André Pakosie

André Pakosie (born 1955 in Diitabiki, Sipaliwini District) is a Ndyuka activist from a family of herbal doctors. He founded both Sabanapeti health center and the Sabanapeti Foundation. In the 1980s he had to leave Suriname because of the Suriname Guerrilla War and settled in the Netherlands. He has received honors from the Queen of the Netherlands and the President of Suriname. He was the founder of "Maroon Day." In his teens he rejected Christianity as he felt it hostile to pre-Christian traditions. In addition to being a herbalist and activist he is also a poet and historian. He is noted for his writing concerning the Maroon peoples.