.

Tenure arrangements

Legal land rights

There are four types of legal land titles in Suriname; allodial, absolute ownership, leasehold, and landlease.

Allodial is the existing oldest land title, possibly developed from the English land warrants issued between 1650 and 1667. This type of tenure stated that ownership was most importantly defined by the fact that the land must be cultivated. Allodial title also stated that the landowner was prohibited from “doing anything to the prejudice of the Indians or any prior concession”.

Absolute ownership was originally stated in the Civil Code and the Government Regulation of 1865.This agreement only issued to plots of land smaller than 10 hectares, after the Agrarian Ordinance was promulgated in 1937. Article 576 of the Surinamese Civil Code defines state lands as those that are unmanaged or unowned by people.

Leasehold may have been issued as early as 1960, but became the most common land title after the Agrarian Ordinance of 1937. This type of tenure is valid for a renewable period of 75 years, and is also subject to annual payments. The Ordinance also stated that “The allocation of domain land… shall be carried out with respect of the legal rights and entitlements of third parties, including the rights of Bushnergors and Indians on their villages, settlements and forest plots”.

Landlease was stated in 1982, and is the only title issued by the State, aimed to end abuses of land policy in Suriname. This title was issued for a limited duration of 15-40 years and subject to various conditions (annual fee, used according to the purpose it was issued for). Landlease titles can only be sold or mortgaged with permission of the Minister of Natural resources, who may also reclaim the land if the holder is perceived to not being compliant with conditions.

The Domain Principle was a core part of Suriname’s tenure system, and a feature of L-Decrees of 1982. The principal that states that “All land to which others have not proven their right of ownership, is domain of the State”( Art. 1, section 1). Quntus Boaz, a Surinamese lawyer, politician and professor, identified this as the reason why Indigenous Peoples and Maroons do not have land ‘rights’ in the Surinamese law. He proposed that the State is the private owner of all land, and that only those with titles derived from the state can have “rights” to land.

Customary land rights

Each group of Maroons has a tribal territory that consists of a watershed, including its principal river and its tributaries. This tribal area is usually where ancestors had settled in the past. In addition to their ancestral settlement area, Maroon groups also consider their tribal territory to be areas settled at a later point in time, and are currently occupied and used by them. Each clan has entitlement to certain plots of land, and may or may not be continuous. The boundaries of these territories are generally based on natural features like rivers, creeks and mountains. Every Maroon is aware of which tribe has customary property rights to an area of land, including its forests, fish, waters and wildlife. Members of different groups will therefore not utilize another group's territory without prior consent of the customary rights holders.

In contrast to Maroon peoples, Indigenous peoples in Suriname do not have strict boundaries between their home areas. It is acceptable for members for different groups to  travel, live, and use resources in one another’s area. The Indigenous communities do not have strong divisions between territories, although there may be kin-based land allocations for planting areas, and hunting zones located behind each village based on informal agreements.

The domain principal has resulted in Indigenous peoples and Maroons not being able to obtain personal or communal titles to their traditional lands. Due to this, they do not have any formal rights to these lands, or their resources, as they are all legally considered state property. Although  Indigenous Peoples and Maroons in Suriname may have a lack of formal land title, there are many other legal instruments that suggest an obligation of third parties to respect customary rights of the Indigenous Peoples and Maroons. Examples of these include the peace agreements written in the 17th and 18th century between the Dutch colonial government and a number of Indigenous and Maroon insurgent groups they were unable to subdue. Treaties confirmed arrangements in contemporary legal documents including the Governmental Order of 1629; the 1667 Capitulation Treaty between the British and the Dutch; and the so‐called exemption clause (uitsluitingsclausule or garantieformule). These all prohibited harassment of Indigenous and Maroon Peoples on their lands and forced settlers to respect customary law rights.

The Indigenous Peoples of Suriname are much more self-conscious about their customary rights compared to Maroons, and much more active in exercising concerns when they feel that they have been violated. The conflict surrounding land use and pressure is mostly the result of government and private industry forcing extractive operations. Protests from the Indigenous peoples of Wit Santi and Hollandse kamp (District of Para) against extension of the Zanderij airport are one example of how land rights have caused conflict.

Administrative arrangements

Presidential Palace of Suriname

Treaties

The first treaties in Suriname followed the ‘indian war’ in the 1680s. This war was the result of a trading dispute between the European and the Dutch, as well as European incursions into Indigenous traditional territory. In 1678, the Carib Arawak and Warao tribes joined forces and attacked colonists and their plantations. The attacks led to the deaths of many colonists, as well as the freeing of African slaves who later joined forces with the Indigenous peoples or by themselves. When Cornelis van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck was appointed governor of Suriname, he sought to establish peace with the Indigenous peoples through treaties. The treaties were made in 1684-85. There are no physical copies of these treaties, and it has been assumed that they were oral agreements without any legal significance. However, as Cornelis van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck was also forced to marry the daughter of one of the Indigenous chiefs, it was evident that both parties took the treaties very seriously. It was understood treaties signified freedom, autonomy and sovereignty of the Indigenous Peoples and peace among both parties.

Mining rights

Mining operations, mainly for gold, has been a major part of Suriname’s economy since the beginning of the century. Suriname instated the Mining Decree in 1986, which was based on the assumption that the ownership of the subsurface is separate from the ownership of the surface. The purpose of this decree was to facilitate ‘an orderly development of mining’ that fits within the national economic policy of the government.

The Mining Decree does not acknowledge customary rights at all. It does oblige concession holders to submit a list of villages in and near the plot being applied for, however it does not state when the list must be submitted, and does not enforce consequences for any violations.

Mining concessions do not require that the area to be exploited is explicitly outlined. This gives rise to many conflicts over resources and land rights. There is also a lack of community involvement in the early stages of negotiations and discussions. The reconnaissance stages do not require large investments, while the exploration stages involve development of things like test sites, cut lines, and track construction, and as a result require preliminary capital investments.

Affected Stakeholders

An affected stakeholder is a person who has been affected due to loss of land, house, assets, livelihood or a combination of these due to project activities . Affected stakeholders largely includes, but not limited to, Indigenous and Maroon groups

• Indigenous groups: Lokono (also: Arowak); Kalina (also: Carib); Trio (also Tiryo) and related ethnic groups; Wayana and related ethnic groups.
• Maroon groups: Ndyuka (also: Okanisi, Aukaners), Saamaka (also: Saramaka), Paamaka (also: Paramaka), Matawai, Kwinti, and Aluku (also: Boni)

The amount of time a person has been affected does not change the definition. Displacement due to mining activities could be months to years, potentially even permanent as site restoration is rare. There is also a large change in the landscapes due to mining, which may create further displacement. As original land may now be uninhabitable due to infertile soils due to the immense deforestation associated with mining.

Affected people are able to participate in hearings associated with mining projects. At least one consultation meeting will take place in the most accessible location in the region where the project is going to be implemented. An additional method of informing people, also employed by the Ministry of Regional development, is to spread information through community radio, for example Radio Paakati for the Ndyuka. They also use national radio and TV stations from Paramaribo that broadcast in the tribal languages and are popular with a maroon audience, such as Koyeba and Asosié radio and TV.

Interested Outside Stakeholders

Governments of Amazon countries have incentive to support small-scale gold mining as it provides a source of income for poorer populations and if it is controlled, tax revenues can be collected. There has been an increase in national annual gold production from a few kilograms per year in the 1980s to approximately 10-15 tons of gold per year in 2001. The government of Suriname is responsible for allowing large and small scale mining concessions.

Institutes, such as the Intergovernmental Forum (IGF) on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development, are concerned with sustainable development in mining and ensuring that negative impacts are limited and financial benefits are shared. This institute is supported by the government of Canada, working with voluntary countries to implement their Mining Policy Framework. The goal of this particular group is to optimize mining benefits to reduce poverty, promote inclusive growth, social development and environmental stewardship. In Suriname, the IGF aims to implement the MPF as well as inform capacity-building efforts and allow for monitoring of progress over time, with the help of the Surinamese government.

Besides Maroon miners, there are also large populations of Chinese and Brazilian immigrants that work on the small scale mining projects in Suriname, and depend on working in mines for steady income. Since these workers are immigrants, they do not have much control over the mining projects.

Discussion

This case study aims to bring attention to the rights and violations of Indigenous and Traditional peoples of Suriname in the use of their land for resource extraction. These violations are perpetuated by the lack of legislative protection of the land rights of Indigenous and Traditional peoples and responsible governance regarding these issues. The Surinamese government has shown some commitment to change in their current revision of the Mining Code. However, progress toward the inclusion of Indigenous land rights is slow and requires improved federal involvement.

Currently, forced resettlement is disruptive to Indigenous and Traditional peoples. It causes discontinuation to Indigenous and Traditional livelihoods, which includes management of their land and fluvial networks. In Suriname there is discussion of adopting the Mining Policy Framework (MPF). The MPF has been developed by the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF). Historically mining in Suriname has exploited Indigenous and Traditional lands. The many different languages spoken throughout the country creates a barrier for communication, especially for Indigenous and Traditional persons. The MPF provides optimism for the future. The three priority areas of the MPF are; Legal and policy environment, Post-mining transition and mine closure, and Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining. Federal adoption is the next step. Additionally, environmental and social impact assessments (ESIAs), where consultants assess the impacts that mining could have on a community, aim to ensure that Indigenous decisions are respected.

Assessment of Governance

During 1998-1999, the government in Suriname was suffering from economic deficits and failed repeatedly to pay wages of employees and social security benefits. The root causes for participation of Maroon Peoples in small scale gold mining are poverty, and very limited opportunities for advancement or employment. The government has also not allocated sufficient funding to schools and healthcare institutions, which would improve quality of life and decrease dependence on mining for income.

In some Maroon cultures, for example in Ndjuka society, men are expected to supply their household with cash, even though many of these jobs are no longer available. These jobs, such as in bauxite and timber industries and in construction, have been lost to the political and economic instability during the past two decades.

The government of Suriname is struggling to improve economic well being by funding and supporting industrial mining projects. These projects are in violation of customary land rights of both Indigenous and Maroon Peoples in many instances, as they are occurring on their traditional territories, and the government has been giving mining concessions to big companies without the consent or even knowledge of traditional area inhabitants. Both groups contest these mines as they value the conserving the forest as a source of subsistence, and a place to live, and are also concerned with degradation to the health of their communities and the environment. This issue has resulted in a lot of conflict and has led to protests by both Indigenous and Maroon peoples. Examples of this were the violent protests which broke out multiple times in the past decade between local small‐scale gold miners associations, mainly N.V. Gowtuman ’94 of Brownsweg and Makamboa of Koffiekamp, versus Rosebel Gold Mines. This mine concession directly overlaps with Matawai traditional territory.

Recommendations

For Suriname, mining remains a vital source of revenue for the country and a source of employment for many people. However, many fundamental regulatory frameworks are lacking for the mining sector. There must be legislative reform so that the government and mining companies recognize the rights of Indigenous and Maroon stakeholders. The new legislature should promote companies to seek FPIC measures when operating on Indigenous or Maroon lands. A financial penalty should be imposed on companies that do not comply with the new laws. Additionally, the integration of environmental and social impact assessments (ESIAs) will force companies to act responsibly and encourage corporate and government accountability. The ESIAs are also aimed to assess the livelihood impacts on Indigenous peoples and ensure that their cultures and customs were respected.

The largest changes that the Surinamese government needs to make is the inclusion of Indigenous human and land rights in legislation. As it stands, Indigenous peoples are not legally recognized as people or collectives. This will continue to result in conflicts if these issues persist. The government must consider the human rights of Indigenous and Maroon peoples to align themselves with international laws and standards.

A draft of the Mining Act was created in 2004 but the act is still under review by parliament. It is recommended that the inclusion of Articles that will benefit Indigenous communities' rights to FPIC are expedited into the legislature. It is also recommended that Suriname commits to implementing the IGF’s Mining Policy Framework (MPF) expeditiously.