Maroons is a term used to refer to runaway slaves who formed communities in North and South America from the early 1500’s through the late 1800’s. The term also refers to descendants of those slaves. The English word maroon comes from the Spanish word cimarron, meaning wild or untamed. Maroon settlements once dotted the edges of plantation lands from the southern part of the United States to Brazil and Peru. The Maroons were skilled guerrilla fighters who often raided plantations for supplies. Some groups forced the colonial powers to sign treaties that granted them freedom.
Some Maroons formed powerful states with thousands of members. One of the best-known Maroon states, Palmares in northeastern Brazil, lasted for most of the 1600’s (see Palmares ). But other settlements survived less than a year. Today, Maroons still reside in semi-independent communities in several parts of North and South America. The most famous present-day Maroons are the Windward and Leeward Maroons of Jamaica and the Saramaka and Ndyuka Maroons of Suriname.
