Saint Croix Maroons Celebrated

Choosing To Be Free No Matter the Cost

Saint Croix an island in the Caribbean Sea, is the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands and is surrounded by turquoise waters and some of the most colorful coral reefs in the Caribbean. It is a an unincorporated territory of the United States. Formerly the Danish West Indies, St. Croix was once an agricultural powerhouse in the Caribbean, but ended with the rapid industrialization of the island’s economy in the 1960s. Like many other Caribbean islands today, St. Croix has tourism as one of its main sources of revenue.

The St. Croix Environmental Association is a 500+ member organization whose mission is “To promote the conservation of environmental resources, provide education and advocate for environmentally responsible actions that benefit St. Croix.”

Last month joint project of SEA St. Croix AHEAD and SUCCEED, which stands for St. Croix Unified for Community Culture, Environment and Economic Development came together in a collaborative effort to produce a Cultural and Historic Preservation Symposium to celebrate the untold story of St. Croix’s Maroons and the maritime “underground railroad”. During slavery, the remote northwest corner of the island was historically a place where maroons (escaped slaves) hid out, many on their way to Puerto Rico and freedom.


Claudette Young-Hinds, Phil Wilkes Fixico Maroon Descendant of the Seminole Maroon Nation,
and Dr. Chenzira Davis Kahina sharing unity on the African Diaspora Heritage Trail.

SUCCEED, Inc. hosted a Maroon Commemorative Ceremony that included sacred and spiritual prayers, words of power and respectful acknowledgement in remembrance of the enslaved and marooned Africans on St. Croix who escaped bondage, torture, oppression and death. During the heights of mercantilism and even after the Trans Atlantic enslavement trade marronage was recorded in Danish archival records and this historical educational information shared throughout the Maroon Commemorative events.

Representatives of several spiritual and religious traditions gathered in mutual respect and unity at the crest of the Maroon Ridge Sanctuary area overlooking Maroon Hole, Maroon Ridge, Annaly Bay, Wills Bay and sacred spaces above Davis Bay near the historic and preserved Estate Bodkins Sugar Mill in the northwestern region of St. Croix to collectively purify while sharing libations, voice offerings and healing prayers to these hallowed and sacred grounds where our African and Indigenous ancestors survived times of great hardship and crimes against humanity with resilience, strength, selfdetermination and quests for freedom remaining eternal. The inaugural Maroon Commemorative Ceremony took place on Friday afternoon September 28 with numerous guests in attendance including Phil Fixico, a historian and devout academic activist who seeks to educate USVI and others about his ancestors history. As the only maroon representative from the United States he offered a unique historical perspective to the symposium.

There were three segments to this informative and visually interactive symposium. The presentations and presenters for the first segment on “Culture and Heritage- Our Spiritual Wealth” included: “Performing Cultural Heritage” by Olivia Cadaval, Ph.D. of the Smithsonian Institute; “Culture and Tourism: Maintaining Integrity” by Hugh Cresser of HC Associates of Jamaica; “Maroons’ Quest for Freedom: Crucian and Boricua- A Parallel Story” by Hector Bermudez- Zenon, Esq.; “What Does It Mean to be a Seminole Maroon?” by Phil Wilkes Fixico- Seminole Maroon Descendant; and “St. Croix maroons in the African Diaspora Heritage Trail” by Chenzira Davis Kahina, NHD-PhD of Per Ankh Institute. Sonia Jacobs-Dow, Executive Director of St. Croix Landmarks Society was the moderator.

This inaugural event featured the pouring of libation and he offering of prayers and blessings. The Collaborative project of St. Croix AHEAD – SUCCEED and St. Croix Environmental Association is funded by he U.S. Dept. of Interior of Insular Affairs.

Thank you to Dr. Chenzira Davis Kahina Chenzira Davis Kahina, NHD, PhD Managing Director of Per Ankh
Institute www.perankhu.org Board and Organizational Member of SUCCEED, Inc. www.succeedstcroix.org for providing details of the event for this article.