Seven Videos Of Winti Pré in Suriname and in the Netherlands

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part III of a three part series on Suriname, South America's Winti religion.

Part III provides a brief excerpt about the Winti religion and showcases seven videos titled "Winti Prey", "Tutu doo le' lowe (winti pre)", or "Kondre Banya Prey or videos that either include the word "Ingi", include "Ingi Pré" in their summary, or show the counterclockwise circular movement that is representative of Winti Pre'.

Disclaimer:
I know very little about Winti. From what I've read online, I think that "Winti Prés" are religious/social gatherings where instrumental music, songs, and dances/counterclockwise circular movements (and other dances) are performed for a specific god or gods. I also think that the purpose of participants repeatedly dancing in a counterclockwise circle is to help induce a trance state so that the Ingi might come.

Is this correct?

I'm not sure if "Kondre Banya Prey" and/or "Ingi" Pré are types of Winti Pré, but both are parts of the Winti religion.

I also don't know what "Tutu doo le' lowe" means.

Additions and corrections would be greatly appreciated.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/04/surinames-winti-religion-quotes-from.html for Part I of this series.

Part I provides excerpts from online articles and blog posts about Winti. The Addendum to this post includes information about the Twi (Ghana & Ivory Coast, West Africa) word "kra" which is central to Suriname's Winti religion.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/04/surinames-winti-pre-excerpts-from.html for Part II of this series.

Part II provides excerpts from online articles and blog posts about Winti pré (also given as "Winti prey", spelled with or without the "p" capitalized). That post focuses on the music and counterclockwise movement that accompanies it and not on the Obiaman dey rituals, although passages that mention "Obiaman dey" are also included.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, religious, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

****
WHAT IS WINTI?
From Patachu.com [as found in] https://dutchguyana.wordpress.com/2014/01/19/winti-from-africa-to-suriname/
"Introduction to African Suriname Religion

Winti is the cultural-religious heritage and essen­tial product of approximately four traditional African religions. Over the centuries, these have been fused into one as a result of the socializa­tion of Africans from different ethnic groups brought to Suriname during the slave trade. The Winti religion is part of a strong African cultural heritage that has sustained itself in Suriname despite centuries of slavery and cultural oppres­sion. The development and practice of the Winti religion has been attacked, obstructed, and inhibited over the centuries by the colonial cul­ture, in general, and the Christian churches, in particular. Winti was declared taboo; it was asso­ciated with the occult and with the calling of demonic powers. The whole Winti faith was put in the sphere of “black magic” and became sym­bolic of a lower social status in the country...

Essential Principles and Concepts of Winti

In Winti, the supreme God, which is omnipotent, omnipresent, and all knowing, is called Anana Kedoeaman Kedoeampon, meaning “God of Heaven and Earth.” The name Anana Kedoeaman Kedoeampon originates from the Fante-Akan name for the same, Anana Tweaduaman Tweaduampon. Winti concepts and vocabulary originate and draw heavily from the Fante-Akan tradition and also com­bine with other West African ethnic traditions, espe­cially Ga, Ewe, Fon, West Bantu, and some Yoruba. Depending on the geographic location in Suriname, whether coastal or interior, Winti may have more or less influence from one or the other traditional African ethnic heritage, as well as a few indigenous American Indian-originated spirits and words.

Winti cosmology consists of a complex hierar­chical system of spirits, with Anana Kedoeaman Kedoeampon at the top. The pantheon of Winti spans four major categories of nature spirits, in which each has its own subdivisions of lesser gods (see Figure 1). The Winti, in this sense, can be compared to the Abosom in Akan tradition and the Orisha in the Yoruba tradition."...

****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
These videos are presented in chronological order based on their publishing date on YouTube with the oldest dated video given first.

Example #1: Combinatie XVI - Ingi Pré 7



Kanaal van toto583, Uploaded on Aug 6, 2010
Combinatie XVI - Ingi Pré 7
-snip-
This video was filmed in at Calvin College in the Netherlands.
"Calvijn College" (in English- Calvin College) is located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This excerpt from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suriname provides some information about the connection between the Netherlands and Suriname:
"Originally inhabited by a number of indigenous tribes, Suriname was explored and contested by European powers before coming under Dutch rule in the late 17th century. In 1948 the country gained autonomy and in 1954 it became one of the constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. On 25 November 1975, the country of Suriname left the Kingdom of the Netherlands to become an independent state, nonetheless maintaining close economic, diplomatic, and cultural ties to its former colonizer."
-snip-
A large number of Surinamese have emigrated to the Netherlands.

Notice that most of the participants wear red and white clothing. Are red and white the colors for the Winti Ingi gods?

Example #2: COMBINATIE XVI-CALVIJN COLLEGE INGI (1) live .mpg



kamakong01, Uploaded on Nov 6, 2010
-snip-
I think that "ingi" means those Winti forces (gods) that are from the Native American culture in Suriname. Is this correct?

Here's a comment from this video that alludes to this:
zion81068, 2013
"at least they know that the native indians are their ancestors"

****
Example #3: Kondre Banya Prey



Kanaal van toto583, Uploaded on Apr 28, 2011
-snip-
Selected comments from this video's discussion thread:
boeroe king, April 2016
"banja is de prey die gegeven wordt om de doden op te roepen en wat die vrouw dans is kabra geen jorka want die dans meer houterig en stijf en zoals je zegt vaak naar achteren en kabra dans zo alleen danse de vrouwelijke kabra zo mannelijke dansen weer anders"

Google translate translation from Dutch to English:
Banja is the prey given to summon the dead, and what that woman dance is Kabra no jorka because they dance more stiff and rigid and as you often say backwards and Kabra dance as only danse female kabra as male dancing differently

****
Example #4: Kondre Banya Prey



Kanaal van toto583, Uploaded on Apr 28, 2011

****
Example #5: Kankantrie - Tutu doo le' lowe' 1



Kanaal van toto583, Uploaded on Jun 9, 2011

Kankantrie - Tutu doo le' lowe' 1 (winti pre)
-snip-
Is "Tutu doo le' lowe'" Sranan Tongo (Surinamese Creole)? What do those words mean?

****
Example #6: Kankantrie - Tutu doo le' lowe' 3



Kanaal van toto583, Uploaded on Jun 9, 2011

Kankantrie - Tutu doo le' lowe' 3 (winti pre)

****
7. wintie in suriname



edwardbandison, Published on Oct 1, 2013

moet leuk zijn

****
This concludes this pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.