A recent development at the United Nations International Seabed Authority (ISA) assembly in Kingston, where, for the first time, leaders of Jamaica’s Maroon and Taíno communities — called first peoples — were seated, should not go unnoticed.

This means that the two communities — which are still, for all practical purposes, existing at the fringe of society — were granted a historic recognition and a place in the room at the UN seabed body, even if not yet a seat at the table.

With a profound statement declaring, “A people thought to be lost to history, but we are still here,” Kasike Kalaan Nibonrix Kaiman, chief of the Yamaye Guani Taíno, addressed the assembly.

Beside him proudly stood Gaama Gloria “MaMa G” Simms, paramount queen of the Jamaican and Diaspora Maroons.

Gaama Gloria “MaMa G” Simms, Jamaica Observer readers might recall, was the Maroon leader who, controversially, apologised for the blot on Maroon history, the capturing of slaves trying to escape their white colonisers.

The path to the microphone took a circuitous route under the auspices of the TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation — the only arts and culture organisation holding observer status at the ISA since 2017.

TBA gave up its own speaking turn and lent its credentials so that Maroon and Taíno leaders could join its official delegation and be heard, clearly demonstrating that where there is a will there is a way.

The ISA Secretary General Leticia Carvalho publicly recognised that Jamaica’s indigenous peoples had been absent from the authority, and committed to their inclusion, according to a press statement issued on Emancipation Day.

“I must acknowledge, and I must correct, that the indigenous peoples of Jamaica were not part of the International Seabed Authority. My deep apologies. This is corrected from now onwards,” said Ms Carvalho.

Their address to the assembly was timely, as the world decides whether to mine the deep ocean for the vast mineral wealth known to be embedded there, hopefully to be shared as the common heritage of all mankind.

Those minerals include polymetallic nodules which are potato-sized rocks rich in nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, and rare earths, the metals used in batteries and electronics.

The 31st ISA session, held from June 29 to July 31, 2026, continued its tortuous journey towards achieving a Mining Code that could provide guidelines regulating commercial extraction of the minerals from the deep sea, an area comprising more than half the world’s ocean floor.

The first peoples delegation backed a call for a moratorium which has been gathering steam but has divided the globe on the matter of mining the seabed.

Their position is that deep sea produces much of Earth’s oxygen, stores vast amounts of carbon, and holds undiscovered life, insisting that “beyond the debate over mining the nodules, the deeper danger is the unilateral approach by certain states to authorise deep-sea mining outside the ISA’s multilateral rules”.

The delegations brought fresh water from the rivers, lakes, and streams of Hawaii and Jamaica, which MaMa G symbolically gathered into a single yabba, a clay pot, and blessed in a ceremony not before seen at the ISA.

We wish the first peoples well as they seek to bring to bear their unique experiences on these important deliberations.