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122-799: The word "Maroon" comes from the Spanish cimarrón , which was derived from an Arawakan root . Since 1990 especially, some of the Saramaka have migrated to French Guiana due to extended civil war in Suriname. By the early 16th century, the term "maroon" ( cimarron ) was used throughout the Americas to designate slaves who had escaped from slavery and set up independent communities beyond colonists' control. The 90,000 Saramaka in Suriname (some of whom live in neighboring French Guiana ) are one minority within this multi-ethnic nation. The Saramaka, together with

244-597: A 20/20 investigation found that "more than 1,000 young American women have been raped or sexually assaulted in the last decade while serving as Peace Corps volunteers in foreign countries." In a historic first, all Peace Corps volunteers worldwide were withdrawn from their host countries on March 15, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Volunteers were not eligible for unemployment or health benefits, although some Members of Congress said they should be. Legislators also called upon FEMA to hire Peace Corps volunteers until

366-490: A creole language called Saramaccan . The Ndyuka, Paramaka, and Aluku, (in eastern Suriname), as well as the several hundred Kwinti, speak variants of another creole language, Ndyuka . Both languages are historically related to Sranan Tongo , the creole language of coastal Suriname. About 50 percent of the Saramaccan lexicon derives from various West and Central African languages, 20 percent from English (the language of

488-592: A state of war and plunder. Their reintegration into Saramaka (and Ndyuka) society has been difficult, though their migration to the coast and French Guiana has provided a safety valve , if not for the receiving areas. Every aspect of Saramaka life is based in various religious beliefs. Such decisions as where to clear a garden or build a house, whether to undertake a trip, or how to deal with theft or adultery are made in consultation with village deities, ancestors, forest spirits, and snake gods . The means of communication with these powers vary from spirit possession and

610-725: A "Point Four Youth Corps". In 1960, he and Senator Richard L. Neuberger of Oregon introduced identical measures calling for a nongovernmental study of the idea's "advisability and practicability". Both the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee endorsed the study, the latter writing the Reuss proposal into the pending Mutual Security legislation . In this form it became law in June 1960. In August

732-677: A Public Man , Humphrey wrote, There were three bills of particular emotional importance to me: the Peace Corps, a disarmament agency, and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The President, knowing how I felt, asked me to introduce legislation for all three. I introduced the first Peace Corps bill in 1957. It did not meet with much enthusiasm. Some traditional diplomats quaked at the thought of thousands of young Americans scattered across their world. Many senators, including liberal ones, thought it silly and an unworkable idea. Now, with

854-553: A Rio Branco branch, giving for Mawayana also the names "Mapidian" and "Mawakwa" (with some reservations for the latter). Internal classification of Arawakan by Henri Ramirez (2001): Walker & Ribeiro (2011), using Bayesian computational phylogenetics , classify the Arawakan languages as follows. Northeast South Western Amazonia Amuesha , Chamicuro Circum-Caribbean Central Brazil Central Amazonia Northwest Amazonia The internal structures of each branch

976-504: A few days at a time in the matrilineal (home) village of a wife. Each house belongs to an individual man or woman, but most social interaction occurs outdoors. The men in each cluster of several houses, whether bee members or temporary visitors, eat meals together. The women of these same clusters, whether bee members or resident wives of bee men, spend a great deal of time in each other's company, often farming together as well. Matrilineal principles, mediated by divination, determine

1098-516: A future administration. It was there that Reuther got Kennedy to commit to creating the executive agency that would become the Peace Corps. Under Reuther's leadership, the United Auto Workers had earlier that summer put together a policy platform that included a "youth peace corps" to be sent to developing nations. Subsequently, at the urging of Reuther, John F. Kennedy announced the idea for such an organization on October 14, 1960, at

1220-534: A house in their own birth village, another in their horticultural camp, and a third in their husband's village. Men divide their time among several different houses, built at various times for themselves and for their wives. Traditional Saramaka houses are compact, wide enough to tie a hammock and not much longer from front to back; with walls of planks and woven palm fronds , and traditionally roofs of thatch or, increasingly, of corrugated metal . They do not have windows but often have elaborately carved facades . Since

1342-483: A hypothetical Macro-Arawakan stock. The name Maipure was given to the family by Filippo S. Gilii in 1782, after the Maipure language of Venezuela , which he used as a basis of his comparisons. It was renamed after the culturally more important Arawak language a century later. The term Arawak took over, until its use was extended by North American scholars to the broader Macro-Arawakan proposal. At that time,

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1464-666: A late-night campaign speech at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on the steps of the Michigan Union . He later dubbed the proposed organization the "Peace Corps." A brass marker commemorates the place where Kennedy stood. In the weeks after the 1960 election, the study group at Colorado State University released their feasibility a few days before Kennedy's Presidential Inauguration in January 1961. Critics opposed

1586-453: A more recent ancestress. Several lineages from a single clan constitute the core of every village. The matrilineal clans ( lo ) own land, based on claims staked out in the early 18th century as the original Maroons fled southward to freedom . Hunting and gathering rights belong to clan members collectively. Within the clan, temporary rights to land use for farming are negotiated by village headmen. The establishment of transmigration villages in

1708-425: A period of 5 years following Peace Corps Service. Peace Corps employees receive time-limited appointments, and most employees are limited to a maximum of five years of employment. This time limit was established to ensure that Peace Corps' staff remain fresh and innovative. A related rule specifies that former employees cannot be re-employed until after the same amount of time that they were employed. Volunteer service

1830-555: A placement test of "general aptitude" (knowledge of various skills needed for Peace Corps assignments) and language aptitude. After an address from Kennedy, who was introduced by Rev. Russell Fuller of Memorial Christian Church, Disciples of Christ , on August 28, 1961, the first group of volunteers left for Ghana and Tanganyika (now part of Tanzania ). The program was formally authorized by Congress on September 22, 1961, and within two years over 7,300 volunteers were serving in 44 countries. This number increased to 15,000 in June 1966,

1952-529: A second-person singular pi- , relative ka- , and negative ma- . The Arawak language family, as constituted by L. Adam, at first by the name of Maypure, has been called by Von den Steinen "Nu-Arawak" from the prenominal prefix "nu-" for the first person. This is common to all the Arawak tribes scattered along the coasts from Suriname to Guyana. Upper Paraguay has Arawakan-language tribes: the Quinquinaos ,

2074-574: A special development fund, which is now managed by the Saramaka. The Saramaka maroons were originally living in Suriname . They first came to French Guiana in the 19th century as freighters to the interior . During the gold rush, their services became important for the economy. In 1883, the Governor of French Guiana and the Granman (paramount chief) of the Saramaka, signed an official accord that

2196-449: A specific cause that can be determined only through divination. The causes revealed vary from a lineage kúnu to sorcery , from a broken taboo to an ancestor's displeasure. Once the cause is known, rites are carried out to appease the offended god or ancestor (or otherwise right the social imbalance). Since the 1960s, Western mission clinics and hospitals have been used by most Saramaka as a supplement to their own healing practices. During

2318-573: A stipend is given for "basic expenses". Anyone who has worked for an intelligence agency is ineligible. All volunteers must provide their medical information. The Peace Corps aims to educate community members on the different illnesses that are present in developing countries as well as what treatments exist in order prevent these illnesses from spreading. Volunteers are also often there in order to teach community members about modern agricultural techniques in order for them to more effectively produce food for themselves and each other (Peace Corps). The Corps

2440-439: A variety of crops, choosing which to develop to continue preferred qualities. They process the food for meals and storage of foods such as peanuts. They use parts of plants to make some needed goods. The men conduct hunting of game with shotguns ; they also do most of the fishing as well. Men have long devoted a large portion of their adult years to earning money in work in coastal Suriname or French Guiana. This allows them to buy

2562-818: A variety of environmental programs. Needs assessments determine which programs apply to each country. Programs include effective and efficient forms of farming, recycling, park management, environmental education, and developing alternative fuel sources. Volunteers must have some combination of academic degrees and practical experience. The three major programs are Protected-Areas Management, Environment Education or Awareness, and Forestry. In Protected areas management , volunteers work with parks or other programs to teach resource conservation. Volunteer activities include technical training, working with park staff on wildlife preservation, organizing community-based conservation programs for sustainable use of forests or marine resources, and creating activities for raising revenue to protect

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2684-423: A year, culminating in the final passage of the deceased to the status of ancestor. The initial rites, which are carried out over a period of one week to three months, depending on the importance of the deceased, end with the burial of the corpse in an elaborately constructed coffin filled with personal belongings. These rites include divination with the coffin (to consult the spirit of the deceased) by carrying it on

2806-576: A young president urging its passage, it became possible and we pushed it rapidly through the Senate. It is fashionable now to suggest that Peace Corps Volunteers gained as much or more, from their experience as the countries they worked. That may be true, but it ought not demean their work. They touched many lives and made them better. Only in 1959 did the idea receive serious attention in Washington when Congressman Henry S. Reuss of Wisconsin proposed

2928-440: Is egalitarian , with kinship forming the backbone of social organization . No social or occupational classes are distinguished. Elders are accorded special respect and ancestors are consulted, through divination , on a daily basis. Protestant missionary schools have existed in some villages since the 18th century. State elementary schools came to most villages only in the 1960s. Schools ceased to function completely during

3050-769: Is a language family that developed among ancient indigenous peoples in South America . Branches migrated to Central America and the Greater Antilles and Smaller Antilles in the Caribbean and the Atlantic, including what is now the Bahamas. Almost all present-day South American countries are known to have been home to speakers of Arawakan languages, the exceptions being Ecuador , Uruguay , and Chile . Maipurean may be related to other language families in

3172-639: Is also a proponent of equal education and moves to allow for equal education opportunities for girls in countries like Liberia and Ethiopia. In 2015, the organization partnered with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement First Lady Michelle Obama 's Let Girls Learn initiative. The Corps launched its initiative to engage volunteers in malaria control efforts in 2011. The initiative, which grew out of malaria prevention programs in Peace Corps Senegal, now includes volunteers in 24 African countries. The Corps offers

3294-521: Is also mentioned as "Arawakan": Including the unclassified languages mentioned above, the Maipurean family has about 64 languages. Out of them, 29 languages are now extinct : Wainumá, Mariaté, Anauyá, Amarizana, Jumana, Pasé, Cawishana, Garú, Marawá, Guinao, Yavitero , Maipure, Manao, Kariaí, Waraikú, Yabaána, Wiriná, Aruán, Taíno, Kalhíphona, Marawán-Karipurá, Saraveca, Custenau, Inapari, Kanamaré, Shebaye, Lapachu, and Morique. Kaufman does not report

3416-400: Is devoted to their appeasement. The Saramaka believe that all evil originates in human action; not only does each misfortune, illness, or death stem from a specific past misdeed, but every offense, whether against people or gods, has eventual consequences. The ignoble acts of the dead intrude daily on the lives of the living; any illness or misfortune calls for divination, which quickly reveals

3538-530: Is difficult because of the large number of Arawakan languages that are extinct and poorly documented. However, apart from transparent relationships that might constitute single languages, several groups of Maipurean languages are generally accepted by scholars. Many classifications agree in dividing Maipurean into northern and southern branches, but perhaps not all languages fit into one or the other. The three classifications below are accepted by all: An early contrast between Ta-Arawak and Nu-Arawak , depending on

3660-428: Is established early, with children taking on responsibility for gender-typed adult tasks as soon as they are physically able. Girls often marry by age 15, whereas boys are more often in their twenties when they take their first wife. A woman is required to go into seclusion during her menstrual cycle. The cycle is considered a time of transgression and destructive of village order. Women are not allowed to perform many of

3782-437: Is found through negotiation, often with a strong role being played by gods and ancestors. In a type of reconciliation justice, guilty parties are usually required to pay for their misdeeds with material offerings to the lineage of the offended person. In the 18th century people found guilty of witchcraft were sometimes burned at the stake. Today, men caught in flagrante delicto with the wife of another man are either beaten by

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3904-552: Is given below. Note that the strictly binary splits are a result of the Bayesian computational methods used. Internal classification by Jolkesky (2016): ( † = extinct) Internal classification by Nikulin & Carvalho (2019: 270): Phonological innovations characterizing some of the branches: The internal classification of Arawakan by Henri Ramirez (2020) is as follows. This classification differs quite substantially from his previous classification (Ramirez 2001 ), but

4026-624: Is much less complex and tends to be similar across the family. Arawakan languages are mostly suffixing, with just a few prefixes. Arawakan languages tend to distinguish alienable and inalienable possession. A feature found throughout the Arawakan family is a suffix (whose reconstructed Proto-Arawakan form is /*-tsi/) that allows the inalienable (and obligatorily possessed) body-part nouns to remain unpossessed. This suffix essentially converts inalienable body-part nouns into alienable nouns. It can only be added to body-part nouns and not to kinship nouns (which are also treated as inalienable). An example from

4148-463: Is named, individualized, and given specific relationships to living people. Intimately involved in the ongoing events of daily life, these beings communicate to humans mainly through divination and spirit possession. Kúnus are the avenging spirits of people or gods who were wronged during their lifetime and who pledge themselves to eternally tormenting the matrilineal descendants and close matrilineal kinsmen of their offender. Much of Saramaka ritual life

4270-594: Is not counted for the purposes of either rule. Non-supervisory domestic employees are represented by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3548. The Federal Labor Relations Agency certified the Union on May 11, 1983. About 500 domestic employees are members. The current collective bargaining agreement became effective on April 21, 1995. On January 3, 2018, President Donald Trump nominated Josephine "Jody" Olsen as

4392-416: Is not determined by the calendar, but rather regulated by the occurrence of particular misfortunes, interpreted through divination. The most important ceremonies include those surrounding funerals and the appeasement of ancestors, public curing rites, rituals in honor of kúnus (in particular snake gods and forest spirits), and the installation of political officials. Every case of illness is believed to have

4514-553: Is very similar to the one proposed by Jolkesky (2016). Below is a full list of Arawakan language varieties listed by Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties. In 1783, the Italian priest Filippo Salvatore Gilii recognized the unity of the Maipure language of the Orinoco and Moxos of Bolivia; he named their family Maipure . It was renamed Arawak by Von den Steinen (1886) and Brinten (1891) after Arawak in

4636-757: The Layanas , etc. (This is the Moho-Mbaure group of L. Quevedo). In the islands of Marajos, in the middle of the estuary of the Amazon, the Aruan people spoke an Arawak dialect. The Guajira Peninsula (north of Venezuela ) is occupied by the Wayuu tribe , also Arawakan speakers. In 1890–95, De Brette estimated a population of 3,000 persons in the Guajira peninsula. C. H. de Goeje 's published vocabulary of 1928 outlines

4758-638: The Maritime branch of Northern Maipurean, though keeping Aruán and Palikur together; and is agnostic about the sub-grouping of the North Amazonian branch of Northern Maipurean. The following breakdown uses Aikhenvald's nomenclature followed by Kaufman's: Aikhenvald classifies Kaufman's unclassified languages apart from Morique . She does not classify 15 extinct languages which Kaufman had placed in various branches of Maipurean. Aikhenvald (1999:69) classifies Mawayana with Wapishana together under

4880-895: The Ndyuka ethnography of Dutch scholars Bonno Thoden van Velzen and his partner Ineke van Wetering . Edward C. Green , an American medical anthropologist, conducted fieldwork among the Matawais between 1970 and 1973, with intermittent visits since. His doctoral dissertation focused on changes underway then in the matrilineal kinship and indigenous spiritual belief systems. He has become known for his work on processes related to AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, especially in African nations, and making use of indigenous healers. Arawakan languages Arawakan ( Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper ), also known as Maipurean (also Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre ),

5002-550: The colonial government and Alcoa , a major aluminum company. They were relocated to allow flooding of approximately half their tribal territory for a hydroelectric project built to supply electricity for an aluminum smelter . Today, about one-third of the Saramaka live in French Guiana, most having migrated there since 1990 after warfare in Suriname. The Saramaka and the Matawai (in central Suriname) speak variants of

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5124-603: The 1400 entries in de Goeje, 106 reflect European contact; 98 of these are loans. Nouns which occur with the verbalizing suffix described above number 9 out of the 98 loans. Though a great deal of variation can be found from language to language, the following is a general composite statement of the consonants and vowels typically found in Arawak languages, according to Aikhenvald (1999): For more detailed notes on specific languages see Aikhenvald (1999) pp. 76–77. Arawakan languages are polysynthetic and mostly head-marking. They have fairly complex verb morphology. Noun morphology

5246-466: The 1950s. While Kennedy is credited with the creation of the Peace Corps as president, the first initiative came from Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, Jr. (D- Minnesota ), who introduced the first bill to create the Peace Corps in 1957—three years before Kennedy, as a presidential candidate, would raise the idea during a campaign speech at the University of Michigan . In his autobiography The Education of

5368-787: The 1960s led to land shortages in certain regions. The success of the Saramakas in their lawsuit against the government of Suriname will now permit them to manage their lands with less outside interference. Complex marriage prohibitions (including bee exogamy ) and preferences are negotiated through divination . Demographic imbalance, owing to labor migration, permits widespread polygyny . Although co-wives hold equal status, relations between them are expected to be adversarial. The Saramaka treat marriage as an ongoing courtship , with frequent exchanges of gifts such as men's woodcarving and women's decorative sewing. Although many women live primarily in their husband's village, men never spend more than

5490-627: The 20th director of the Peace Corps. Olsen has a long history with the agency, serving as Acting Director in 2009, Deputy Director from 2002 to 2009, Chief of Staff from 1989 to 1992, Regional Director, North Africa Near East, Asia, Pacific from 1981 to 1984, and Country Director in Togo from 1979 to 1981. Olsen also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tunisia from 1966 to 1968. She left office on January 20, 2021. In April 2022, President Biden nominated Carol Spahn as director to succeed Olsen, and she

5612-582: The 21st century; by its 50th anniversary in 2011, there were over 8,500 volunteers serving in 77 countries. Since its inception, more than 240,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps and served in 142 countries. In 1950, Walter Reuther , president of the United Auto Workers , proposed, in an article titled, "A Proposal for a Total Peace Offensive," that the United States establish a voluntary agency for young Americans to be sent around

5734-412: The Americas, the Saramaka were granted collective rights to the lands on which their ancestors had lived since the early 18th century, including rights to decide about the exploitation of natural resources such as timber and gold within that territory. In addition, they were granted compensation from the government for damages caused by previous timber grants made to Chinese companies. This was paid into

5856-603: The Arawakan family had only broken up after 600 CE, but Michael (2020) considers this to be unlikely, noting that Arawakan internal diversity is greater than that of the Romance languages. On the other hand, Blench (2015) suggests a demographic expansion that had taken place over a few thousand years, similar to the dispersals of the Austronesian and Austroasiatic language families in Southeast Asia. As one of

5978-543: The Code of Federal Regulations under Chapter 3. Former members of the Peace Corps may not be assigned to military intelligence duties for a period of 4 years following Peace Corps service. Furthermore, they are forever prohibited from serving in a military intelligence posting to any country in which they volunteered. Former members may not apply for employment with the Central Intelligence Agency for

6100-495: The Corps, as the organization continued to reflect the evolving political and social conditions in the United States. Funding cuts during the early 1980s reduced the number of volunteers to 5,380, its lowest level since the early years. Funding increased in 1985, when Congress began raising the number of volunteers, reaching 10,000 in 1992. After the 2001 September 11 attacks , which alerted the U.S. to growing anti-U.S. sentiment in

6222-692: The Crisis Corps, was created by Peace Corps Director Mark Gearan in 1996. Gearan modeled the Crisis Corps after the National Peace Corps Association 's successful Emergency Response Network (ERN) of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers willing to respond to crises when needed. ERN emerged in response to the 1994 Rwandan genocide . On November 19, 2007, Peace Corps Director Ronald Tschetter changed Crisis Corps's name to Peace Corps Response. The change to Peace Corps Response allowed Peace Corps to include projects that did not rise to

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6344-608: The European colony intended to protect against their raids. In 1762, a full century before the general emancipation of slaves in Suriname, the Maroons won their freedom and signed a treaty with the Dutch Crown to acknowledge their territorial rights and trading privileges. The Saramaka have a keen interest in the history of their formative years; they preserve their very rich oral tradition . Innovative scholarly research since

6466-552: The Guianas, one of the major languages of the family. The modern equivalents are Maipurean or Maipuran and Arawak or Arawakan . The term Arawakan is now used in two senses. South American scholars use Aruák for the family demonstrated by Gilij and subsequent linguists. In North America, however, scholars have used the term to include a hypothesis adding the Guajiboan and Arawan families. In North America, scholars use

6588-498: The Lokono/Arawak (Suriname and Guyana) 1400 items, comprising mostly morphemes (stems, affixes) and morpheme partials (single sounds), and only rarely compounded, derived, or otherwise complex sequences; and from Nancy P. Hickerson's British Guiana manuscript vocabulary of 500 items. However, most entries which reflect acculturation are direct borrowings from one or another of three model languages (Spanish, Dutch, English). Of

6710-579: The Middle East, President George W. Bush pledged to double the size of the organization within five years as a part of the War on Terrorism . For the 2004 fiscal year, Congress increased the budget to US$ 325 million, US$ 30 million above that of 2003 but US$ 30 million below the President's request. As part of an economic stimulus package in 2008, President Barack Obama proposed to double

6832-721: The Mutual Security Appropriations Act was enacted, making available US$ 10,000 for the study, and in November ICA contracted with Maurice Albertson , Andrew E. Rice , and Pauline E. Birky of Colorado State University Research Foundation for the study. In August 1960, following the 1960 Democratic National Convention , Walter Reuther visited John F. Kennedy at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport to discuss Kennedy's platform and staffing of

6954-659: The Nigerian students agreed to open a dialogue with the Americans. The theme of enabling Americans to volunteer in poor countries appealed to Kennedy because it fit in with his campaign themes of self-sacrifice and volunteerism , while also providing a way to redefine American relations with the Third World . Upon taking office, Kennedy issued an executive order establishing the Peace Corps. Shriver, not Kennedy, energetically lobbied Congress for approval. Kennedy proudly took

7076-552: The Pareci language is given below: no-tiho 1SG -face no-tiho 1SG-face my face tiho-ti face- ALIEN Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order (10924) of President John F. Kennedy and authorized by Congress

7198-411: The Peace Corps is trying to recruit more diverse volunteers of different ages and make it look "more like America". A Harvard International Review article from 2007 proposed to expand the Peace Corps, revisit its mission, and equip it with new technology. In 1961 only 1% of volunteers were over 50, compared with 5% today. Ethnic minorities currently comprise 34% of volunteers, compared to around 35% of

7320-412: The Peace Corps was based on Operation Crossroads Africa founded by Rev. James H. Robinson . On March 1, 1961, Kennedy signed Executive Order 10924 that officially started the Peace Corps. Concerned with the growing tide of revolutionary sentiment in the Third World , Kennedy saw the Peace Corps as a means of countering the stereotype of the " Ugly American " and " Yankee imperialism ," especially in

7442-641: The Peace Corps’ six project sectors: Agriculture, Environment, Community Economic Development, Health, Education, and Youth in Development. Applicants may also narrow down their application of choice by country they want to serve in various regions of the world. Peace Corps volunteers are expected to serve for two years in the foreign country, with three months of training before swearing in to service. This occurs in-country with host country national trainers in language and assignment skills. Prior to 2014,

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7564-427: The Saramaka authorities. In addition, during this period there were numerous social changes, both on the coast of Suriname and in Saramaka territory. United States Peace Corps volunteers lived and worked in Saramaka villages, and Brazilian gold-miners arrived on the Suriname river. Such economic activities as prostitution, casino gambling, and drug smuggling became major industries in coastal Suriname and accompanied

7686-663: The Saramaka could stay in French Guiana under the legal authority of the Granman. The accords have never been rescinded and allow the tribe entry to French Guiana without the risk of deportation. Traditional villages, which average 100 to 200 residents, consist of a core of matrilineal kin plus some wives and children of lineage men. Always located near a river, for water, transportation and fishing, they are constructed of an irregular arrangement of small houses, open-sided structures, domesticated trees, occasional chicken houses, various shrines , and scattered patches of bush. (In contrast,

7808-477: The Suriname Civil War of the 1980s and 1990s, most of these facilities were destroyed. They have only been very partially restored since. The dead play an active role in the lives of the living. Ancestor shrines – several to a village – are the site of frequent prayers and libations, as the dead are consulted about ongoing village problems. A death occasions a series of complex rituals that lasts about

7930-448: The Suriname civil war of the late 1980s and have been rebuilt only partially since. Since the 18th-century treaty, the Saramaka have had a government-approved paramount chief ( gaamá ), as well as a series of headmen ( kabiteni ) and assistant headmen ( basiá ). Traditionally, the role of these officials in political and social control was exercised in a context replete with oracles , spirit possession , and other forms of divination. As

8052-528: The Suriname civil war, the Saramaka have built an increasing number of houses in coastal, Western style. They use concrete as well as wood, and feature windows and more expansive floor plans . For more than two centuries, the economy has been based on full exploitation of the forest environment and on periodic work trips by men to the coast to bring back Western goods. For subsistence, the Saramaka depend on shifting ( swidden ) horticulture done mostly by women, with hunting and fishing done by men, supplemented by

8174-527: The U.S. population. In 2009, Casey Frazee, who was sexually assaulted while serving in South Africa, created First Response Action, an advocacy group for a stronger Peace Corps response for volunteers who are survivors or victims of physical and sexual violence. In 2010, concerns about the safety of volunteers were illustrated by a report, compiled from official public documents, listing hundreds of violent crimes against volunteers since 1989. In 2011,

8296-569: The Western goods considered essential to life in their home villages, such as shotguns and powder , tools, pots, cloth, hammocks, soap, kerosene , and rum . During the second half of the 20th century, small stores were established in many villages, making more goods available. Outboard motors , transistor radios , and tape recorders became common consumer items. Today, cell phones are ubiquitous: both men and women have greatly increased communication with Paramaribo . New economic opportunities in

8418-400: The application process took about a year. There is no maximum age limit to joining the Peace Corps. Married couples may join but cannot have any "dependent children". Most positions require a volunteer to have at least a bachelor's degree but this can vary depending on the field one is volunteering in. Volunteers in the Peace Corps do not receive wages but transportation costs are paid for and

8540-402: The coast. Body cicatrization , practiced by virtually all Saramaka women as late as the 1970s and 1980s, had become relatively uncommon by the start of the 21st century. Numerous genres of singing, dance, drumming, and tale telling continue to be a vibrant part of Saramaka culture. Once the men have cleared and burned the fields, horticulture is mainly women's work. Women cultivate and process

8662-480: The consultation of oracle-bundles, to the interpretation of dreams. Gods and spirits, which are a constant presence in daily life, are also honored through frequent prayers , libations , feasts, and dances. The rituals surrounding birth, death, and other life passages are extensive, as are those relating to more mundane activities, from hunting a tapir to planting a rice field. Today about 25 per cent of Saramaka are nominal Christians – mainly Moravian (some since

8784-617: The credit, and ensured that it remained free of CIA influence. He largely left its administration to Shriver. To avoid the appearance of favoritism to the Catholic Church , the Corps did not place its volunteers with any religious agencies. In the first twenty-five years, more than 100,000 Americans served in 44 countries as part of the program. Most volunteers taught English in local schools, but many became involved in activities like construction and food delivery. Shriver practiced affirmative action, and women comprised about 40 percent of

8906-440: The deceased has passed out of the realm of the living into that of the ancestors. The Saramaka people beyond Gaan Lio lived in relative isolation and as an uncontacted people group from the time of their ancestor's escape from slavery in the eighteenth century. In the latter part of 1993, a local, independent missionary by the name of Steve Groseclose and a small group of Saramaka men from other less remote villages ventured beyond

9028-500: The emerging nations of post-colonial Africa and Asia. Kennedy appointed his brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver , to be the program's first director. Shriver fleshed out the organization and his think tank outlined the organization's goals and set the initial number of volunteers. The Peace Corps began recruiting in July 1962; Bob Hope recorded radio and television announcements hailing the program. Until about 1967, applicants had to pass

9150-523: The end of their service. In June 2020, the Peace Corps ended its programs in China. The application for the Peace Corps takes up to one hour, unless one talks to a recruiter. The applicant must be at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen and, according to a 2018 document, is advised to apply six to nine months before they want to leave. They must go through an interview. Applicants can apply to only one placement every year. Placements can be sorted through

9272-767: The environment. Environment Education or Awareness focuses on communities that have environmental issues regarding farming and income. Programs include teaching in elementary and secondary schools; environmental education to youth programs; creation of environmental groups; support forest and marine resource sustainability; ways of generating money; urban sanitation management; and educating farmers about soil conservation, forestry, and vegetable gardening. Forestry programs help communities conserve natural resources through projects such as soil conservation, flood control, creation of sustainable fuels, agroforestry (e.g., fruit and vegetable production), alley cropping, and protection of biodiversity . Peace Corps Response, formerly named

9394-533: The extinct Magiana of the Moxos group. Apart from minor decisions on whether a variety is a language or a dialect, changing names, and not addressing several poorly attested languages, Aikhenvald departs from Kaufman in breaking up the Southern Outlier and Western branches of Southern Maipurean. She assigns Salumã and Lapachu (' Apolista ') to what is left of Southern Outlier ('South Arawak'); breaks up

9516-519: The fewer young people will need to be sent with guns and weapons of war. In addition, following the end of World War II , various members of the United States Congress proposed bills to establish volunteer organizations in developing countries . In December 1951, Representative John F. Kennedy (D- Massachusetts ) suggested to a group that "young college graduates would find a full life in bringing technical advice and assistance to

9638-467: The first 7000 volunteers. Given the paucity of black college graduates, racial minorities never reached five percent. The Corps developed its own training program, based on nine weeks at an American university, with a focus on conversational language, world affairs, and desired job skills. That was followed by three weeks at a Peace Corps camp in Puerto Rico, and week or two of orientation the home and

9760-532: The first trips into the area. Ethnography among the Saramaka was first conducted by Americans Melville and Frances Herskovits (during two summers in 1928 and 1929). Americans Richard and Sally Price have also studied the people (intermittently between 1966 and the present: in Suriname until 1986, and in French Guiana thereafter). This late-20th century fieldwork complements the modern fieldwork carried out among other groups of Suriname Maroons, such as

9882-610: The following September by the Peace Corps Act. The official goal of the Peace Corps is to assist developing countries by providing skilled workers in fields such as education, health, entrepreneurship, women's empowerment , and community development . Volunteers are American citizens , typically with a college degree , who are assigned to specific projects in certain countries based on their qualifications and experience. Following three months of technical training, Peace Corps members are expected to serve at least two years in

10004-417: The gold industry – mining for men, prostitution for women – are being exploited. Saramaka society is firmly based on a matrilineal kinship system . A clan ( lo ) – often several thousand individuals – consists of the matrilineal descendants of an original band of escaped slaves. Children are considered born into this clan. It is subdivided into lineages ( bee ) – usually 50 to 150 people – descended from

10126-418: The heads of two men, feasts for the ancestors, all-night drum/song/dance performances, and the telling of folktales . Some months later, a "second funeral" is conducted to mark the end of the mourning period and to chase the ghost of the deceased from the village forever. These rites involve the largest public gatherings in Saramaka and also include all-night drum/song/dance performances. At their conclusion,

10248-487: The host country, after which they may request an extension of service. Volunteers are strongly encouraged to respect local customs, learn the prevailing language, and live in comparable conditions. In its inaugural year, the Peace Corps had 900 volunteers serving 16 countries, reaching its peak in 1966 with 15,556 volunteers in 52 countries. Following budget cuts in 1989, the number of volunteers declined to 5,100, though subsequent increases in funding led to renewed growth into

10370-431: The host country. In July 1971, President Richard Nixon , an opponent of the program, brought the Peace Corps under the umbrella agency ACTION . President Jimmy Carter , an advocate of the program, said that his mother, who had served as a nurse in the program, had "one of the most glorious experiences of her life" in the Peace Corps. In 1979, he made it fully autonomous in an executive order. This independent status

10492-526: The inheritance of material and spiritual possessions as well as political offices . Before death, however, men often pass on specialized ritual knowledge (and occasionally a shotgun) to a son. Each child, after spending its first several years with its mother, is raised by an individual man or woman (not a couple) designated by the bee , girls typically are raised by women, and boys by men. Although children spend most of their time with matrilineal kin, father-child relations are warm and strong. Gender identity

10614-448: The labels Maipurean and Arawakan will have to await a more sophisticated classification of the languages in question than is possible at the present state of comparative studies. The languages called Arawakan or Maipurean were originally recognized as a separate group in the late nineteenth century. Almost all the languages now called Arawakan share a first-person singular prefix nu- , but Arawak proper has ta- . Other commonalities include

10736-578: The largest number in the organization's history. The organization experienced controversy in its first year of operation. On October 13, 1961, a postcard from a volunteer named Margery Jane Michelmore in Nigeria to a friend in the U.S. described her situation in Nigeria as "squalor and absolutely primitive living conditions." This postcard never made it out of the country. The University of Ibadan College Students Union demanded deportation and accused

10858-417: The late 17th and early 18th centuries. Coming from a variety of West and Central African peoples speaking many different languages, they escaped into the dense rainforest – individually, in small groups, and sometimes in great collective rebellions. For nearly 100 years, they fought from the rainforest for their independence. They were so feared that late 18th century maps showed the defensive fortifications in

10980-528: The late 20th century has brought together oral and archival accounts in new histories. Like the other Suriname Maroons, the Saramaka lived almost as a state-within-a-state until the mid-20th century, when the pace of outside encroachments increased. During the late 1980s, a civil war between Maroons and the military government of Suriname caused considerable hardship to the Saramaka and other Maroons. By mid-1989 approximately 3,000 Saramaka and 8,000 Ndyuka were living as temporary refugees in French Guiana. Access to

11102-519: The late 20th century, the Saramaka produced most of their material culture, much of it embellished with decorative detail. Women sewed patchwork and embroidered clothing, and carved calabash bowls. Some men also produced baskets, and some women made pottery. Men built the houses and canoes. In addition, they carved a wide range of wooden objects for domestic use, such as stools, paddles, winnowing trays , cooking utensils, and combs. Today, an increasing number of items, including clothing, are imported from

11224-535: The level of a crisis. The program deploys former volunteers on high-impact assignments that typically range from three to twelve months in duration. Peace Corps Response volunteers generally receive the same allowances and benefits as their Peace Corps counterparts, including round-trip transportation, living and readjustment allowances, and medical care. Minimum qualifications include completion of at least one year of Peace Corps service, including training, in addition to medical and legal clearances. The Crisis Corps title

11346-437: The main barrier point called Tapa Wata Sula, translated as Shut Off Rapids. This initial excursion led to subsequent trips and began the gradual influx of increasing outside influence throughout the following years. A local Saramaka man named Pompeia had left one of the uncontacted villages to visit the capital city of Paramaribo earlier that year. His knowledge of the villages beyond Tapa Wata Sula made him an invaluable guide on

11468-417: The mid-18th century), but others Roman Catholic . Increasingly some are converted to Evangelicalism of one or another kind. The Saramaka world is populated by a wide range of supernatural beings, from localized forest spirits and gods that reside in the bodies of snakes, vultures , jaguars , and other animals, to ancestors, river gods, and warrior spirits. Within these categories, each supernatural being

11590-637: The miners to the interior. In the mid-1990s, the Association of Saramaka Authorities filed a complaint before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights to protect their land rights . In November 2007, the Inter-American Court for Human Rights ruled in favor of the Saramaka people against the government of Suriname. In this landmark decision, which establishes a precedent for all Maroon and indigenous peoples in

11712-852: The most geographically widespread language families in all of the Americas, Arawakan linguistic influence can be found in many language families of South America. Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Arawa , Bora-Muinane , Guahibo , Harakmbet-Katukina , Harakmbet , Katukina-Katawixi , Irantxe , Jaqi , Karib , Kawapana , Kayuvava , Kechua , Kwaza , Leko , Macro-Jê , Macro-Mataguayo-Guaykuru , Mapudungun , Mochika , Mura-Matanawi , Nambikwara , Omurano , Pano-Takana , Pano , Takana , Puinave-Nadahup , Taruma , Tupi , Urarina , Witoto-Okaina , Yaruro , Zaparo , Saliba-Hodi , and Tikuna-Yuri language families due to contact. However, these similarities could be due to inheritance, contact, or chance. Classification of Maipurean

11834-489: The name Maipurean to distinguish the core family, which is sometimes called core Arawak(an) or Arawak(an) proper instead. Kaufman (1990: 40) relates the following: [The Arawakan] name is the one normally applied to what is here called Maipurean. Maipurean used to be thought to be a major subgroup of Arawakan, but all the living Arawakan languages, at least, seem to need to be subgrouped with languages already found within Maipurean as commonly defined. The sorting out of

11956-471: The name Maipurean was resurrected for the core family. See Arawakan vs Maipurean for details. The Arawakan linguistic matrix hypothesis (ALMH) suggests that the modern diversity of the Arawakan language family stems from the diversification of a trade language or lingua franca that was spoken throughout much of tropical lowland South America. Proponents of this hypothesis include Santos-Granero (2002) and Eriksen (2014). Eriksen (2014) proposes that

12078-417: The national government is intervening more frequently in Saramaka affairs (and paying political officials nominal salaries), the sacred base of these officials’ power is gradually being eroded. These political offices are historically controlled and the property of clans ( lo ). Political activity is strongly dominated by men. Council meetings ( kuútu ) and divination sessions provide complementary arenas for

12200-544: The original colonists in Suriname), 20 percent from Portuguese (the language of the overseers and slave masters on many Suriname plantations ), and the remaining 10 percent from Amerindian languages and Dutch (the latter were later colonists). Although lexically different, the grammar resembles that of the other Atlantic creoles and derives from West African models. The ancestors of the Saramaka were among those Africans sold as plantation slaves to Europeans in Suriname in

12322-740: The other Maroons in Suriname and French Guiana: the Ndyuka (90,000), and the Matawai , Paramaka , Aluku , and Kwinti (who together number some 25,000). Since their escape from slavery in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Saramaka have lived chiefly along the Upper Suriname River and its tributaries, the Gaánlío and the Pikílío. Since the 1960s, they also live along the Lower Suriname River in villages constructed by

12444-402: The outside world was severely restricted for many Saramaka in their homeland. The end of the war in the mid-1990s initiated a period in which the national government largely neglected the needs of Saramaka and other Maroons while granting large timber and mining concessions to foreign multinationals (Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, and others) in traditional Saramaka territory. They did not consult

12566-490: The prefix for "I", is spurious; nu- is the ancestral form for the entire family, and ta- is an innovation of one branch of the family. The following (tentative) classification is from Kaufman (1994: 57-60). Details of established branches are given in the linked articles. In addition to the family tree detailed below, there are a few languages that are "Non-Maipurean Arawakan languages or too scantily known to classify" (Kaufman 1994: 58), which include these: Another language

12688-463: The progenitors of the Peace Corps and what this organization has been doing for a number of years led to the establishment of what I consider to be the most encouraging indication of the desire for service not only in this country but all around the world that we have seen in recent years". The Peace Corps website answered the question "Who Inspired the Creation of the Peace Corps?", acknowledging that

12810-534: The program, with a follow-up history of Peace Corps geoscientists appearing in that publication in 2004. During the Nixon Administration the Peace Corps included foresters, computer scientists , and small business advisers among its volunteers. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed director Loret Miller Ruppe , who initiated business-related programs. For the first time, a significant number of conservative and Republican volunteers joined

12932-491: The program. Kennedy's opponent, Richard M. Nixon , predicted it would become a "cult of escapism " and "a haven for draft dodgers ." While others doubted whether recent graduates had the necessary skills and maturity for such a task, the idea was popular among students, and Kennedy pursued it. He asked respected academics such as Max Millikan and Chester Bowles to help him outline the organization and its goals. During his inaugural address, Kennedy again promised to create

13054-555: The program: "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country". President Kennedy in a speech at the White House on June 22, 1962, "Remarks to Student Volunteers Participating in Operation Crossroads Africa", acknowledged that Operation Crossroads for Africa was the basis for the development of the Peace Corps. "This group and this effort really were

13176-410: The resolution of social problems. Palavers may involve the men of a lineage, a village, or all Saramaka. They treat problems ranging from conflicts concerning marriage or fosterage to land disputes, political succession, or major crimes. These same problems, in addition to illness and other kinds of misfortune, are routinely interpreted through various kinds of divination as well. In all cases, consensus

13298-527: The size of the Peace Corps. However, as of 2010 , the amount requested was insufficient to reach this goal by 2011. In fact, the number of applicants to the Peace Corps declined steadily from a high of 15,384 in 2009 to 10,118 in 2013. Congress raised the 2010 appropriation from the US$ 373 ;million requested by the President to US$ 400 million, and proposed bills would raise this further for 2011 and 2012. According to former director Gaddi Vasquez ,

13420-591: The so-called transmigration villages, built to house the 6,000 Saramaka displaced by the hydroelectric project, range up to 2,000 people. They are laid out in a European-style grid pattern , used throughout larger South American cities. In many cases they have been located far from the riverside, making life difficult for the occupants.) Horticultural camps , which include permanent houses and shrines, are located several hours by canoe from each village. They are exploited by small groups of women related through matrilineal ties. Due to their matrilineal ties, many women have

13542-658: The specific past act that caused it. Through the performance of rites , the ancestors speak, the gods dance, and the world is again made right. Individual specialists who supervise rites oversee the major village- and clan-owned shrines that serve large numbers of clients, as well as the various categories of possession gods, and various kinds of minor divination. These specialists generally pass on their knowledge to selected individuals before death. A large proportion of Saramaka have some kind of specialized ritual expertise, which they occasionally exercise. They are paid in cloth, rum , or, increasingly, cash. Saramaka ceremonial life

13664-403: The underprivileged and backward Middle East ... In that calling, these men would follow the constructive work done by the religious missionaries in these countries over the past 100 years." In 1952 Senator Brien McMahon (D-Connecticut) proposed an "army" of young Americans to act as "missionaries of democracy". Privately funded nonreligious organizations began sending volunteers overseas during

13786-526: The village's functions and face other restrictions during their menstrual cycle. The Saramaka expression "to be in menstrual seclusion" is the same as "to be in mourning." The Saramaka people, like the other Maroon groups, are politically and formally run by men. The 2007 ruling of the Inter-American Court for Human Rights helps define the spheres of influence in which the national government and Saramaka authorities hold sway. Saramaka society

13908-462: The volunteers of being "America's international spies " and the project as "a scheme designed to foster neocolonialism ." Soon the international press picked up the story, leading several people in the U.S. administration to question the program. Nigerian students protested the program, while the American volunteers sequestered themselves and eventually began a hunger strike . After several days,

14030-529: The woman's kinsmen or made to pay them a fine. Aside from adultery disputes, which sometimes mobilize a full canoe-load of men seeking revenge in a public fistfight, intra-Saramaka conflict rarely surpasses the level of personal relations. The civil war that began in 1986, pitting Maroons against the national army of Suriname, brought major changes to the villages of the interior. Members of the " Jungle Commando " rebel army, almost all Ndyuka and Saramaka, learned to use automatic weapons . They became accustomed to

14152-438: The women gathering wild forest products, such as palm nuts. They imported a few key items, such as salt . Rice is the most cultivated crop, in dry (hillside) technique. Other crops include cassava , taro , okra , maize , plantains , bananas , sugarcane , and peanuts . Domesticated trees, such as coconut , orange , breadfruit , papaya , and calabash are mainly cultivated in the villages. There are no markets. Until

14274-399: The world to fulfill humanitarian and development objectives. Subsequently, throughout the 1950s, Reuther gave speeches to the following effect: I have been saying for a long time that I believe the more young Americans who are trained to join with other young people in the world to be sent abroad with slide rule, textbook, and medical kit to help people help themselves with the tools of peace,

14396-674: Was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 13, 2022. Spahn was acting director from January 20, 2021, until November 16, 2021, and CEO from November 2021 to November 2022. She had previously served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Romania and subsequently returned as Country Director in Malawi, then Chief of Operations for Eastern and Southern Africa, following a career in the NGO and private sectors. The full list of directors

14518-491: Was further secured by 1981 legislation making the organization an independent federal agency. In 1976, Deborah Gardner was found murdered in her home in Tonga, where she was serving in the Peace Corps. Dennis Priven, a fellow Peace Corps worker, was later charged with the murder by the Tonga government. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and was sentenced to serve time in a mental institution in Washington D.C. Priven

14640-466: Was never admitted to any institution, and the handling of the case has been heavily criticized. Although the earliest volunteers were typically thought of as generalists, the Peace Corps had requests for technical personnel from the start. For example, geologists were among the first volunteers requested by Ghana , an early volunteer host. An article in Geotimes (a trade publication) in 1963, reviewed

14762-531: Was originally established by Executive Order, and has been modified by several subsequent executive orders including: Federal laws governing the Peace Corps are contained in Title 22 of the United States Code – Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Chapter 34 – The Peace Corps. The Peace Corps is subject to Federal Regulations as prescribed by public law and executive order and contained in Title 22 of

14884-561: Was retained as a unique branch within Peace Corps Response, designed for volunteers who are deployed to true "crisis" situations, such as disaster relief following hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions and other catastrophes. Peace Corps has created resources for teachers in the US and abroad to teach 101 languages. Resources vary by language, and include text, recordings, lesson plans and teaching notes. Peace Corps

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