Page 59 - 10th Annual International Charles Town Maroon Conference and Festival Magazine

Charles Town Maroon International Conference Magazine June 2018

The Bench: a Jamaican tradition

Gaama Mama G
In traditional Jamaica many people values, primarily family values has
from the rural communities been lost, replaced or is going, not
throughout the island and partic- slowly anymore but rapidly. One of
ularly in the Maroon Villages, grew these is the “bench”, replaced with
up owning and occupying “ A bench” the now plastic chairs from oriental
countries. This new seating is only
There were always a long bench temporary and so is its philosophy,
upon which all the older siblings which we can easily identified as “
would sit in age arrangement, quick cash”, as their only interest in
starting with the eldest to the child providing this “seating service”.
next to the smallest. The smallest
child within the family would now As Maroon Women we can now
sit by him/herself on the smallest restore the “ bench” to its original
bench, which is an inheritance from status, in a time when discipline,
the very first child, this bench serves law, order and justice is required
all the children in the home, and is perhaps more than ever. We can use
passed on to the youngest child in the this to help in restoring order and
family. discipline. As a Sovereign Nation,
“the bench “ will direct us towards
“Bench” made from saw tree (wood) our own court of justice within our
such as cedar or gungo, it has two communities, somewhere where
legs ( shape like a cloven ) two strip the women will able to perform
of wood on each side for support and their roles and responsibilities that
a small plank with a flat surface on are universal.
top for sitting. Roughly prepared but
get very smooth after a few months and years of frequent Back in those days our parents, our mother would put our
usages. bench near to her bench as she performed her daily duties,
she would teach us domestic chores such as washing clothes
Most time the “ Bench” is the oldest furniture in the home while sitting on the bench, our mother would take one look
as it is sometime inherited from Parents and grandparents, at us and we would resort to our bench immediately if we
especially mothers and grandmothers, as the bench they sat ever step out of line. Sometime they would lift you from
on as a child. where you wander to and place you firmly back on the
bench.
The “bench” is a symbolic seat of discipline, order,
restoration of order, justice and workmanship, it is also the Maroon women will facilitate participatory\experiential
equivalent of African Stool or Throne and the protocol that workshops based on “The Bench” Principles, Philosophy
goes with it, and Protocol through discussions, reasonings/conver-
sations, skill training, subjects such as peace keeping,
Within modern law and order, the Justice System consider
the bench an office and dignity of a judge, a place where peace-making and peace building.
the judges sit in court, individually and collectively, it is the As Sovereign Taino and African peoples we have to
place or object of justice. acknowledge and preserve our ancestors legacy that they
pass on to us, however insignificant it may seem, they are
In observing modern day Jamaica I recognized that like
many more of our traditional values, and/or symbols of the pinnacle of the highest protocol

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