Click see the whole project:

https://www.theuntangledtales.com/12129472-gallery/fourteenleavesandacupofwater

March 3, 2024, Brownsberg – Suriname. 36 degrees Celsius.

It was unusually dry for the season. Sunbeams broke through the canopy as we walked through the thickly wooded field. The forest was silent as I absorbed the surroundings — the viper's bugloss, the coffee plants and the elephant leaves — they all intertwined in a chaotic symphony of green. The shaman cut off pieces of bark and examined the flora as we continued on our path. It had overgrown the land where plantations once existed. 


_______ 


The enslaved possessed extensive knowledge of flora. Gained through their own experience and detailed memories of the African forests and savanna. By using this knowledge as a means of empowerment, some managed to poison their oppressors. They knew the medicinal properties of certain leaves and which plants were edible and which were not. It is this deep-rooted knowledge that enabled them to escape the harsh conditions on the plantation and survive in the dense rainforest of Suriname.

Click see the whole project:

https://www.theuntangledtales.com/12129472-gallery/fourteenleavesandacupofwater

March 3, 2024, Brownsberg – Suriname. 36 degrees Celsius.

It was unusually dry for the season. Sunbeams broke through the canopy as we walked through the thickly wooded field. The forest was silent as I absorbed the surroundings — the viper's bugloss, the coffee plants and the elephant leaves — they all intertwined in a chaotic symphony of green. The shaman cut off pieces of bark and examined the flora as we continued on our path. It had overgrown the land where plantations once existed. 


_______ 


The enslaved possessed extensive knowledge of flora. Gained through their own experience and detailed memories of the African forests and savanna. By using this knowledge as a means of empowerment, some managed to poison their oppressors. They knew the medicinal properties of certain leaves and which plants were edible and which were not. It is this deep-rooted knowledge that enabled them to escape the harsh conditions on the plantation and survive in the dense rainforest of Suriname.

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