Your Time is Done Now: Resistance and Defeat: The Maroon Trials of Dominica (1813-1814).

A review by Neil Vaz for Repeating Islands.

Polly Pattullo’s very important piece entitled Your Time is Done Now: Slavery, Resistance and Defeat: the Maroon Trials of Dominica (1813-1814), is an edited collection of original primary source documents with contextual commentary detailing the account of what has been known as Dominica’s Second Maroon War in 1813 and 1814. Pattullo, a British writer and creator of her own publishing company entitled Papillote Press, uses the actual court documents of the Maroon (runaway slave) trials as well as correspondences between the British colonial government officials to disclose to public the eventful conflict between the Maroons and the colonial government of Dominica in the second decade of the nineteenth century.

Not only is Pattullo’s work important in bringing the actual voices of the Maroons to the public through the text, but the author takes it a step further in creating a play which was performed at the Alliance Francais in Roseau, Dominica, on August 6, 2015. Dominicans, visitors, and friends and family came out to witness the vivid portrayal of the actual words that were spoken by the early nineteenth century Governor George Ainslie and the Maroons, such as Paul, Victor, Adelaide, and others. The play, which was phenomenally performed by local Dominicans, was followed by a question and answer period, a book signing, and hors-d’oeuvres.

The play and the book, alike, just by simply reading or listening to the actual words of the maroons and their contemporaries, capture the essence of the surreptitious and sophisticated alliance between the maroon community and the enslaved population of Dominica. This elaborate alliance between the enslaved and the Maroons would, however, be quelled with the arrival of Governor Ainslie in 1813 in a way that many in London believed was “excessive”. The book devotes attention to the writings of Governor Ainslie and his attempt to justify his actions.

Pattullo has done a great work in delivering the story of the Maroons to the public by shedding light on a rich culture and history of a people who believed in their principles of community and self-sufficiency, characteristics that are still ubiquitous in Dominica today. This book is a great addition to the historiography of Dominica and a very critical addition to the historiography of the African Diaspora and marronage throughout the Americas, especially since countries such as Jamaica, Haiti, and others are given the most attention in reference to African resistance to slavery, while an important island like Dominica is often overlooked by historians.

Your Time is Done Now will serve as a great inspiration for Dominicans, and people of African descent throughout the Caribbean and the Americas, who can see the actual primary source evidence in Pattullo’s work that the enslaved Africans did not simply accept their plight, but fought intelligently, fearlessly, and in many respects selflessly to assist their brethren in their quest for freedom.

Neil Vaz is a PhD Candidate and professor of history at Howard University.