We don’t seem too willing or able to get rid of Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, but we may soon get our own local king.
Ta da King Richard the
1V!
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| Chief Currie |
Yup, for that’s probably
where the new Accompong Maroon chief wants to go.
It’s no joking matter though, for the Maroons have been the only true revolutionaries in Jamaica.
When the British chased out the Spaniards who had brought them from Africa as
slaves, they refused to be re-enslaved, so fought for their freedom. For eighty
years they fought guerilla warfare against the British and eventually, their
leader Cudjo signed a peace treaty in 1739.
Among the conditions agreed to under that treaty were; the Maroons would end attacks on English settlements
and they would be given their own lands and autonomy. But the part that still
leaves the bitter taste in the mouths of most Jamaicans is that they also agreed
to, and did return slaves who ran away from the British.
In 1865, National Hero Paul Bogle suffered the ultimate price for this treachery.
However, since independence,
they have been peaceful and productive citizens in Jamaica.
Now clearly, the new
leader, Richard Currie has romantic ideas of being Cudjoe reincarnate,
with all the revolutionary zeal that comes with that name.
Belatedly, he is
claiming that the Maroons are the indigenous people of our island.
What happened when I
wasn’t watching? Because it has long been established that it was the Tainos
who were! The updated version of our history is based on the premise that some Tainos
escaped to the hills, procreated with the Maroons, so their descendants are
the indigenous people.
Should we therefore do DNA
tests to see who from the diverse Maroons qualify on the grounds that they
have Taino blood?
Next, according to Chief
Currie, Accompong is a sovereign state!
Even if the Maroons are the indigenous people,
(using the new criterion) are there any other indigenous people anywhere in the
world who have a sovereign state?
Last year August,
assuming sovereignty I guess, a group of Maroons chased away members of the
Jamaica Constabulary Force who were searching for marijuana fields on their communal
lands. In a video clip following that incident, Chief Currie appeared with what
was said to be a rifle slung across his shoulders. He described this as
being a means of protecting his people. His ancestors, he said,
had bows and arrows; modern times demanded modern weapons.
Ominous indeed!
Then in early January
this year, leading up to the 284th anniversary of the Maroon Treaty, the
police warned against the traditional big celebrations in Accompong because of
COVID-19 protocols but they ignored the warnings. The event was held, violence
broke out among patrons and one person was shot dead and several others were
injured.
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As they now move full
speed to become a sovereign state, l guess the plan is to finance it as we do, begging
other country for alms!
Or is it the smell of
big bucks from the granting of a license to mine bauxite in a section of the
Cockpit country, owned partly by the Maroons, which is driving this new thrust?
Things are changing fast
among some Maroons I dare say.
I remember once
travelling to beautiful Millbank, in Portland and meeting the Moore Town
Maroon leader. I instantly fell in love with the entire area that they occupy in
the Blue and John Crow mountains, where the lazy Rio Grande River
meanders lazily through the cool, lush countryside.
I have also been fortunate enough to have already visited the Charles Town and Scotts Hall Maroon settlements. Fortunate I say, since no one who knows where this new revolutionary thrust will end up.
Will the day soon come when we need visas to visit Maroon lands because Richard 1V managed to unite all the Maroons and become their king?
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| The abeng, once used by Maroons to communicate |
Today, that sounds like wild
speculation, but these days, one can never write off erratic leaders or
speculate exactly how they will change things. For, even the powerful USA, once
considered a stable democracy, is now unrecognizable, thanks to an
equally erratic leader.
So let's hope this situation does not deteriorate to the point where we hear the blowing of Abengs and the beating of Maroon drums, for we already have enough violence and turmoil in our beautiful tiny island.
