Charles Town Maroon Village sits within lush Jamaican hills and maintains a tranquil communal atmosphere. Gloria Simms, known as Mama G and titled Gaa'mang in Suriname, embodies Maroon spiritual leadership and recounts ancestral origins. Ancestors were kidnapped from across west Africa, endured markets, branding and plantation atrocities, and chose resistance and escape over enslavement. Five principal Maroon communities in Jamaica—Accompong, Charles Town, Moore Town, Scott's Hall and Flagstaff—continue to uphold ancestral governance, medicinal knowledge, music and cleansing and religious rituals. Comparable Maroon communities also exist in Suriname, Brazil and Colombia.
The wooden walls of the village hall in Charles Town, Jamaica, are adorned with a procession of shadowy figures: a tribute to the resistance struggle of the Maroons African people who escaped enslavement and created their own free communities in remote and hilly parts of the island. Set in the lush embrace of majestic Jamaican hills and mountains, the idyllic settlement is quiet, but for the crowing of unseen roosters.
Maroon spiritual leader Gloria Simms, affectionately called Mama G, warmly greets neighbours as she walks towards the hall hair wrapped, her colourful dress moving with the gentle breeze. Simms, who was honoured with the chieftain title of Gaa'mang in Suriname, exudes a regal air as she sits among the rows of benches to tell the story of her Maroon ancestors. It began on the plantations where people from across west Africa were taken in shackles after being kidnapped from their homes.
Some had stood in markets, while plantation owners examined their bodies to determine their value. Some had felt the searing pain of the iron brand after purchase. And on the plantations they had witnessed and experienced unspeakable horrors that led them to conclude it was better to die seeking liberty than to live as a slave. Inside the Charles Town Maroon Village Asafu Yard community space. Photograph: Ina Sotirova/The Guardian
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