Maroon Heritage Archaeological 2000 University Press of the West Indies Emmanuel Kofi Agorsah

8/13/2019 Maroon Heritage Archaeological 2000 University Press of the West Indies Emmanuel Kofi Agorsah

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Maroon Heritage


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ArchaeologicalEthnographicandHistoricalPerspectivesedited by K o f i Agorsah

G hOiPitW B A R B A D O S ^ J A M A I C A T R I N I D A DA N D T O B A G O

M a r o o n H e r i t a g e


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CanoePressT heUniversityof theWest Indies1A AqueductFlats,Kingston 7,Jamaica1994 by Canoe Press. All rights reservedPublished 1994Printed and bound in Canada999897969594 6 5 4 3 2 1ISBN (pbk) 976 8125 10 1CataloguinginPublication DataMaroon heritage: archaeologicalethnographic and historicalperspectives / E.K ofiAgorsah, ed.;withforeword byB.W.Higman.p. cm.Paperspresentedat asymposium onMaroonheritage held 18-19 October 1991 at theUniversityof theWest Indies, Mona, Jamaica.Includes bibliographical references.ISBN 976812510 11.Maroons-Jamaica-Congresses.2.Maroons-History-Congresses.3.Maroons-social lifeandcustoms-Congresses.I.Agorsah,E.KofiF1893.M3M371994 972.92

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Maps:p.38 -Courtesy National LibraryofJamaica;p. 66 -CourtesyUW IMona ArchaeologicalR esearchProject(U M A R P)Photocredits:p. 115 -Courtesy National ArchivesofJamaica; pp.174-75,177-80- CourtesyEKofiAgorsah

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Foreword viiAddress byP rof. E. N. Ugochukwu ixPreface xiiAcknowledgements xixoneBackground toMaroon Heritage iE. KofiAgorsahtwoT rje T rue T raditions of my Ancestors 3 6Col.C. L. G.HarristhreeAccompany Maroons ofJamaica 64Colonel Martin-Luther WrightfourMaroon Cultureas a Distinct Variant ofJamaicanCu ltu re 72.KennethBilbyfiveMaroons and Reoels(a D itemma) 86CareyRobinsonsixMaroon Heritage in Mexico 94JoePereira

Contents v

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seven"ResistanceScience":A frocentric Ideo(oa$in V icR eid'sNannyT own 109Carolyn CoopereightNanny,Patmares&t^eCarntteanMaroon Connexion 119K amau B rathwaitenineCharacteristicsofM aroonMu sicfrom Jamaica and Suriname 139Marjorie W hylie and M au reen W arner-LewistenMaroon Warfare:T ^eJamaican Mo5e{ 149A lbert Edw ardselevenA r c h a e o l o g y ofMaroonSettlements in J a m a i c a 163E.K ofiAgorsahBibliography 188Index 2.04Contibutors 2.09

List o fFigures

1.1 Locationsof NewW orld M aroons / 31.2 WestA frica: vegetation and clim atic zones /121.3 EthnicgroupsofW estA frica /142.1 Moore T ownin1782 /383.1 A ccompong settlement / 666 .1 M aroon settlementsinM exico / 9511.1 TheM aroonsofJamaica today / 16611.2 A ccompong T own qu arters / 171

11.3 LocationofN a nn y T ow nin BlueM ountains / 173I IA N anny T own si te / 17611.5 Gold Coast (1655 ) showing coastal king dom sandK romantse /184

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Foreword

T hepapers published inthisvolumehad their originin aconferenceonMaroonHeritage heldat theUniversityof theWestindies,Mona, 18-19 October 1991.T h atconference w asmemorable for anumber ofreasons.

Scholars oftenchoosetokeepadistance between themselvesandtheir subjectsofstudy.T heconferenceonMaroon Heritage w astherefore unusualin themannerinwhichitbrought together observerandobservedon an equal,mutuallyreinforc-ing basis. Academic researchers came from Jamaica andother partsof thehemi-sphere, andMaroons camefromtheir main bases inJamaicaAccompong, MooreT o wnand Scott's Hall. Papers were delivered byboth Maroonsand academics,an d dialogue flowed freely.Maroons have never been marooned in thesenseofbeing lost, castup insomeisolated, desolate place, without networksto thewider world. They have alwaysbeenin theworld and of theworld.A nacceptanceofthis pastan dpresent interac-tiverelationship isessential for the f u t u r epreservationofMaroon heritageaswellas thestudy ofMaroon peoples andtheir history.

Maroon communities have been studied frequentlyandintensivelyby theout-side scholarly world. What scholars have said andwritten about them finds itsw ayback into th eculture, one way oranother. This in turn adds to thestoreofknowledge, whetherit berightorwrong,and canentertheoral tradition. Studentsoforal historiography callthis th eproblem of feedback. T he bigquestion here ishow farwhat scholars think they arelearning frompeople astheir oral traditionisreally aproduct ofexposure to thewider world, includingthescholarship ofthatwider world.Nooral traditionispure,and nowritten document offersanunblem-ished record ofexperience. Scholars working with written documents, however,arealmost always reading accounts createdby theoppressors rather thantheoppressed. This carriesits ownspecial dangers,aspapersinthis volume indicate,complicating theproblemoffeedback.Theinterface betweentheoraland thewrit-tenbecomes extremely busy, and itbecomes increasingly difficult to identify andseparateth esource-origins of theheritage.

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I feelhonoured by the factthat yo urecognize thatas theresident representativeofAfricaon the island, it is appropriate to associate me with this symposium. I want tocommend the organizers of this symposium for their foresight and I have specialcommendationfor theMaroonsfo rtheir active participationin theanalysesanddis-cussion of research results on their heritage. This is a practice that should be encour-aged because it provides the opportunity also for community participation inresearchventures at alllevels.

Iaminformed that this symposium w asoriginally planned as alocal Universityactivitybut has nowturnedout to be aninternational eventwith participationofpanelists fromsuch places as theSmithsonian Institution an d N e w YorkUniver-sity, theInstitutefo rPolicy Studies, WashingtonD C, theCave Hill campus of theUniversity of theWest Indies, an dother areas.I amalso informed that mostof theparticipants paid their way tocome tothis conference. Thereis,therefore,aclearchallengetoJamaicanstosustain this interest.

When the British conquered this island in 1655 it soon became clear to them thatth efreedom-fighting Maroons were a force to bereckoned with. Apart from th elaterrise in thenumber ofblack slaves and itsattendant complex organizationalneeds, as aresult ofcolonial economic policy, th ecolonial power recognized th eescapeecommunity as a legacy that was todetermineor rather influence thecourse ofevents. This issupported by the fact that th eBritish,from th etimeo fCharles 11 in1658toGeorge 111 in1795, had toceaselessly grapple with thedesperate fight of theslaves,w howere struggling fo rtheir freedom,and escapeesalso struggling tomaintain their freedom.A close examinationof thecultural his-tory ofJamaica indicates clearly that th eMaroon society provided acultural linkbetween the indigenous societies of the island and the Spanish settlers on theone hand, and the English on the other. Historically, this is s ig nif icantbecauseitindicates that th ehistory of theMaroons ofJamaica is notonly alink, but hasbecome andremains in itsentirety apartof thehistorical period.T heimportance

Opening Address ix

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ofMaroon heritage as a majorcultural element that runs through th ehistoricalperiodin thecultural developmentofJamaican societyisthus incomplete withoutretracingthecourseofthismajorthread.

ManyaccountsinhistorymisrepresentandmisinterprettheMaroons. Theyareconsidered asrebels rather than asfreedom fighters.I amtold thatso faronly oneauthor has had the courage to use a title for his book which emphasizes the pointof the fight for freedom. T he book is entitled T h eFigh ting Maroons, and I ampleased to learn that the author will be actively participating in this symposium. Isalutethisscholar, andhopethat themessageof the freedom-fighting people willbe drivendeepinto the minds of people to correct a wrong notion that has heldsway fo rcenturies.

Ihave heard criticismswhisperedagainst th ereal motives of theMaroons intheir campaigns against th eBritish.Inotice that therei sstilla bad feeling in the Ja-maicancommunity about events surrounding attempts by apartof thecommu-nitytrying toestablish analternative lifestyle tothatof theplantation system onth eone hand, while on the other acting as informantsagainst others of their owncommunity tryingtorebel againstthesame system. Many peoplefinditcontradic-tory,bu tthisis not new inhistory. Examinationofevents inother places,forexam-ple amongst the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, reveals similar contradictions.Evenmodern daypoliticalandmilitary situations abound with repetitionsofthiskind ofthing observed inJamaica.I tmust beborne inmind to othat th e furtherbackwe go in history the closer we come to divergences of language and cultureamongst th eethnic Jamaicans, many ofwhom still retained their tribal languagesandcustoms which often cu tacross national identity,if it iscorrecttoapply thistermtothoseperiodsinhistory.

However,as acountry tryingtoestablishanational identity, theseissuesneedsomemoreseriousexaminationanddiscussiontopavethe way forreconciliationan d peacefulco-existence.I t is forthis reason thatm yHigh Commission has, overth eyears, provided strong support for alleffortsgeared towards issues ofculturalimportance suchasthissymposium willbeaddressing.A l lo wme to acknowledge the important role played by my predecessor, ProfA defu yehimself ahistorian,w homaintained astrong link withth eMaroons.I amgoingtomaintain,strengthenand diversifythis link during m ytourofduty.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to congratulate the University researchcommittee, and specif ically th e Department ofHistory of theUniversity, andspecially D r Kof iAgorsah and theFacultyo fArts and General Studies forthisfineinitiative.Let me u sethis opportunity toextend ahand offellowship to theHistory Department and theFacultyofArts in any and allmatters pertainingtoth eteaching ofA f ri c anhistory andculture.

I t is, in myview, important that Jamaica consider Maroon life as apositivesharing experience and examine the implications of learning fromthis experi-ence to build more positively at the community level. This includes sharingMaroon values with the younger generation. TheMaroons themselves mustalso realize that the old enemy isgonebut thata new andmore seriousone

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lurksaround the corner. The new enemy, economic servitude, must be foughtby all Jamaicans as onepeople,everyone contributing their bit.T heprogrammefor thesymposium isclearin itsobjective.O neeffective way tocarry on thesearch that would provide aclearer appreciationof theneed for themuch desired peaceful co-existence is the inter and multi-disciplinary approach.W hyand how have Maroon communities kept their values alive over all theseyears?How havethesevalueshelpedthem and for how long will they remain dis-tinctive?What are theimplications fo rassimilation? These are thequestions thatoughtto beuppermost,inadditionto thepurely academic examinationof the is-sues ofthissymposium. It isimportant toexaminethepast Maroon heritage.It isequally important toexamine it as it istoday. But it iseven more important tospeculate aboutits f u t u r ebecause thatis thetime when f u t u r egenerations willneed to understand and know the true nature of their heritage.(Abridged versionof th eOpening Address by Professor E.N. Ugochukwu,High Commissionerof th eFederal RepublicofNigeria to Jamaica, at theSymposium onMaroon Heritageheld 18-19 October1991at theUniversity of th eWest Indies, Mona)

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T w othingsare clear. First, all contributors emphasize the significance of theMaroon heritage in the Caribbean as an indispensable element within and of thecultural history of theregion. Secondly, al lcontributors stress th asignificance ofth eneed for adeeper analysis of"resistance" history in the N ew World. A thirdtheme raisedbymany contributors tothis volume identifiesanddiscusses thephenomenon of"resistance" as animportant elementin theshapingof thehistoryof the N ewWorld,and thegeographical distribution ofMaroon resistance groupsin the Caribbean and adjoining areas. In addition, the implications of maronageand its associated developments in the New Worldsuch as guerrilla warfare, thetreaties,theimpactoncolonial policy directions,theenvironmentandenviron-mental adaptation, art andartisticexpressionsarediscussed.

Resistance is a phenomenon that cannot be separated from slavery or oppres-sionashas also been repeatedly stated byseveral scholars suchasSingleton[1985]BecklesandShepherd [1991], Heuman [1986]andtherefore remainsan in-separable part o f N e wWorld History andparticularly Caribbean History [AugierandGordon 1962].Thedevelopment ofresistance groupswas adirect responsetothecruel torture devicesonslave shipsand on theplantations, suchas thewhipsand guns, posses of soldiers and dogs sent afterescaping slaves, horrible punish-ments and executions of"troublemakers" [Beckles 1986; Brathwaite 1977; Price1992; Robinson 1969].These experiences were life-threatening enough for theenslaved toresorttodefensive violence. Archaeologicalandhistorical studies rec-ognize thesignificance of"resistance" as animportant element in theshapingofNew World History [Agorsah 1993, Beckles 1986, Price1973].This is even moreimportant for theCaribbean wherethebestexamples ofresistanceto slaverycan beobtained [Augier andGordon 1962, Halland Beckford I960].

On their arrival in the New World, in their lust for power and precious metalsandotherwealth,theSpaniards encountered many local ethnic groups suchas theLucayanoslivingin theBahamas [Keegan 1987; Keegan, StokesandNelson 1990;xii MaroonHeritage

Preface


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Loven1935],theBorequinosinPuertoRico[Alegria 1980],and theTainosinCuba[Barroso1984],theDominican RepublicandHaiti [ArromandAravelo 1986]andmuchof theeastern Caribbean inhabitedby theCaribs whose ferocitypreventedEuropeancolonizationofislandssuchas Grenada and St Lucia. Parry and Sherlock[1965], record that there were "negroes"onboard thevesselsthat brought theSpanish adventurers to the New World. As the Spaniardsforcedthe Indians andtheir slavesonboard theirvesselsthey escaped, sometimesinsmall groups, intohiding.Forexample,it isreported thatasearlyas1502an A f ri c anslave escapedfrom his enslaver into the interior hillsofHispaniola andthat during theearlypartsof the16th century strongholds establishedbyescaped A fric anslaves alreadyexistedon one of the islands referred to asSamana,off the coastofHispaniola[Price1973].Thesegroupseventually developed into Maroon communitieswhowere certainly not the only resistance group in the Caribbean but whose activitieshave recurred throughout, and shaped thehistoryof thecolonial period in theNewWorld.

Lookingintothe f u t u r eof theresearchonMaroonshasreliedonobservationsofthemodernway oflifeof theMaroons. MaroonChiefsvery proudly recount someofthese traditional practices that serve asauthentic indicationofcultural continuityfromtheir past. Ethnographic evidence indicates some continuitiesof the lifeof thedaysofmarronageand itsattendant warsofresistance.Thestudyof thetraditionalsystemsofWestA frica isparticularly importantfor theCaribbeannotonly becauseofthelink withtheslave tradebutalso because WestA fric ansocial systems suchasthose extantinA fricabeforeand aftercolonial contact present several authentic char-acteristics ofgeneral development thatformthebasisofobserved continuitiesin theCaribbean. Maureen Warner-LewisandMarjorieWhylie provide verygoodexam-plesofsuch linksin the form,styleandcontentofMaroon music.

Although transformations have been observed inseveral aspectsof thetechno-logical[Goucher 1991]and social systems [Kopytoff 1973; Alleyne 1988]andeveninphysical types[Wattersetal. 1992],therestill remain many detailed aspectsoftheseandother related areas that could indicatethetrend,aswellas the force,oftheimpactof thevarious changes which have occurred over time. Ethnographi-cally,many aspectsof theWestA f ri c ancultural traditionsbeforeEuropean contactcouldhelptoidentify transformations resulting fromthat contact, particularlyaf-ter AD1500and theyarecriticalforexplaining cultural continuitiesin theCarib-bean. Family systems, language, ethnicity, religion, festivals,marriage patterns,art,musicanddancearesomeof theareas with evidenceofobserved continuities.However,thenatureof theimpactfrom A fr icaon anycultural practicesin the NewWorldwilldependto avery large extenton thepartof the A fric ancontinent fromwhich they derived. Personal names such as Cudjoe,Cu ffee,Quao, Sambo; placenames suchasKonkonsa Ceitful ,AccompongandAbeokuta;the use of thesideblown horn (bugle) knownby thenameabengamongtheAkanofGhana; namesand techniques of drums and drumming; hunting techniques; musical and relig-iousforms;names suchasp rakofor pig and nsuoforwater, known amongtheAkanofGhana;andeventheapproachtosettling disputesat thelocal leveltheseand

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many such examples should provide good bases for ident ifyingcontinuitiesand explaining the nature and mechanism of the funct ionaladaptations of theMaroons. Colonel C.L.G. HarrisandKennethBilbyprovide numerous examplesofthiskindofevidenceofcontinuityinlanguageandexpressions.Together,theseindications suggest that research into Maroon heritage must consider both sides ofthe Atlantic.

The Maroons can be credited with many achievements. They became the fron-tline fighters in the struggle against slavery in all itsvarious forms. Before anyknownstrugglesforindependencein the NewWorld, Maroon communities haddevelopedstrongideasan dstrategies ofself-sufficiency, self-helpandself-relianceandfought with great skill andcourage for theright to selfdetermination. Also,the communities managed to unite people who had come from diverse back-grounds and regions of the world, speaking different languages and practising di-verse customs and traditions. A frican traditions featured prominently in theformation an d transformation of theways of life ofthese groups throughout theentire period oftheir struggle. It is,however, difficult toclearlyidentify al laspectsof th e Africanelements retainedby theMaroons. Althoughth em ajority of the Ma-roons consisted of slaves derived from West Afr ica whose cultural traditionsshould help to identifyany retention and how these may have contributed to thesurvival of the Maroons, the fascination with the stories about the Indian in theN ew World which persists among scholars todayon avarietyoflevels needs to betaken into consideration. F orexample, among scholarsofCaribbean archaeologyth eIndian hasbeen therecipientof thecredit fo rmany,if notall,of theCaribbeanprehistoric cultural traditions. It isspeculated that this cultural background bothconstituted the basis of what early Maroons developed and survived, emphasizingthe cultural link [Price1976,1973;Campbell 1990; Agorsah 1993].

Results of recent research inCaribbean archaeology demonstrates that th edevelopment, growth andsurvival ofMaroon societies provided acultural linkbetween theindigenous societiesand theSpanishon onehand,and theEnglishon the other. Historically, this is significant because it indicates that the historyof th eMaroonsofJamaicais notonly th emost important link, but hasbecomeand remains in itsentirety apart of thehistorical period. T heimportanceofMaroon heritage as a majorcultural element that runs through the historicalperiod in Jamaicacan, therefore, not be over-emphasized. A reconstructionofcultural development in the Caribbean and particularly in the Jamaicansocietyisthus incomplete without retracing th ecourse ofthis majorthread.

T hestudy of some contemporary Maroon societies provides some indicationsofaspectsof the nature and mechanism of culturalcontinuitiesamong them. Newways of lifeusing the oldways of theAmerindian and the A fricanwere utilized.Hunting, fishingand farming methods recapitulatedoldpractices.F orexample,among Suriname Maroons (the D j u k a ) ,methods used to prepare cassava whichwas the staple food, remained the same although one could also liken that methodtopreparationof thegarioryakeyakeof theAnloofmodern Ghana and ebaamongmodern Y oru baofNigeriainWestA frica.Thism ayindicate both Amerindianan d

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West A fricanconnections. Similarly,aspecial food made from corn (maize) andcalleddukunuamong Jamaican Maroonsispreparedi n thesameway andbearsthesame name as in modern Ghana, again showing African influence. Suffki or toli,tw overy popular dishesof theSeminole MaroonsofOklahoma an dTexas, alsoap-pear to have been inherited from native Americans. Contemporary fishingandtrap-settingtechniquesaswellastraditional herbal medicine amongtheMaroonsinSuriname andJamaicainparticular reflect Amerindian, A frican andEuropeansources.It isobservedthatintheirattempttosurvivethestruggletomaintain free-dom, theMaroons devised methods ofsubsistence, military strategies, systemsofshared authority, shared languages, compromising oneachother's different waysofreligious practice, speaking, marriage systems, birthanddeath rites, ownershipandproperty control, music anddance, utilizing th ewide range ofA frican,Euro-peanandAmerindian cultural resources availabletothem.

AccordingtoKenneth Bilby(writinginthis volume),themusic, verbal artsandspiritual traditions ofcontemporary Maroons remain predominantly A frican. A sin A frica, these featuresofMaroon culture are notseparated. They formpartsofeveryday lifeinactivities that weaveoneintoanother. However, certain other ele-ments have been identified indance, fo rexample: such as anAmerindian-styledancecalledSeminole Stomp amongtheSeminole Maroons;and insongsto thedeanconsideredamong th e A l u k u o fGuiana to be ofnative American origin.Marooncultural development has thus been formation and transformationof amixture ofdiverse cultural elements fromboth sides of theAtlantic. ThroughM a-roon activitiestheheritage ofMexico, Suriname, Jamaica, Cuba, Colombia, NorthA merica andmany parts of the N ewworld arelinked toothers of the OldWorld.Theyprovidenotonlyth ethreadbu talsoth econtext.

Thegreatestsuccessesof theMaroons arerecognizedin their military abilityandleadership. Veryableandcharismatic leadership enabled them toattain theirgoals intheir struggle. Amongth eMaroons ofJamaica,Nanny, Cudjoe, Quao andAccompong arenames to remember. Among those fromother Maroon societiesthere were leaders of exceptional qualities, such as Y a n g a of Mexico, Boni ofSuriname, Bayano ofPanama, Ganga Zumba of Brazil,BenkosBioho ofColombia,and John Horse (sometimes referred to as Juan Caballo or Gopher John) ofSouthern USA and Mexico. Political organization appearsto imitate traditionalsystems ofA frica. F orexample, inJamaicathehead of thegroup is referred to asColonel (also called Chief)ofMaroons,and thena Major and Captains in thatorder,each with specific rolestoplayin theadministrationandpolicy making withthehelp of aCouncil ofElders (Kamati) (committee?).Similarly, Maroon groups inSuriname andGuyana have paramount chiefsknown asGanmanorGaama.H ewields aconsiderable amount ofpower an d authorityan drespect. H e isfollowedby EdeKabiteni (head chiefs) and Kabiteni (villagechiefs) an d Basia (sub-chiefs)comprising women and meninthat order. Meetings (kuutu) areheld fo rseveraldifferent issues as requiredforadministration ofjustice, policy formulationan dsettlement ofdisputes.Family organization (matrilineal or patrilineal) continues to be thecoreof the

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familysystem. A tAccompong on eobserved areflectionof theimportance of thefamilyin itsextended formevenin thelocationanddistributionoffamilyresiden-tial areas. This follows arule of family relationshipsapattern established fo rmanypartsofWest Africa [Agorsah1985,1990].

Wood and calabash carving, body scarification, decorative art on walls,named hair styles, as well as rituals of all kinds clearly represent continuitiesfrom A frica although one can hardly identify the specific areas from whichmany of the traditions were derived. The use of drums and side-blown cowhorns as means of communicationsome of these bearing the same names asused among some A f ri c an societiesclearlyemphasize the point that Marooncultural traditionspossessa remarkable number of direct and sometimes spec-tacular retentions. Theverbal arts such asplay languages, folktales, proverbsandspeechesandspirit possession arealso rooted in awide varietyand rangeofstyles basedoneveryday languages. Richard Price concludes that these"keepalive alarge numberofdistinctive esoteric languages used onlyinspecial ritualsettings".

Carolyn Cooperand K a m a uBrathwaite shouldbecommended forpresent-ing in thesmall space availableinthis volume informationon theGreat Nannyof Jamaicathat could fillvolumes. Carolyn's statement that "marronage shouldberecognizedas thenatural responseof freepeopletodehumanizing attemptstorestrictandrestructurethem"contends, andrightlyso,that "Caribbean his-toriography needs to place the resistance science of the Maroons along a broadideological continuum of cultural autonomy that manifested itself, howeverguardedly, even within the very belly of the plantation. Indeed, the well-docu-mentedconflictsofinterestbetweentheJamaican Maroonsand theslavesma-rooned on theplantations clearly resulted from a toonarrow definitionof w hoconstituted th ecommunity ofessential political affiliation".

Nanny is one of themost celebrated females in theresistance history of theNew World.It is not surprising that almostall thecontributions refer to herachievements. There may have been more than one Nanny, but Nanny of theexcavated Nanny Town (the subjectof Kof iAgorsah's chapter onarchaeologyinthisvolume), epitomizes thetrue spiritandroleof theCaribbean womaninthe f i g h t forfreedom and human dignity. Cooper fur ther quotes apoem byLouise Bennett,J amaican Oman,andsuggestshow "itestablishesin theopeningtwoverses. . . thecunning Jamaican woman and then proceedsin the thirdversetosummons Nanny, wittily suggesting theunexpected complementarityof th emilitant,magico-religiouspowers of theancestor f i g u r e" :

JamaicaOmancunny,sahIs h owdemjinnal so?Lookh owlongdem liberatedAn de man dem never knowLookh owlongJamaicanoman Modder, sister,wife, sweetheart

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Outa road aneena yard deh ponAdominateherpartFromMaroonNanny teckh er bodyBouncebulletbackp on man,T o when nowadaysgal-pic kney tunSpellin-Beechampion.

Nanny symbolizes th epride of theCaribbean woman. Brathwaite, Bilby,Cooper,Harris,and Edwards makethispoint very strongly. Her role as a true model of thetrue Caribbean womanmay besummedup inCooper'swords:

T h eambiguous imageofdomesticity andmilitancy that the combole embodiesis rep licated inReid's presentationof th efunction ofwomen inMaroonculture.Nanny is thep rototype ofallless celebrated,unnamed Maroon women w h oexcelled atbothth edomestic artsofnurturance and themilitary artsofsurvival.Maroon women,a smuchasmen, were warriors activelydefending their comm-unities. I f slavery was thefirst equal opportunity for employers o f black men andwomentocite JohnnettaCole th efree societiesof JamaicanMaroonsalsoprovided equalopportunities for men andwomen toengagefully in thedouble-sided l i f e of th e community.

Other writers such as Awang [1991], Beckles [1989], Bush [1990], Goveia[1970], Mavis Campbell [1990],Green[1992] Terborg-Penn [1986] havemostre-cently demonstrated in their studies how continuities of the Nanny examplem aybeidentifieda s asignificantone in thehistory offreedom fightingnotonlyinthe Caribbean, but in the New World as a whole.

Maronage (petit orgrand marronage) had aresidual effect on theplantation sys-tem and was notjustabargaining strategy forbetter treatment on theplantationbu talsothemain basisfor theformationofMaroon societiesw hoeventually tookth eleadership in the fight against slavery. Maroon history provides avery goodexampleof howcolonial people played oppressed offagainst oppressed. Both th e"blackshots"employed (as akind ofgendarmerie)tohelp curb Maroon activitiesin theearly 18th century,and theMaroonswholaterhelpedcolonialpeople(as on-hand militia) to control those marooned on the plantations as mentioned in contri-butionsbyPereira, BrathwaiteandCooper, were ignorantof thefactthat they werebeing played offagainst each other inorder tosustain th eplantation economy.T heevents ofthis aspect ofCaribbean history have hadserious implicationsforth eunity and understanding of thecommon heritage shared by allCaribbeanpeople. Continued reference to incidents after th epeace treaties continues tocausebad feeling among Caribbean societiesasdemonstratedbyRobinson.Forthe A f ri c anhistorian this strategy would not be considered as new. Playingoppressed groups offagainst each other is ahistorical phenomenon known inevery partof theworld andcontinues to bepartoftoday's politics.It is inconsid-eration ofthisthat researchers should begin toidentifysimilarities or continuitiesin the struggle against slavery and human degradation. Understandingthe

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n a ture and mechanism of the functional adaptation of Maroons and marronageand the intricacies of hum a n s urv i v a l is ofu tmost importance for am e a ni n g f u lre-creation of c u l t u r a l development in the Caribbean an d indeed in the N ewWorld.A n abundance of ethnographic data isavailable.T he archaeology isj us t at theinitial stages. Maroon experience is a t ru ly African an d A merican experience an ditsn a tu r e and mechanism offormationan d transformation need to be explainedand understood. Wh y ? A s K enBilbyand N 'D i ay e [1992]have put it:becau se

Not only weretheMaroons in theforefront o f resistancetoslavery, they wereamong the first p ioneers to exp lore and adapt to the moreremote,uns ettled spacesinbothAmerican continentsand theCaribbean. Maroons were among th efirstAmericans in the wake o f1492 to resist colonial domination, strivingfor inde-p endence, forging new c ultures and developing solidarity out of diversity p roc-esseswhich only later took place, on a larger sc ale, in emerging nation-states. T hecultural uniqueness o f Maroon soc ieties rests firmly on their fidelity to "African"cultural principles...whetheraesthetic, political,ordomestic, rather thanon thefrequency o f their isolated "retention" o f form. Maroon groups had ararefreedomtodevelopand transform African ideasfrom avariety o f societiesand to adaptthem toch angingcircumstances. With their hard-earnedfreedom andresilientcreativity they hav e built sys tems that are at once meaningfully African andamong th emost truly "a live" among African-American cultures.I consider this volume a humble beginning. Its development and birth, as isu su ally the case, rested on the head s of the contribu tors who, I w ou ld say, deserveevery credit. I pay special tribu te to ou r M aroonChiefs whose contributions makethis volume the only one of its kind in Maroon heritage studies, for here we arew ith the researched and the researcher engag ed in a dialog u e with a comm on goal.

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N ow thevolu me isborn.Helpingtogive birthto it has notbeen easy,and toppingthe list is the Institute of Caribbean Studies (ICS), particu larly its Chairman, MrJoePereira, senior lectu rer in the D epartment of Spanish and a contribu tor to thisvolum e. T hank you, Joe, for you r su pport, hard w ork and dedication toward thepublication ofthiswork. T hesupportof the Embassy ofMexico and theNigerianHigh Commission in Kingston is respectfully acknowledged with many thanks. Iwish to express sincere gratitude to the Insti tute of Jamaica and p a r t i c u la r lyMrs BeverleyHall-Alleyne, the Jamaica N ational H eritag e Trust ,particu larly MrA insley H enriques, Chai rman of the Boardof D irectors and DrPatrick Bennett,ExecutiveD irector;to thepresident an d membersof the A rchaeolog ical SocietyofJamaica, p a r t i c u la r ly M r Basil R e i d , M r D err i ck Gray, M r Samuel Bandara,M sElaine Grant,M sM arcia Pitt, M r A lbert Edw ards (acontributor tothis volu me),and MsA u d reyFrancis;to theChiefsandpeopleofA ccompongand to theMooreT o w n Maroons, particularly Colonel Martin-Luther Wright and Colonel C.L.G.H arris (contribu torstothis volu me), and Major A arons.T oProfessor M ohamm edWader (Political Science), Professor Candice Goucher (Black Stu dies), and D rFrancisW ambalaba(Black Studies and D epartment ofE conomics),all ofPortlandStateUniversity,Oregon, USA , as well as Professor Chris D ecorse (D epartmentof A nthropolog y, Syracu se Uni versity), I express deepest appreciation for theinvaluable contributions tothis pu blication.

Ifthisvolumeisreadableandbecomesawelcome additionto your librariesit is because of the hard work and expert advise and support of Ms LindaCameron, D irector of The Press UWI, and all the staff of that institution. I alsowish to thank D onny M iller, M anag er of the University P rinters Ltd, UW I, andhis staff, as well as Beresford Callum (the Jamaica N a t i o na l H e ri ta ge T ru st),K a r e nT hompson (the A rchaeology Laboratory), A rleneBarnes (Office of D i s-aster Preparedness), and S haron N iemczyk (Portland State Uni versity) for thei l lustrations. My sincerest gratitudegoes, not least of all, to Mrs Hope Seniorand M s Ju lliet Williams and fellow members of staff of the D epartment of

Acknowledgements x ix

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H is t o ry p a rt ic u l a r l y Professor Barry H i g m a n f o r th e encouragement andsupport and forsponsoring thesymposium onMaroon heritagetheresultofwhichis thematerialofthisvolume.It isimpossibletolistall who contributedtothis volume,for to do sowouldbe toincludethenamesof all theparticipantsof thesymposium,particularly those whose papers, for severalreasons,couldnot be included in this volume, as well as the members of the Maroon culturalgroups. To each and every one of "the unknown contributors" I wish, on behalfof all of us who present th e material in this volume, to say as the Ewe ofGhana would put it "akpe namikataa " (Th a n k you all ).

KofiAgorsahJune1994

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B f l c ^ r o M M O to Maroon Heritage,E . K o f iAgorsah

IntroductionLustforpowerandpreciousmetals attracted Columbusand theSpaniardsfartherandfartherintothe NewWorld where they encountered many local ethnic groups,such as the Lucayanos, living in The Bahamas [Keegan 1987; Loven 1935], Borequi-nos inPuerto Rico [Alegria 1980],andTainosinCuba[Corso 1988],Jamaica,theDominicanRepublic and Haiti [Arrom and Aravelo 1986].

Muchof the eastern Caribbean was inhabited by the Caribs, whose ferocitypre-vented European colonization of islands such as Grenada and St Lucia. Parry andSherlock [1965] record thatthere were"negroes"on board thevesselsthat broughtthe Spanish adventurers to the New World. Some of them reportedly escaped tofreedom to join the local groups in the interior and inaccessible regions [Guillot1961].

AstheSpaniards forced theIndiansandtheir Spanish slavesonboard their ves-sels they escaped individuallyor insmall groups into hiding.Forexample,it is re-ported [Price 1979] that in 1502 an A fricanslave escaped fromhis enslaver into theinterior hillsofHispaniolaandthatduringtheearlypartsof thesixteenth century,strongholds established by escaped A frican slaves already existed on one of the is-lands referred to asSamana,off thecoastofHispaniola. These groups eventuallycrystallized intocommunitiestoday referredto asMaroon. From their settlementsthey fo u g h tback against their pursuers to retain their freedom.

Resistance is a phenomenon that cannot be separated fromslavery or oppres-sion [Singleton 1985; BecklesandShepherd 1991; Heuman 1986].Thedevelopmentof resistance groupswas adirect responseto the cruel torture deviceson slave

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ships,thewhipsandguns,possesofsoldiersanddogs sent afterescaping slaves,horrible punishments and executions of "troublemakers" [Beckles 1986; Brath-waite 1977; Price 1992; Robinson 1969].These life-threatening experiences wereenoughfor theenslaved toresort todefensive violence.Forexample,it was theMaroonswho spearheaded the Haitian revolution which resulted in the declara-tionofthat countryas the firstblack republicin the NewWorld.

Although there were many such communities between the sixteenth and nine-teenth centuries, today they have been absorbed into the larger communities espe-cially afterpeace treaties weresigned.

Someof theknown Maroon communities include thoseofeasternandwesternJamaica; theParamaka, Saramaka, MatawaiandKwintiofSuriname;theAlukuofFrenchGuiana;thePalenquerosofColombia;the G a r i f u n aof theAtlantic coastofCentralAmerica;theMaroonsof theCosta Chica regionofMexico;theQuilombosofBrazil;theCimarronesofCubaand theSeminole MaroonsofOklahoma,Texas,Mexico and TheBahamas.

RichardPrice [1979:1] indicates various terms used to describe these societies,suchasp alenques, quilombos,mocambos,cumbes,ladeiras,or mambises.Owing to thedifferent circumstancesand areas inwhich the societies were formed, differentdefinitions havebeen usedtoreferto thepeoplemakingupthosesocietiesand thegeneral references that could be made to them asidentifiablesocio-culturalgroupsorgroupings.

Generally, the Maroons consisted ofgroups or communitiesofenslaved in-digenousandAfricanpeopleswhoescaped frombondage andestablished viablecommunitiesinvarious partsoftheir territories,andfoughttomaintain their hard-won freedom.

There still remain Maroon societies invarious partsof the NewWorld,whichhavepreserved theiridentitiesas thecreationandembodiment of thespiritsof theheroicfreedomfighters [BilbyandN'Diaye 1992;Garcia1965; Genovese 1979] (seeFig. 1.1).

TheMaroonsofJamaicahave been very well known becauseoftheir long strug-glewiththeBritish colonial authorities, who had topassmore thanfortylawsinfranticattemptstocontrol them. These communitiesare nowlocated around themaintownsof NewNanny Town (Moore Town)andScott'sHallin theeast, andAccompongin thewestof theislandof Jamaica.Archaeological evidence [Agorsah1992] indicates that the nucleus of the Maroons in the east consisted of variousgroupswho livedin the inaccessible areasof the B l u eMountains,before,orcer-tainly duringtheperiodofSpanish domination, whenalarge numberofslaveses-capedintothehills. Documentary evidence [Morales 1952; Bryan1971] indicatesthatin the early sixteenthcentury,the Spanish government attempted toflushoutsomeof theslaveswhowent into"maronage" (fl ight) intothe B l u eMountains,where theyhadestablished themselves.

InSuriname thereare theSaramakawhoescaped fromplantationsin theearlyseventeenth century, fought againsttheDutchformore thanacenturyand finallysignedatreatyin1762giving themtherighttocontroltherainforestregionof the

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Fig 1 1 ocationsof NewWorldMaroons

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basinof the SurinameRiver.Inaddition thereare theOkanisi (Aukaners), popu-larlyknownas the D j u k a,whosignedtheir peace treaty withtheDutch colonizersin1760 which gave themcontrolof theTapanahoneyand theCottica basins.TheA l u k u or Boni,having come over fromSurinamee into French Guianaand havingstruggledtomaintain theirfreedom,sealedby atreatyin1860,nowlive acrosstheMaroni and Lawarivers inFrenchG u i ana.Duringtheseventeenth century, slaveswhoescaped fromSpanish plantationsinColombia established their communityatPalenquede SanB rasilioneartheportofCartagena. They gained recognition an dpermanent controlof theareaaftersev-eralattemptstoexterminate themfailed.Theresultwas apeace treatysignedwithth ecolonial government in 1717. Manyof the slaves w howent into flight in theCosta Chica area ofGuerrero and Oaxaca inMexico, had escaped from Spanishcattlerancheson thePacificcoast. Their retreat into most inaccessible areas madei timpossible for thecolonial government tosubdue them. T heconflictended aftertheabolitionofslavery inMexicoin1829.

T heSeminole Maroons consisted ofgroups ofslavesw ho escaped from SouthCarolina and Georgia andsought refugein Spanish Florida,in thesoutheasternUnited States where they established their earliest settlements. They establishedgood relationships with the indigenous groupswho cameto beknown laterasSeminole Indians. They are nowdivided andsettled inOklahoma, Texas,T h e B a -hamas and thenorthern Mexican stateof Coahu ila.Together with their Indianal-lies,theseMaroons weredeportedtoOklahoma aftertheSeminole warsandsomeofthem later moved toMexico where they arereferred to asNegros Mascogos. Acentury later, someofthem again moved backto Texaswhere they were engagedtoserveas aspecial military unit referredto asSeminole Negro Indian scouts.Indian escapees (indios bravos)were the firstknown Maroonsto bereferred to as"cimarrones"inCuba. They werelaterjoinedbyothersofA fricandescent. Attemptstowipe out thecimarrones inCuba, like those inother Maroon areas,failed. In1868,adecree which abolished slavery recognized theexistenceof thep alenques.

T heMaroons, clearly,became th e frontline fighters in thestruggle against slav-ery in all its forms. Before any known struggles fo r independence in the N ewWorld,Maroon communities had developed strong ideas and strategies fo r self-sufficiency, self-help and self-reliancea ndfought with great skilland couragefo rtheright toselfdetermination. Thecommunities managed tounite people whohad come from many different backgrounds and regions of theworld, speakingdifferent languagesand practising diverse customs and traditions. A frican tradi-tions featured prominently in the formationan d transformation of the way of lifeof these groups throughout th eperiod oftheir struggle. It ishowever difficult toclearly identify al laspectsof the A fricanelements retainedby theMaroons.It is re-corded thatthe majority of theMaroons consisted ofslaves derived from WestA f-rica,whose cultural traditionsshould help to identify any retentions and howthesemayhave contributedto thesurvivalof theMaroons.Although devoid ofremote mythologies an devidence ofgreat antiquity of theorigins of man and thedevelopment of hisearly cultural traditions, as ischarac-

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T heprehistoric periodT he prehistoric period in the Caribbean is divided into two: EarlyPrehistoric AgeandLate Prehistoric Age. Thisperiodcoversthetimesof theearliest human beingsin the Caribbean and adjoining areas where Maroon societies took seed. It coversth eperiods termed Palaeo-Indian I and II andMeso-IndianbyKozlowski [1974]andRouseandAllaire's [1978]Lithicperiod.T hemain featuresofthis period, fromavailableevidence, include bifacially-chipped stemmed projectile points, chop-pers,scrapers andleaf-shaped (tanged) arrowheads,allmadeofstone.Thesocie-tiesmayhave been huntingandgathering groupsinvarying degreesandintensityover time.Theearliest evidenceknown so farcomes fromVenezuela, where thisassemblage isdated to7,000 years ag o [Rouse an d Allaire 1978] at the sitesofCaroniin the Middle Orinoco basin area (5000 BC) and El Jobo.

Finds from th esite ofBlanchisseuse inTrinidad [Harris 1989]arethought tobelong tothisperiod as well. The only Lithic Age f indsin the Lesser Antillesconsists ofwhat hasbeen described asworkshop debris offthecoast ofAntiguaonLong Island and flint flakes andshell celts found in ashell mound at thesiteof Jolly Beach, dating to approximately 2000 B C [Nodine 1990]. From th eGreaterAntilles the Ea r l yPrehistoric Age evidence comes fromthe DominicanRepublicwhere datestobetween3000and 2000BChave been obtained fromth esites ofCasimira [Cruxent andRouse 1969],and fromHaitifrom th esitesofCabaret and Mangones. Evidence comes from Cuba in thepresenceof highlydeveloped lithic industries which have been observed [Nunez 1948, 1963]anddated at the sites of Seboruco to about 4000 BC, Residuario Fuenche to about2050 B C andGuayabo Blancoto1300B C.

Kozlowski[1974]has oftenreferredto acombinationof thelithic materialfromSeboruco inCuba [Moure 1984]andMordanin theDominican Republicasrepre-senting a dominant lithic tradition in the Greater Antilles, calls it the Seboruco-MordanCulture (i nwhich case the newscheme willcall it acultural complex).I tmay be observed that the dating of the earliest period in Caribbean chronology de-creases intime, as onedraws aline from the northern coastofSouth Americaacross theLesser to theGreater Antilles. This isoften th ebasis of the diffusionisttheoriesregardinghumanmovements which constituteawhole subject that can-not bediscussed here.

The second stage of the prehistoric period which continued fromthe earliest signsofsettlement and theadvent ofceramic traditions alsosaw theearliest developmentofagriculturein theCaribbean.I tcovers what Kozlowski [1974]refers to asForma-tive period, orwhat Rouse an dAllaire [1978]refer to asArchaicandCeramic.T helast partofthis Late PrehistoricA g e isconsidered as theperiod ofagricultural socie-ties,theearliest partbeing consideredas thetransitional period between themandthe hunting and gathering societies predominantly non-food producers. The LatePrehistoricAgetherefore includes Kozlowski'sNeo-Indianperiod.

Numerous Late Prehistoric A g eceramic manufacturingan dearly agriculturalsiteshave been identified in theCaribbean. Again,theearliest evidence comes from

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Venezuela,where sites includeLaGruta datingtobetween 1585and2140BC,LosMerecurotes 1020BC,Parmana700 BC,Saladero 920-850BC and LosBarrancosAD580[SanojaandVargas1983].O ften,findsfrom these sites have been consideredasrepresenting specific ethnic groups or populations by the use of terms such as"Saladoid"or"Barrancoid","series","people"[RouseandAllaire 1978],or themorepreferableterm, "Saladero complex". An attempt has been made by Rouse to corre-latethe distribution of the Saladero cultural complex with the linguistic evidence thatshows the divergence of the Maipurau and the known proto-Arawakan languagegroups. This cannotbediscussed ful lybecauseof aninabilitytocheckfordetailsatthis time.

Evidence of the Late Prehistoric Age in Trinidad comes fromthesiteof Banwari[Harris1989] dating toapproximately 5000-4000B C andPitch Lake (500 BC). Fromthe Lesser Antilles evidence of cultural material that dates to the early centuriesADhascome from thesiteofJolly BeachinAntigua [Nodine1990].Other sitesinthe Lesser Antilles include Chancery Lane and Silver Crest among others in Bar-bados [Drewet 1991], BananaBay in the Grenadines, aswellasToumassee,Gi-randyand Lavoultein St L u cia .However, theearliest datefor thearea seems topointto thetimestheJolly Beach findsinAntigua.

TheLate Prehistoric Age in the Greater Antilles shows chipped and peckedstone tools, grinding stones and pestles alongside pottery and several middensites. Sitesin theVirgin Islands include KrumBay(880 BC), Cancel Hill (870BC)and Aboretum (AD50). Puerto R i c oisrepresented by the sitesofCayo Hondo(1060BC), Cayo Cofresi (325BC) and Hacienda Grande(AD120). Mordan (2610BC),ElPorvenir(1030 BC),ElCaimite (180BC) and SanJuandeMaguana(AD695),are the main sites in the Dominican Republic representing the LatePrehistoricAge; while White Marl(AD877)and BottomBay (AD650) provide theearliestknown traditioninJamaica [Robotham 1980]. Sitesofthisage inCuba includeResiduarioFuenche(2050 BC), Damajayabo (1200BC),and Mogotede laCueva(AD330).

One featu reof theLate PrehistoricAge is the regional diversification repre-sentedby agradual shift fromthebroad baseofcultural complexestoregionalorzonal traditions.

Thereason is that as the traditional societies gained greater control over the en-vironment, the adaptive mechanisms began to crystallize into distinct traditions.While it appears that developments in some areas followed roughly parallelcourses, in other areas, as expected, these processes followed completely differentcourses. This regional diversification is a phenomenon observed for cultural tradi-tions reaching that stage of development in various parts of the New Worldas wellas in Europe and A frica.The reason may be found in the environmental resourcedifferences.Forexample, Cuba, withaland areacomprisingmorethanhalfthe to-talareaofAntillean islandshasterrestrial, marine, freshwaterandestuarine envi-ronmental conditions which are significantlydifferent from thoseof thesmallerislands, particularly in the eastern Caribbean. Even among islands in close proxim-ity,suchas thelow-lying limestone islandsofBarbudaand thevolcanic islandof

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Montserrat(only1 0 0kilometres apart),differencesexistin theenvironmental con-ditions andresources. Evidence alsoshowsthat while someof thetraditionsbe-came more complexand grew faster, others developed slowly until very recenttimes.

T hehistorical periodT hehistorical period is aconvenient divisioninCaribbean chronology that attemptstodeal with th econtactof theregion with cultural traditions fromoutside. Specifi-cally,th eperiod refers to theearliest contact with European cultural traditions andstarts at different times in differentparts of theregion,although by andlarge suchcontacts coverthelast500yearsin thegreater part.

T wosub-periods areproposed for theperiod [Agorsah 1993],th e first onebeingthetransitional period withthe endstagesof the LatePrehistoricAgewhich con-cerns evidence of thecontacts with th e cultural traditions of the Mesoamericanareasuchas theMayan traditionsandtheAndean cultural areas,aswellas theear-liercultural traditions of thenorthern South American coast that interacted withtheother Caribbeanand adjoining areas.

T hesecond historical period begins withthecontact between EuropeanandCar-ibbeantraditions.InJamaica,forexample, this last sub-period couldbebroken downinto (a) theSpanish era and (b) theEnglish era. These may be further sub-divided,dependingon thepreferredgroupingof theeventsof thegeneralperiod.Itappearsthat it isduring this period thatthe formation ofMaroon societies startedinearnest.

The difficulty inarchaeological reconstruction of thehistoricalperioddoesnotli ewith th echronology becauseof thesupport it has fromdocumentary evidence,suchaspublic records [Garrow1986],censusmaterials [Moran 1986], maps [Hig-man1986], missionary records [Whiteman 1986],andtravellers' accounts suchasthereportbyColumbus on hisfirst encounter withthepeoplehe met in thearea.T hemain issues needing attention continuetoinclude: theidentificationof thearchaeological proofof theethnic elements car-ried over from th eprehistoric into th ehistoric period, artifactpatterns

and howthey leadto theidentificationofsocioeconomic lifestyles;"Afro-Caribbean traditions"and theidentificationof theelementsofcon-

tinuityintraditions,and theprocesses thatled totheir transformation[Armstrong1982,1985].

These andother issues, more than th echronology,a revital to thestudy of theperiod,butcannotbediscussedhere.

I t isunfortunate, however, that Caribbean historians have accepted th eerrone-ousclaimofearlyscholarsthat relates theearly populations of theCaribbean tothose "observed"fornorthern America"Palaeo-Indians","Indian groups",aswell aseven thosecasually referredto intravellers' report. Fascination with thestory aboutth eIndian persists among scholars todayon avarietyoflevels. AmongscholarsofCaribbean archaeology, theIndianhasbeenrecipient of thecreditfor8 Maroon H eritag e


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many, if not all, of theCaribbean prehistoric cultural traditions. Rouse [1982] intracing continuities in norms in ceramic stylistic features in the Caribbean duringthelaterstagesof theprehistoricperiod,drewtheconclusion that"stylesandtheirseries are analogous to languages and their famil ies" astatement that he may notaccept intotality today. However, this view demonstrates thebasisformanyof thepioneer chronological schemes drawnfor theCaribbean. Although thehistoricalperiodcan beclearly identified inmany areasof the NewWorldasbeginningwithEuropeancontact,the true picture of a transitionalperiodbetweenthe prehis-toric and historicalis still unclear with respect towhether it isreferred to as"preColumbian"or"protohistoric".However,it is the A f ri c an background thathasbeen emphasized inmuchof thediscussionof theformationandtransforma-tion ofMaroon societies.

African foundationsThedevelopment andgrowth ofsocieties andsocial organizations ofWest Afr ic aareclosely linkedwith thoseof theAfricancontinent. So are thelinksofAfricanwith Maroon societiesof the NewWorld, particularlytheCaribbean.Thestudyofth etraditionalsystems ofWestA frica isparticularly important for theCaribbean,notonlybecauseof thelink withtheslavetrade,butalsobecauseWest Africanso-cialsystems present several authentic characteristics of general development (suchassystems extanti nA fricabeforea nd aftercolonial contacts) thatform th ebasisofobserved continuitiesin theCaribbean. Although transformations have beenob-served inseveral featuresof thesocialsystems,there still remain elements thatin-dicatethetrend aswellas the forceof theimpactof thevarious events that haveoccurred over time.

Manyaspectsof theWest African cultural traditions beforetheEuropean con-tactcould helptoidentify transformations resulting fromthat contact, particularlyafterAD1500,and arealso criticalforexplaining cultural continuitiesin theCarib-bean.Family systems, language, ethnicity, religion, festivals, marriage patterns,art, musicanddancearesomeof theissuesofrelevance thatneedto bediscussed.These aspectsof theWestA f ri c ancultural systems related closelytopolitical, eco-nomic and technological systems of the area. Fortunately, with the increase inscholarly studiesandwith the aid of newscientific research methodsand tech-niques,many of the misconceptions about the A frican,his continent and its pasthave been corrected.Forexample, A fr ica hasbeen viewed as ahomogenous cul-tural entity withasinglestreamofcultural development. Thisis nowprovento beerroneous.Itmustbenotedat theoutsetthatas aresultof thecombination of itslong history, sizeandvery varied environmental setting, A fr ica hasdevelopedahighly heterogeneous society, more than can be found elsewhere. With such het-erogeneity camethedevelopment ofvaried traditional formsofsocial organizationandinstitutions.It isalsoimportant toassociate theethnicgroupsofsocialsystems

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with specificgeographical areas or social groups which constituted the context inwhich we observe cultural practices and transformations that possibly cut acrossethnic areasandboundaries.But onethingisclear about Caribbean culture,andthatis the factthat itdeveloped from amixtureofcultural traditions ofwhichA f-rican culturewas animportant component.Thisis anissuethatneedsto bedis-cussed much more seriously.

Archaeological andhistorical evidence available indicate thattheearliest formsofsocial organization in West Afr icadate back toprehistoric times. T heturningpointofthis developmentoccurred in many parts of WestA frica in the wake ofEuropean andother outsidecontacts. But the foundationhadbeen establishedprior to that.

T heprehistoric periodApproximately 10,000 years ago, in many parts ofA frica,the fundamental changeofutmost importancewas theoriginofagriculture. Implicitinthiswas theearlybeginnings ofcontrolled foodsupply an ddevelopment ofmore permanent settle-ments [Phillipson 1985; Clark, 1982]. The pioneering technology and new settle-ments of the Stone Age man were closely linked with the need for foodas well associal organization.Societiesmoved andcooperatednotonly becauseof theloveofadventurebu tmuch more because they wanted freshpasturesorfields toculti-vate.With increased supplies of food provided by farming and improved tooltypes,settlements grew largerandlarger causingthe"splitting-up"ofgroups,andasthecenturies passednewgroups begantospread. Social relations became morecomplex, languagesincreasednotonlyinnumberbut incomplexityand individu-alityas well, resulting in the hundreds of languages and dialects observed today.Developing along with these have been strong and viablefamily groupings,dans,villages,cities, kingdoms and traditional industriessuchaspottingan dmetal working.Good examplesof theevidencecome fromancient Nigeriaand theSudanic areasofWestA frica.Other developments included customs relatedtobirth, initiation,m arr iag e,pu-rification and funerals. Inaddition, there cametraditional religious, aswell asharvest ,reunionand thanksgivingfestivals; social relationships andtaboos;andvariousaspects of art and craftsuch assc ulp ture,architecture,pa inting and basketry, ceramic,textile an d metal industriesall ofwhich began todevelop towards th ediversitythatcharacterizedthe West A fricanculture at thetimeofEuropean contact. Ourlimited sources include archaeology, travellers' accounts, ethnography, linguisticsandhistorical documents.

T hehistorical periodK a m a u Brathwaite [1988], a leading West Indian cultural anthropologist, pointsout thatWestIndians seeking their identity require an objective study of the trans-atlantic tradeperiod,andespecially thebackground folkcultureof theslaves.The10 Maroon H e r i t a g e ,


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WestA fricanslave must beseen ascomingfromquiteafa rdistance awayfrom th eoriginal areaof histraditionandplanted in a newenvironment towhichhemustadapt, usingtheavailable toolsandmemoriesof histraditional heritage.Theslavese tsomething newsomethingC a r i bbean bu tsomething recognizably A frican.Clearly,likethestudyofother cultures, understanding theroot A fricanheritageasitevolved beforeandduring slaveryisespecially importantto anunderstandingofpresent-day Caribbean societies.

One maywellask ifthere is anyju stification fo rthis. Although theyare not al-ways totally reliable, available figures suggest that throughout th eentire periodofth eslave trade,th eCaribbeanwas therecipientof thelargest numberofslavesim -ported from A frica,receiving over4 3 percentof allslave imports [Postma 1990].Jamaica,Haiti,Cuba, theLeeward Islands andBarbados weretheislands thatre-ceived thelargest number ofthese slaves. A nestimateofabout sixmillioni spro-vided for theslaves imported. Given th evast number ofA fricansimported, therecanbe nodoubt that Africans made an important contribution notonly to thepopulationof theCaribbean regionbu talsoto thecultureof theregion.

A t th etimeof theintensificationof theslave tradein theseventeenth andeight-eenth centuries, important socialandeconomic systems were already establishedin West-CentralA frica.A g r i cu l tu r ewas thebasisformostof theeconomic activityinthis region. Slash and burn and crop rotation were the main techniques used incropproduction. Hoes and axes were the most important tools used. The maincrops grown were millet, sorghum,maize,beans and cowpeas. While agriculturewas themain economic activity, not all the A fricans living inWest-CentralA fricawere farmers. Those who lived in areas where grass or savanna lands existed wereforthemost part pastoralists. They reared cattle,goats,chickens, ducksandpigs.A p a r t fromagriculture andanimal husbandry, at thetimeof theslave tradeA f ri c an s inWest-CentralA f ri c awere also skilled craftsmen andcraftswomen.They produced irongoodssuchasknives, arrowheads, axesandbracelets.Thepotteryindustry was also well developed. Items such as cooking utensils, ves-sels forstoring cornandbeans and forbrewing beer were also made.A fricans inthis region were also skilled in mat-making, leather work andwoodcarving.Woodcarverswere responsible for theproduction ofchairs, mortars, handlesforiron implements and tables. A s far asoccupations were concerned, it isclearthattheslaveswhocameto theWestIndies from theWest-Central A f ri c anre-gion possessed avarietyo fskills.

I ncontrasttoWest-CentralA frica, th eslavesw howere takento theWestIndiesfromWestA fricacamefromaregion whichhadgreater varietyinclimateand ge-ography an dbelonged to different ethnic groups (Fig. 1.2).T heslaves came fromtw o majorclimatic zones in West Africa: th eforestsand thegrasslands.T he forestregion stretches across WestA frica; fromSierra Leone in the west to the Cameroonin theeast. I treaches from th ecoast fo rabout20 0miles. F ormuch of theperiodpriorto thedevelopment of theAtlantic slave tradetheforestsofWestA fricaweresparsely populated. This was mainly because of the hot, humid conditions, thedensity of the vegetation and the presence of thetsetsefly (an insect which kills

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Fig.1.2 WestA frica:vegetation andclimatic zonesanimalsandcauses sleeping sickness inhumans).Nevertheless, by thetimetheslave tradedeveloped, A fricans such as the Yoruba and Ibo(Nigeria), the Fon(Togo), and theAshanti (Ghana)hadsucceeded inovercoming someofthese bar-riersand hadsettledinvariouspartsof theforest.A s aresultof thethreat posed toanimalsby thetsetse fly,themajority ofslavesdrawn from th e forestregion would have been involved insome form ofagricul-ture.Themaincrops cultivatedincludedyamsandoil-palm (which wereindige-nous to the forests) together with rice, cassava and maize which were introducedas aresultofWestAfrica's contact with areasin theAmericasandAsia.A fricansofth e forestregionsofWestA fricawerefor themost part agriculturalists.

Despite its importance, agriculture was not the only means through which Af-ricans who lived in the forest region earned their livelihood. Those who lived in theA k a nforests would haveh adsome knowledge ofgold mining, smeltingand forg-ing [Goucher1990,1991]becauseinAkan states sucha sGyaman,BonoandBandagold miningandprocessing weremajoreconomic activities.Inaddition,theAkanspeaking peopleof the forestregion were also skilled atpottery [Crossland 1989],th espinning an dweaving ofcloth andmanufactureofsoap.

Women played an important role in specialized occupations among theY o r u ba and Ibopeople w ho dwelt in the forests of West A f r i c a . F orexample,Y o r u ba (Nigeria) and Brong (Ghana) women made dyes, manufactured sheabutter and produced palm-oil and cosmetics. They also dominated occupations

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suchashairdressingand tattooing. AmongtheIbo,women tended todominatethe same type ofoccupations,one of theexceptions being that they werere-sponsiblefordecoratinghousesandbuildingandplastering walls.In additiontotheseoccupations, the forestdwellers were also skilledatmaking pins, stir-rups, horse-bits,bells,chains, bangles, hoes, cutlassesand in theproductionofmusicalinstruments suchasdrumsand f lutes.Slaves drawn from theforestre-gionofWestA f ri c awere well equipped tomakeasignificantcontributionto lifein theWest Indies.

Savanna or grasslands cover asubstantial portion of the land area calledWest A frica.Thespeciesofgrass wouldhave varyingheightofbetween fivetoten feetas onemoves north tosouth. However,inparts suchas theGuineaSa-vannah theycould growas much as fifty feet inheight.Thetsetsefly is preva-lent inthis areaand as aconsequence animals cannotberearedinordertomakealivelihood. This area was sparsely populated and agriculture formed the basisofeconomic activity.

Inother partsof the Sudanicgrasslands, especiallytheareas aroundthehead-waters of theNigerRiver,thepracticeofagriculturewas themain means throughwhich A f ri c an shere earned their livelihood.Thecrops cultivated included pearlmillet, sorghum, cowpeas,bambara groundnutandcotton. Inother areasto thenorthandeastof themain river systems, especiallytheextensive open plains,therearing of animalsespecially cattle,donkeys,horsesand camelsis the most im-portantoccupation. Becauseof theneedto find landtograze their herds, mostofthe pastoralists in the Sudanic zone were nomads.

Ingeneral, therefore, slaves drawn from thesavannaorSudanic zones camefromaregioninwhich agricultureandpastoralfarmingwerethedominant meansby which people earned a livelihood. Agriculturewas particularly importantamong theMandingo speaking people suchas the Soninke,Malinkeand theBam-bara; theMossi,theSonghaiand theHausa (Fig. 1.3). Pastoral farmingwasveryimportanttopeople suchas theFulani,theonly peoplein West A f ri c a towhomitbecameafundamentalway of life.Despite their overall importance, agricultureandanimal husbandry werenotthe only means through which Africans in the savannah or Sudanic zonesearned alivelihood. Some people earned alivingasblacksmiths; others wereskilled in theproduction oftextiles and avarietyof leather goods (includinghides, shoes and bags), the makingofboatsand canoes, and in f ishing. Liketheir counterparts in the forests, A f ri c a ns in theSudanic savanna zones alsomade musical instruments suchasdrums, f l u tesand rattles. Liketheir counter-partsin the forest zone, therefore,theslaveswhowere drawn from thesavan-nah orSudanic zones came fromoccupations which would have enabled themtomakeanimportant contributionto lifein the WestIndies.

ThemajorityofCaribbean slave imports came from twomain areasin A fricatheLower Guinea coastandWest-CentralA frica,inpart icu l arAngola.In theSudaniczonein areas such asHausaland,parts of the Senegambia and lands lying to thenorthof theAkanforests, foodstuff suchasrice, groundnuts, millet, sorghum, dried

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Fig.1.3 EthnicgroupsofWest Africafish and fruits andvegetables werethemain itemso ftrade.A nimportantfeatu reofthese marketswasthatthebulkof thetradingwasconductedbywomen.

Apart fromcateringtolocalneeds,thedomestic market also providedan op-portunityfortradersofvarious regionstoexchange their goods. Statesin the forestzone purchased large quantities of goods produced in the Sudan and the Saharasuchassaltsofvariouskinds,cattle productsandcloth. Statesin theSudan pur-chased gold, kola nuts and iron goods which were produced in theforestzone. Theinter-regional aspectof thedomestic tradewasdominatedby two majorgroupsofWestA fricanmerchants t he J u u l a(also knownas theW ang araand the D y u l a)oftheWestern Sudanand theHausaof theCentral Sudan. Bothtermsreferto thelan-guages spokenby thetraders which, ineach case,isthatof thelargest localsavannacultivator group,theMandingoin thewestand theHausa farthereast.TheDyula were the first group ofmerchantstoemerge. They beganasgoldtraders.TheHausa merchants emerged laterandhave always concentratedon theinternal market. However, they sometimes dealtinivoryandslavesfortrans-Saharan export trade.

Social factorsSocialgroupings inWestA fricahave been identifiedon thebasisoflinguistic affili-ations.Thegeographical distributionofthese groupswasoftenwronglyreferredtoas"tribes".Fig.1.3 is, infact,avery simplifiedmap ofthese "major" ethnic groups,14 Maroon H e r it a g e ,


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as itincludes only groups that have been historically documented rather than th erealexisting groups.T heconceptof"ethnic"only appearedin thehistoricall i teratu rein thepast fifty yearsand hasbeen considered as"named, bondedunitsofpeoplew ho identifythemselves orothers as different;they have distinctive patternsof so-cial,economicandpolitical organization,bu tstrictly social-based".

I n West Africa, fo rmost of itshistory social behaviour an dvalue systems suchaslanguageandreligious affiliationshave been importantbut notessentialmark-ers of"ethnic"identity. However, owingto the f luidity an dmultidimensionalityofethnicity aswell as thefrequency with which it isdi fferently used, it hasbeene x-tremely difficult to clearly demarcate their geographical distribution. B ydesignandpartlythrough ignorance, political boundaries initiatedbycolonialpowersaf-ter AD1500,cutacrossthesegroupsunevenly, resultingin theseparationof fami-lies, clansandother social affiliations. T heimpactofthis arbitrary separationis toowellknown to be fur ther discussed here. T hemain effect ofthis actionon ethnicgroupswas theundermining of theunity thatwas thebackboneof the socio-cul-turalinstitutions andentities.More divisions meant less interaction and greaterdifferentiation in the trend ofcultural development. O fcourse, differentiationscaused byenvironmental conditions arewellk n o w n t hepastoral ethnic groupsoccupying muchof thesavanna whiletheagricultural ethnic groups occupytheforestlandsforobviousreasons.

WestA frican family an dclan systems aredirectly connected with ethnic group-ing. This aspectof thesocial system hasremained until today among many groups,despitethenegative impactonthem fromoutside contacts.Inmodern Ghana,Ni-geria,Benin (Dahomey), Burkina Faso, MaliandCameroon therelationships maybesummarized as follows, although local names fo r these divisions vary fromplacetoplace:

IndividualFamilyClan MajorclanEthnicgroup

Indescendingorder,thefamily usually formsthenucleusof all theunits alongthe line, each being so defined that members belonging to each have commonbonds and traditions that differentiate them from non-members. O ne featureofthese relationships is theextended familysystem whether patrilineal ormatri-lineal. Changes in the size and composition of these domestic groupings arebrought about mainlyby thebirths, marriagesanddeaths within them.Theimpactof th eslave trade and therecent jobhunting inurban areas by therural peoplehave also caused changesin thesizeandcompositionof the familyandclan units.However, kinship and family relations continue toplay important roles in theownership and transmission ofproperty and the productive capacity ofmanyWest Afr ican societies, an d forms th ebasis ofpoliticalan deconomic institutionssuchaskingships.

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KofiWood;K wame Ansabecame Quansah orQuansa, and we findnames end-ing in-sonindicating the son ofsomeone (e.g. Johnson,Addison,Forson,K a m a-son, Lawson, etc.). While some of these names were consciously changed,others changed gradually over time.Some West Africansadopted namesoftheircolonial masters and some ofthem stillexist. Some of thechanges wereadopted either as ameans ofidentification or for theprestige ofbearing Euro-pean names. Other names became establishedby theEuropeans because theycould not pronounce West African names such as Agbemabiase, Agbemafle orAmematekpor, Oloruntimihin,B emenebenya or K itntukimunku.

Generally,there have been more changes in names in the southern forestar-eas ofWest Afr ica than in the northern Su danic areas, where I s lamic inf luencesh av e more strongly persisted over a long period of time. Names ofplaces(towns, village towns) and ofphysical features such asriversand mountainshave alsobeen affectedby European contact. Inlocal settings, traditionalnames existed forsuch rivers asV olta,Niger, th eGambia.T hechanges recentlyeffected inBurkina Faso andTogoinpersonal names aredeliberate attemptstochange this situation back to thestatus quo.

Religious practicesAnthropologists generally think that human societies belong to two worlds. One isthe mundane and practical in which man recognizes what is going on. The other isth eworldof thestrange, th eunseen and theunpredictable, i.e.th esupernatural.I nthe context of WestA fricanreligiouspractice, both worlds flow together and dis-harmony betweenthe two isattributed toman's general behaviour. A frican relig-ious practices have been extensively discussed as they formed th ereason andmediumo fcolonization. Amongth esignificant aspects discussed are:

(1)T heconcept of God as thecreatorandmakerof theuniverse.T heYorubaofNigeria, theKpelleofLiberia,theLimbaand Yalunka ofSierra Leone,the Mossi of Burkina Faso conceive of the Supreme Being in the samefashion.

(2) T hebelief inspiritsof the deadhenceancestor veneration. Ancestorsar econsidered as thesaintsof thecommunitiestowhich they belonged.(3 )Associated rituals, observances suchas libation,taboosa ndspirit

possession. Although these issues are central to religious practices inWestA frica,theydo not by anymeans constituteanysingle thing thatcanbetermed "one WestA fricanreligion", because thereare differentmechanismsorapproaches tothese practicesindifferentareas.

Festivals and festivitiesFestivals in West African tradition consist of the most significant and richest formsof art andcultural practice. Often rituallybased,WestA fricanfestivals consist of

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an dfishing, or craftwork such asweaving, carvingo rsmelting. Some emphasis isalsoplacedonmorality ingreeting,obedienceof and respect forelderlypeople,foodpreparation, human relations and knowledge of local traditions, aswell assanctions related tothesemodes ofbehaviour.I nrecent times, especially since thecolonial era, th eaesthetic aspects ofinitia-tion ritesfor theyouth have been emphasized. However,themoral valueisstillmaintained.T o theKroboofGhana,forexample,th epuberty rite referredto as dipois the firstqualificationof agirl towards marriage. I tsmain goal is toregulate th emarriageable age ofgirls and tomake sure that they areproperly schooled in therudiments ofmarried life.Similarly the Gbotowowo of the Ewe ofGhana andTogoai m fordetailed premarital education about good housekeeping andmoral behav-iour.Another important aspect ofmarriagein W est Africa is theexchangeo fg ifts orpayment often referred to asbridepriceorbridewealthordowry. These involveth etransmission of gifts or property. Inpre-colonial days and even until recentlyamong the Gonja ofnorthern Ghana, such aprice consisted of acalabashorcowryshells and 12kola nuts. Later,incolonial times, it was 12shillings and 12kola nuts.AmongtheLowilliof thesame geographicalandcultural area,thepaymentwas3 5 0cowries, inaddition tokola nuts. T heterms ofbridewealth differ from grouptogroup and isinfluencedinrecent yearsby thereligious practices.T heweddingceremonies also differ fromsociety tosociety,bu tgenerallyar ecommunity affairsdowntheline.Themain stages are:

a)knockingthedoorandbetrothalb) familynegotiations andconsultationc)bridewealth paymentd)th ewedding ceremony andrituale)th e finalblessing andpublic declarationof themarriage.

A llthese have their accompanying ritualan dother performances. Excision (theremoval ofcertain portions of the femalegenitals ascustom) is acontroversiali s-suerelatedtomarriageinA frica.InWestA fricait wasquitepopularinpartsof theIvoryCoast, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Beninand Togo.It issaid toprotect virgin-ity, or isseen as ariteo fpassage toadulthood toassurefertility (a sclaimedby theBambara,Dogon an d Mossi) or as ameans of purification. I tsmedicaleffects ar ewellknown andhave been th emain reason fo rdiscouraging this custom. I t stillpersistsinsome communities.

Manyof themarriage ritesandpractices have been affected by newideas com-ing fromboth Christian andIslamic religions. I n theurban areas inparticular,tra-ditional marriage has been overshadowed by new forms introduced throughcolonialcontact.T heextent of effect also varies from society tosociety and fromonegeographical areatoanother.

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fe wsignificantspecificaspects have been enumerated anddiscussed, th ereasonbeingtheheterogeneity of thesocietiesin the region. Important changes haveoccurredin thesocial systems since prehistorictimes, but themost signif icantones occurredin the colonialera,during whichthe most widespread contactopportunity w as available. These canonly be identif ied on anindividual basis.T hepurpose ofthis chapter hasbeen toraise issues related toindividual socialsystems that could betransferred to theCaribbean.I t isessential to identify th etransformations within individual social practicesas theslaves arrived in theCaribbean from th e West A f ri c an region. T hedevelopment ofpost-colonial so -cietiessuch as theKrio societies ofLiberia andSierra Leone, have provided ad-ditional dimension to theunderstandingof thetransformation aspects whichwe seetodayinmany partsof the region.

T he s ignif icant aspects of the social systems of West A f r i c a have changedsincecolonialtimes.Evidencecanalsobe adduced todemonstratethat manyofth esocial practices, organization andinstitutions that characterized muchof thesub-region of Afr icahave persisted totoday and, also that some elements havebeen carried overtoareasthatlater became occupiedbyAfrica-derived popula-tions suchas theCaribbean.Clans or lineages are maintained by a congregation of elders whose statuswasdetermined by their "rank"or an age-set system.It isbecauseof the highlevel ofpolitical development ofsomeof the empires and kingdoms,that someearl ierobserverstendedtobelieve thattheinstitutionsmayhave been imported anotion that has nowbeenfound to beunacceptable.Bu t it is notpossible tog ointoth edetailsof thecauses of therise an d fall ofthese states.I nwestern A f ri c a, b y A D 3 0 0 th eancient Sudanic empireofGhanahadtakenroot, probably stimulated by the trans-desert trade ingold andother goods. I trose to considerable prominence b y A D 1000 bu t gave wa y 2 0 0years later toMali , which also gave way toSonghay b y A D 1600. Also important were th eKa n ew - B o r n u states, th eMossistates,O y o an dBenin states that flourished dur-ing the second part of the f irst millennium A D . T heearly states of theEgyptland, AxumandEthiopian areas arewell known. Thus we see thelong historyof A f ri c a culminating inviable political entities. During th e same period, w ealso se eforeign contacts both inland and along th ecoast.Bu t thehistory o f A f -rica was totakea newturn:fast de v e l o p me n t s t ruc t ura l and so c i a l b u t at thesame time, exploitationb yforeign elements.

Political factorsT helast 1,000 years have seen afaster an dmore elaborate cultural developmentinAfrica. Africanhistory records no tonly th eimportance ofmetallurgyan dpopula-tion movementsbu tmore importantlyth eriseofstatesorurbanization.Inmany ar-eas ofAfrica thecreationo fstates w asfundamentalto thegradual developmentof

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societies. T hequestion of the development of the centralized state and itsrelatedinstitutions ofkinship or chieftaincy, had been bedevilled by theories about th espread of divine kinship from other areas. Centralized states have developedthrough many processes:

(1)conquest of amajority by aminority such ashappened with manyWestandEastA fricangroups;

(2)defence needs requiring asociety todemand aleader at atimeo fattackorinvasion;

(3 )control oftrade leading toacquisitionofwealth an dpolitical powerthis probably happened with th eZimbabweofeastern Africa;

(4 )group migration orgroups on themove oftenrequiring leaders;(5 )theemergence ofcharismatic leaders;(6 )natural instinct;(7 )strategic location.

Insomecases, theoriginsofA fricanstates werenotintimately linkedto the re-mote prehistoric past.F orsome regions such as theSudanic belt ofWest Africa orth eSwahili coastofeastern A frica,written sources (often inA rabic)concerning th eriseofstates existfrom thelastfewcenturies B C.Scholars haveoftenproposed tw obasickinds oftraditional political organization:

centralized stateswithpolitical authority vestedin thehandofhereditaryrulers themore egalitarian decentralized communities where political power

wasregulatedbyinteractions between kinship groups.

Colonization andindependenceAnother factor ofsignificancetothis later partof thehistoryofA frica, was the im-pact ofIslama nd Christianity,inboth cases fo rbetter or forworse. Islam, accord-ing to scholars, is not just a religion. It is a culture, a state or vast economiccomplex,acommon market.Foundedby theProphetMohammed (AD570-632),itspread quickly over th eArabian Peninsula andSyria andmany other placesin-cludingA frica bysoldiers, then settlersandthen traders.

I nEthiopia,fo rexample,it was first introducedbyMuslims, i.e."thosewho ac-cept Islam" refu g ees from theArabian sideof the RedSea.I tsoon became deeplyrooted, answering to the spiritual andcultural needs ofmillions ofpeople and,within a fewcenturies, large numbers of A fricans.These people were no tonly inNorth Afr ica bu t also f u r t h e r south across th eSaharaand along th e East Afr icancoast. IslaminWestA fricahas aclear link with IslaminNorth A frica.Thelargestates ofGhana, Malian dSonghai which developed as aresult ofgold an d slavetrade links became increasingly Islamised.Islam inEastA frica w asbuilton oldfoundations laidbypre-IslamicArabs fromSouth Arabiaand thePersianGulfwho hadbeen engaged inslaveandivory trade22. MaroonHeritage


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a factorto which Mohammed referredin thefollowing way: "The merchantisth efavouriteofIslam". Islamic cultureandethics were therefore clearlycompat-ible with commerce, reflectingth e factthat early Islamw as often th ereligionof u r-ban merchant classes. Thus long distance trade, seaborne trade and thetrans-Saharantrade must have brought manyA fricansintouch with Islam, perma-nently ortemporarily.T heimpact ofIslam on thesocial an d politicallife of Afr i-cans is clearly recorded in settlements along the coast of eastern Africa an dimportantly, insettlements invarious partsof theinteriorofwestern Africa.Christianity, on theother hand, cametoA fricawith many more identifiable ele-ments. I tcame through explorers (so-called civilizingagencies, traders andlatercolonizers).T hedual purpose of thecontact with western societies isexemplifiedin one of thecastles (Elmina)where part of thestructure includes achapel on topof aroom where slaves were locked u p:religious missionary work over th eslavetrade,orwhat IcalltheR/STfactor(Religiousfactorover SlaveT r adefactor) of so-cialanalysisincolonialA frica.Thisis tointroducetheresultsof thecontact withre-spect toA fricanhistory.

Slave tradeUrbanizationandinitiation intointernational tradePartitionofA fric a Depletionofeconomic resourcesofgold

These issuesarequite well known tomanyandwillnot bediscussed here.T hedesire fo rorganization resulting in theestablishment oflines ofauthority,patterns ofbehaviour and acode ofconduct is abasic instinct common to allhuman societies. West A f r ic a ns have from time immemorial designed systemsof socialandpolitical organization throughwhich thevaluesof thesocietyareenforced andindividuals areguaranteed their safety andwell-being.Bu tthecharacterof thesocialandpolitical organization isinfluencedby anum-ber offactors. A smentioned earlier,thehistoryof thesociety,thegeographicalen-vironment inwhich particulargroupswere located,andtheirmodesofearningalivelihood werecrucial.Before thecomingof theEuropeans,WestA frican societieshad developed socialand political organizations which were highly dynamicadjusting tochanges asthey occurred.Similarly,th epolitical institutions werebe-ingtransformed modifying and adapting.

T hemanner inwhich West A fricansocieties firstevolved hadmuch to dowiththenatureof theenvironmentinwhichthesocieties were located. There were threemajorzones defined earlier th ecoastal,th e forest and thesavannah zones weresignificantfor theadaptations of thetime; eachhad its owndistinctive terrain, cli-mate andvegetation. Bu t i t wasmuch more than that.I nmany areas, people hadsimilar livelihoods,aswellassimilar formsofpoliticalinstitutionsand religiouspatterns. Languages transcended geographical orpolitical boundaries.

T hecoastal zoneis thearea closestto theAtlantic Ocean.I textends inland for adistanceoftwenty toeighty miles. It is alow-lying land ofplains in theSenegam-biaandmangrove swampsinPortuguese Guineaand theNiger Delta area. People

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Documents

Maroon Heritage Archaeological 2000 University Press of the West Indies Emmanuel Kofi Agorsah