Kwinti

The Kwinti are a Maroon people, descendants of runaway African slaves, living in the forested interior of Suriname on the bank of the Coppename River, and the eponymous term for their language, which has fewer than 300 speakers. Their language is an English-based creole with Dutch, Portuguese and other influences. It is similar to the languages spoken by the Aluku and Paramaccan Maroons, and split from Sranan Tongo in the middle 18th century. The Kwinti had a population of about 300 in 2014 and adhere to the Moravian Church. There are two possible origins of the Kwinti people. One oral account mentions the Berbice slave uprising of 1763 in Guyana, the other mentions a plantation in the Para District. The tribe was initially led by Boku who died in 1765. Boku was succeeded by Kofi, who is claimed to be an brother of Boni. The tribe was known from the early 18th century, and there had been several raids on plantations conducted by the Kwinti. On 19 September 1762, the Dutch signed a peace treaty with the Saramaka. In 1769, the Matawai split from the Saramaka, and asked the Government for weapons against the Kwinti who had raided the Onoribo plantation in November 1766. During the late 18th century the tribe was attacked many times by either the Matawai or the colonists. In the 1850s, the Kwinti had made a peace treaty with the Matawai granman, and settled among the Matawai in Boven Saramacca. There are currently two villages which are inhabited by both tribes. Another part of the tribe, settled on the Coppename River where they founded Coppencrisie (Coppename Christians). Later the village was abandoned, and the villages of Bitagron and Kaaimanston were established. During the 19th century the tribe is hardly ever mentioned until a peace treaty with the Surinamese Government is signed in 1887. The treaty appointed Alamun as a head captain and not as a granman. The treaty gives him control over the Kwinti living along the Coppename River, the Kwinti living on Saramacca River remained under the authority of the Matawai.