Amerindians in the Eighteenth Century Plantation System of the Guianas

Dutch relations with Amerindian societies in their South American colonies began in the early seventeenth century. This contact increased during the eighteenth century, when Amerindians were slaves, slavers, and plantation enforcers for the Dutch. These roles transitioned over time and unevenly extended across the Amerindian societies within the Dutch colonies. The early configuration of the Dutch colonies relied upon Amerindians for trade. With the further development of the Dutch colonies, some societies were repeatedly the targets of slaving while other societies were allied with the Dutch and acted as slavers. Later, with the large scale introduction of African slaves, some Amerindians became plantation enforcers. Amerindian enforcement of the plantation system was gradually institutionalized during the late eighteenth century. By the nineteenth century, Amerindians had become the integral component in Dutch efforts to prevent uprisings by Africandescent slaves, to pursue runaway slaves, to attack maroon camps, and to stabilize a plantation system at risk of open rebellion. With a primary emphasis on Essequibo and Demerara, this article will delineate the roles of Amerindians within the plantation system of the Guianas in the eighteenth century. Amerindian Slavery in the Guianas: Historiographical Considerations Amerindians have often been given insufficient attention in the historiography of Caribbean and New World plantation slavery. Early first hand writings on the Caribbean plantation system, such as those of Edward Long (1774) and Bryan Edwards (1794 1806) were intended as defenses of African descent slavery. Secondary literature on the Caribbean planters and plantation systems for example, Dunn (1972) and Sheridan (1974) has largely emphasized African descent slavery and tends either to treat Amerindian slavery as a topic of minor relevance or to neglect it altogether. In recent years, a general interest has emerged among historians concerning the roles of Amerindians within the plantation systems of the Atlantic World. Fisher (2014: 101) notes this renewed interest and writes that recent scholars have increased their estimates as to the extent of Amerindian slavery and the involvement of "Native middlemen" However, Amerindian slavery in the Dutch colonial world, albeit of considerable magnitude, has received less attention than that within the English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish spheres. Consequently, the role of Amerindians within the plantation system of the Guianas, particularly Dutch Guiana, is not well known. To begin, it is necessary to define what is meant by Dutch Guiana. Surinam comes to mind for many people when they see a reference to Dutch Guiana. However, the history of Dutch colonization in the Guianas pre dates Surinam and is centered (until the early nineteenth century) largely in the territory of modern day Guyana, formerly British Guiana. In this article, Dutch Guiana refers collectively to the colonies1 Essequibo, Demerara, Berbice, and Surinam that were founded and controlled by the Dutch in the Guianas during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries albeit with some occasional back andforth control by other European colonial powers and that (with the exception of Surinam) 30 Published by Digital Commons Trinity, 2016 became British colonies in the early nineteenth century. There is a small amount of literature (Benjamin 1992; Menezes 1973; Menezes 2011 [1977] Whitehead 1988) that touches (directly or indirectly) upon Amerindian slavery in Dutch Guiana. Although some attention has been given to the different roles performed by Amerindians within the Dutch plantation system (Benjamin 1992: 1; Whitehead 1988: 185, 202, 215) this article will delineate these roles, explore how they emerged historically and were structured in Dutch Guiana, and contribute towards the goal of an eventual historiographical inclusion of Dutch Amerindian slavery into the emerging broader literature on Amerindian slavery in the Atlantic World. Emergence of Amerindian Slavery in Seventeenth Century Dutch Guiana During the seventeenth century, Dutch Amerindian relations in Dutch Guiana were largely centered around trade rather than slavery. Dutch trade consisted of a tense combination of Dutch West India Company (DWIC) traders and private enterprise. Prior to the 1680s, the Dutch tended to discourage or prohibit Amerindian slavery in order to avoid conflicts that might disrupt trade (Benjamin 1992: 9) Annatto3 (Bixa orellana L. was a primary trade good and, along with letterwood (Brosimum aubletii) oil from copaiba (Copaifera spp. and other natural materials and crafts, made up much of seventeenth century Dutch Amerindian trade (BGB 1898b: 139; Benjamin 1992: 4 5; Whitehead 1988: 160 161) Evidence of systematic Amerindian slavery in Dutch Guiana emerges in the 1680s, when a number of regulations were passed. These regulations were concerned with providing some measure of oversight to the Amerindian slave trade and preventing disruptions to Dutch Amerindian trade. One of the earliest restrictions was given by the States General of the United Netherlands to the DWIC in 1636 as a general prohibition, which was unsuccessful in actually preventing Amerindian enslavement, yet was referenced in cases into the nineteenth century in Berbice (Menezes 2011: 217) An attempt at curtailing Amerindian enslavement was also made in Essequibo in 1645 (Benjamin 1992: 8) However, in 1686, the Commandeur of Essequibo, Abraham Beekman, appears to have made the first attempt in Dutch Guiana at truly regulating, rather than prohibiting, the enslavement of Amerindians by passing an ordinance that stipulated the circumstances and conditions under which they could be purchased as slaves4 (Benjamin 1992: 9; Rodway 1896: 15; Whitehead 1988: 160; Williams 1936 In 1686, Dutch subjects were prohibited from enslaving Amerindians and were limited in their procurement of such slaves to those owned by other Amerindians and subsequently obtained by the Dutch through trade (BGB 1898a: 85) Regulations on Amerindian enslavement were also passed in Surinam in 1686 and in Berbice in 1688 (Benjamin 1992: 9) After 1680, with prodding from the DWIC, the Dutch made their trade with the Amerindians dependent upon the latter focusing their efforts on supplying annatto to the Dutch (Whitehead 1988: 161) The Commandeur of Essequibo writes to the DWIC in 1681 that the Amerindians were bringing ".annually a still greater quantity of anatto to market" (BGB 1898b: 184 185; BGB 1898g: 59) Additional labor was required for preparing annatto5; to obtain this labor, the Caribs and Akawaios increased their slaving and slave trading (Whitehead 1988: 161) Thus, Amerindian slaving increased alongside the intensification of annatto production. This increased slaving and competition over the dye trade led to conflicts between Amerindian societies that destabilized the interior (Whitehead 1966: 161) Thus, the growing Amerindian slave trade, which was conducted mostly by Amerindian slavers and private Dutch traders whose interests were not necessarily aligned with the DWIC, was disrupting6 the DWIC's trade with Amerindians by the late seventeenth century (Benjamin 1992: 4, 6) Despite these disruptions, the Dutch Amerindian trade in annatto and other materials continued and increased in the eighteenth century. In 1699, the Dutch Commandeur in Essequibo urged a group of visiting Caribs to continue supplying annatto dye "before all else" (BGB 1898h: 53) A Dutch diary from Essequibo, dated 1699 1701, shows that Amerindian enslavement, African descent slavery on sugar plantations, and DutchAmerindian trade, particularly in annato dye, coexisted at the time7 (BGB 1898h: 47 158) Whitehead (1988: 160 161) claims that the peak years for the Dutch Amerindian annatto 31 Tipiti: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America http:/digitalcommons.trinity.edu/tipiti/vol14/iss1/3 trade in the Essequibo colony were from 1700 to 1742, during which time around 335 tons of annatto dye were exported to Holland from Essequibo. The DWIC maintained a monopoly on annatto and instructed the Commandeur of Essequibo in 1704 to prevent the Governor of Surinam, as well as private persons, from trading annatto in the DWIC charter territory8 (BGB 1898b: 227) However, with the growth of the plantation system, around which Dutch Guiana's economy was increasingly centered during the eighteenth century, the annatto trade declined inversely with the Amerindian slave trade (Benjamin 1992: 4; Whitehead 1988: 107, 153, 181) Sugar plantations had emerged in Dutch Guiana by the 1650s and were increasing demand for the developing Amerindian slave trade9 (BGB 1898h: 31; Whitehead 1988: 95, 159) By the early 1660s, plantation sugar production is quite evident from primary sources (BGB 1898h: 33 34) Whitehead (1990: 163) notes that, with the rise of the Dutch plantations, ".a new market was created for the war captives the Caribs were accustomed to using in the production of dye" The annatto trade declined and was eventually displaced by three interrelated factors: (1) the rise of the sugar plantations in the 1730s 1740s10, (2) the profitability of the Amerindian slave trade (which became more lucrative than the annatto trade) and (3) the destabilization caused in the interior by increases in Amerindian slaving11. Amerindians as Slaves in Dutch Guiana The Dutch classified Amerindians in their Guiana colonies according to those who could and could not be legally enslaved. "Free nations12" were those under treaty with the Dutch and could not be legally enslaved, while those from other Amerindian societies could generally be enslaved (Benjamin 1992: 8 9; Menezes 2011: 59) By the 1650s, the Dutch were making such treaties13 (Menezes 1973: 66; Whitehead 1988: 159, 184) These treaties established Amerindian societies residing in Dutch colonia