Yorka

Molefi Kete Asante

Yorka appears to be derived from a combination of Native American words, possibly from Surinen, Arawak, or Carib, and it is used by Africans who were brought to Suriname as enslaved people to refer to ancestors. The word may have come from an old Native American word, Yoroka , meaning “ghosts.” The Dutch traders imported many Africans into the area to work on the plantations; however, because the Africans were unaccustomed to slavery, many of them ran away to the forest and became maroons. Others had to succumb to the violent and brutal authority of the slavemasters. The runaways created their ...

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