...This chapter discusses the lingering memories of unprecedented violence and destruction suffered by Jamaican Maroons more than 250 years ago, particularly for those who were brought up in the ways of the “older heads”. Most Maroons know something of the risks and challenges facing those who first...

...This chapter examines the treaty between the Jamaican Maroons and the British colonizers. It discusses the difficulty for the colonial government to enter into diplomatic relations and negotiating a peace settlement with their former slaves for the cessation of hostilities. It suggests...

...This chapter examines the way the Jamaican Maroons fought for their freedom. It explains that for the Maroons, combat has always been as much a spiritual undertaking as a physical one. It discusses the so-called Kromanti Play, the sanctified space where Maroons “put drum a ring” and call upon...

...This chapter examines the indomitable nature of the Jamaican Maroons. It suggests that the stereotypical labels of Maroons being hot-headed, fiery, and fierce may border on caricature, they hint at an experiential reality. The chapter discusses the important role played by affect...

...This chapter examines the themes of secrecy, trust and betrayal that permeate Jamaican Maroon consciousness. It explains that these linchpins remain at the center of the Maroon ethos and suggests that while these ethical abstractions may well represent human universals, they have unusual salience...

...This chapter discusses the Jamaican Maroons' right to persist. It discusses the reality of globalization brought about by postmodern condition and suggests that the very concept of identity that forms part of the arsenal of threatened peoples is increasingly problematized under the globalized...

...This chapter examines the Jamaican Maroon's recollection of Africa. It suggests that even before the first prophets of Rastafari dreamt of repatriation, the Maroons wore the badge of their ancestry with a defiant sense of pride. Those living in the hills had kept alive the idea of Africa...

...This chapter examines the notion that the Jamaican Maroons are special people. It suggests that for generations no other Jamaicans shared the glorious history of the Maroons in standing alone to seize their freedom from the British colonizers nearly a century before slavery was abolished in Jamaica...

...This chapter discusses the ethnographic future of the Jamaican Maroons. No one can tell how many Kromanti language specialists remain in the Maroon communities in Jamaica. By the late 1970s, there were clear indications that very few among the younger generation were receiving serious training...

...This chapter examines how the Jamaican Maroons imagine themselves and their past. It suggests that it is important to acknowledge the historicity of a large number of Maroon oral traditions and contends that the Jamaican Maroon claims to a separate identity cannot be judged on the basis of how...

...This chapter examines the Jamaican Maroons' recollection of their captivity and marronage. It suggests that the Maroons never needed any help in recalling the ordeal of slavery because their very identity was predicated on a history of resistance to enslavement. Their struggles for liberation had...

...This chapter examines the memorable persons, places, and deeds among the Jamaican Maroons. It suggests that who the Maroons are today certainly has much to do with the deeds of past generations and it looks at the traces these have left in contemporary Maroon expressive culture. It contends...