My Heritage, My Pride

Artist Statement

I was at a Maroon celebration in Jamaica. The Maroons are the descendants of a tribe that were able to escape slavery and defeat the British in 1739. The First Maroon War was a conflict between the Jamaican Maroons and the colonial British authorities that started around 1728 and continued until the peace treaties of 1739 and 1740. It was led by self-liberated Africans who set up communities in the mountains. I saw this lady dressed in full regalia, and asked her permission to photograph her. She said yes. I then asked her to show me how proud she was to be a Maroon, and my photograph shows you the answer. I later found out she was the High Priestess of the peoples who carry that heritage that still exists in Jamaica.