Adji-boto

Adji-boto is a traditional mancala board game played by the Saramaccans, Maroon descendants of escaped slaves who live along the Saramacca River in the interior of Suriname. It is closely related to mancala games from West Africa, particularly those of Benin, and is considered a regional variation of Wari, the most widely played mancala game across the Americas. Beyond recreation, adji-boto carries deep ritual significance in Saramaccan funeral practice: for the ten days preceding a burial, the game is played continuously, and at night the board is deliberately left outside so that yorkas, the spirits of the dead, can play on it undisturbed. The custom is meant to draw these spirits back into the village so the community will eventually accept the deceased's spirit among them. Tradition also restricts who may build the board itself: only widows are permitted to manufacture an adji-boto board, tying its construction as closely to mourning ritual as its play.