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The Matawari of Suriname

The Matawari of Suriname, numbering approximately 1,700 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Saramaccan-speaking Maroon people descended from African slaves who escaped Suriname's plantations, settling the Saramacca River as a branch of the Saramaka who won treaty-recognized freedom from the Dutch in 1762. They mostly adhere to Animism and Saramaccan is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Matawari

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Suriname
People Cluster: Other Hispanic American
Primary Language(s): Saramaccan (srm)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 1,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG016435
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Pray for the Matawari of Suriname

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

90%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Saramaccan
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Saramaccan Speakers

Media Resources in Saramaccan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Saramaccan:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1998 Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc.✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Saramaccan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Matawari are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Matawari:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Matawari of Suriname

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
readPsalm 73:26

Pray that those who are lost and struggling to find hope will find their strength and hope in God, recognizing Him as their portion and deliverer forever.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that the lost will seek God and learn that they have a heavenly Father who loves them and wants them to live eternally with Him.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
readRomans 12:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will offer their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, knowing that this is their spiritual worship.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
readIsaiah 43:19

Praise the God who is able to make a way forward, even when it seems impossible. Ask Him to do a new thing among this people group specifically and among the nations, raising up believers to go and share the gospel with individuals and places where it has not flourished before.

Matawari Across Countries (ROP3 - 114941) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
MatawariPG016435MatawariSuriname1,700No Longer UnreachedSaramaccanAnimism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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