Maroon (people)

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(Redirected from Maroon (slavery))

A Maroon (from the word marronage or American/Spanish cimarrón: "wild, savage, fugitive, runaway", lit. "living on mountaintops"; from Spanish cima: "top, summit") was a runaway slave in the West Indies, Central America, South America, or North America. The jungles around the Caribbean Sea offered food, shelter, and isolation for the escaped slaves. There, the Maroons created their own independent communities which have survived for centuries and until recently remained separate from mainstream society. Image:Maroon women with washing. Suriname River. 1955.jpg

The term Maroon was generalized to include any slave or group of slaves that had rebelled or escaped from their owners frequently within the first generation of their arrival from Africa, often preserving their African languages and many of their cultural traits. In the Guianas they were commonly known as Djukas or Bush Negroes. Image:Body of Maroon child brought before medicine man, 1955.jpg

Individual groups of Maroons often allied themselves with the local indigenous tribes and occasionally assimilated into these populations. Characteristics of the various cultural groups differ widely because of differences in history, geography, African nationality, and the culture of indigenous people throughout the Western hemisphere. Maroon populations are found from the Amazon River Basin to the American states of Florida and North Carolina. Image:Maroon village, Suriname River, 1955.jpg

The Black Seminoles, Maroons who allied with Seminole Indians in Florida, were by far the largest and most successful Maroon community in North America. Image:Juju charm protecting dugout canoe on riverbank, 1954.jpg

Maroons played an important role in the histories of Brazil, Suriname, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Jamaica. Maroon settlements often possessed a clannish, outsider identity.

Maroon villages were sometimes called palenques or quilombos. The palenqueros developed Creole languages by mixing European tongues with their original African languages. One Maroon Creole language in Suriname is Saramaccan.

One of the best-known quilombos was a Brazilian settlement/kingdom called Palmares which, at its height, had a population of over 30,000 free men, women and children, and was ruled by a king, Zumbi by name. Palmares was eventually wiped out by an allied European army made up of Portuguese, Dutch, British, and other troops. It lasted for almost 100 years as an independent nation.

Maroons survived by growing vegetables and hunting. They also raided plantations, destroying cane fields, stealing food and livestock, and capturing female slaves. Later, the governor signed a treaty promising the Maroons 2500 acres (10 km²) in two locations, because they presented a threat to the British. Also, some Maroons kept their freedom by agreeing to capture runaway slaves. They were paid two dollars for each slave returned.

Many African traditions have been preserved among the various Maroon communities. Some of them use medicinal herbs along with special drums and dances when herbs are administered to a sick person. Many other African healing and 'magical' rites have survived through the centuries - see, for example, the accompanying photos of a medicine man and a protective charm from Suriname.

In Jamaica, Maroons intermarried with Arawak and Miskito people from Central America. Jamaican Maroons fought against slavery and for Jamaican independence from the British. A famous Maroon rebel was Granny Nanny. She is the only female listed among Jamaican national heroes. Nanny was leader of the Jamaican Maroons in the 18th century. The Jamaican community has immortalized her in songs and legends. She was particularly important in the First Maroon War in the early 1700s. Granny Nanny was also known for her exceptional leadership skills. For example, she planned guerrilla warfare that confused the British. To this day, the Maroons in Jamaica are completely autonomous and separate from Jamaican culture. In their largest town, Accompong, they still possess a vibrant community of about 600. Tours of the village are offered to foreigners and a large festival is put on every January 6th to commemorate the signing of the peace treaty that was signed with the British after the Maroon War.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, Maroon communities began to disappear as forests were razed, although some countries, such as Guyana and Suriname, still have large Maroon populations living in the forests. Recently, many Maroons have moved to cities and towns as the process of urbanization accelerates.

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