Alex Moore ‘‘Junior’’ Minott, a member of the Rio Grande cultural group in Moore Town, Portland, is questioning the legitimacy of Colonel Wallace Sterling’s attempt to banish him from the community.

The council of the Moore Town Maroons wrote a letter to Minott, 31, nephew of respected scientist and educator Dr Dennis Minott, stipulating that he and his wife should leave the community, citing that they were not Maroons and had caused “problems.”

The letter, dated May 12, 2022, was delivered to Junior Minott on May 16, and stated that he had three days to leave the community. A week has passed since said date, and he is still there, convinced that the directive holds no weight.

Junior Minott told the Jamaica Observer that the ‘problems’ referenced in the letter stemmed from his public endorsement of 19-year-old Lomorra “Hope” Dixon who had attempted to replace Colonel Sterling who has been the chief for the Moore Town Maroons since 1995. That was two weeks ago.

“I am very close to Miss Dillon. I came here and saw Miss Dillon deeply involved in the culture, and I came here and saw her complaining and advocating for change. And because of my tertiary educational background in international relations, Miss Dillon asked me to help her frame her political campaign and her outreach as well. I gave her my full support. I did not push her,” he said.

Dillon had put the question forward for people to elect a new chief. They had a vote where people affixed their signatures.

However, Colonel Sterling questioned the validity of individuals calling for a poll. He told the Sunday Observer that it is concerning that Dillon had used his image on her ballot paper without his permission.

Sterling insisted that Dillon’s attempt at an election was not recognised by the council and was therefore void. He has also made it clear that ballot papers are not traditionally used in Moore Town Maroon elections.

Minott added: “I believed in her vision. Based on my knowledge and my understanding, I thought that Colonel Sterling was not doing all he could. There are nine known Maroon districts in the Rio Grande Valley and some of them are very far between. We would walk with drums for miles throughout the districts just to show the people a little bit of culture. Her advocacy work and her passion demonstrated to me that win, lose or draw, I should support her. I did what I could do,” Minott continued.

A copy of the letter obtained by the Sunday Observer stated: ‘Dear Mr Alex Moore Minott, this is to notify you and your wife, Mrs Chevaune Moore Minott, that the council of the Moore Town Maroons is very displeased with your behaviour in the community. We the Maroons of Moore Town have always given shelter to outsiders. Nevertheless, they are expected to obey the rules of the community.

“The action of you and your wife has caused a lot of problems in the community. Therefore, the council of the Moore Town Maroons has decided that both of you should leave no later than the 19th of May 2022.”

The letter was signed by various members. Affixed as well was Colonel Sterling’s JP seal.

Meanwhile, Sterling insisted to the Sunday Observer that Minott must leave Moore Town.

“He is a troublemaker in this community. We allowed him to come here and stay. He doesn’t belong to Moore Town, neither does his wife. We are under no obligation to have him here. We served him the letter to leave. And it gives a date to leave too, by which he should leave. He is not a Maroon. He doesn’t belong here. This is a private place. He doesn’t have to be here,” Sterling maintained.

“After Sunday (election held by Dillon), he had the audacity to call me and tell me that he didn’t tell the girl (Lomorra) to oppose me. She said she was going to do it and he merely supported her and give her advice based upon what he knows, and that if he had done anything to cause problem and disrupt, he apologise. He wants to come with his wife to sit down and have a discussion with me to explain everything. That is a very controversial person.”

Sterling was adamant that Minott cannot be faciliated following his actions.

“He can make trouble on us, but don’t stay in our place. Nuh tan pon cow and cut cow. Go over there and make the trouble. If I don’t get rid of him, the people won’t forgive me. So, the council has written him a letter and asked him to leave. Before, they wouldn’t write you any letter. They would just take you by the hand, lead you out of the community and you don’t come back,” he said.

But Minott, also adamant that he will not leave, said he is in fact a Maroon.

“I was not born here, and I did not grow up here. My family is from here. My uncle, Dr Dennis Minott; I know he is willing to attest to the fact that I am his blood nephew, and he is well aware of his ancestry and Maroon heritage. He asked me to take up the mantle for the Minott family because they left Moore Town in my grandaunt’s generation and went to Boundbrook, which is 11 miles from here. He is the only one now that I have from my father’s side that can attest to it. My father passed last year,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Dr Minott, founder and CEO of A-QuEST, ran to his nephew’s defence. He told the Sunday Observer that Sterling was quite aware of his family’s Maroon heritage.

“I am a Maroon and therefore the son of my brother is a Maroon. My brother is the same mother and same father. My father is a Maroon and we have relatives and first cousins alive in the community right now. The colonel knows that. He has never treated other than as a Maroon. Every Maroon in the community knows I am a Maroon. I don’t have anything against the colonel, but he must speak the truth,” he declared.

His nephew added that when his mother died in 2011; it fuelled his thirst to be reconnected with his father’s side of the family. He since became involved with Chief Richard Currie, colonel of the Accompong Maroons in St Elizabeth.

“That quest over a few years to understand my bloodline and my roots led me here, and I’ve been here since 2017. I am no longer in Chief Richard Currie’s administration. I resigned days ago. I did so because of the controversy that was being caused and I did so to preserve the name of the people of Accompong, and to preserve chief Currie’s image as well.”

He further pointed to Article 12 of ‘The By-laws of the Maroons of Moore Town, Portland’ which states that: “Any non-Maroon resident in our area, whose conduct places the good name of our community in jeopardy must be made to leave within a time limit to be determined at a township meeting as has always been the case since the establishment of this community.”

Minott continued: “The issue here is that I was a member of Chief Richard Currie’s administration in Accompong. He asked me to serve last year when he was sworn in because I had known him for a few years prior, and I believe that what he stood for in terms of the growth of the Maroons as a separate people.”