brutal authority of the slavemasters. The runaways
created their own African communities. The Dutch
referred to these Africans as “Bosnegers” or Bush
Negroes because they refused to submit to the
authority of any whites in Suriname. They orga-
nized themselves into communities and identified
several large families that might be considered
clans. They were the Saramaka, Aukan, Paramaka,
Kwinti, Aluku, and Matawai. All of these clans
used the wordyorkato refer to their ancestors.
Thus, yorka became a commonly used term
throughout Suriname.
Suriname, with a population that is nearly
65% of African descent, is quite African in many
cultural forms. When the maroon population
developed, there were still other Africans in the
territory who were not free. The descendants of
those Africans form a large part of the society.
However, all of the people refer to the yorka and
believe in some aspect of the cultural form.
Thus,yorkais literally one’s ancestor. There is
the belief that if you are not paying attention to
the needs of the yorka, you will have misfortune.
Consequently, people seek to honor their ances-
tors so as to ensure their good fortune. Yorka may
create havoc, chaos in one’s home, poverty, and
personal distress. It is also possible that a person’s
relationships with others could be affected by not
respecting the yorka of the family. Thus, there are
elaborate ways that people seek to ritualize the
yorka, honor their name, and create a community
of kindness toward them. Remembering is far
more important than forgetting in the Surinamese
sense of ritual and ceremony surrounding respect
for the yorka.
There are numerous African ethnic groups
who exercise similar attitudes toward the Dead of
the community. Inasmuch as this practice of
appeasing yorka is deeply embedded in the cul-
ture of the Surinamese people, it has correspon-
dences with the same practices that are found in
Africa. Of course, the idea of spirits, ghosts,
yorka, is ancient in Africa and goes back to the
ancient Egyptian concept of the ka and the ba
and the ability of the ka to move from place to
place through false doors.
Molefi Kete AsanteSeealsoObeah
Further Readings
Beatty, N. (1997).Suriname. New York: Chelsea House.
Dark, P. J. C. (1970).Bush Negro Art:An African Art in
the Americas. London: Tiranti.
Hoogbergen, W. (1990).The Boni Maroon Wars in
Suriname. New York: Brill.
Smith, N. (1941).Bush Master:Into the Jungles of
Dutch Guiana. New York: Bobbs-Merrill.YORUBA
The Yoruba are among the largest ethnolinguistic
groups in Africa, numbering between 25 million
and 40 million. The Yoruba are a nationality. Today,
they are to be found mainly in southwestern
Nigeria, West Africa. They constitute the majority
ethnic group in about a third of Nigeria’s federal
republic of 36 states. Their current homeland is also
known among the Yoruba people as Ile Yooba, or
Yorubaland. The Yoruba at home share borders and
are culturally contiguous with other Nigerian ethnic
groups such as the Nupe, Ibariba, Igbirra, and Igala
in Kwara State (northeast of Yorubaland); and the
Itsekiri, Esan, and Edo in the Niger Delta area. To
the northwest of Yorubaland are related groups
such as the Egun, Fon, Mahi (Benin Republic), and
Ewe, as well as other Gbe-speaking people in Togo
and Benin, and the Ga in Ghana.
Outside of Yorubaland, there are sizable commu-
nities that collectively form a Yoruba diaspora.
Historically, the European slave trade has been the
main contributor to the emergence of that diaspora
because a great percentage of Africans taken into
slavery from the western coast of Africa were of
Yoruba stock. It is estimated by scholars that more
than 50% of captured Africans came from or
through southwestern Nigeria, home of the Yoruba.
This area formed part of the region known as
the “Slave Coast,” from the early 16th century to
the 19th century. It used to be and still is one of the
most densely populated parts of the African conti-
nent. It became a major export center of African
men, women, and children. For example, a third of
Africans enslaved in Cuba were reported to be
Yoruba. Also, in the precolonial period, towns such
as Porto Novo, Badagry, and Lagos were important
ports for this infamous trade, and control of the
trade routes into the interior was a major issue in738 Yoruba