Maroon apology: It’s been a long time coming, but great move, Queen Gloria

Paramount Chieftainess and Queen of the Maroons of Jamaica Gamaang Gloria Simms

On Good Friday 2022 the Paramount Chieftainess and Queen of the Maroons of Jamaica Gamaang Gloria Simms offered a heartfelt apology on behalf of her indigenous group for its much-regretted role in crushing slave uprisings in Jamaica dating back almost three centuries.

It is an apology that has been long in coming, and should hopefully now begin the healing process between the Maroons and other Jamaicans who have harboured bad feelings against them for the slaves and other blacks whose quest for freedom was extinguished by fellow blacks.

“We regret the hurt and sufferings caused from such actions. We take total responsibility on behalf of our ancestors,” said the Maroon queen, the woman now occupying the seat once held by Queen Nanny of the Maroons, the only female among the seven national heroes.

“…We realise that we cannot undo the past, but we can remedy the situation through reconciliatory actions, that will repair the damage and rebuild trust, so that these behaviours will not be repeated,” said the Maroon spiritual leader in a press statement to the Jamaica Observer.

To be sure, it is difficult to stay in 2022 and judge events and decisions made 283 years ago when the Maroons first signed a dastardly treaty with the British colonial forces, who had realised that it was the best alternative for them, as they found the Maroons impossible to defeat in their many battles across the treacherous hills and mountains of Jamaica.

Over the long course of history many have blamed the Maroons for their apparent enthusiasm in carrying out the terms of the treaty — mainly in putting down rebellions and forcibly returning escaped slaves to the oppressive conditions on white-owned sugar plantations.

The most painful of the rebellions put down by the British with the key support of the Maroons were led by Chief Takyi of St Mary in 1760, whose war is said to have inspired the Haitian Revolution that gave the world its first black republic; Sam Sharpe of St James in 1831; and, after slavery, Baptist Deacon Paul Bogle of St Thomas in 1865.

Messrs Sharpe and Bogle were captured by Maroons. Both men were hanged but subsequently made national heroes for their exploits which contributed to Jamaica eventually becoming independent in 1962, and Chief Takyi may yet be declared one, if Mr Derrick “Prince X Black” Robinson and his dogged band of local and international supporters have their way.

Since then the Maroons have mostly lived a quasi-autonomous existence on the periphery of the modern Jamaican nation, coming to attention mainly when they have internal disputes, usually over leadership choices.

They were last in the news over posturings made by Chief Richard Currie, the leader of the Accompong Maroons, who intimated that the indigenous group was a separate nation from Jamaica — a controversial notion, but an echo from a distant past of matters still unresolved about the status of the Maroons of Jamaica.

We commend the courage of Queen Gloria Simms, knowing that there are many who would prefer that the bad blood between Maroons and other Jamaicans remain indefinitely, until they feel it is time. Some may not even want the apology to come from the Maroon queen, but some one of their own choosing.

These are not peacemakers and should be rejected by the Maroons.