Hi madina
The history of the Maroons of Jamaica dates back to 1655, when the
British captured the island. That marked the end of Spanish rule and
allowed the rise of an independent culture, the Maroons.
When the British conquered, the Spanish fled to Cuba and left behind
their slaves. But, since there were so few British soldiers, they
were only able to control the south side of the island. Because of
that, some Spanish were able to remain in Jamaica and live on the
north side of the island in a town called Sevilla Nueva.
The Spanish tried to re-conquer the island with a landing at Sevilla
Nueva but were defeated. With the departure of their former Spanish
masters, about 1500 slaves took refuge on the north and east sides of
the mountains rather than to give in to the conquerors or follow their
former owners.
Even though they were from different parts of the island, most of the
slaves from the south side of Jamaica sought refuge in the mountains
of Clarendon where they were led by a self proclaimed chief named Juan
de Bolas. Under his urging, many of these Clarendon slaves attacked
the British residents of Jamaica, as well as the other slaves.
However, once they were defeated, the Clarendon slaves began dwindled
in number and never returned to their mountains.
After their retreat, the fugitive slaves that remained were given the
name Maroons, which was taken from the Spanish word "cimarrones"
meaning unruly, fugitive, and wild. This surviving group still warred
against Jamaica's English settlers.
However, another group of fugitive slaves soon joined the group. In
1690, slaves from the Clarendon parish rebelled against their masters
and took refuge in the interior parts of the country. By recruiting
other slaves, this new group of Clarendon fugitives increased in
number and acquired their needed provisions from the plantations of
their newest recruits. In time, these rebels, not yet associated with
the Maroons living in the east, would plunder plantations, destroy
cattle, and carry off slaves by force in order to survive The fear
this generated in the planters caused many complaints to the British
and armed forces were organized to kill the Clarendon rebels.
Till this time, the rebels had traveled in small groups without any
general leader. So, they decided to organize and pick one. His name
was Cudjoe.
Several other groups joined the alliance under his leadership. Each
of these groups had an independent language history but eventually all
adopted the Coromantee language, which was in use by the majority of
the rebels.
In 1730, the Jamaican planters sent armed forces out again, this time
against Cudjoe and his people. Those under his leadership were given
the name Maroon, the same name given to the original Spanish
fugitives.
The Maroons once again retreated to the mountains, unaware of the
later impact they would have on British and Jamaican history. With
their knowledge of the mountainous countryside, they were able to
continue their war with the British and were so effective at it, they
eventually contracted a formal peace agreement with the British. This
remarkable document recognised them as a free people and handed over
to them
1,500 acres of land. It further allowed them to administer their own
laws. The maroons agreed to ally themselves with the government of
Jamaica against any invader, such as the French from nearby Haiti or
the Spaniards from Cuba as well as to hand over any runaway slaves.
The Maroons became a people whose history demonstrated the driving
force behind the desire for freedom.
We will get into a little cultural anthropology now. Culture means
many things, but we can all agree that how and where a person has been
raised helps to define their way of life. In spite of the fact they
were forced to come to an unfamiliar place, these enslaved migrants
continued practicing the beliefs known to them in Africa. And,
because of the characteristics of the culture these ancestors brought,
modified, and preserved, historians have been able to identify these
forced migrants, including many of the Maroons, as "Koromantis"-people
from the African Akan culture. Because of the persistence of these
earlier generations, current descendents are able to see how their
culture came about. This in itself is unique among African slaves
brought to the Americas. In most cases, "national" identities were
lost and modern blacks mostly simply identify themselves as "African."
This has been a tragic cultural loss to the modern Afro-American
community.
Jamaican planters used the term "Koromanti" to refer to slaves
purchased from the Akan region of West Africa, currently known as
Ghana. If you would like to learn more about these ancestral African
cultures in order to compare them with later Maroons, you may visit (
http://www.archaeolink.com ) where you will find sections about
ancient Africa and African anthropology. In the name of total
disclosure (as required) related to an online resource, I must also
tell you that the archaeolink website is owned by me.
In fact, among the Maroons—and among the people brought to Jamaica as
slaves in general—Akan cultural influences predominated.
While the Maroons’ language was not entirely a product of Akan
origins, we can find a strong Akan influence on the Maroons generally
by looking at naming habits. These habits can "reveal the extent to
which concepts of family, lineage, and kinship were retained beyond
the Atlantic crossing." By doing this, we have found that many of the
names used by the Maroons and even descendants of slaves today are
African in origin, and often from particular locations in Africa. One
of the most recognizable African naming habits in both North America
and the Caribbean is the West African custom of "day names." Each day
was assigned a particular name, and a baby was named according to the
day of the week he or she was born. Akan day names predominated among
the Maroons. For example, a baby born on Sunday was named Kwesi in
Ghana and Quashie in Jamaica. (Quashie - male and Quasheba - female)
Maroon Culture mostly originated from Africa, especially the
Koromantis from the Akan region. Due to this, historians have been
able to trace where many of the ancestors of the people of the
Americas actually originated. This allows descendants of these slaves,
and the Maroons, to learn more about their heritage and also, why even
though their culture may be different, it is still very similar to the
cultures of the people of the Akan region of Ghana.
As for current attempts at reconnecting with Africa, most of that has
been the result of the Rastafarian movement. However, these contacts
are not emphasized to be contacts with the Ghanans, but with Ethiopia.
The Rastafarians identify with their Maroon heritage but have taken
it in a new direction.
"One of the key doctrines of Rastafarians had been their expectation
that they would one day return to Africa, "the Zion which would be
restored to them after centuries in the Diaspora" (Rastaman, p. 243).
Garvey, with his "back-to-Africa" ideology had inspired much of this
hope.
In 1960 this anticipated move seemed potentially possible. With the
help of the Jamaican government, a delegation of Rastafarians set out
on a mission to Africa. "Though no large-scale immigration to Africa
by Jamaicans was achieved, the sending of some Rastafarian leaders to
Africa resulted in the movement's enhanced knowledge of African
realities, and probably diffused the movement's enthusiasm for
immediate repatriation" (The Rastafarians, pp. 100-101). - Quote from
"The Watchman Expositor: Rastafarianism Profile" (
http://www.watchman.org/profile/rastapro.htm )
Websites used for the above include:
"Maroons of Jamaica"
( http://www.nalis.gov.tt/Communities/MaroonsofJamaica.htm ) - From
Newsday Historical Digest
"Rootz i-mail"
( http://www.rootzreggaeandkulcha.com/StElizabeth.htm ) - From "Rootz
Reggae and Kulcha : Reggaezine for the 21st Century Mindz"
"archaeolink.com"
( http://www.archaeolink.com ) - My own website as outlined in text
above.
"Creativity and Resistance: Maroon Cultures in the Americas"
( http://www.si.edu/maroon/ ) - From the Smithsonian
"The Watchman Expositor: Rastafarianism Profile"
( http://www.watchman.org/profile/rastapro.htm ) - From The Watchman
Fellowship
Search - Google
Terms - maroons, maroon history, jamaican history, akan culture,
rastafarianism
If I may clarify anything before you rate the answer, please ask.
Cheers
digsalot |
Clarification of Answer by
digsalot-ga
on
03 Dec 2002 10:58 PST
This is a somewhat different question than what was indicated in your
initial statement above where no mention of the Maroon diasporic
community was made other than a return to Africa. When one thinks of
Jamaican Maroon history and basic Jamaican Maroon settlement patterns,
one usually thinks only of Jamaica unless there is specific request to
do otherwise. So the results will be that you will now have an even
more complete background from which to do your paper or other research
project. The more information, the better.
You say you were asked to select a general area of the African
Diasporic community that emerged as a consequence of the dispersion of
the Maroons of Jamaica. Well first of all, you need to understand
that Maroon communities in much of the world emerged independently and
had little, if anything, to do with any migration or diaspora from
Jamaica. Some ideas may have travled but not necessarily the people.
In areas of the United States, Caribbean, Central America, South
America, Maroon communities emerged as free and independent societies
that forced colonial governments to sign agreements guaranteeing their
freedom and political autonomy. These communities grew as an
integration of African, Native American, and European cultural
elements. After centuries of struggle and adaptation, these Maroon
communities were able to develop a unique sense of identity and
history, contributing in many ways to the shape of the Western
Hemisphere. But their history is not always a common one and the
different Maroon cultures vary depending on the local mix.
Today you will find descendants of some of these original Maroon
communities living in Jamaica, French Guiana, Suriname, Colombia,
Indonesia, Texas, Mexico, Oklahoma, Bahamas, and the Seminole
community along both sides of the US Mexican border. Modern Maroons
still retain a strong sense of history, traditions, values, and
identity, all of which is deeply rooted in an African past. Most of
these are/were completely independent movements. In fact, some Maroon
cultures actually preceeded that of Jamaica. For example: In 1606
enslaved Africans in Brazil establish a Maroon settlement known as
Palmares. It wasn't till
1655 that the Jamaican Maroon community had its beginnings.
Even Colonial Louisiana evolved viable Maroon communities. The
geographic environment of Louisiana with its bayous, thick swamps and
intricate river system, contributed to the ability of Africans to
evade capture and move about with relative freedom.
In a magnificent work of cultural anthropology, Gwendolyn Hall depicts
how Africans created a network of "secret" communities in the cypress
swamps surrounding plantations. "These Maroons could hide out "for
weeks, months and even years on or behind their master's estates
without being detected or apprehended" (Hall 203). Hall describes the
creolization of Africans and Europeans in Colonial Louisiana:
"Conditions prevailing...molded a Creole or Afro-American slave
culture through the process of blending and adaptation of slave
materials brought by the slaves..." (Hall 159). Lower mortality rates
among slaves, levels of freedom gained through escape and survival in
the swamps and a relatively small white population led Hall to
characterize Louisiana as creating "the most Africanized slave culture
in the Untied States" (Hall 161).
The Maroon culture known as "Creole" came out of a consolidation of
African, European and Native American cultures. The dominance of
African linguistic and cultural patterns made this culture
predominately an Afro-Creole culture.
Against this background, in order to answer your question, we have to
set up a global study of the African Diaspora.
The slave trade and the forced diaspora did indeed, give birth to what
is termed the "Maroon" culture. That culture is necessarily a
universal one, rather than a local or national (Jamaican) force. It
must be eminently adaptable given its endless creativity It must of
necessity be open as it must integrate everything around it while also
being marked by a spirit of resistance and revolt. This culture, which
has always been under permanent tension has proved its vitality, for
example in forms of artistic expressions which are known worldwide,
such as jazz, rap, salsa and so on.
In conclusion, both significant African retentions and transformations
known as Maroon took place in the early European settlement of the
Americas. More recently, there has been a tendency to overemphasize
or even romanticize the "Africanisms." "Africanisms" did make their
way into the Americas and largely did so under the unified banner of
"the Maroons." But the Maroon culture of Jamaica was not the first
nor was it necessarily the most influencial of the Maroon movements.
The anthropological and historic study about the Maroon approach to
slavery and the slave era is still very young and has to be developed.
So, as you can see, if you want an answer based only on the Jamaican
Maroon Community, you will either have to be very specific and
detailed in your request, or accept an answer based on generalities.
To put it bluntly, there has not been that much of a study done about
the specifics of the influence of a particular Maroon culture and its
effects on general society other than those centered on a specific
country and its influence "within" that particular country.
The leaders of such Maroon cultural anthropological studies are Peter
Wood, Gwendolyn Hall and Richard Price. Even they have yet to break
the Maroon cultures down to specific national influences within the
Maroon communities and their effects on the rest of the world or even
their specific effects on the African diaspora.
So, as it stands now, any information about the Jamaican Maroon
influence on the African diaspora has to be in combination with
general Jamaican influence on that diaspora and the Jamaican Maroon's
place within it.
Do you have anything specific in mind? Without a degree of
specitivity, your question can encompass the writing of whole books
as an answer and still miss the mark.
digsalot
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