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Resistance & Maroons
Johannes Alabi
1740 – 1820
Saramaka granman who consolidated the peace treaty of 1762
Alabi became granman (paramount chief) of the Saramaka Maroons and ensured the 1762 peace treaty with the colony held.
Alabi was born in 1740 in a Saramaka village along the Upper Suriname river. At 22 he witnessed the signing of the 1762 peace treaty, which recognised the Saramaka Maroons as a free community — more than 100 years before official abolition.
In 1779 he became granman. He converted to the Moravian Christian faith, which made him controversial within his own community, but until his death in 1820 he managed to keep the treaty intact.
Sources
- Richard Price — Alabi's World (1990)
This biography was compiled from public historical sources. Additions, corrections or suggestions? Contact info@surinameglobalgroup.nl.