Caricom                                       January 26, 2025

   The CRC Chair shared this with a large gathering at the opening of the historic symposium on Maroons, held at The UWI West Indies Regional Headquarters (where) on 9 January 2025.

   The Maroon Institute would lead a collaborative research, advocacy and policy agenda with the Maroon communities and be positioned as a regional and global centre for Indigenous and Maroon knowledge, culture and history.

   “The UWI has a moral duty to facilitate not just resilience but the opportunity for the Jamaica Maroons to thrive, and that is exactly what we will do”, Professor Beckles said. “An Institute for Maroon Studies should be established… The most precious thing that ever came out of the Caribbean is the Maroons… Everywhere there was slavery, there was marronage. This University is an expression of marronage today.”

   He further declared, “Everything we need to know about the future can be found in the study of our past.…. There can be no discussion about the future of this Region without the Maroons. Maroon philosophy, politics and ideology must be at the centre. We are all Maroons.”

   “I have been looking forward to seeing Maroon Studies at The UWI, it is full time. It is in accordance with The UWI mission statement which includes uplifting culture, and the University should have Maroon people coming in to speak,” asserted Gaamaa Gloria Simms, Maroon Women’s Network Chair.

   The Symposium was part of an initiative by the CRC to increase advocacy for reparatory justice and the rights of the Maroons and other indigenous groups. This was highlighted by Hilary Brown, Programme Manager, Culture and Community Development, CARICOM Secretariat (who officially opened the proceedings).

   “The Maroons are among the indigenous people of the Region who are due reparatory justice and have a right to development. Their issues, concerns and rights must be respected and amplified within the regional movement for reparatory justice,” stated Brown.

   Maroon Chiefs and other representatives from the communities of Accompong, Mooretown, Flagstaff, Scotts Hall and Charles Town, as well as other experts, attended the Symposium, themed “The Maroons of Jamaica:  Our Legacies, Telling Our Own Truths.”