Accompong
Template:Coor title dm Accompong is a historical maroon village, located in the hills of St. Elizabeth Parish in Jamaica, establish in 1739.<ref name="JNHT">"Accompong" Jamaican National Heritage Trust;</ref> It is located in one of the two areas where runaway slaves settled, originally with the Tainos, isolated enough to be safe first from the Spanish and then later from the British. The town of Accompong was named after the Maroon leader Accompong, who was the brother of a number of other Maroon leaders: Quao, Cuffy, Cudjoe, and Nanny, from an Ashanti family.<ref name="JNHT"/>
History
Cudjoe (also Kojo)<ref name="Wright">Wright, M. L. (1992) "The Accompong Town Maroons: Past and Present" 1992 Festival of American Folklife catalogue Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage of the Smithsonian Institution;</ref>, a leader of the Maroons, is said to have united the Maroons in their fight for autonomy under the Kindah Tree - a huge, ancient mango tree that is still standing (2006).<ref name="Myers">Myers, Garfield (8 January 2006) "Maroons hold 'mother of all celebrations' at 268th annual festival" African Axis;</ref> Accompong was founded in 1739 after the Maroons signed a peace treaty with the British at nearby "Peace Cave". The treaty granted the Maroons their long sought autonomy. However a second Maroon war broke out in 1795. The Accompong Maroons remained neutral and the British left them alone. At the end of the war all the other Maroon settlements in Jamaica were destroyed, Accompong alone remained.<ref>"Parish Information:Accompong" St. Elizabeth Parish Library;</ref>
Culture
The inhabitants of Accompong share practices and a culture similar to their African culture originating 200-300 years ago.<ref name="Wright"/> Every January 6 (Cudjoe’s birthday) at Accompong, descendants and friends of the Maroons come together at a festival known as Quanza in celebration of the treaty.<ref name="Myers"/><ref name="Myers2">Myers, Garfield (8 January 2007) "Maroons unite in defence of Cockpit Country" The Jamaica Observer;</ref> In 2007, the festival took on a more political flavor, as attenders protested increased bauxite mining.<ref name="Myers2"/>