Queen Nanny of the Maroons, Renée Cox (a condensed version of one of my papers for a class)
Queen Nanny of the Maroons is a figure who is important to Obeah and Jamaican culture. She was a leader of the Jamaican Maroons, who were descendants of escaped slaves who fought against the British in the late 17th and 18th centuries. The Maroons were victorious (to a certain extent, of course) and were able to develop their own independence and culture.
Queen Nanny played a key role in this guerrilla war, as she was known for planning strategic traps. Tales of her strength and bravery have been passed down for generations. Some scholars argue that she may not have existed at all, but either way, her supposed deeds have inspired countless Jamaican people. Some tales surrounding her Obeah powers include: luring British soldiers into a pot that was able to boil on its own, catching the bullets of soldiers with her posterior and hurling them back at the soldiers, appearing as a bird and causing a fire, causing guns to fire for no reading, and appearing as a dangerous legless dog named the whooping-boy. She clearly brought fear into the lives of the British soldiers and inspired the Maroons.
Obeah cannot easily be defined, but the basis of its practices is rooted in the communication with and usage of spirits. It contains healing, herbal mixture, and African traditions. Obeah men and women are those who perform rituals, such as for healing and for ensuring the spirits of the deceased can pass in peace.
Obeah is still technically illegal in Jamaica, but the law is not enforced. It supposedly only continued to exist to protect people from exploitation. The 1898 Obeah Act made in illegal, as colonizers were scared of the power and threat that Obeah holds. They wanted to isolate communities and protect their own colonial force.
Renée Cox created a series of photographs titled Queen Nanny of the Maroons in 2004. Cox is a Jamaican-American woman who was born in Colgate and focuses on representations of black women and their strength. The diasporic identities of Caribbean-American artists is complex, as the migratory patterns are a reflection of the chaotic and violent colonial history that existed in the Caribbean. As a teenager, Cox lived in what she describes as a "privileged suburb" in which her family was only one of seven black families. She states that she felt proud of this and proud of her identity.
One photograph in the Queen Nanny of the Maroons series depicts Cox as Queen Nanny, sitting on a rock in the middle of a body of water, wearing a traditional dress and head covering. This particular photograph is in black and white (as are half of the photos in the series). The lack of color gives the photograph a dated feeling, referring to the vast history of Queen Nanny. It paints her as a figure of the past, rather than a figure of the present. The other black and white photos depict Queen Nanny as a mother, or nanny, playing a traditional role of the past. As such, this image can be seen as a representation of the past as well, since it places Queen Nanny in a helpless position. She is trapped by the water, just as Jamaican enslaved people were trapped by the ocean on the island.
However, Jamaican people, and Caribbean people in general, are still somewhat trapped on their island due to international laws prohibiting simple travel by water between each Caribbean island. As each island is controlled by a different colonial country, one needs a visa and a lot of money to travel among the islands. In this photograph, Cox alludes to this sense of loneliness and distance that people inhaling each Caribbean island feel.
In addition, there is an expanse of greenery in the background, which signifies the importance of plants to obeah practices and Jamaica's colonial history in sugarcane plantations. It also refers to the exotic imagery of the Caribbean as being a place full of tropical plants, such as palm trees.
In the next photograph, Lolivya, Queen Nanny is portrayed as a warrior and a strong woman, standing strongly barefoot with a machete. She looks directly as the viewer, confronting the viewer's position in this place, a resort. The title of the photograph, which appears above the doorway of the building, is the original name of the estate which is now a resort.
The resort commodifies Maroon communities show tourists what the "real" Jamaica is like through tours on their website. It advertises the herbal remedies the bush doctor of the community, additionally commodifying obeah medicinal practices. Although this kind of commodification of maroon communities by hotels is rare, it nevertheless establishes a trend in how obeah is treated in this capitalist and touristic economy.
The ocean is visible in the background, emphasizing the coastal nature of the resort and the association of the sea with death. The sea has become a way for tourists to relax and spend time in the sun, losing its historical significance of oppression and death. Queen Nanny seems to be in a position to defend the historical significance of the ocean from the maws of tourism.
The final photograph, Wash, depicts Queen Nanny in a body of water. As the title implies, there is some kind of cleansing activity occurring in this piece. Her long white dress flows in the water, symbolizing a kind of purity. However, since the dress is wet, it is see-through and her breasts are just barely visible. One interpretation is that this cleansing gives Queen Nanny power over her sexuality. Cox is well known for depicting the "sexual female."
Another interpretation is that Cox is depicting the sexualization of the black body. In either case, the water is what generates this power. It can be either freeing or oppressive. Her hands clasp her dress in a way that alludes to hands being chained together, which references the slavery that Queen Nanny fought against and of being in a position of oppression through the water.
She stares up at the viewer, indicating that the viewer has a position of power and she is forced to be subservient. However, her jewelry creates a sense of wealth, which establishes some kind of autonomy that is present. Many obeah cleaning rituals involved the mixing of herbs into a bath of water, which may be what Cox alludes to in this photograph.
In Cox's Queen Nanny of the Maroons series, Queen Nanny is placed in spaces of Maroons, historical places of resistance, not colonialist spaces. Cox places her in spaces where she is able to reclaim her power, an entity separate from colonialist oppression. In addition, the use of Cox's own body humanizes Queen Nanny. Her use of photography displays the message that Queen Nanny is a real person with a real body who can be photographed. Queen Nanny can be any real black woman. This decision also gives power to Cox, making the statement that anyone can be Queen Nanny. Cox places herself in a position which states that she has the strength and influence that Queen Nanny has.
If you notice any inaccuracies or outdated terms, please let me know! Conducting research about/related to the Caribbean is very difficult because of how many inaccuracies exist.
Cox, Renée. “About.” Accessed 9 December, 2024. https://www.reneecox.org/about.
Crosson, J. Brent. “What Obeah Does Do: Healing, Harm, and the Limits of Religion.” Journal of Africana Religions 3, no. 2 (2015): 151–76. https://doi.org/10.5325/jafrireli.3.2.0151.
Gant, Kimberli. “Icons Brought Forward: Renée Cox’s Queen Nanny of the Maroons.” Journal of Contemporary African Art, no. 38-39 (2016): 102-109. https://www.academia.edu/31967577/Icons_Brought_Forward_Ren%C3%A9e_Coxs_Queen_Nanny_of_the_Maroons.
Giannelli, Anthony Dexter. “What Can Contemporary Art Teach Us About Diaspora and Identity?” Artland Magazine. https://magazine.artland.com/caribbean-art-diaspora-identity/.
Kopytoff, Barbara K. “Religious Change among the Jamaican Maroons: The Ascendance of the Christian God within a Traditional Cosmology.” Journal of Social History 20, no. 3 (1987): 463–84. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3788108.
Murrell, Nathaniel Samuel. “Obeah: Afro-Caribbean Religious Medicine Art and Healing.” Caribbean Healing Traditions (2013). https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203844502-8/obeah-nathaniel-samuel-murrell.
The Obeah Law, 1898. 1898: 129. https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00014142/00001/citation.
TUELON, ALAN. “Nanny — Maroon Chieftainess.” Caribbean Quarterly 19, no. 4 (1973): 20–27. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23050240.
University of Liverpool. “Renée Cox.” Accessed 9 December, 2024. https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/black-atlantic/information/renee_cox/#:~:text=Born%20October%206th%2C1960%20in,area%20when%20she%20was%2014.
US Department of State. Office of International Religious Freedom. 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Jamaica. 2019: 1. https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/jamaica__trashed/.
Williams, Joseph J. “The Maroons of Jamaica.” The Journal of Negro History 24, no. 2 (1939).
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