Cassipora is an Indigenous village of

Lokono The Lokono or Arawak are an Arawak people native to northern coastal areas of South America. Today, approximately 10,000 Lokono live primarily along the coasts and rivers of Guyana, with smaller numbers in Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Trinida ...

Amerindians located in the

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

of Carolina in the

Para District Para is a district of northern Suriname. Para's capital city is Onverwacht, with other towns including Paranam, and Zanderij. Para has a population of 24,700 and an area of 5,393 km2. The district is the mining and forestry centre of Sur ...

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 village is situated near the Blaka Watra recreation area. It is also close to a 17th-century Jewish village; however, only the cemetery remains from that period.

History

Cassipora is located near a former Jewish settlement established in 1665, which was abandoned twenty years later in favour of neighbouring

Jodensavanne ''Jodensavanne'' (Dutch language, Dutch, "Jewish Savanna") was a Jewish plantation community in Suriname, South America, and was for a time the centre of Jewish life in the colony. It was established in the 1600s by Sephardi Jews and became more d ...

. During the 19th century, the wood plantation Salem was located at the site. The village consists of small clusters of houses occupied by one family, which are spaced far apart. Cassipora is connected to the water supply and has been linked to the electricity grid since 2016. The village also has access to mobile phone services. However, for schooling and healthcare services, it relies on neighbouring Redi Doti, which can be reached by an unpaved road. Unfortunately, there is a conflict with logging companies that also use this road. Since 2011, the village chief of Cassipora has been Muriël Fernandes, who was first elected at the age of 29. The village's economy is primarily based on

subsistence farming Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occ ...

, hunting, and tourism. Since 2002, the village has owned the Blaka Watra resort.

Blaka Watra

Blaka Watra is a

creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: * Creek people, a former name of Muscogee, Native Americans * C ...

with very dark, near black water. Former Prime minister Johan Adolf Pengel built his country residence near the creek. Artificial rapids were constructed in the creek to give the impression of a bubble bath. In 1970, after his death, it was turned into a public recreation area. 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 ...

it was the scene of heavy fighting. It has been restored, and regained its status as a recreation area.

Cassipora Cemetery

Grafzerken op begraafplaats - 20650747 - RCE

In 1671, a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

was built in Cassipora, however all traces of the building have disappeared, and only the graves remain. Together with Jodensavanne, the cemetery is on the tentative list for the

Unesco The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

since 1998. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Jodensavanne internment camp was established to intern political prisoners from the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

. One of the tasks of the prisoners was clearing the forest, and repairing the graves at Cassipora. The cemetery contains several hundred graves, and the oldest dates from 1667.

References

{{Surinamese District Para Historic Jewish communities in South America Indigenous villages in Suriname Jewish Surinamese history Populated places in Para District Tourist attractions in Suriname