Divided loyalties: local politics and the play of states among the Aluku

Abstract

Aluku village of Kotika in Suriname serves as an example how political alignments sometimes influence the definition of ethnic identities and interethnic relations. The Alukus in French Guiana and their Surinamese Maroon neighbours the Ndjuka and Paramaka show evidence of increasingly growing apart, even though these tribes possess similar cultures. Political separation thus heightens cultural differences.