The Saramaka or Saramacca are one of six Maroon peoples

Maroon (people)

Maroons were runaway slaves in the West Indies, Central America, South America, and North America, who formed independent settlements together...

 (formerly called "Bush Negroes") in the Republic of Suriname

Suriname

Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...

. The word "Maroon" comes from the Spanish cimarrón, itself derived from an Arawakan root

Arawakan languages

Macro-Arawakan is a proposed language family of South America and the Caribbean based on the Arawakan languages. Sometimes the proposal is called Arawakan, in which case the central family is called Maipurean....

; by the early 16th century it was used throughout the Americas to designate slaves who successfully escaped from slavery

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

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Suriname, formerly called Dutch Guiana, has been independent from the Netherlands since 1975.