The Maroons of Trelawny and Cockpit Country

Maroon autonomy

The Maroons were unconquered, they persisted as free peoples in the heart of Britain's most important and notorious slave colony until long after the abolition of slavery in 1834. The fact that they were never defeated or assimilated into the larger population set them apart from most of the other groups.

Two treaties signed by the Maroons and their British antagonists in 1739 gave legal recognition to de facto ethnic groups that already differed culturally (despite significant areas of overlap) from the rest of the Jamaican population. Two major groups were covered by the treaties: those under the leadership of Cudjoe (Kojo) in the Cockpit Country in the western part of the island, known as the Leeward Maroons; and those affiliated with Quao (Kwau), Nanny, and a variety of other leaders in the Blue Mountains in the east, known as the Windward Maroons. The treaties of 1739 reinforced and institutionalized preexisting cultural differences between the Maroons and the coastal slave population by legally sanctioning the Maroons' existence as semi-autonomous free peoples within a slave colony, and by providing them with bounded territories that came to symbolize their corporate identities as communities of common landowners.

The treaty:

First, That all hostilities shall cease on both sides forever.

Secondly, That the said Captain Cudjoe, the rest of his captains, adherents, and men shall for ever hereafter in a perfect state of freedom and liberty, excepting those who have been taken by them, or fled to them, within two years last past, if such are willing to return to their said masters and owners, with full pardon and indemnity from their said masters or owners for what is past; provided always that, if they are not willing to return, they shall remain in subjection to Captain Cudjoe and in friendship with us, according to the form an tenor of this treaty. 

 
Thirdly, That they shall enjoy and posses, for themselves and posterity for ever, all the lands situate and lying between Trelawney Town and the Cockpits, to the amount of fifteen hundred acres, bearing northwest from the said Trelawney Town.

 Fourthly, That they shall have liberty to plant the said lands with coffee, cocoa, ginger, tobacco, and cotton, and to breed cattle, hogs, goats, or any other flock, and dispose of the produce or increase of the said commodities to the inhabitants of this island; provided always, that when they bring the said commodities to market, they shall apply fist to the customs, or any other magistrate of the respective parishes where they expose their goods to sale, for a license to vend the same.

 
Fifthly, That Captain Cudjoe, and all the Captain's adherents, and people now in subjection to him, shall all live together within the bounds of Trelawney Town, and that they have liberty to hunt where they shall think fit, except within three miles of any settlement, crawl, or pen; provided always, that in case the hunters of Captain Cudjoe and those of other settlements meet, then the hogs to be equally divided between both parties.

 Sixthly, That the said Captain Cudjoe, and his successors, do use their best endeavors to take, kill, suppress, or destroy, either by themselves, or jointly with any other number of men, commanded on that service by his excellency the Governor, or Commander in Chief for the time being, all rebels wheresoever they be, throughout this island, unless they submit to the same terms of accommodation granted to Captain Cudjoe, and his successors.

 
Seventhly, That in case this island be invaded by any foreign enemy, the said Captain Cudjoe, and his successors hereinafter named or to be appointed, shall then, upon notice given, immediately repair to any place the Governor for the time being shall appoint, in order to repel the said invaders with his or their utmost force, and to submit to the orders of the Commander in Chief on that occasion.

 
Eighthly, That if any white man shall do any manner of injury to Captain Cudjoe, his successor, or any of his or their people, they shall apply to any commanding officer or magistrate in the neighbourhood for justice; and in case Captain Cudjoe, or any of his people, shall do any injury to any whiter person, he shall submit himself, or deliver up such offenders to justice.

 
Ninthly, That if any negroes shall hereafter run away from their masters or owners, and shall fall into Captain Cudjoe's hands, they shall immediately be sent back to the chief magistrate of the next parish where they are taken; and these that bring them are to be satisfied for their trouble, as the legislature shall appoint. [The assembly granted a premium of thirty shillings for each fugitive slave returned to his owner by the Maroons, besides expenses.

 
Tenthly, That all negroes taken, since the raising of this party by Captain Cudjoe's people, shall immediately be returned.

 
Eleventhly, That Captain Cudjoe, and his successors, shall wait on his Excellency, or the Commander in Chief for the time being, every year, if thereunto required.

 
Twelfth, That Captain Cudjoe, during his life, and the captains succeeding him, shall have full power to inflict any punishment they think proper for crimes committed by their men among themselves, death only excepted; in which case, if the Captain thinks they deserve death, he shall be obliged to bring them before any justice of the peace, who shall order proceedings on their trial equal to those of other free negroes.

 
Thirteenth, That Captain Cudjoe with his people, (Repeat: subjects, peoples.) shall cut, clear, and keep open, large and convenient roads from Trelawney Town to Westmorland and St. James's, and if possible to St. Elizabeth's.

 
Fourteenth, That two white men, to be nominated by his Excellency, or the Commander and Chief for the time being, shall constantly live and reside with Captain Cudjoe and his successors, in order to maintain a friendly correspondence (Not dominance, correspondence -- see "waiting". These are ambassadors, not governors) with the inhabitants of this island.

 
Fifteenth, That Captain Cudjoe shall, during his life, be Chief Commander in Trelawney Town; after his decease the command to devolve on his brother, Captain Accompong; and in case of his decease, on his next brother Captain Johnny; and, failing him, Captain Cuffee shall succeed; who is to be succeeded by Captain Quaco; and after all their demises, the Governor, or Commander in Chief for the time being, shall appoint, from time to time, whom he thinks fit for that command.

In testimony, &c. &c.

Attempt at Maroon assimilation

The first formal attempt to encourage the assimilation of the Maroons into the wider population was the so-called Maroon Lands Allotment Act of 1842. This piece of legislation aimed to abrogate the treaties of 1739 and absorb the Maroons into the emergent peasantry by dividing the communally owned Maroon lands and parceling them out to individual owners. The Maroons, however, simply refused to comply, and the colonial government did not force the issue. It soon found that its interests were not, after all, necessarily served by dissolving the Maroon communities.

The greatest challenge to Maroon autonomy, however, came with Jamaica's political independence in 1962. The country's new constitution did not address the question of the political and legal status of the Maroon communities in post-independence Jamaica. The assumption seems to have been that the treaties of 1739, and any vestiges of legal or political autonomy attached to them, would automatically be rendered null and void by the creation of a new, unitary state. But the Maroons continued to insist on the validity of their treaties, which they regarded as sacred charters, and they pointed out that these had been made with the British crown, and not with the ancestors of those who constituted the new government. During the 1960s and 70s, successive governments attempted to further the integration of the Maroons into the larger population by demanding that persons living on Maroon lands pay taxes on the individual plots they occupied. Maroons in the two major communities of Moore Town and Accompong, however, resisted all efforts to divide and tax their communally held "treaty lands." Once again, the Jamaican government did not attempt to force compliance, and, despite occasional conflicts over this question in the ensuing years, the Maroons of these two communities still pay no taxes on their communal lands.

The political and legal status of the Jamaican Maroon communities remains as ambiguous as ever. Plans for a new national park or biodiversity reserve in the Cockpit Country, an area originally occupied by the ancestors of the Accompong Maroons, have for the first time raised the possibility of formal, internationally-monitored discussions between Maroons and the Jamaican government over the question of land. But limited and inconclusive written documentation and a long and complex history of unresolved territorial disputes have made it difficult even to establish the precise boundaries of Maroon lands. Furthermore, while many Maroons are not willing to separate the question of land rights from the larger issue of self-determination, the Jamaican state, for its part, has shown no inclination to give serious consideration to the sensitive topic of Maroon autonomy.
Source:
http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/jamaica/maroon-autonomy-jamaica

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/eon/marroon/treaty.html
http://maroonconnection.blogspot.ca/p/brief-history-of-trelawny-town-maroons.html

Jamaica’s rare earth element

Jamaica may be home to a large source of rare earth minerals, according to the findings of a Japanese mining company. It comes as companies and countries around the world continue searching for further sources of elements that are vital to modern technology. Energy and mining minister, Philip Paulwell, who said that Jamaica's red mud contains "high concentrations of rare-earth elements"

Rare earths aren't scarce, but few places exist with enough concentrations to mine profitably, and they are difficult to isolate in a purified form and require advanced technology to extract.

Professor of Supra-molecular Chemistry and Dean of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at the University of the West Indies Dr Ishenkumba Kahwa says Jamaica's venture into the extraction of rare earth metals from red mud presents exciting prospects for high-end jobs. Professor Kahwa also expressed confidence that Jamaica had the expertise to staff the project, which will be shared jointly with personnel from Japanese company Nippon Light Metals who are funding the effort.  

"We do have capacity, in my own research group we have trained about 13 PhD graduates, and a good number of those are on rare earth chemistry; so we have people to manage the chemistry. We have students who are in the system. Now, once they know jobs will open up they will be sufficiently excited, so the capacity is here," he told the Observer.

 "What we are seeing today is an excellent opportunity for us to be able not only to exploit our own resource, but we have the expertise that can be directed towards preparation and development of materials that are of high value," he added. Full story here: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Exciting-prospects-for-high-end-jobs-at-rare-earth-facility--says-professor_13564077

China is currently the largest supplier of rare earth metals, the demands are increasing and China is limiting its exports of rare earth metals. Japan the largest importer of rare earth metals is now looking to make deals with the Jamaican government to extract these minerals from the red soil.

There are some lessons Jamaica can learn from China for example: China says it's being stingy for environmental reasons, not economic leverage.

China is gearing up to fight a legal dispute instigated by the United States, EU and Japan over China's export controls on rare earth minerals.

To maintain and strengthen its control of rare earth separation and purification, China should adhere to the exclusive ownership of rare earth enterprises when it seeks cooperation with other countries, in order to effectively protect Chinese core technologies in this field.

Source:

http://www.chinafrica.cn/english/business/txt/2012-04/01/content_444380.htm

Rare earth element what are they?

They are a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium.  Scandium and yttrium are considered rare earth elements since they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties.

Because of their geochemical properties, rare earth elements are typically dispersed and not often found concentrated as rare earth minerals in economically exploitable ore deposits. It was the very scarcity of these minerals (previously called "earths") that led to the term "rare earth". The first such mineral discovered was gadolinite, a compound of cerium, yttrium, iron, silicon and other elements.

The 17 elements rarely exist in pure form. Instead, they mix diffusely with other minerals underground, making them costly to extract.

Economics
Foreign companies have already moved in to stake their claim in what could be the next mineral rush. Japan’s Nippon Light Metal has agreed to invest $3 million in buildings and equipment for a pilot project. Any rare-earth elements produced during this phase will be jointly owned by Jamaica and the Japanese company.

Source for current pricing on Precious, Platinum, Non Ferrous, Minor and Rare Earth Metals
http://www.mineralprices.com/

How are they used?

Much of rare earths' appeal lies in their ability to perform obscure, highly specific tasks. The unique electronic, optical and magnetic characteristics of these elements cannot be matched by any other metals or synthetic substitute.

"There are absolutely no substitutes for the rare metals that are used in (the missile) guidance systems and hybrid batteries that are used in defence applications," Quest Uranium Corporation CEO Peter Cashin told CBC News. Full story: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2010/02/12/f-rare-earth-rush.html 

Scandium: Added to mercury vapor lamps to make their light look more like sunlight. Also used in certain types of athletic equipment — including aluminum baseball bats, bicycle frames and lacrosse sticks — as well as fuel cells.

Yttrium: Produces color in many TV picture tubes. Also conducts microwaves and acoustic energy, simulates diamond gemstones, and strengthens ceramics, glass, aluminum alloys and magnesium alloys, among other uses.

Lanthanum: One of several rare earths used to make carbon arc lamps, which the film and TV industry use for studio and projector lights. Also found in batteries, cigarette-lighter flints and specialized types of glass, like camera lenses.

Cerium: The most widespread of all rare earth metals. Used in catalytic converters and diesel fuels to reduce vehicles' carbon monoxide emissions.  Also used in carbon arc lights, lighter flints, glass polishers and self-cleaning ovens.

Praseodymium: Primarily used as an alloying agent with magnesium to make high-strength metals for aircraft engines. Also may be used as a signal amplifier in fiber-optic cables, and to create the hard glass of welder's goggles.

Neodymium: Mainly used to make powerful neodymium magnets for computer hard disks, wind turbines, hybrid cars, earbud headphones and microphones. Also used to color glass and to make lighter flints and welder's goggles.

Promethium: Does not occur naturally on Earth; must be artificially produced via uranium fission. Added to some kinds of luminous paint and nuclear-powered microbatteries, with potential use in portable X-ray devices.

Samarium: Mixed with cobalt to create a permanent magnet with the highest demagnetization resistance of any known material. Crucial for building "smart" missiles; also used in carbon arc lamps, lighter flints and some types of glass.

Europium: The most reactive of all rare earth metals. Used for decades as a red phosphor in TV sets — and more recently in computer monitors, fluorescent lamps and some types of lasers — but otherwise has few commercial applications.

Gadolinium: Used in some control rods at nuclear power plants. Also used in medical applications such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and industrially to improve the workability of iron, chromium and various other metals.

Terbium: Used in some solid-state technology, from advanced sonar systems to small electronic sensors, as well as fuel cells designed to operate at high temperatures. Also produces laser light and green phosphors in TV tubes.

Dysprosium: Used in some control rods at nuclear power plants. Also used in certain kinds of lasers, high-intensity lighting, and to raise the coercivity of high-powered permanent magnets, such as those found in hybrid vehicles.

Holmium: Has the highest magnetic strength of any known element, making it useful in industrial magnets as well as some nuclear control rods. Also used in solid-state lasers and to help color cubic zirconia and certain types of glass.

Erbium: Used as a photographic filter and as a signal amplifier (aka "doping agent") in fiber-optic cables. Also used in some nuclear control rods, metallic alloys, and to color specialized glass and porcelain in sunglasses and cheap jewelry.

Thulium: The rarest of all naturally occurring rare earth metals. Has few commercial applications, although it is used in some surgical lasers. After being exposed to radiation in nuclear reactors, it's also used in portable X-ray technology.

Ytterbium: Used in some portable X-ray devices, but otherwise has limited commercial uses. Among its specialty applications, it's used in certain types of lasers, stress gauges for earthquakes, and as a doping agent in fiber-optic cables.

Lutetium: Mainly restricted to specialty uses, such as calculating the age of meteorites or performing positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Has also been used as a catalyst for the process of "cracking" petroleum products at oil refineries.

Global demand

By 2015, it's estimated, global demand will be as high as 225,000 tons.

Japan was the first to take the hit from these reduced rare earth supplies. China and Japan have always had a strenuous relationship, and land disputes were frequently triggers for trade issues. In 2010, the trigger for rare earth export reduction was a quarrel between a Chinese fishing trawler and the Japanese Coast Guard over a group of islands.

But then supplies were limited for the U.S. and the rest of the Western world too. The thing is, pollution was only one of the reasons China began to cut its rare earth supply. China was already the world's largest rare earth consumer, but an increase in domestic demand caused the nation to reconsider where its supply was going. Naturally, China decided to keep more supply at home.  

The World Trade Organization began investigating China's restrictions and diminishing quotas last summer. The nation has chosen to simply disregard the probe, reducing quotas more. This  left nations around the world with two options: reduce dependence on rare earths or start mining their own.The U.S. recently decided to take matters into its hands.

The Department of Energy provided Ames Laboratory with $120 million to create a Critical Materials Institute (CMI) lab, which would have three tasks aimed at moving the United States away from Chinese rare earth dependence, as outlined by the Department of Energy: 

·         Diversifying global supply chains to mitigate supply risk

·         Developing material and technology substitutes

·         Promoting recycling, reuse and more efficient use to significantly lower global demand for critical materials  

Asian nations, particularly Japan the world's biggest rare earth importer are also exploring other options. A number of Japanese companies are working with India Rare Earths to build a processing plant in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is the world's largest producer of uranium, and amid the rare earth crisis this has drawn interest. Rare earths can often be found in the waste byproducts of uranium mining – a fact that will likely make uranium mines an even more attractive location for rare earth producers in the years to come.

Environmental issues

Mining and refining rare earths makes an environmental mess, leading most countries to neglect their own reserves, even as demand soars. China has been the main exception since the early 1990s, dominating global trade with its willingness to intensively mine rare earths — and to deal with their acidic, radioactive byproducts.

That's why the U.S., despite large deposits of its own, still gets 92 percent of its rare earths from China. China controls somewhere around 95% of the world's supply of rare earth metals.  But this fact is often misconstrued; China actually only has roughly 36% of the world's rare earth reserves, but it produces 95% of the supply. Rare earth producers have a long history of harming the environment to get the metals. Like many industries that process mineral ores, they end up with toxic byproducts known as "tailings," which can be contaminated with radioactive uranium and thorium. In China, these tailings are often dumped into "rare earth lakes"

This wasn't a problem until recently, when China began tightening its grip on rare earths. The country first imposed trade limits in 1999, and its exports shrank by 20 percent from 2005 to 2009. They then took a dramatic nosedive in 2010, squeezing global supplies amid a dispute with Japan, and they've fallen even further in 2011. China says it's being stingy for environmental reasons, not economic leverage, but the cutbacks have nonetheless caused major price spikes. The price of neodymium hit $129 per pound in May, for example, up from just $19 a year earlier.

As the AFP reports, farmers near China's Baotou mine complain of dying crops, lost teeth and lost hair, while soil and water tests show high levels of carcinogens in the area. China has only recently begun cracking down on such pollution, perhaps learning a lesson from Mountain Pass, Calif., which supplied most of the world's rare earths until economic and environmental pressures forced it to close in 2002. The mine's profits had declined for years as China slashed rare earth prices with its own mining frenzy, while a series of wastewater leaks from 1984 to 1998 spilled thousands of gallons of toxic sludge into the California desert, sullying the mine's public image.

Chinese pay price for world's rare earths addiction

http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/World/Story/A1Story20110501-276650.html

While producing rare earths can cause environmental problems, they have an eco-friendly side, too. They're vital to catalytic converters, hybrid cars and wind turbines, for example, as well as energy-efficient fluorescent lamps and magnetic-refrigeration systems. Their low toxicity is an advantage, too, with lanthanum-nickel-hydride batteries slowly replacing older kinds that use cadmium or lead. Red pigments from lanthanum or cerium are also phasing out dyes that contain various toxins.

Why are so many countries reluctant to exploit their own rare earth reserves?

Mining and production of rare earth metals can be a highly pollutive process. Until very recently, China was more concerned about extracting and processing the metals than these environmental effects, and this is how it was able to grow into almost the sole supplier of rare earths. But it was also this pollution China cited when it decided to reduce its export quota in 2010.    

Many countries are reluctant to be the location for the processing plants, particularly amid the growing concern for climate change and the radioactive content of the wastes. Shortages are going to be a growing concern until the extraction and processing techniques can be cleaned up or until an alternative resource is found.

Article sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_earth_element

http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/jamaica-breaks-ground-on-rare-earth-project-1.1143700

http://geology.com/articles/rare-earth-elements/

http://www.wikinvest.com/commodity/Rare_Earth_Metals

http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/09/19/rare-earth-metals-will-we-have-enough/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2010/02/12/f-rare-earth-rush.html

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/translating-uncle-sam/stories/what-are-rare-earth-metals#environmental

http://www.wealthdaily.com/resources/rare-earth-stocks
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-01/16/jamaica-rare-earth-minerals

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Exciting-prospects-for-high-end-jobs-at-rare-earth-facility--says-professor_13564077

http://www.earthtechling.com/2013/01/jamaican-mud-bursting-with-rare-earth-elements/

http://www.mineralprices.com/

Rare earth minerals in Jamaica

CHAIRMAN and Executive Director of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute Dr Parris A Lyew-Ayee has assured that "unlike in many other countries where rare earth minerals are mined with severe negative impacts on the environment ... the Jamaican scenario is completely different".

Speaking during Monday's groundbreaking project for the US$3-million pilot plant at the institute's Hope Gardens home in St Andrew, the chairman said the process of extraction would be compatible with the environment. Full story here:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Environmentally-safe_13559705

Other articles on rare earth minerals
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130116/news/news9.html

Trelawny Yam festival

History

The Trelawny Yam Festival first came into existence on May 23, 1997, as a fund-raising initiative by the Southern Trelawny Environmental Agency (STEA) to support its environmental and economic development activities in south Trelawny.

No mining in Cockpit Country

Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change Minister, Robert Picker-sgill, said the Ministry is working to ensure the Cockpit Country is protected, especially from mining activities.

"This area (Cockpit Country) is far too important to the country's cultural and environmental heritage to have it jeopardised in this manner. Mining in the area could essentially destroy the resources found there," he said during his contribution to the 2012/13 Sectoral Debate in the House on Tuesday.

The minister pointed out that the Cockpit Country constitutes about 2.1 per cent of the land area of Jamaica, and is the second-largest expanse of contiguous forest remaining on the island, with the 22,327-hectare Cockpit Country Forest Reserve at its heart. The area also supplies 40 per cent of the island's freshwater resources.

He said the Cockpit Country contains significant deposits of bauxite, and over the years there have been rigorous and heated discussions about the possibility of the Cockpit Country being mined for bauxite.

The Cockpit Country

The Cockpit Country is widely recognized as one of the most biologically diverse places on earth.

The Cockpit Country is one of the most naturally pristine, unspoilt and culturally significant landscapes in the inland area of Jamaica and the world. The Cockpit region represents an essential portal into the roots of Jamaica’s earliest beginnings and future sustainability. This unique physical location has allowed a high biodiversity of flora and fauna to develop and thrive. In fact, the Jamaican Government has designated a portion of the Cockpit Country as a national forest reserve in an effort to help protect and preserve the large numbers of endemic flora and fauna that are indigenous to the region.

A significant portion of the Cockpit Country is recognized as an endangered hotspot within a hotspot – both for the number of species whose global ranges are restricted entirely to the region and for the number for which the Cockpit Country represents a major proportion of their total world population. New species continue to be discovered regularly, which is a testament to the significance of the Cockpit’s ongoing conservation.

Cockpit Country Movie preview

Bart works for STEA and is persuing a documentary film about Cockpit Country, centered  in Alps, with a focus on eco-tourism as an alternative to bauxite mining.  He is raising funds for the project right now by selling pre-orders and other interesting stuff.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1324944479/cockpit-country-the-green-heart-of-jamaica