Nanny of the Maroons was a legend, thus her National Heroine status that was bestowed upon her in 1982. She was honoured for leading the Windward Maroons in the rugged mountains of Portland to victory over the British in the First Maroon War of the first half of the 1700s. And, as with most legends, all sorts of myths and romanticisms are attached to her persona.
The best-known of the Nanny’s myths is that she would catch bullets with her posterior, and survive to tell the tales. She was also regarded an excellent military strategist who used her knowledge of the mountainous environment to outsmart her pursuers. And, in many quarters she was said to have supernatural powers bequeathed her by her ancestors.
Professor Leo Douglas of New York University has curated a documentary called, ‘Reimagining Nanny: Her Sword – A Seed’.
REFERENCES
Read more in the Jamaican Gleaner
Video; YouTube
N.B. There are no real photos or pictures of the real nanny