Djuka: The Bush Negros of Dutch Guiana: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A 233-page first edition hardcover book entitled Djuka the Bush Negroes of Dutch Guiana. The front cover has a dark brown imprint of a close-up depiction of an African maroon from Dutch Guiana. The spine of the book has a brown decorative print with a border along the upper and lower edges. The spine reads [DJUKA / THE / BUSH / NEGROES / OF / DUTCH / GUIANA]. Beneath the title the author’s name is imprinted [ MORTON C. / KAHN]. [ VIKING ] is located just above the lower decorative print.

The interior end leaf of the book includes a map of the continents of South America, Africa, and a small portion of North America. This entire graphic is brick-red and light yellow in color. The light yellow continent of Africa is on the right side of the map. The early twentieth century boundary lines of Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana/British Gold Coast, Togoland, Nigeria, and Cameroon are filled in with the brick red color. The Niger River and the Congo River are also noted on the map. The interior of Africa has an illustration of individuals from their necks up. They all have coffles around their necks linking them together and the group is headed towards the western coast of Africa. The left side of the end leaf shows [SOUTH AMERICA], the [WEST INDIES] and the top of Florida labelled [N / A] presumably signifying North America. South America is light yellow, but [GUIANA] is blocked out in the same brick red color as the west African countries. The interior of South America has an illustrated depiction of a group of maroons with a dwelling behind them. The [SLAVE ROUTES] between these continents are depicted with bulleted arrows. The arrow starts at western Africa and branches to Guiana, the West Indies, and North America. The tip of the arrow pointing to Guiana has the labels of [BRITISH / DUTCH / FRENCH].

The book includes 65 photographs. Among them are benches almost identical to those of the Ashanti in West Africa, drums, carved calabash gourds used for eating, carved wooden combs, images of transportation along waterways, and other images of daily life, dress, and culture.

There is an inscription on the page facing the title page which appears to have been written in 1999 and was for documentation purposes.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1931
• Written by: Morton Charles Kahn, American, 1896 - 1959
• Published by: Viking Press, founded 1925
• Type: hardcover books
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product), cardboard, and thread
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 8 7/16 × 6 × 1 5/16 in. (21.4 × 15.2 × 3.3 cm)
• Place depicted: Suriname, South America
• Place printed: New York, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Netherlands, Europe
• Cultural Place: West Africa, Africa
• Topic: African American
• Topic: African diaspora
• Topic: Colonialism
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Dutch colonialism
• Topic: Foodways
• Topic: Free communities of color
• Object number: 2010.1.253
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.