What does maroon mean in Jamaica?
The Maroons were escaped slaves. They ran away from their Spanish-owned plantations when the British took the Caribbean island of Jamaica from Spain in 1655. The word maroon comes from the Spanish word ‘cimarrones’, which meant ‘mountaineers’.
What religion do the Maroons practice?
While the traditional religion of the Maroons was absorbed by Christianity due to conversions in Maroon communities, many old practices continued on….
| Jamaican Maroon religion | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Afro-Jamaican |
| Theology | Obeah |
| Origin | Slave era Jamaica |
| Merged into | Christianity |
What did the Maroons do?
Enslaved Africans who fled to remote mountainous areas were called marron (French) or mawon (Haitian Creole), meaning ‘escaped slave’. The maroons formed close-knit communities that practised small-scale agriculture and hunting. They were known to return to plantations to free family members and friends.
What do the Maroons eat?
The Maroons also raised fowls, and bred cattle and hogs. Nonetheless, they still grew fruits and vegetables. These included “plantain, Indian corn or maize, yams, cocoas, toyaus, and in short all the nutritious roots that thrive in tropical soils”.
How did the Maroons survive in the mountains of Jamaica?
The other Maroon groups remained independent in the mountainous interior of Jamaica, surviving by subsistence farming and periodic raids of plantations. Over time, runaway slaves increased the Maroon population, which eventually came to control large areas of the Jamaican mountainous interior.
What is maroon Kromanti dance?
Kromanti dance or Kromanti play (capitalised to Kromanti Dance or Kromanti Play) is a Jamaican Maroon religious ceremony practiced by Jamaican Maroons. It is rooted in traditional African music and religious practices, especially those of the Akan people of Ghana.
What happened to the original Maroon people of Jamaica?
The other Maroon groups remained independent in the mountainous interior of Jamaica, surviving by subsistence farming and periodic raids of plantations. These initial Maroon groups faded from colonial history records, possibly migrating to more mountainous or remote regions of the interior.
Who were the leaders of the eastern Maroons?
At this time, the leaders who emerged in the Eastern Maroons were Quao and Queen Nanny. The Windward Maroons, in the wilder parts of eastern Jamaica, were always composed of separate highly mobile and culturally heterogeneous groups.
When did the Windward Maroons come to the aid of slaves?
In April 1760, the Jamaican government called upon the maroons to honor their treaties and come to their assistance during the major slave uprising led by the Fante leader, Tacky. The Windward Maroons were first to be mobilized.