Who are the Saamakans?
We, the Saamaka communities, are afro-Surinamese people belonging to the Saamaka tribe. There are approximately 30,000 community members living in our territory – that is app. 5% of the Surinamese population. We have lived in Suriname’s rainforest for more than 300 years. We are stewards of 1.4 million hectares of Amazon rainforest – 9% of the Surinamese territory. With the rapid advancement of uncontrolled logging and gold mining in their territories, this tribe is at risk of extinction.
How are we organised
The Association of Saamaka Authorities (VSG) was created in 1996 with the aim to represent the position of traditional Saamaka leaders from 77 villages (and their people) in relation to increasing human and land rights violations by the Surinamese state. As organized group, these leaders, through the VSG, could successfully take such violations to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.