Sustainable heritage development for the Aucaanse maroon community

The initiative for this project came into existence years ago. The previous Gaanman of Ndyuka, Gaanman Sokoton Lawn Matodja (1966-2011) already addressed the necessity to preserve the traditional cultural heritage of the Ndyuka maroons; otherwise the heritage would be lost soon. The current Gaanman Bonno Valenti gave a follow-up on the project by placing the question to Thomas Polimé and the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE).

Literally this question was as follows:
"... Advice and support in identifying, processing and preservation of the intangible heritage of the Ndyuka residing on the Tapanahony river in the district Sipaliwini in Suriname. The Gaanman and his advisers want to create opportunities for the preservation of all cultural / cultural heritage immaterial and may also be able to produce new arts & crafts. This project is all about promoting the process of capacity building, cultural self-esteem and lasting cultural preservation to achieve. That includes learning the economic exploitation of Culture. "

The initiator of the project is Thomas Polimé of the Foundation Wooko Makandie, he acts as project manager on behalf of the Gaanman. The project was introduced at RCE and is embraced by the Shared Cultural Heritage Programme of the RCE. In close cooperation the Maroon Women's Network and the Association Aukaanse Traditional Authority the exploration has started to examine the question of the Gaanman.

The exploration of the project consists of two parts:
1. Exploring the question of Suriname (14 November - November 25, 2016)
2. Exploring the demand in the Netherlands (Jan - February 2017)