Cattawood Springs is a place in Portland Parish,

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

located at

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

18 04' 00",

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

76 26' 00". Originally this was a

Maroon Maroon ( , ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word , meaning chestnut. ''Marron'' is also one of the French translations for "brown". Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, inc ...

settlement. Its name probably derives from the Twi word ''katá'' which means to cover conceal or protect.

History

Cattawood Springs was a place of refuge for Queen Nanny and the

Jamaican Maroons Jamaican Maroons descend from Africans who freed themselves from slavery in the Colony of Jamaica and established communities of Free black people in Jamaica, free black people in the island's mountainous interior, primarily in the eastern Pari ...

during the First Maroon War, especially when the militias captured Nanny Town. However, under Nanny's leadership, the Windward Maroons mounted attacks from Cotterwood, and recaptured Nanny Town on more than one occasion. The Windward Maroons made overtures to join forces with Cudjoe towards the end of the 1730s. After the Windward Maroons signed a peace treaty with governor Edward Trelawny in 1740, Queen Nanny's Maroons abandoned Nanny Town, and resettled in New Nanny Town, which was eventually renamed Moore Town. Some of the original inhabitants left Cattawood in 1730 to join up with Cudjoe in Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town). According to one story, a group of one hundred men women and children went to join Cudjoe, and they were probably members of the group led by Captain Cuffee, who was one of Cudjoe's deputies at the signing of the 1739 peace treaty with the Leeward Maroons. They retained their name subsequently settling in Cotterwood in Saint Elizabeth Parish. pp. 44–5.

References

Jamaican Maroon establishments Populated places in Portland Parish {{Africandiaspora-stub