MAROON CULTURES Creativity and Resistance: Maroon Culture in the Americas

Kenneth Bilby and Diana Baird N'Diaye

In 1739, more than 40 years before the Unit­ maroon escaped his captors and fled into the ed States won its war of independence with interior of the island of Hispaniola. No one can Britain, the British government, then among the say with certainty when the first maroon commu­ most powerful in the world, concluded two nity in the Americas was established, although peace treaties on the island ofJamaica. Those there exists a written document confirming that with whom the British treated were neither Euro­ by the early 1500s a settlement of escaped pean generals nor Native American chieftains. African slaves had already formed on Samana, an They were, rather, enslaved Africans who had island off the northeastern coast of Hispaniola managed to escape plantations and form new (Price 1979: 419). societies in the wilderness. For nearly a century, Over the next three and a half centuries, these escaped slaves had waged a devastating war hundreds more such maroon communities were against the colonists from their strongholds in to emerge throughout the Americas, as slaves the Jamaican hills. Unable to defeat them, the took their chances and broke away from the British were forced to propose treaties recogniz­ mines and plantations of the European coloniz­ ing the freedom that their former slaves had ers in a bid for freedom and independence. already seized, and granting them land and par­ Their exact numbers will never be known. The tial political autonomy. societies they created ranged in size from small The Jamaican treaties were not the first of bands of 10 or 20 people to powerful kingdoms their kind. Similar pacts had been made, for with thousands of members, such as Palmares in example, between colonial governments and Brazil, which spanned more than 1,000 square communities of escaped slaves in Hispaniola, miles. Panama, Venezuela and Ecuador during the No colony in the Western Hemisphere, no 16th century and in , Colombia and slaveholding area, was immune to the growth of Brazil during the 17th century. Yet other treaties such alternative maroon societies. Wherever were to follow the Jamaican ones, such as those large expanses of inaccessible and uninhabited made in Dutch Guiana during the 18th century. terrain permitted, as in the vast Guianese rain­ The story of the - as those who forest or the mountainous Jamaican interior, fled from bondage and their descendants these communities proliferated. Even in the became known - does not begin with these British North American colonies, and later the colonial treaties, but goes back to the very earli­ United States, where unoccupied yet habitable est days of European settlement and in spaces were not as plentiful, more than 50 the Americas. In 1502, a mere 10 years after maroon settlements are known to have come Columbus' first voyage, the first known African into being between 1672 and 1864. We have no way of estimating how many others may have escaped the notice of historians. "Creativity and Resistance: Maroon Culture in the Americas" has been made possible with the support of the governments of In many ways the maroon experience is Colombia, , Jamaica, , and Guerrero, emblematic of broader processes that helped Mexico; Suriname Airways; Airjamaica ; the Texas Commis­ shape the Western Hemisphere. Not only were sion on the Arts and Texas Folklife Resources; Camille 0. and maroons in the forefront of resistance to slavery, William H. Cosby, Jr.; Inter-American Foundation; and the they were among the first pioneers to explore Smithsonian Educational Outreach Fund. and adapt to the more remote, unsettled spaces

54 MAROON CULTURES Brackettville t · ' • 00 ~ ~. ~ \ MEXICO t .\ UNITED ~.... \STATES

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eMalagana ~ Ditsribution of Maroon peoples '" K Kwinti lili] Ndjuka* Palenque de. San B as ilio ~ c:J Matawai lii\il Paramaka 1- El * • * * Maroon peoples participating in the Festival • Maroon communities participating in the Festival

in both American continents and the Caribbean. today are aware that such communities ever Maroons were among the first in the existed. Few history books used in schools in the wake of 1492 to resist colonial domination, striv­ United States give attention to the societies and ing for independence, forging new cultures and cultures that maroons successfully built away identities, and developing solidarity out of diver­ from the plantations. It is thus particularly sity- processes which only later took place, on a appropriate in this Columbian Quincentenary much larger scale, in emerging nation-states. In year to celebrate the histories and cultures of the French colony of Saint-Domingue, maroons maroons, whose heritage of creativity and resis­ helped to launch the Haitian Revolution, which tance has been so much a part of the post­ gave birth to one of the first independent Columbian American landscape. republics in the Americas in 1804. Although there is a large and growing body Contemporary Maroons of scholarly writing about maroons based on Although many withstood military assaults solid archival research, relatively few people for years, most maroon communities were even­ tually destroyed by colonial troops, who usually outnumbered them and were much better Kenneth Bilby and Diana Baird N'Diaye are co-curators of armed. Mter the abolition of slavery, many the Maroon program at the Festival of American Folklife. maroon groups were assimilated into the larger Kenneth Bilby is an anthropologist and ethnomusicologist societies that surrounded them. Of the hundreds who has done extensive research among both the Windward of such communities once spread across the Maroons ofjamaica and the Aluku Maroons ofFrench hemisphere, only a few still exist. Present-day Guiana. He holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from johns Maroon* peoples include the Saramaka, Ndjuka, Hopkins University. Diana Baird N'Diaye is an anthro­ Paramaka, Matawai and Kwinti of Suriname; the pologist on the staff of the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies with research interests in the ethno-aes­ thetics of Africa and its Diaspora. For over 15 years she *The authors have chosen to spell "maroon" in lower case when it is used in its original descriptive sense, synonymous with 'escaped slave'. has designed and facilitated community-based cultural It is capitalized only when used generically to refer to contemporary research and presentation projects. peoples or ethnic groups.

MAROON CULTURES 55 An Aluku woman in Asisi, French Guiana, bakes cassava cakes (baka kasaba). Maroons originally learned this method of food preparation from Native Americans. Photo by Diana Baird N'Diaye

Aluku of French Guiana; the Palenqueros of years of struggle, their freedom was recognized Colombia; the Windward and Leeward Maroons by a j oin t treaty with the French and Dutch in of Jamaica; the Garffuna of the Atlantic coast of 1860. Central America; the Maroons of the Costa The South American country of Colombia is Chica region in Mexico; and the home to the contemporary Maroon community Maroons of Texas, Oklahoma, Mexico and the of Palenque de San Basilio, not far from the port Bahamas. of Cartagena, which was once at the center of Eight contemporary Maroon peoples from the Spanish slave trade. The Palenqueros are six different countries will participate in the Fes­ descended from slaves who escaped from Span­ tival in this Quincentenary year. Three of these ish plantations during the 17th century. Mter peoples come from the Amazon basin in north­ several failed attempts to eradicate them, the eastern South America. The ancestors of the colonial government and the ancestors of the Saramaka began escaping from Surinamese plan­ Palenqueros came to terms between 1713 and tations in the late 17th century; after fighting 1717. against the Dutch for nearly a century, they In the Caribbean island ofjamaica are some made a treaty with them in 1762. Today the Sara­ of the best known contemporary Maroon com­ maka live along the Suriname River in the interi­ munities. The Windward Maroons are based in or rainforest of Suriname. Their neighbors, the the villages of Moore Town, Scotts Hall and Ndjuka or Okanisi (Aukaners), inhabit the Charles Town in the eastern Blue Mountains. and rivers to the east. The They can trace their origins as a people back to ancestors of the Ndjuka, who began fleeing from 1655, when the British seized the island from the Dutch plantations in the early 18th century, Spanish, and a large number of slaves fled into made a treaty with the Dutch in 1760. Across the the hills. In later years these initial runaways Maroni and Lawa rivers in French Guiana live were joined by others from British plantations. the Aluku or , whose forebears began leav­ The ancestors of the Leeward Maroons, whose ing the plantations shortly after the Ndjuka. In main contemporary settlement is Accompong in 1776-7 they crossed from Suriname into French the western Cockpit Country, began to escape Guiana, where they have lived ever since. Mter from plantations in the late 17th century. By the

56 MAROON CULTURES 1 730s, both groups posed such a threat to the adapt not only to the natural environment, but plantation system that the British colonial gov­ to one another's different ways of speaking, ernment had to sue for peace, concluding sepa­ working, praying, governing, staking claims, rate treaties with the two groups in 1739. making music, courting, marrying, giving birth, The Maroons of the Costa Chica area in the bequeathing and dying. Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca are In devising methods of subsistence, military descendants of slaves who began escaping in the strategies, systems of authority and shared lan­ late 16th century from Spanish cattle ranches guages, maroons typically selected from the full and estates along the Pacific coast. When the range of cultural resources available to them­ colonial government launched a military cam­ Mrican, Native American and European. The paign against them, they retreated into more breadth of this spectrum of resources improved inaccessible areas, where they remained unde­ their chances for survival. feated until the abolition of slavery in Mexico in The legacy of this process of cultural 1829. exchange and adaptation is clearly discernible The Seminole Maroons, now divided among among contemporary Maroons. Among the Oklahoma, Texas, the Bahamas and the north­ Ndjuka and Aluku of Suriname and French ern Mexican state of , originated in Guiana, for instance, both the primary staple, Spanish Florida, where groups of escaped slaves cassava, and the methods used to prepare it are from South Carolina and Georgia began seeking of Native American derivation, as is much of the refuge in the early 18th century. Though they technology they rely on for hunting, fishing and developed a close alliance with those Native cultivation. Similarly, two popular dishes pre­ American groups who came to be known as pared by Seminole Maroons in Texas and Okla­ Seminole Indians, these maroons maintained a homa, sujjki and tali, were learned from Native separate identity. Mter the end of the Seminole Americans. In Jamaica and Suriname, on the War in 1842, they were transported along with other hand, contemporary Maroon foodways their Indian allies to Oklahoma. To avoid raids often show a pronounced Mrican influence. by slave-catchers, a portion of the Seminole Palenqueros in Colombia, Windward and Lee­ Maroons moved to Mexico, where their descen­ ward Maroons in jamaica and Surinamese dants, known as Negros , remain today. Maroons employ many different types of animal, During the mid-19th century, some of these Mex­ fish and bird traps of varied origin - Mrican, ican moved to Texas, where they Native American and European. Traditions of joined the U.S. Cavalry as part of a special divi­ herbal medicine, for which contemporary sion known as the Seminole Negro Indian Maroons everywhere are renowned, also reflect Scouts. Their descendants live today in Brack­ all three sources. ettville and Del Rio, Texas. The music, dance, verbal arts and spiritual traditions of contemporary Maroon peoples, Adaptation and Survival in a New World however, are predominantly Mrican in origin. It is difficult for us today to imagine the chal­ But even here there are exceptions. The Aluku lenges faced by the earliest maroons. Runaways of French Guiana, for example, honor their who banded together usually came from several dead with certain songs and dances said to have different parts of Mrica, and thus were divided been learned long ago from Native Americans by differences of culture and language. They with whom their ancestors shared the Guianese found themselves in new and largely unfamiliar rainforest, while the Seminole Maroons of Texas environments, in constant danger of recapture. have an American Indian-style dance called the Sudden attack by colonial troops remained a Seminole Stomp. In contrast, the creole lan­ permanent possibility. Developing means of sub­ guages spoken by contemporary Maroons have sistence and defense were the primary demands vocabularies primarily of European origin, of this new world. though they contain substantial numbers of But the struggle for survival was not limited Mrican and Native American words as well. At a to learning how to live off the land or fend off deeper level, the sound patterns and certain styl­ invaders. In fact, it required the creation of istic features of these languages clearly reflect whole new societies, cultures and languages. In the influence of Mrican languages. forming new maroon communities, culturally Even those contemporary Maroon cultural diverse people were drawn into a complex traditions that are most recognizably of Mrican process of adaptation. They were obliged to origin - those that are devoid of European or

M A ROON CULTURES 57 Native American influence- are outcomes of a ing these tribal chiefs are a large number of vil­ process that long ago blended diverse elements lage chiefs (Kabiteni), under-officers (Basia), and from a variety of different Mrican cultures. For councils in which elders play a leading role. this reason, the cultures of Maroons today are Public issues are discussed and debated, and best understood as creative syntheses that have cases tried and judged, in the context of formal combined and recombined originally diverse meetings known as kuutu. The more serious Mrican elements, as well as non-Mrican ele­ kuutu are presided over by chiefs and prominent ments, in unique ways. This historical process of elders. Kuutu oratory is always interactive and blending and adaptation, resulting in cultures highly stylized, performed as an antiphonal that are simultaneously old and new, has come exchange between a series of speakers and a for­ to be known as "creolization." Creolization has mal interlocutor known as pikiman (literally, "the occurred widely in the Americas over the last 500 man who answers"). Governed by a complex eti­ years and continues to lend our multicultural quette, and characterized by indirection, digres­ hemisphere much of its cultural vitality. For the sion and metaphor, oratory is easily distinguish­ ancestors of the Maroons, this creolizing process able from ordinary speech. was part and parcel of the struggle for survival on Kuutu may be spontaneous meetings of four the fringes of the plantation world. As such, it or five family members who come together to was itself part of the process of resistance. iron out a domestic problem; or they may be carefully planned gatherings in which the para­ Self Determination: mount chief and all the village chiefs assemble to Traditions of Government discuss issues affecting the entire society. Well Creating new societies away from the planta­ adapted to highly fluid social circumstances, tions could not be achieved through cultural cre­ such as those in which the early ancestors lived, olization alone. In order to survive, early maroon the kuutu tradition continues to serve Suri­ groups needed to devise ways of regulating social namese Maroons admirably today. and economic life. Rights and obligations toward also maintain their own neighbors and kin, mechanisms for dispute set­ special system of local government. The Wind­ tlement and rules of leadership, succession, own­ ward Maroon community of Moore Town, for ership, marriage and inheritance all had to be example, is led by an elected chief bearing the established. Free to experiment, maroons suc­ title Colonel, who works together with under-offi­ ceeded in developing a range of political systems cers and an appointed council known as the that effectively fulfilled these needs. Kamati (Committee). Disputes between individu­ In the early days, political organization was als over sections of communally-held Maroon frequently shaped by military considerations. lands - and a host of other relatively minor Strong and able leadership, often backed by reli­ problems- are aired and resolved in the con­ gious sanctions, helped to ensure survival in soci­ text of committee meetings. Issues that concern eties under siege. Among the early maroon lead­ the entire community, on the other hand, ers who achieved fame for their exceptional require larger gatherings called "Township Meet­ qualities were Bayano of Panama, Yanga of Mexi­ ings," to which the general public is summoned co, Ganga Zumba of Brazil, Benkos Bioho of by blowing the abeng, a West Mrican signaling Colombia, Nanny and Kojo ofJamaica, Boni of device made from a cow's horn. Suriname andJohn Horse (also known as Juan This year's Festival is honored by the pres­ Caballo or Gopher John) of the southern United ence of several Maroon leaders, including para­ States and Mexico. mount chiefs from Suriname and French In later years, the treaties many groups made Guiana, and Maroon Colonels from Jamaica. with colonial governments led to a gradual ero­ These distinguished representatives carry on the sion of autonomy. Nonetheless, some Maroon proud traditions of self government established societies maintain distinct political systems stem­ and maintained over the generations by their ming from the early days. Surinamese and predecessors. During this Quincentenary year, French Guianese Maroons, for instance, are they will have the opportunity to meet one headed by paramount chiefs known as Gaama or another for the first time. Gaanman, who are installed with great ceremony and hold office for life. The office of paramount Maroon Arts chief is vested with a great deal of authority, and In spite of the grim struggle for survival that its occupant is treated with great respect. Assist- was part of everyday life in the early days,

58 MAROON CULTURES Maroons were able to create vibrant, distinctive and diverse artistic traditions. These expressive forms- music, dance, verbal arts, foodways, crafts, architecture, personal adornment, and others- drew upon the Maroons' Mrican her­ itage as well as Native American and European resources, but emerged as something new and unique. The very existence of these remarkable Maroon arts demonstrates that even peoples under siege have been able to produce great beauty. They have been able to remain deeply concerned about human intangibles, such as aes­ thetic expression, upon which the quality of life depends. To paraphrase a song composed by Wailing Roots, a reggae band formed by young Aluku Maroons in French Guiana: 'We were slaves and we cried tears of blood, but [the Aluku leader] Boni led our ancestors out of cap­ tivity so we could enjoy life."

History and Maroon Identity in the Present Contemporary Maroon peoples' identities are rooted in memories of the collective strug­ gles from which their societies emerged. In most Maroon communities, a profound sense of histo­ ry pervades present-day life. A Jamaican Maroon from Accompong Town plays the Among the Accompong Maroons ofJamaica, gumbe drum during the annual January 6 celebration in for example, celebrations are held every January honor of the Maroon hero Kojo. Photo by Vivien Chen honoring the great Maroon leader, Kojo, who signed the treaty with the British in 1739. Attend­ ed by thousands of visitors, this annual event conceal themselves from head to toe in the leafy centers on old Maroon songs, dances and cere­ vine known as cacoon. This ingenious camou­ monies passed down from the ancestors. The fol­ flage, which Maroons call "ambush," was used by lowing song speaks of the Maroons' continuing the ancestors during their battles against the tradition of self government: British more than two centuries ago. Every autumn in Brackettville, Texas, the Seminole Law hold-oh! Maroons gather to hold a memorial service at Maroon law hold already-eh the graves of their ancestors and to celebrate Long taiga wallo Seminole Day with stories and foodways passed Law hold-oh down over the generations. In most contemporary Maroon communi­ Law hold already-oh ties, oral historians remain an important source Come give me me note a hand-eh of knowledge about the past. In Suriname, Long taiga wallo Jamaica and elsewhere, narratives about "first­ Law hold-oh time"- the early days of flight and struggle­ are told with great emotion and circumspection, The Maroons' own laws still hold, the song and only in certain contexts. While a portion of asserts, and their right to govern themselves for­ this cherished historical knowledge may be ever has been ratified in writing (to which the shared with outsiders, much of it is held sacred "note" in the song refers). and kept secret. Likewise, the Moore Town Maroons com­ For Maroons everywhere, history is a cause memorate their famous ancestress and spiritual for great pride, a foundation of collective identi­ leader, Nanny, with a festival every October. As ty and a source of strength and confidence as part of the ceremony, Maroon men sometimes they face the future. Although their histories dif-

MAROON CULTURES 59 Members of the Aluku Maroon reggae band, Wailing Roots, prepare for a news broadcast at Studio T.R.M ., an Aluku-run television station in , French Guiana. Photo by Diana Baird N'Diaye

fer, they all speak eloquently of the heritage of must now compete with the allure of the world creativity and resistance that is as important a of outsiders for the attention of the young. Pollu­ part of this hemisphere's experience as the tidal tion impinges on the natural environments in wave of greed, destruction and oppression that which Maroons live. followed Columbus' first landing. Governments have changed hands since the original Maroon treaties were made. Ironically, Maroon Identity in the 1990s and Beyond the ending of colonial rule has left Maroon com­ Maroon communities no longer face the munities with treaties that remain sacrosanct to same challenges that confronted them during them, but which present governments may find their formation. Slavery is gone, but nowadays anachronistic (Kopytoff 1979) . The ambiguous there are new challenges. Though different in status of these treaties has placed Maroon com­ character from the old, they nevertheless threat­ munities in a vulnerable position. It has threat­ en the survival of Maroon communities as dis­ ened the systems of communal land tenure tinct groups with unique identities. Maroon vil­ maintained by several communities, and in some lages are no longer as isolated as they once were. cases has compromised the authority of their In some places roads have been built where leaders. none existed before; in others, new modes of Relationships between Maroons who have transportation, such as airplanes and canoes with left their communities of origin to reside perma­ outboard motors, have made Maroon communi­ nently in the cities and those who have stayed ties more accessible. External pressures ranging home are often ambiguous and sometimes from civil wars to government welfare programs strained. The unique languages, bodies of knowl­ erode and threaten to undermine the freedom edge and skills that are integral to Maroon iden­ and autonomy that Maroons fought so hard to tity and culture are in danger of not being win. A growing number of young people are passed on, and in some cases threaten to disap­ migrating out of their communities to urban pear within one or two generations. centers. Those who stay know less and less about In the face of these challenges, Maroons the traditions of their ancestors. Maroon ways have applied their ancestors' spirit of creativity

60 MAROON CULTURES and resistance in new ways to meet modern cir­ de Friedemann, Nina S. 1987. Ma Ngombe: Guerreros y cumstances. Elected Aluku officials in the Ganaderos en Palenque, 2d ed. Bogota: Carlos Valen­ French overseas department of French Guiana cia Editores. struggle to accommodate a foreign system of gov­ Gutierrez Avila, Miguel Angel. 1988. Garrido y Violencia ernment to their own. Meanwhile, they partici­ entre los Afromestizos de la Costa Chica de Guerrero y pate in conferences with Native American peo­ Oaxaca. Chilpancingo: Universidad Aut6noma de ples of the region to examine whether and how Guerrero. their systems of traditional law can continue to Hancock, Ian. 1980. The Texas Seminoles and Their Lan­ co-exist with French law. Young Ndjukas living in guage. Austin: Published by the Author. the coastal Surinamese capital of Paramaribo Herskovits, Melville]. and Frances S. Herskovits. 1934. have formed social and cultural self-help organi­ Rebel Destiny: Among the Bush Negroes ofDutch zations such as Kifoko to promote pride in their Guiana. New York: McGraw Hill. own heritage, and have begun to preserve and Hurault,Jean. 1970. Africains de Guyane: La Vie document their own cultural traditions. Commu­ Matbielle et l'Art des Noirs Rifugies de Guyane. Paris nity historians among the Texas Seminole are and The Hague: Mouton. becoming curators and documenters of their Kopytoff, Barbara. 1976. The Development of own heritage and are making sure that it is rep­ Jamaican Maroon Ethnicity. Caribbean Quarterly 22 resented in broader celebrations of African­ (2/ 3) . American history and culture. Jamaican Maroon ___ . 1979. Colonial Treaty as Sacred Charter of leaders in Moore Town and Accompong are the Jamaican Maroons. Ethnohistory 26. working to educate and encourage younger Lenoir,]. D. 1975. Surinam National Development Maroons in the traditions that are their and Maroon Cultural Autonomy. Social and Econom­ birthright. These elders are also investigating ic Studies 24. ways of developing a sensitive and respectful type Price, Richard. 1976. The Guiana Maroons: A Historical of cultural tourism that would provide employ­ and Bibliographical Introduction. Baltimore: Johns ment for their children and might encourage Hopkins University Press. them to remain in their home communities. Price, Richard, ed. 1979. Maroon Societies: Rebel Slave Though the challenges that faced the earli­ Communities in the Americas, 2d ed. Baltimore: Johns est ancestors were of a different kind, similar Hopkins University Press. questions - of adaptation and survival, self­ Price, Sally. 1984. Co-Wives and Calabashes. Ann Arbor: determination and identity, and innovation and University of Michigan Press. continuity- are very much alive for their Price, Sally and Richard Price. 1980. Afro-American Arts descendants. In the closing years of the 20th cen­ of the Suriname RainForest. Berkeley: University of tury, these questions remain as much a part of California Press. Maroon existence as they were nearly 500 years Robinson, Carey. 1992. The Iron Thorn. Kingston: ago when the courageous ancestors of these peo­ Kingston Publishers Limited. ple first began to fight for the right to remain Stedman,John Gabriel. 1992. Stedman's Surinam: Life their own masters. in an Eighteenth-Century Slave Society, ed. Richard Price and Sally Price. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Citations and Further Readings University Press. Aguirre Beltnin, Gonzalo. 1958. Cuijla: Esbozo Etnogra­ Thybony, Scott. 1991. The : A Tradi­ fico de un Pueblo Negro. Mexico: Fondo de Cultura tion of Courage. Smithsonian 22 ( 5). Economica. Bilby, Kenneth. 1981. The Kromanti Dance of the Suggested Listening Windward Maroons ofJamaica. Nieuwe West-Indische Drums ofDefiance: Maroon Music from the Earliest Free Gids 55(1/ 2). Black Communities ofJamaica. Smithsonian/ Folkways . 1989. The Aluku and the Communes: A Prob­ 40412. lematic Policy of Assimilation in French Guiana. From Slavery to Freedom: Music of the Saramaka Maroons Cultural Survival Quarterly 13(3) . of Suriname. Lyrichord 7354. Campbell, Mavis C. 1988. The Maroons ofjamaica 1655- jamaican Ritual Music from the Mountains and Coast. 1796: A History of Resistance, Collaboration and Betray­ Lyrichord 7394. al. Granby, Massachusetts: Bergin and Garvey. Music from Saramaka: A Dynamic Afro-American Escalante, Aquiles. 1979. El Palenque de San Basilio: Tradition. Smithsonian/ Folkways 4225. Una Comunidad de Descendientes de Negros Cimarr6nes. Musique Bani et de Guyane. Disques Vogue/ 2d ed. Bogota: Ediciones Editorial Mejoras. Musee de l'Homme 290.

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