A fascinating exploration into the world of the Saramaka Maroons of the Suriname rain forest, Co-wives and Calabashes examines the status of women in this polygynous and matrilineal society as reflected in its social structure and in its art. The product of seventeen years of research, the book draws upon a rich variety of resources — from bawdy popular songs to dusty museum artifacts, from animated gossip sessions to comprehensive social statistics — to reveal the complex ways in which notions of gender, patterns of marriage, and the cultural definition of art are interrelated.

Sally Price received her doctorate from the Johns Hopkins University, where she is currently a postdoctoral fellow in anthropology. She is the author of numerous articles and of Afro-American Arts of the Suriname Rain Forest, co-authored by anthropologist Richard Price. Together, they have been studying the life of the Saramaka Maroons since 1966.