Afro-Atlantic 002: Jamaica and the Akan

[BigMan]

Learn breh

 

[skeetsinternal]

Learn breh

I am...i put that there to sub for later

 

[krioro]

@krioro you too, you seem to be knowledgeable on this subject.

Well, I wouldn't call myself extremely knowledgeable, especially not compared to the 100% maroon brehs (I'm mixed). But I'm definitely interested and always learning, so thanks for the tag.

I know very little about Jamaica though, so I reckon it's better that I'll keep quiet here.

Always cool to see our shared culture anyway. Anansi for example.

Actually, I think this series of yours is a GREAT idea.
There are so many strands to the diaspora and connecting them to their roots on the continent can give people insight into how far back certain traditions & practices go.
That being said, I don't wanna derail the Jamaica thread with stuff about Suriname.
JM has such a wealth of history and information to be shared, it doesn't seem right to try and give some of their shine to SU.


Besides, I feel like the non-English speaking Caribbean often gets ignored when we're discussing the diaspora of the region.
I understand that language can often be a barrier to communication and that many nations in the New World inherited their bond from their former colonizers but it still hurts.


Just shoot me a PM whenever you get ready to do SU and I'll get you all the stuff you can't find on Wikipedia + any translations you might need.

When this happens I'll be happy to (try to) contribute.


In related news, there's actually a project going on to make the Surinamese slave registers accessible to the public which would give deeper insight into our origins:

Help mee! Maak de Surinaamse slavenregisters openbaar

(in Dutch, for English click in the top right corner of the page)

 

[Caca-faat]

Great thread. On a separate note, no derailment. Surinamese ppl are connected to jamaica where the last remainders of Taino /Arawak ppls in Jamaica were believed to have arrived there from Suriname after the original Xamaycan Tainos died out. They may have assimilated very easily with the slaves through the Akan connection and shared language and understanding.

 

[KwamePiesie]

Great thread. On a separate note, no derailment. Surinamese ppl are connected to jamaica where the last remainders of Taino /Arawak ppls in Jamaica were believed to have arrived there from Suriname after the original Xamaycan Tainos died out. They may have assimilated very easily with the slaves through the Akan connection and shared language and understanding.

ive traced my third great grandfather back from Suriname to Guyana (former british Guyana) to Jamaica
and now im on a mission to find more..

somewhere down the line Arawak/ Taino blood was passed on.. i dont know if this was in Jamaica or Guyana. it was definitely before suriname..

dope info!

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

@Dip - what is the next ethnicity you're covering in the Afro-Atlantic?

 

[BigMan]

@Dip - what is the next ethnicity you're covering in the Afro-Atlantic?

Issa secret

 

[BigMan]

Nah I was going to a lesser known / smaller one then a big one like Haiti

Igbo is harder since y'all were everywhere

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

Nah I was going to a lesser known / smaller one then a big one like Haiti

Igbo is harder since y'all were everywhere

if you were to do Igbo, the title would be like - "Afro-Atlantic - 003 - Chesapeake Bay/Caribbean and the Igbo"

 

[↓R↑LYB]

Dope thread, I'll read through it later this week.

 

[BigMan]

if you were to do Igbo, the title would be like - "Afro-Atlantic - 003 - Chesapeake Bay/Caribbean and the Igbo"

Yall nikkas were in Spanish America too

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

Yall nikkas were in Spanish America too

That is true, but not to the extent that you'd see in Anglo-speaking North America. In any case, let a brother know when you want to do that thread. I have a lot of information for you.

 

[BigMan]

Queen Nanny of the Maroons

Nanny was a leader of the Maroons at the beginning of the 18th century. She was known by both the Maroons and the British settlers as an outstanding military leader who became, in her lifetime and after, a symbol of unity and strength for her people during times of crisis.

She was particularly important to them in the fierce fight with the British, during the First Maroon War from 1720 to 1739. Although she has been immortalised in songs and legends, certain facts about Nanny (or “Granny Nanny”, as she was affectionately known) have also been documented.

Both legends and documents refer to her as having exceptional leadership qualities. She was a small, wiry woman with piercing eyes. Her influence over the Maroons was so strong, that it seemed to be supernatural and was said to be connected to her powers of obeah. She was particularly skilled in organising the guerilla warfare carried out by the Eastern Maroons to keep away the British troops who attempted to penetrate the mountains to overpower them.

Her cleverness in planning guerilla warfare confused the British and their accounts of the fights reflect the surprise and fear which the Maroon traps caused among them.

Besides inspiring her people to ward off the troops, Nanny was also a type of chieftainess or wise woman of the village, who passed down legends and encouraged the continuation of customs, music and songs, that had come with the people from Africa, and which instilled in them confidence and pride.

Her spirit of freedom was so great that in 1739, when Quao signed the second Treaty (the first was signed bv Cudjoe for the Leeward Maroons a few months earlier) with the British, it is reported that Nanny was very angry and in disagreement with the principle of peace with the British, which she knew meant another form of subjugation.

There are many legends about Nanny among the Maroons. Some even claim that there were several women who were leaders of the Maroons during this period of history. But all the legends and documents refer to Nanny of the First Maroon War, as the most outstanding of them all, leading her people with courage and inspiring them to struggle to maintain that spirit of freedom, and life of independence, which was their rightful inheritance.

On March 31, 1982 the Right Excellent Nanny of the Maroons was conferred the Order of the National Hero as per Government Notice 23 Jamaica Gazette along with Sam Sharpe.

Nanny was born c. 1686 in Ghana, Western Africa, into the Ashanti tribe, and was brought to Jamaica as a slave. It is believed that some of her family members were involved in intertribal conflict and her village was captured. Nanny and several relatives were sold as slaves and sent to Jamaica. Upon arrival in Jamaica, Nanny was likely sold to a plantation in Saint Thomas Parish, just outside of the Port Royal area. Such plantations grew sugarcane as the main crop, and the slaves toiled under extremely harsh conditions.

As a child, Nanny was influenced by other slave leaders and maroons. She and her brothers, Accompong, Cudjoe, Johnny and Quao ran away from their plantation and hid in the Blue Mountains area of northern Saint Thomas Parish. While in hiding, they split up to organize more Maroon communities across Jamaica: Cudjoe went to Saint James Parish and organized a village, which was later named Cudjoe Town; Accompong settled in Saint Elizabeth Parish, in a community known as Accompong Town; Nanny and Quao founded communities in Portland Parish. She was married to a Maroon named Adou, but had no children.

Nanny and her brothers became folk heroes. The most famous of her brothers, Cudjoe, went on to lead several slave rebellions in Jamaica with the aid of her other brothers.

By 1720, Nanny and Quao had settled and controlled an area in the Blue Mountains. It was given the name Nanny Town, and consisted of the 500 acres (2.4 km²) of land granted to the runaway slaves. Nanny Town had a strategic location as it overlooked Stony River via a 900 foot (270 m) ridge making a surprise attack by the British practically impossible. The Maroons at Nanny Town also organized look-outs for such an attack as well as designated warriors who could be summoned by the sound of a horn called an Abeng.

Maroons at Nanny Town and similar communities survived by sending traders to the nearby market towns to exchange food for weapons and cloth. The community raised animals, hunted, and grew crops, and was organized very much like a typical Ashanti tribe in Africa. The Maroons were also known for raiding plantations for weapons and food, burning the plantations, and leading slaves back to their communities.

Nanny was very adept at organizing plans to free slaves. For over 30 years, Nanny freed more than 800 slaves, and helped them to resettle in the Maroon community. (Nanny of the Maroons).

Around 1728, Queen Nanny emerged as the primary general, leader, and obeah woman of the Windward Maroons, her reign extending until around 1740, shortly after the Maroons signed a peace treaty with the British. This period, particularly from 1728-1734, was representative of the Maroons in their greatest glory. (Cary 1970, p. 20). In order to understand the context of Queen Nanny's emergence as a central figure in Jamaican history, it is important to have rudimentary knowledge of Maroon history in Jamaica and an understanding of the specific African ethnic groups that influenced the Maroon identity. (The Mother of Us All: A History of Queen Nanny, Chapter 1: Introduction, by Karla Gottlieb).

Queen Nanny of the Windward Maroons has largely been ignored by historians who have restricted their focus to male figures in Maroon history. However, amongst the Maroons themselves she is held in the highest esteem. Biographical information on Queen Nanny is somewhat vague, with her being mentioned only four times in written historical texts and usually in somewhat derogatory terms. However, she is held up as the most important figure in Maroon history. She was the spiritual, cultural and military leader of the Windward Maroons and her importance stems from the fact that she guided the Maroons through the most intense period of their resistance against the British, between 1725 and 1740.

Queen Nanny is presumed to have been born around the 1680’s in Africa’s Gold Coast (now known as Ghana). She was reported to belong to either the Ashanti or Akan tribe and came to Jamaica as a free woman. It is possible that Queen Nanny brought slaves of her own, reportedly being of royal African blood. It was not uncommon for African dignitaries to keep slaves. She was said to be married to a man named Adou, but had no children. She died in the 1730’s.

Moore Town is now the primary town of the Windward Maroons – it was founded in 1734 after the British destroyed the original Maroon town, which was known as ‘Nanny Town’. (Jamaica's True Queen: Nanny of the Maroons).

 

[IronFist]

subs


the spider story has paralleism with Yoruba stories.

i'll build on it when i find time.

 

[---]

Excellent work all around, learned some new things, like the symbol and symbolism I have always see on everyones gates.