60199616-flight-to-freedom-african-runaways-and-maroons-in-the-americas

Maroon Government
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Generally, Maroons distrusted White people, and it is not apparent why
they kept Pereyra for so many years, especially since there is no evidence that
he was particularly useful to them. Was it because he was French rather than
Spanish, because he had been a contraband trader, or simply out of human
kindess that the Maroons took him into their home Whatever their reason,
it led to the destruction of their settlement.
Religion as a Political Force
In all human societies religion is a powerful political force. In the context of
slavery, charismatic leaders such as Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner of the
United States, Boukman Dutty of Haiti, Joaquim Nigth [sic] of Cuba, Tackey
of Jamaica, and Pacifico (Lieutan) and Elesbao do Carmo (Dandara) of
Brazil often transformed religion (traditional African, Islamic and Christian)
from a conservative into a revolutionary tool. But it also often served as a
constraining force against the use of arbitrary authority by the leaders. Price
(1979, 295) makes an important point about the role of religion in present-day
Maroon societies in Suriname, which must have had its origins in much earlier
times. According to him, the influence of the leaders was to some extent
circumscribed by the role of oracles, spirit possession and other forms of divination
in these societies.
Several examples can be cited along the same lines from any number of
African societies during the slavery period, but here we shall note the situation
among the Igbo and Yoruba. Among the former, the ubiquitous role of
the Aro-Chuku oracle and its priests, constituting the final court of appeal in
all matters spiritual or secular, was a serious limiting factor on village elders.
In Yorubaland, the Ogboni secret society and priesthood served essentially
the same function. Annual investigations into the administration of the
Alafin or emperor of the Oyo empire in Yorubaland (through contact with
his “spirit double”) ensured that he did not govern arbitrarily. In extreme circumstances,
such an investigation might lead to a decision to remove him, in
which case he would be sent an empty calabash, indicating that he was
required to commit ritual suicide. His rule was also constrained by the central
role that the Oni (titled ruler) of Ife (the Yoruba spiritual centre) played in
his investiture and the overall well-being of the Yoruba peoples. Thus checks
and balances were factored into the system of government in these societies,
as they were in Asante and other West African societies. 15