Bigiston, also Bigi Ston, is a group of settlements of Ndyuka Maroons and indigenous

Kalina Kalina may refer to: People * Kalina people The Kalina, also known as the Caribs or mainland Caribs and by several other names, are an Indigenous people native to the northern coastal areas of South America. Today, the Kalina live largely in ...

in the Albina resort of the

Marowijne District Marowijne () is a district of Suriname, located on the north-east coast. Marowijne's capital city is Albina, with other towns including Moengo and Wanhatti. The district borders the Atlantic Ocean to the north, French Guiana to the east, the S ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

. The villages lie on

Marowijne River The Maroni () or Marowijne (; ) is a river in South America that forms the border between French Guiana and Suriname. Course The Maroni runs through the Guianan moist forests ecoregion. It originates in the Tumuk Humak Mountains and forms ...

across from

Saint-Jean-du-Maroni Saint-Jean-du-Maroni is a village in French Guiana, in the commune of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni on the river Maroni. The village is mainly inhabited by Ndyuka Maroons. History Saint-Jean-du-Maroni was established in 1857 as a sub camp of the pena ...

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

. Bigiston is the name of the most northern of six small settlements. The name means big stone after a nearby rock with

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

. The village is a minor tourist attraction, and promoted for

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

. The village has a school, and a clinic operated by the Regional Health Service (RGD). The village chief as of 2017 is Sylvester Awatjale, who lives in the southern Amerindian settlement. The Ndyuka and Kalina people peacefully coexist, but do not intermingle or intermarry. Electricity is being provided by Diesel generators operating about six hours a day. The most southern settlement ''Gronkiki'' contains a

Winti Winti is an Afro-Surinamese traditional religion that originated in Suriname. It is a syncretization of the different African religious beliefs and practices brought in mainly by enslaved Akan, Fon and Kongo people during the Dutch slave tra ...

clinic offering traditional health care. On 5 October 1986, during the

Surinamese Interior War The Surinamese Interior War () was a civil war fought in eastern Suriname between 1986 and 1992. The conflict primarily involved the Jungle Commando, a rebel group composed largely of Saramaka (Maroon) fighters and led by former soldier Ronnie ...

, the village was attacked by the

Jungle Commando The Jungle Commando (formally known as the Suriname National Liberation Army) was a guerrilla commando group in Suriname. It was founded by Ronnie Brunswijk in 1986 to ensure equal rights for Suriname's minority Maroon population. The group was for ...

and most of the villagers fled to French Guiana, however the village has been rebuilt and resettled after the war.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Indigenous villages in Suriname Ndyuka settlements Populated places in Marowijne District {{Suriname-geo-stub