Oxford University Press has (rather graciously, as one would expect) apologized for not mentioning a band of eighteenth-century Jamaican freedom fighters in a dictionary definition for “maroon.” A Jamaican official had described the omission as “ as a national insult.” The entry in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines a maroon as “a person descended from fugitive slaves in remote parts of Suriname and the West Indies.” Jamaican Transport Minister L. Michael Henry, an amateur historian, complained to the publisher that “it insulted the country by excluding reference to the Jamaican maroons who fought two wars against British settlers and won treaties affirming their independence. They remain national heroes.” Henry’s letter to the publisher said the entry reflects “the continued attack by the former enslavers on the minds and history of the people.”
Angus Stevenson, the project manager for Oxford dictionaries, wrote in response last month that the entry will be revised in the next edition, which is due in 2011, to account for the exploits of the Jamaican maroons. The letters were released this week by Henry’s office. “I apologize for any offense that the entry has given,” Stevenson wrote. Stevenson said in an interview Friday that he does not believe the existing entry is wrong, but after some research he agreed that it could be improved by slightly changing its emphasis. “We’re always very glad to get feedback from readers to make sure things are as accurate and up-to-date as possible,” he said.
A modern-day community of Jamaica’s maroons, whose ancestors were slaves freed by the Spanish in the 17th century to repel invading British forces, live semi-autonomously under a 1739 treaty that provided roughly 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of rough terrain in northwest Jamaica. In their largest town, Accopong, in the parish of St. Elizabeth, the Leeward Maroons still possess a vibrant community of about 600. Tours of the village are offered to foreigners and a large festival is put on every January 6 to commemorate the signing of the peace treaty with the British after the Maroon War.
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