The Jamaican Maroons
The Jamaican Maroons are descended from slaves who escaped from slavery and established free communities in the mountainous interior of Jamaica during the long era of slavery on the island. African slaves imported during the Spanish period may have provided the first runaways, apparently mixing with the native Taino or Arawak people that remained in the country. Many gained liberty when the English attacked Jamaica and took it in 1655, and subsequently runaways were referred to as "maroons." The Windward Maroons and those from the Cockpit Country stubbornly resisted conquest in the First and Second Maroon Wars.