Afro-Surinamese are the inhabitants of Suriname

Suriname

Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...

 of Black African

Black people

The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...

 origin. There are divided into two groups, the Creole people

Creole peoples

The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kreol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...

 and the Maroons

Maroon (people)

Maroons were runaway slaves in the West Indies, Central America, South America, and North America, who formed independent settlements together...

. The Surinamese Creole people are the mixed descendants of West African slaves and Europeans. The Maroons were runaway slaves who formed independent settlements together.

Creole people

The Surinamese Creoles form 31% of the population. They are the mixed descendants of West African slaves and Europeans (mostly Dutch). Their culture is a fusion of various African cultures with indigenous and European influences. The traditional garment of the Creoles in Suriname, the koto

Koto (musical instrument)

The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument, similar to the Chinese guzheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about length, and made from kiri wood...

 with the anjisa (in special way tied headscarf). This costume is still worn on festive occasions.

The Dutch slave traders

Some Dutch people

Dutch people

The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...

 were then involved in the slave trade. They sought office space for their plantations. The space they received was when the British in the Treaty of Breda (1667) gave land on the northern coast of South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, ceded to them in exchange for New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. Suriname became a slave colony. Rapidly were slaves shipped from Africa to Suriname to work to put on coffee and sugar plantations of Dutch and other Europeans.

Over time, the 'Creoles' get used to their new environment and they created space for their African religion with many 'winti's' minds. Some slaves asked for help in their minds the flight of the plantation.

Thus, every Saturday night under the watchful eye of the plantation owners and black overseers, late into the night dance parties held. To the great amusement of the slaveowners.

Maroons

Escaped slaves in French Guiana

French Guiana

French Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...

 and Suriname

Suriname

Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...

 fled to the interior and joined with indigenous peoples and created several independent tribes, among them the Saramaka

Saramaka

The Saramaka or Saramacca are one of six Maroon peoples in the Republic of Suriname. The word "Maroon" comes from the Spanish cimarrón, itself derived from an Arawakan root; by the early 16th century it was used throughout the Americas to designate slaves who successfully escaped from slavery.-...

, the Paramaka, the Ndyuka (Aukan)

Ndyuka

Ndyuka , also called Aukan, Okanisi, Ndyuka tongo, Aukaans, Businenge Tongo, Eastern Maroon Creole, or Nenge is a creole language of Suriname, spoken by the Ndyuka people. Most of the 25 to 30 thousand speakers live in the interior of the country, which is a part of the country covered with...

, the Kwinti, the Aluku (Boni)

Aluku

The Aluku or Boni is the name of a Maroon ethnic group living mainly on the riverbank in Maripasoula, southwest French Guiana, and the eponymous term for their language, which has more than 5,000 speakers. They are mostly descended from former slaves from Suriname Paramaribo, who escaped and...

, and the Matawai. By the 1990s the maroons in Suriname had begun to fight for their land rights.