Christopher Burgess | ‘Indigenous’ injustice and rural underdevelopment

Land in Jamaica is linked to cultural identity and 200 years of injustice. These themes took centrestage at the 17th International Charles Town Maroon Conference, held on Saturday, June 21, in the Asafu Yard, Portland.

Maroons, Tainos, government, friends, and concerned citizens gathered. At the heart of the debate is the issue of recognition of indigenous people who uphold indigenous culture.

Beyond recognition, the conference also debated Jamaica’s stalled land reform, beach rights, environmental degradation, and unequal access to affordable housing. The discussions further highlight the urgent need for comprehensive land reform and justice.

REFLECTIONS FROM CHARLES TOWN

For the Maroons, recognition is key. Colonel Sterling, a senior leader of the Moore Town Maroons for over 30 years, addressed the conference remotely. He emphasised that Jamaica’s constitutional reform must acknowledge their 300-year-old treaties. Poor land use and declining agriculture also concern the Maroons, who see modern techniques like hydroponics as a part of their future. The Colonel remains hopeful in long-term talks with the government on their indigenous status, and recognition in any new Constitution. As he put it bluntly, if the government celebrates indigenous Maroon culture, it cannot deny their indigenous identity. A good point.

The Taino Kasike reminded of the Taino’s perspective that land is not a commodity, but a sacred living relative. You can’t own your relatives, but you can care for them and listen to them. “Rivers, forests, and plants are relatives to be respected.” This challenges profit-driven models that have fuelled degradation and urban disasters like recurring floods on Marcus Garvey Drive. As an engineer, I have seen how community wisdom informs and strengthens sustainable infrastructure.

The audience raised wider frustrations around unaffordable housing, quoted in United States dollars. Airbnb investors routinely outbid locals. The legal and surveying processes for securing family land titles in rural areas remain prohibitively complex and expensive. Without reforms to lower these costs, rural Jamaicans will remain locked out of home ownership.

WIDER CRISIS

Uneven access to the sea reflects the wider land crisis. Informal residents at Clifton saw wildly different outcomes, some people were allowed to regularise their tenure, others saw their homes demolished without consequence for those behind the land fraud. Public beach access for recreation and fisherfolks are shrinking. Expensive and restrictive use of Puerto Seco beach breeds discontent and remains simmering. From bauxite-rich mountains to coral reefs, land injustice remains deeply entrenched.

While Maroon and Taino concerns centre on cultural recognition and rights, they also highlight unresolved land issues that affect the broader rural Jamaica. Despite freedmen’s wealth at Emancipation, colonial policies imposed costly parcel sizes that excluded small farmers. Inequality persisted, favouring foreign investors like the United Fruit Company (1890) and Spring Plain Farms (1980s), leaving rural Jamaicans behind, since Emancipation. Today, 32 per cent of Jamaicans live informally, well above the regional 21-per-cent average. Rural development urgently needs land reform through mass regularisation, starter homes, and unlocking idle lands for modern farming.

The Yallahs Valley Programme in the 1950s and Land Lease Programme in the 1970s worked. Even the IMF said these programmes boosted food production.

Recognising indigenous people can strengthen rural development. Zambia, a leading copper producer in southern Africa, has over 200 chiefs that manage environmental governance, land allocation, and disputes. Similarly, Tanzania has over 120 nations. Yet, Jamaica struggles with just two groups seeking recognition. Every copper mine and factory require an environmental impact assessment, and investors must present their plans and negotiate directly with local leadership. In contrast, Jamaica faces conflict with the Accompong Maroons over bauxite and land, while rural development remains stalled. There must be a way to integrate local leadership into rural development.

INDIGENOUS IDENTIFY

The deeper questions raised at Charles Town, by Colonel Sterling and the Kasike was clear: How can there be an indigenous culture but no indigenous people? And is there an unnecessary attempt to link “enduring sovereignty” with indigenous status by the parties?

Local legal and academic voices oppose recognizing the Maroons, based on the pre-colonial occupation test. But the UN in 2022, offers a different opinion and voiced concern:

“The UN noted the view of the State party (Jamaica) that there are no Indigenous Peoples in Jamaica and that this approach could marginalise communities such as the Maroons and the Tainos who self-identify as Indigenous peoples. The Committee recommended that the state party should reconsider its approach with regard to the Indigenous Peoples, giving due regard to the principle of self-identification and engaging in open and inclusive discussions with the Maroon and Taino communities on this matter.”

The UN’s criteria support both the Maroon’s and Taino’s claim as indigenous people. It recognizes the groups’ distinct institutions for 300 years, self-identification, continuous land occupation since 1739, non-dominance, and cultural preservation, as meeting indicators for indigenous recognition, in a post-settler context.

A domestic framework that acknowledges indigenous groups, with governance rights, like several African countries, while preserving national sovereignty, would ease tensions over mineral resources and fuel rural development.

INCLUSION

Recognising our indigenous communities does not divide us, it makes us ‘One People’.

The UN already supports the Maroon and Taino indigenous identity. We can share stewardship of land, while keeping Jamaica united and peaceful. Rural development means giving people titles to the land they live on, improving agricultural practices, roads and water, and fixing the difficult legal process.

After 200 years, it’s time to correct land injustices and acknowledge our indigenous roots.

Christopher Burgess, PhD, is a registered engineer and land developer. He is a council member of the Jamaica Institution of Engineers. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com