Projects & Events
Participatory Mapping
In close collaboration with various Indigenous Peoples, and upon their request, we have conducted several participatory mapping projects across the Guianas to groundtruth historical, sacred and other significant cultural heritage sites mentioned in historical sources and prevalent in oral histories and myths. On site, we have provided workshops and training to local monitors in the methods and techniques of fieldwork oriented towards identifying, describing, and geo-positioning cultural heritage sites in the remote rainforests and savannahs.
Countries: French Guiana | Suriname | Guyana
Quick-scan: Indigenous Peoples and Inclusivity
A quick-scan of the archives present in the National Archive (Nationaal Archief) in The Hague, Zeeuws Archief in Middelburg, and at the Surinamese National Archive in Paramaribo, Suriname, is conducted in collaboration with the indigenous diaspora communities in the Netherlands. The objectives are as follows:
(a) to identify archival sources that contributes to an understanding of the colonial historicity of the Surinamese Indigenous Communities, and
(b) to contribute to the timely needed new paradigm shift in providing inclusiveness and accessibility.
Countries: the Netherlands | Suriname
Reclamation of Amazonian Cultural Heritage
We conduct ethnographic museum collections studies in collaboration with the indigenous diaspora communities in the Netherlands. Based on this investigation we are advocating for a paradigm shift in the studies of indigenous material cultural, paramount is the request from the indigenous peoples to:
1) to decolonize western research practices in museums,
2) offer their own contextualization of their material cultural,
3) reclaim auto-representation, and
4) finally (re)write their own histories.
In collaboration with the Indigenous Communities, we advocate for truly post-colonial museum practice. A collaboration with mutual respect among all participants’ stakeholders.
Countries: the Netherlands
Restorative Justice
in Suriname and in the Netherlands: Observation, Description and Analysis
The aim of the project is to gain a better understanding of the informal dispute resolution existing in Suriname among Indigenous Peoples and African Diaspora Communities. The project also aims for targeted recommendations based on the results of this study that can have positive effects for societies in Suriname and the Netherlands aimed at sustainable provisions for restorative justice. This will enable a more effective bottom-up resolution to conflicts arising from criminal offenses.
Countries: the Netherlands | Suriname