ACCOMPONG, JAMAICA (AP):
THEIR ANCESTORS FOUGHT off British colonists, survived rugged jungle terrain and became a symbol of Jamaican independence. Now the Accompong Maroons face a challenge from within.
Today, residents of Accompong will go to the polls to elect a leader, or "colonel," in one of the most contentious contests since rebel slaves founded the remote, semiautonomous settlement in 1739.
The disputes -- ranging from a dubious voters' list to mudslinging by candidates -- have raised concerns that petty, modern-day politics is tainting traditional community respect in Accompong, a village of 2,000 where town meetings are still convened by blowing an ivory "abeng" horn passed down over generations.
Under threat
"Our way of life is under threat. That's why we need a leader who knows our history and will protect all the Maroons," said Ralston Reid, a 51-year-old yam farmer and one of three candidates running for colonel.
The election, scheduled for every five years, has been delayed for months because of a dispute over the voters' list, which some allege contains the names of hundreds of ineligible non-Maroons.
Land disputes
"It's dirtiness, plain and simple," said Reid, who has accused his opponents of registering outsiders.
The winner will head a Maroon Council and oversee a modest budget funded by modest tourism to the town, which has been hit hard by a lack of jobs and land disputes with the government.
The current colonel, Sydney Peddie, insists the voters' list is clean and accuses his enemies of trying to derail his re-election bid.
The first Maroons were a band of African slaves freed by the Spanish in 1655 to wreak havoc on invading British forces. The name Maroons comes from the Spanish word cimarrones, meaning the "untamed" or "wild" ones.
They fled to Jamaica's rocky and inhospitable Cockpit Country and repelled the British for decades before signing a peace treaty in 1739.
State taxes
Today, Accompong residents pay no state taxes and claim immunity from Jamaica's justice system -- even though several members of the Maroon Council were jailed in 1986 for growing marijuana.
Elsewhere, in South American countries such as Suriname, Maroons remained isolated for centuries and carried on African-centered traditions from wood carving to shamanism.
In Jamaica there are fewer traditions, but every January 6 revelers play drums and enjoy a traditional meal of rum with boiled chicken and pork -- some of which is offered to the spirits on a bed of banana leaves.
