MEET JAMAICAN NATIONAL HERO QUEEN NANNY Queen Nanny of The Maroons Queen Nanny or Nanny (c. 1685 – unknown, circa 1755), Jamaican National Hero,[1] was a well-known leader of the Jamaican Maroons in the eighteenth century. Much of what is known about Nanny comes from oral history as little textual evidence exists. However, historical documents refer to her as the rebels (sic) old obeah woman, and they legally grant Nanny and the people now residing with her and their heirs . . . a certain parcel of Land containing five hundred acres in the parish of Portland . . Nanny Town was founded on this land. The Maroons are descendants of imported West Africans who flied the oppressive experience of slavery on plantations and formed their own communities in the rugged, hilly interior of the island. They were considered skilled fighters and hard to defeat. Under Spanish rule, up to the 1650s, slaves escaped and intermarried with the native islanders, Arawaks, in their communities. Later, when the British assumed control of the colony, more slaves were able to escape from plantations to join the two main bands of Maroons in Jamaica: Windward and Leeward Maroons, headed respectively by Nanny of the Maroons and Captain Cudjoe. The Maroons mainly consisted of people from the Akan region of West Africa. The Ashanti tribe, from which Nanny came, lived in this region. However, slaves originating from other regions of West Africa joined the Maroons in their escapes. For over 150 years, the Maroons helped to free slaves from the plantations whilst they damaged land and property belonging to the plantation owners.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 15:51:08 +0000
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