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Music from Aluku: Maroon Sounds of Struggle, Solace, and Survival

Various Artists
Music from Aluku: Maroon Sounds of Struggle, Solace, and Survival The Aluku (also known as the Boni) are survivors. Roughly 8,000 strong, the Aluku are an African American Maroon people whose territory lies on the borderlands of French Guiana and Suriname, in a part of the Amazon basin that extends to the northeastern coast of South America and belongs culturally as much to the Caribbean as to Amazonia. Born out of resistance to slavery some three centuries ago, the Aluku have endured to the present in the face of formidable odds. Today, their survival is threatened once again, as they cope with the assimilationist policies of the French state (of which most Aluku are now citizens), as well as ever-escalating incursions into their territory by multinational corporations and independent gold miners. The fate of their Amazonian rain forest environment—not to mention their cultural and political autonomy—hangs precariously in the balance.

Track Listing

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101
Performers at puu baaka ceremony, Kormontibo, French Guiana
02:12
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102
Sa Buki, et. al.
01:32
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103
Performers at kuna pee ceremony, Cottica, Suriname
03:16
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104
Performers at booko dei ceremony, Asisi, French Guiana
02:01
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105
Ba Aluwa
01:13
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106
Performers at puu baaka ceremony, Cottica, Suriname
09:55
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107
Performers at puu baaka ceremony, Cottica, Suriname
01:10
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108
Ba Aluwa
02:09
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109
Performers at kuna pee ceremony, Cottica, Suriname
03:23
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110
Papa Bantifo, et. al.
02:33
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111
Performers at booko dei ceremony, Asisi, French Guiana
02:48
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112
Performers at tuku ceremony, Loka, Suriname
01:32
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113
Ba Dakan
00:58
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114
Kumanti drummers, Loka, Suriname
00:36
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115
Ba Aluwa
00:53
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116
Ba Dakan
00:49
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117
Papa Tobu
01:06
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118
Ba Dakan
01:26
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119
Group of children, Kormontibo, French Guiana
00:57
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120
A Sa Yeepi
04:37
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121
Ba Lome
02:52
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122
Papa Tobu
02:11
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123
Papa Tobu
00:26
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124
Aluku men and women, Kormontibo, French Guiana
03:00
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125
Papa Aneli
00:27
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126
Ba Peson, et. al.
01:13
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127
Papa Aneli
02:17
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128
Pap Pwen, et. al.
00:32
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129
Ma Bwi
04:55
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130
Ma Yakoba, et. al.
05:50
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131
Ma Maidon, et. al.
01:43
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132
Ba Aluwa
02:41