ACCOMPONG, St Elizabeth — Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna has committed to the “reconfiguration and revitalisation” of the museum in this Maroon community by 2015.

She said that her ministry and the Institute of Jamaica will be working closely with Accompong residents to ensure that residents and visitors can “proudly hear, read and touch the stories of Maroon fortitude, pride and heritage”.

Hanna was speaking at the 276th celebration of the signing of a peace treaty between British colonisers and the Leeward Maroons — led by Captain Kojo (also spelled Cudjoe) — which is celebrated every year on January 6 in Accompong, located in the Cockpit Country of northern St Elizabeth, close to Trelawny’s southern border.

Colonel Ferron Williams of the Accompong Town Maroons told the Jamaica Observer that a space within the community centre is currently used as a museum.

In his welcome at the celebration he said that the victory and treaty brought an 85-year war to an end, which was fought in the “hills, valleys and waterways” of what are now St Elizabeth, Trelawny, Clarendon, and St James.

“Great leader of the Leeward Maroons Kojo and his brother Accompong led the Maroon ‘Freedom Fighters’ in what was dubbed the First Maroon War against the England Occupation Army that had claimed Jamaica. After decades of guerilla warfare the Maroons agreed to a peace treaty,” said words scripted on the programme for the day’s event.

Hanna said that the renewal of the museum in Accompong is part of a commitment by the Ministry of Youth and Culture and agencies such as the Institute of Jamaica and the Jamaica National Heritage Trust’s national programme of museum development.

Last year, she said, the National Museum of Jamaica located in Kingston, and the museum at Seville Heritage Park in St Ann, were renewed. The Roxborough museum was established in Manchester in celebration of the life and contribution of national hero Norman Manley.

“If we are to build national commitment, it must be done through the knowledge of our history and heritage. This can only be achieved if we… ensure that our children and young people are able to learn the (stories) of our past,” said Hanna.

She told the audience at the celebration that Maroons will also be engaged as the Ministry of Youth and Culture advance the process of presenting the Blue and John Crow mountains in Jamaica to be inscribed among the World Heritage Sites within the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Colonel Williams said that significant events in Accompong in 2013 include the hosting of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller at the first maroon conference, the opening of a computer lab, the launch of a heritage trail, the approval of a Maroon Studies course at Bethlehem Moravian College through the efforts of the Accompong community, and leaders working with organisations in Jamaica looking at issues such as the Cockpit Country boundaries.

“2014 is a year of promise for the people of Jamaica and for … Accompong. We hope to take advantage of economic opportunities unfolding in agriculture, health and tourism to improve our welfare…,” he said.

— Alicia Sutherland