Maroon communities unite for conference

DESCENDANTS of the local and international Maroon community will come together for a monumental assembly at the second Indigenous Maroon Gathering and Academic Conference, set for November 5-9 at Crews Inn Hotel and Yachting Centre, Chaguaramas.

The agenda includes panel discussions, academic presentations, artistic showcases, tours, networking opportunities and cultural exchanges.

Minister of Planning and Development Pennelope Beckles-Robinson will deliver greetings at the opening ceremony. Other guests and panellists include chairman of the National Committee on Reparations Dr Claudius Fergus, Zakiya Uzoma-Wadada, executive director of the Emancipation Support Committee, and UN representatives.

A wide cross-section of Maroons are also set to participate from across the English, French and Spanish-speaking diaspora.

Iya Akilah Jaramogi, CEO, president and co-founder of the Merikin Heritage Foundation, who is Paramount Chief of the Merikin Maroons of TT, and founder and CEO of the Fondes Amandes Community Reforestation Project (FACRP), discussed the history of Maroons and offered an insight into the conference in an interview with Newsday.

The term "Maroons" refers to the self-liberated Africans who resisted enslavement during the colonial period, fleeing from the sugar plantations to form their own communities, in countries such as Jamaica, Haiti, Suriname, Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago.

Jaramogi explained, “Anywhere there were plantations or estates during the colonial enslavement period, you would have found Maroons – Africans resisting and running away, freeing themselves. Maroon communities existed throughout the Americas and the Caribbean, and they formed their own distinct cultural societies and resisted enslavement.”

She said local Maroon communities were formed in areas such as Diego Martin, Sangre Grande and Paramin, among others.

In addition, there are the Merikins, of whom Jaramogi is a descendant – Maroons who were emancipated Africans who came to Trinidad via the United States.

Jaramogi hopes this conference will bring more awareness about the rich cultural legacy of the Maroons.

“We say awareness because a lot of people still don’t know who they are and a lot of communities are still uninformed about their traditions and rights and so on. So having this conference…helps to bring more added awareness and also to unite Maroons and other indigenous groups across the diaspora."

Connecting Maroons

Under the theme of Envisioning a Connected Maroon Diaspora and a Reparative Future, this year’s conference aims to further the groundwork of the first, held in Dominica in 2021. Jaramogi explained the conference’s theme as one that champions unity among the diaspora and furthering the discourse on the issue of reparations.

“When we say envisioning a connected Maroon diaspora, it’s exactly what we are talking about when we say, ‘Unite Maroons': making sure that we are truly connected with each other,
we are working together with each other and that we understand the challenges and even the success of each other.”

Additionally, the conference will explore other issues facing Maroon communities such as cultural preservation, education, economic growth and development in indigenous communities, climate change, food security, representation, crime, fostering stronger connections within and among the communities, and advocacy for their basic human rights.

Jaramogi hopes this conference will be a powerful homage to the ancestors who bravely fought and resisted to secure their freedom – setting a path for their descendants to follow. Overall, the goal is to achieve a future where all indigenous peoples unite, strengthening their identity and collective voice to advocate for their rights.

“We hope to send a message to all the decision-makers and leaders across the region or across the globe that when a people unite, we will be strong,” Jaramogi said.

“It’s not just about liberating one. It’s a collective liberation.”

The conference is hosted by the United Maroon Indigenous Peoples (UMIP) and the Merikin Heritage Foundation in collaboration with the UN Fund for Population (UNFPA); UWI, St Augustine; the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, UWI, St Augustine; the FACRP; Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts; and the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Campaign for reparations

Reparations is a key component of this year’s theme.

“This is the opportunity for us to stand up and defend our rights as African descendants.”

Jaramogi said it builds on a movement started in 2014, when TT's Merikin Heritage Foundation, in partnership with the Maroons of Suriname and Jamaica, signed a memorandum of understanding to work together for the development of all Maroons.

“Working towards achieving a reparative future, that means, for us, looking at all the different conversations that we’ve been having over the years as it relates to reparations…

“We continue that path...looking at different forms of reparation, where we can take our case to the UN and other bodies to make sure that we are properly represented and also that we are looked at as indigenous Maroons and not just Maroons, but our indigeneity is being respected and observed.

“So when we talk about reparative future, we talk about restorative justice, climate justice, gender justice – all these things. We talk about looking at the (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how they affect us and how we can be a part of this conversation.”

In the 2014 UMIP Declaration, which was presented to the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, Jaramogi and her colleagues advocated for the rights of Maroons such as reparations, self-determination, and the right to be recognised as indigenous peoples. The declaration states, "Maroons uniquely occupy an intersection of Afrikanity and Indigeneity."

The declaration explains that the indigeneity of Maroons "lives in their historical memory and intentional, lived experiences of their ancestral Indigenous African lifeways as a group consciousness that is increasingly nurtured in their communities established through grand 'Marronage,' and as a point of intentionality in the actions of the United Maroon Indigenous Peoples organisation."

Youth element

This year’s conference will have a strong emphasis on youth participation, which Jaramogi said was an intentional decision by the organisers to encourage more input from young people in the Maroon communities – a gap identified at the last conference.

Young Maroons will be given a platform to share their research and opinions at youth-focused panel discussions. The establishment of a youth declaration is also on the agenda
and will be added to the existing UMIP Declaration (2014). They will also take the spotlight to showcase their artistic talents at various cultural events at the conference, including a performance by the youth pan side.

Trinidad's Merikins

The Merikins, hailed from territories such as Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama. These formerly enslaved Africans aligned themselves with the British during the war of 1812, enlisting to fight against their American oppressors. In exchange for their military service, the soldiers and their families were given the opportunity to emigrate to British colonies and given 16 acres of land wherever they settled.

According to a section on the National Library's website entitled Merikins: Free Black Settlers 1815-1816, approximately 781 Merikins arrived in Trinidad between May 1815 and August 1816, of whom 574 were disbanded soldiers.

The Merikins were settled mainly in the Naparima district of south Trinidad, in the company villages, named after the military units to which they belonged, from First to Sixth Company.

These areas are known today as New Grant, Petit Cafe, Indian Walk and Williamsville with only Fifth and Sixth Company retaining their original names. Some also settled in the north, in Laventille and central, in Caroni.

As part of the conference line-up, those attending can participate in a field trip to these Merikin territories on November 7.