Description
Book SynopsisThe eminent anthropologists Richard and Sally Price look back at their first years living among the Saamaka maroons in Suriname in the late 1960s, retelling the evolution of their personal lives and careers, relationships with the Saamaka, and the field of anthropology.
Trade Review"Beautifully written, this book presents a satisfying commentary on the anthropological enterprise, to be enjoyed by a wide variety of readers. Essential. All public and academic levels/libraries."
-- P. Passariello * Choice *
"A complex ethnographic narrative . . . a dynamic story with a cast of Saamaka characters. . . . Though the book is published over fifty years after the initial research, it still shows a candor and eye for painstaking detail of moment to moment happenings in daily life." -- Cheryl White * Anthropos *
"This inspiring book combines ethnography with a brilliantly written autobiographical account. . . . The way in which Richard Price and Sally Price position themselves as the main protagonists of their interlocutions with Saamaka villagers, is precisely what makes the book so rich." -- Olivia M. Gomes da Cunha * New West Indian Guide *
"A retrospective on a life’s work,
Saamaka Dreaming stands alone as an introduction to understanding social memory in the black diaspora via ethnographic practice. But it also shows us how that memory can shape political engagement in the present premised on what we might call the hopes—or dreams—of a better future that anthropologists can also help create." -- Sarah E. Vaughn * American Ethnologist *
"This is an inspiring narrative on Saamaka Maroons lifestyle changes through half a century, on changes from an anthropological perspective on these people, as well as the development of anthropology as a science and the impact that a researcher can make. It is not only a great source to learn about Saamaka culture but also a great narrative to read—it is literary anthropology at its best." -- Asnate Morozova * Anthropological Notebooks *
Table of ContentsPreface ix
1. Testing the Waters 1
2. On Trial 13
3. A Feast for the Ancestors 28
4. Going "Outside" 34
5. On Nai's Doorstep 40
6. Under Kala's House 51
7. The Sika 58
8. What Month It It? 62
9. The Captain's "Granddaughter" 71
10. Upriver 74
11. At the Ancestor Shrine 86
12. The Cock's Balls 100
13. Nai's Rivergod 103
14. Agbago's Seagod 108
15. Kala's Snakegod 114
16. A Touch of Madness 123
17. Playing for the Gods 132
18. A Tree Falls 139
19. Sickness 144
20. Death of a Witch 155
21. Chasing Ghosts 173
22. Death of a Child 179
23. Returns 190
24. Foto 202
25. Looking at Paper 205
26. The End of an Era 215
Notes 231
Bibliography 243
Index 247
