Julian 'Jingles' Reynolds, Contributor

Travelling up the Buff Bay River Valley to Charles Town in Portland recently, a friend, visiting from the United States, commented on how peaceful and beautiful the place is, but he also saw the idleness, the forlorn look of wonderment as to what tomorrow holds, and of hope, especially on the faces of the children.

On June 23 each year, the Charles Town Maroons honour Captain Quao, the Maroon leader who, with Nanny, one of the National Heroes of Jamaica, led the Windward Maroons of eastern Jamaica to victory over the British troops on the Spanish River. This culminated in the signing of the peace treaty between the Maroons and the British on June 23, 1739, which awarded the Maroons their freedom and land for which they were to pay no taxes.

It also extracted from the Maroons their pledge to not rage war against the British, and the controversial pact for them to hunt and return other runaway slaves.

This year's Quao Day celebration theme is 'Strengthening African Ties with Maroons'.

Colonel Frank 'Buck' Lumsden heads the Charles Town Maroon Council (CTMC).

The council oversees the affairs of the Maroons in the community and is working to improve conditions there under the stewardship of Colonel Lumsden, an artist, supported by his captains, and Ken Douglas and Keith Lumsden, both of whom sit on the Maroon Council of Elders, comprising the Maroon families of Charles Town and adjoining communities.

Mr. Douglas, the operator of the family-run lumberyard is alsoa master drummer, and Mr. Lumsden, an architect/planner, chairs the Council of Elders.

Other prominent Maroon families in the community are the Charles, Dean, Duncan, Irving, Hartley, Henry, and Shackleford families.

Distribution of land

The Maroons of Charles Town received from the 1739 treaty approximately 1,000 acres of land that is communally owned. A few families hold property rights to individual plots. The community has a population of about 1,200 people, most with Maroon ties, and like many rural Jamaican communities, they struggle with high unemployment and impoverishment.

Subsistence farming remains the main source of income, with cash crops planted on small acreages. There are also a block-making establishment, furniture-making shop, a basic school, and many rum bars.

Julian 'Jingles' Reynolds is a writer, film-maker and entrepreneur who lives and works in New York and Jamaica.

See Part 2 of this feature in the Sunday Gleaner.