Queen Nanny and The Maroons of Jamaica.

The story of Queen Nanny takes place in Jamaica, in the 17th century. Queen Nanny was a descendant of the Ashanti slaves. The Ashanti tribe was one of the most powerful tribes on the west coast of Africa. The Ashanti tribe was very powerful and there were many "Mystic" legends that surrounded them. The Ashantees were believed to be descendants of the biblical Israelites, and the customs and culture of the Ashanti tribe reflected their "legendary" biblical relationship to Israel....!!!

When Queen Nanny arrived in Jamaica she quickly learned that the glorious an honorable status of the Ashanti women of West Africa, was reduced to that of breeding and laboring, so she soon devised a plan to over-turn the tables and restore freedom. Queen Nanny was soon on her way to leading a wide scale rebellion that would leave her European captors regretting and cursing the very day that they forced Queen Nanny to board a slave ship.

Queen Nanny and her five brothers led a rebellion which aggressively and violently granted slaves their freedom. They escaped to the Blue mountains of Jamaica and founded their very first settlement which they called "Nanny Town", a name which celebrated Queen Nanny as being the person responsible for them acquiring their land and their freedom. So violent was the nature and means of their escape, that the Spaniards called them "Maroons", which is a derivative of "Cimarron" which means savage and beast like, but linguistics points out that the name Maroon is a derivative of the Spanish word for Mountains, the term "Maroon" then would signify their flight and ascent into the "Blue Mountains" of Jamaica. The Maroons (Ashanti) decided to escape into the mountains because it gave them guerilla leverage in warfare over their captors, who were not skilled to fight on such Mountaneous terrains.

Queen Nanny became the Tribal, Military, and Spiritual leader of this elite sect of slaves. She led rebellions throughout Jamaica which gathered many slaves, and even "Newly freed" slaves joined her rebellion. The idea of using camouflage when fighting, was an idea which originated among the Maroons. They were the very first people known to use camouflage in warfare. So great and advantageous was their camouflage, that the British soon followed suit and began to use camouflage in warfare as well.

Queen Nanny was feared among her European rivals and sworn enemies. They soon learned not only of Queen Nanny's military genius, but from captured Maroons, they also learned of Queen Nanny's "Super-natural" power, a power which originated and was linked to the tribe of Ashanti's biblical relationship to the Hebrew - Israelites.

Queen Nanny was able to lead such a strong and powerful rebellion that in later years the British were forced to sign a "Peace Treaty" with the Maroons, because they were losing too many soldiers and man-power in the fight to regain control over the Maroons. The culture of the Maroons was so wide-spread that there isn't an Island in the West Indies that is not permeated with signs of Maroon culture and tradition. The Maroons were not just a clan of warriors who rejected slavery. The Maroons were very skilled in the Natural Sciences and were able to set up "mock" Hospitals where they could treat and heal the sick among them. Maroon theology closes resembles that of Judaism and points towards an ancestral link and connection between the slaves of the African diaspora and the exiled Biblical Israelites, who permeate America and the West Indies....!!!

In 1994, Jamaica immortalized the image of Queen Nanny by placing it on their $500 bills. Zion Train Entertainment celebrates Black history month by first celebrating those of our descendants who put their lives on the line to secure our freedoms.