Drietabbetje Diitabiki Dritabiki | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 Overview of Diitabiki in March 2020 | |
  Drietabbetje | |
| Coordinates: 4°6′50″N54°40′34″W / 4.11389°N 54.67611°W | |
| Country | Suriname |
| District | Sipaliwini District |
| Resort | Tapanahony |
| Time zone | UTC-3 (AST) |
Diitabiki (Sranan Tongo: Dritabiki, Dutch: Drietabbetje) is a Ndyuka village in the Sipaliwini District of Suriname. Diitabiki is the residence of the gaanman of the Ndyuka people, since 1950, and the location of the oracle. [1]
Both the Ndyuka and Sranan Tongo name for the village translates to "three islands," with the word tabiki meaning "island" in both languages. [2] While drie indeed also translates as "three" in the Dutch language, the word tabbetje is a homophonic translation of the Ndyuka word.
The Ndyuka people are of African descent, and were shipped as slaves to Suriname in the 17-18th century to work on Dutch-owned colonial plantations. The escaped slaves moved into the rainforest, and banded together. [3] There were frequent clashes between the colonists and the Ndyuka, however in 1760, a peace treaty was signed granting the Ndyuka autonomy. [4] From 1761 onwards, the Ndyuka gradually moved southwards in order to protected themselves from the colonists, and started to build villages on the Tapanahoni River dispelling the indigenous Tiriyó. Diitabiki is one of the villages. Slaves who had recently fled from Armina and Boven Commewijne were stationed near the confluence of the Tapanahoni and Lawa River to guard against attacks by the Aluku. [5]
Since the 1960s, Diitabiki is home to the Granman Akontoe Velantie primary school, which as of 2015 has 333 pupils. [6] In 2015, volunteers from Diitabiki and its surroundings extended the school with an extra classroom. [7]
Diitabiki is home to a Medische Zending healthcare centre. [8]
Between 1985 and 1987, electricity was provided by an overhead power line connected to the Puketi hydroelectric power plant. [9] After this power plant stopped working during the Surinamese Interior War there have been attempts to rehabilitate the facility, but after a university delegation in 2003 and 2004 investigated the possibilities for hydroelectric power in the region, the Ministry for Regional Development decided to instead fund the construction of a larger hydroelectric power plant at the Gran Olo rapids nearby. [10] Although it will initially only power Puketi and Futupasi, the plan is to eventually connect Diitabiki to the grid as well. As of 2016, the Gran Olo power plant is still under construction. [11]
Diitabiki is served by Drietabbetje Airstrip, offering Blue Wings and Gum Air scheduled services from Paramaribo. [12]
Diitabaki is close to the villages of Mainsi, and Moitaki. The Granholo waterfalls cannot be crossed by boat. A railway line [13] has been built at Futupasi to cross the waterfalls, [14] and since February 2008, a ferry service has been opened to Puketi and Godo Holo. [15]
Several holiday resorts have opened in or near Diitabiki, and ecotourism is actively being promoted. [16] The village is promoting itself as a tourist destination, and tour operators are offering tours to Diitabiki, and the surrounding nature. [17]
Sranan Tongo is an English-based creole language that is spoken as a lingua franca by approximately 519,600 people in Suriname.
The Aluku are a Bushinengue ethnic group living mainly on the riverbank in Maripasoula in southwest French Guiana. The group are sometimes called Boni, referring to the 18th-century leader, Bokilifu Boni.
The Paramaccan or Paramaka are a Maroon tribe living in the forested interior of Suriname, mainly in the Paramacca resort, and the western border area of French Guiana. The Paramaccan signed a peace treaty in 1872 granting the tribe autonomy.
Wanhatti is a village and resort in Suriname, located in the Marowijne district on the Cottica River. The resort is inhabited by the Ndyuka Maroons, and has a population of 468 people as of 2012. The village is primarily inhabited by Ndyuka of the Ansu clan or lo.
Cottica Lawa, often shortened to Cottica and also called Cotticadorp is a village in the district of Sipaliwini, Suriname. It is located in the east, along the Marowijne River and the border with French Guiana. The village has a school, and a clinic.
Tapanahoni is a resort in Suriname, located in the Sipaliwini District. Its population at the 2012 census was 13,808. Tapanahoni is a part of Sipaliwini which has no capital, but is directly governed from Paramaribo. Tapanahony is an enormous resort which encompasses a quarter of the country of Suriname. The most important town is Diitabiki which is the residence of the granman of the Ndyuka people since 1950, and the location of the oracle.
Apoera, also Apura, is a town in western Suriname. The village has a population of 777 people as of 2020. It is the final destination of the Southern East-West Link. 24 kilometres (15 mi) north-west on the other side of the Courantyne River lies the Guyanese village of Orealla. The village is home to the Lokono tribe, but has been westernized. Due to the influx of people of Guyana, the languages used are English, and Sranan Tongo. Dutch is rarely spoken and the native language has all but disappeared. According to the oral tradition, Apoera was founded around 1920 by the Gordon family.
Witagron is a Kwinti village in Suriname on the Coppename River at the crossing of the Southern East-West Link from Paramaribo to Apoera in West-Suriname.
Djumu, also spelled Djoemoe, is a village in Suriname. It is located at the confluence of the Gran Rio and the Pikin Rio which continue as the Upper Suriname River. The village is home to Maroons of the Saramaka tribe.
Poeketi or Puketi is a Ndyuka village in Suriname. It lies in Sipaliwini District. On May 15, 2010, a plane crashed near Poeketi.
The Ndyuka people or Aukan people (Okanisi), are one of six Maroon peoples in the Republic of Suriname and one of the Maroon peoples in French Guiana. The Aukan or Ndyuka speak the Ndyuka language. They are subdivided into the Opu, who live upstream of the Tapanahony River in the Tapanahony resort of southeastern Suriname, and the Bilo, who live downstream of that river in Marowijne District.
Langatabiki is a Paramacca village in the Sipaliwini District of Suriname. Langatabiki is the residence of the granman of the Paramaccan people. Langatabiki is located in the Pamacca resort which was created on 11 September 2019 out of Tapanahony.
Granman is the title of the paramount chief of a Maroon nation in Suriname and French Guiana. The Ndyuka, Saramaka, Matawai, Aluku, Paramaka and Kwinti nations all have a granman. The paramount chiefs of Amerindian peoples in Suriname are nowadays also often called “granman”.
The Gran Olo hydroelectric power plant is a mini hydro power plant under construction on the Tapanahony River in Suriname with a projected capacity of 300 kilowatts (400 hp), although initially only one turbine with a capacity of 150 kilowatts (200 hp) will be operated. The power plant will initially provide electricity to the villages of Puketi and Futupasi, but in the future extension of the grid to villages in the region is foreseen.
The Puketi hydroelectric power plant was a micro hydropower plant constructed near the village of Puketi in Suriname, with a capacity of 50 kW (67 hp). The plant provided electricity between 1981 and 1987 before it went into disrepair. According to hydrologist Rudi van Els, the plant could be rehabilitated, but efforts are now focussed on the construction of the Gran Olo hydroelectric power plant nearby.
The Matawai are a tribe of Surinamese Maroons. The Matawai were originally part of the Saramaka, and signed a peace agreement with the Dutch colonists in 1762. The tribe split from the Saramaka, and in 1769, they were recognized as a separate tribe.
Moitaki is a Ndyuka village in the Sipaliwini District of Suriname. The village is inhabited by the Misidyan clan or lo. The late gaanman Gazon Matodya was born in Moitaki.
Stoelmanseiland is an island, and a village in the Paramacca resort of the Sipaliwini District in Suriname. It is located at the confluence of the Tapanahony River with the Lawa River which forms the Marowijne River, and is also the border with French Guiana.
Paramacca is a resort in Suriname, located in the Sipaliwini District. The population is estimated between 1,500 and 2,000 people. In 1983, the Sipaliwini District was created, and the eastern part became the resort of Tapanahony. The Paramacca resort is the northern part of Tapanahony, and mainly inhabited by the Paramaccan people, the border of the resorts is the island of Bofoo Tabiki in the Marowijne River.
Johannes King, was the first Maroon missionary, and the first important writer in Sranan Tongo. King belonged to the Matawai tribe, and performed his missionary activities for the Moravian Church.
