Ndyuka

The Ndyuka are a Maroon people whose communities formed in the forests of Suriname from Africans who escaped enslavement on colonial plantations. They established villages along inland waterways and fought to defend their independence from Dutch forces. Their history is tied to the rivers and forest that sheltered communities beyond the plantation coast, in a country traversed by tributaries of the Maroni.

On 10 October 1760 Ndyuka leaders signed a peace treaty with the Dutch authorities. It recognised their autonomy while imposing obligations, including the return of other people escaping slavery. After the agreement, Dutch visitors were admitted to Ndyuka villages farther upstream. The treaty marked a significant change in relations between the colonial government and a community that had secured its freedom through resistance.