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Type:
Archival materials
Introduction:
Contemporary Maroon peoples' identities are rooted in memories of the collective liberation struggles from which their societies emerged. In most Maroon communities, a profound sense of history pervades present-day life. The 1992 Festival encouraged visitors to understand the contemporary cultures of Maroons as creative syntheses that combined and recombined originally diverse African elements, as well as non-African elements, in unique ways. This historical process of blending and adaptation, resulting in cultures that are simultaneously old and new, is known as "creolization."
Eight contemporary Maroon peoples from six different countries participated in the Festival in the Quincentenary year. Three of these peoples came from the Amazon basin in northeastern South America. The ancestors of the Saramaka began escaping from Surinamese plantations in the late 17th century; after fighting against the Dutch for nearly a century, they made a treaty with them in 1762. Today the Saramaka live along the Suriname River in the interior rainforest of Suriname. Their neighbors, the Ndjuka or Okanisi (Aukaners), began fleeing from Dutch plantations in the early 18th century, and made a treaty with the Dutch in 1760. Across the Maroni and Lawa rivers in French Guiana live the Aluku or Boni, whose forebears began leaving the plantations shortly after the Ndjuka. In 1776-77 they crossed from Suriname into French Guiana, where they have lived ever since. After years of struggle, their freedom was recognized by a joint treaty with the French and Dutch in 1860.
Colombia is home to the contemporary Maroon community of Palenque de San Basilio, not far from the port of Cartagena, which was once at the center of the Spanish slave trade. The Palenqueros are descended from slaves who escaped from Spanish plantations during the 17th century. After several failed attempts to eradicate them, the colonial government and the ancestors of the Palenqueros came to terms between 1713 and 1717. In Jamaica are some of the best known contemporary Maroon communities. The Windward Maroons are based in the villages of Moore Town, Scotts Hall and Charles Town in the eastern Blue Mountains. They can trace their origins as a people back to 1655, when the British seized the island from the Spanish, and a large number of slaves fled into the hills. In later years these initial runaways were joined by others from British plantations. The ancestors of the Leeward Maroons, whose main contemporary settlement is Accompong in the western Cockpit Country, began to escape from plantations in the late 17th century. By the 1730s, both groups posed such a threat to the plantation system that the British colonial government had to sue for peace, concluding separate treaties with the two groups in 1739.
The Maroons of the Costa Chica area in the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca are descendants of slaves who began escaping in the late 16th century from Spanish cattle ranches and estates along the Pacific coast. When the colonial government launched a military campaign against them, they retreated into more inaccessible areas, where they remained undefeated until the abolition of slavery in Mexico in 1829. The Seminole Maroons, now divided among Oklahoma, Texas, the Bahamas, and the northern Mexican state of Coahuila, originated in Spanish Florida, where groups of escaped slaves from South Carolina and Georgia began seeking refuge in the early 18th century. After the end of the Seminole War in 1842, they were transported along with their Seminole Indian allies to Oklahoma. To avoid raids by slave-catchers, a portion of the Seminole Maroons moved to Mexico, where their descendants, known as Negros Mascogos, remain today. During the mid-19th century, some of these Mexican Seminoles moved to Texas, where they joined the U.S. Cavalry as part of a special division known as the Seminole Negro Indian Scouts. Their descendants live today in Brackettville and Del Rio, Texas.
Ken Bilby and Diana N'Diaye served as Curators of the Maroon program, with Héctor Corporán as Program Coordinator. Regional Coordinators were: Thomas Doudou, French Guiana; Miguel Angel Gutiérrez Avila, Mexico; Ian Hancock, Texas; Hermes R.M. Libretto, Suriname; Lorenzo Manuel Miranda Torres and Heliana Portes de Roux, Colombia; Maureen Rowe, Jamaica.
Creativity and Resistance: Maroon Culture in the Americas was made possible with the support of the governments of Colombia, French Guiana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Guerrero, Mexico; the Texas Commission on the Arts and Texas Folklife Resources; Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr.; InterAmerican Foundation; and the Smithsonian Educational Outreach Fund.
Fieldworkers:
Farika Birhan, Bernhard Bisoina, Miguel Angel Gutiérrez-Avila, Ian Hancock, Heliana Portes de Roux
Presenters:
Adiante Franszoon, Miguel Angel Gutiérrez Avila, Ian Hancock, Hermes Richène Martin Libretto, Hazel McClune, Heliana Portes de Roux, Richard Price, Sally Price
Participants:
Colombia Palenqueros
Rafael Cassiaini Cassiani, singer, drummer, Colombia
Cristobalina Estrada Valdez, singer, dancer, Colombia
Gabino Hernandez Palomino, oral historian, Colombia
Lorenzo Manuel Miranda Torres, drummer, dancer, singer, Colombia
Graciela Salgado Valdez, drummer, singer, Colombia
Dolores Salinas de Caceres, singer, dancer, Colombia
Maximo Torres Berrio, drummer, drum maker, singer, Colombia
Jose Valdez Simanca, marimbula player, craftsperson, storyteller, drummaker, Colombia
Ecuador
Juan Garcia, oral historian, storyteller, Ecuador
French Guiana Aluku (Boni) Maroons
Granman Joseph-Joachim Adochini, Paramount Chief, oral historian, French Guiana
Cecilon Anabi, basket maker, -- kwakwa -- player, French Guiana
Adolphe Anelli, drummer, -- agwado -- player, singer, storyteller, French Guiana
Charles Anelli, dancer, French Guiana
Romain Balla, drummer, singer, French Guiana
Charles Cazal, drummer, dancer, singer, -- agwado -- player, flute player, French Guiana
Agnes Ceguy, hair braider, singer, cook, French Guiana
Thomas Doudou, dancer, French Guiana
Marcel Doye, dancer, singer, French Guiana
Samacon Doye, basket maker, woodcarver, dancer, drummer, French Guiana
Analia Kondokou, calabash carver, dancer, cook, French Guiana
Simon Kouakou, dancer, flute player, French Guiana
Antoine Lamoraille, woodcarver, French Guiana
Marie Celine Lobi, hair braider, dancer, French Guiana
Stanislas Lobi, dancer, -- kwakwa -- player, French Guiana
Sephiro Mais, singer, dancer, French Guiana
Saneti Sacapou, singer, cook, French Guiana
Louis Topo, oral historian, drummer, singer, dancer, French Guiana
Jamaica Accompong Town Maroons
George Huggins, drum maker, calabash carver, Accompong Town, Jamaica
Ferrel McKenzie, singer, dancer, drummer, Accompong Town, Jamaica
Nevilte McLeggon, abeng blower, cook, drummer, Accompong Town, Jamaica
Edwin Peddie, -- gumbe -- drummer, Accompong Town, Jamaica
Rosalie Rowe, singer, dancer, Accompong Town, Jamaica
Alrena Wright, singer, dancer, drummer, Accompong Town, Jamaica
Colonel M.L. Wright, Chief, oral historian, singer, Accompong Town, Jamaica
Jamaica Moore Town Maroons
Major Charles Aarons, 1929-, drummer, dancer, jerk specialist, herbalist, abeng blower, Moore Town, Jamaica
Hermine Daure, dancer, singer, cook, craftsperson, Moore Town, Jamaica
Martha Downer, 1931-, dancer, singer, cook, Moore Town, Jamaica
Colonel C.L.G. (Collin Lloyd George) Harris, 1917-, Chief, oral historian, Moore Town, Jamaica
George Harris, 1926-, drummer, drum maker, jerk specialist, thatcher, carver, abeng blower, mat maker, Moore Town, Jamaica
Edith Myers, 1925-, cook, dancer, singer, craftsperson, Moore Town, Jamaica
Emmanuel Palmer, 1935-, drummer, abeng blower, calabash carver, Moore Town, Jamaica
Carl Patterson, 1977-, dancer, animal trapper, Moore Town, Jamaica
Mexico Costa Chica Maroons
Melquiades Dominguez Guzman, storyteller, Mexico
Adan Garcia Marcial, singer, Mexico
Tiburcio Noyola Rodriguez, guitarist, Mexico
Suriname Ndjuka Maroons
Granman Gazon Matodja, Paramount Chief, oral historian, Suriname
Baja Kalenga Cason, boat builder, drummer, singer, dancer, Suriname
Badjan Kelion, hunting & fishing skills, drummer, storyteller, boat builder, Suriname
Albert Koejoe Dosoe, dancer, Suriname
Sentele Molly, animal trapper, drummer, singer, oral historian, Suriname
Jomena Sibe, cook, dancer, singer, needle worker, hair braider, Suriname
Modillie Siemie, cook, house decorator, hair braider, storyteller, Suriname
Suriname Saramaka Maroons
Granman Songo Aboikonie, Paramount Chief, oral historian, Suriname
Adwingie Aboikoni, drummer, singer, thatcher, storyteller, woodcarver, Suriname
Djangilie Amoesi, hunting & fishing skills, thatcher, dancer, wrestler, basket maker, Suriname
Aniekil Awardie, woodcarver, drummer, dancer, singer, Suriname
Edoe Eduard Bobby, fish trapper, thatcher, drummer, dancer, singer, Suriname
Patricia Main, cook, dancer, house decorator, hair braider, Suriname
Alisetie Ngwete, cook, dancer, singer, calabash carver, house decorator, hair braider, textile artist, calf-band maker, Suriname
Akoemajajo Pansa, cook, dancer, singer, calabash carver, textile artist, calf-band maker, hair braider, Suriname
Kajanasieh Saakie, cook, dancer, singer, calabash carver, house decorator, textile artist, calf-band maker, Suriname
Texas Seminole Maroons
Alice Fay Lozano, 1916-2011, cook, Del Rio, Texas
Ethel I. Warrior, 1919-, cook, Del Rio, Texas
William "Dub" Warrior, 1927-, storyteller, Del Rio, Texas
Charles Emily Wilson, 1912-2006, storyteller, Brackettville, Texas
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1992 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
