At the of launch Emancipation Jubilee 2011 at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort and Spa in Ocho Rios on Friday July 1, Artistic Director of the show Mr. Kenny Salmon, outlined that "for this year, the drums will do the talking." Among the outstanding drumming groups set to perform are the Kingston Drummers and Children of The Drums, who entertained the crowd at the launch. Mr. Salmon promised that at the celebration the drumming groups are set to do battle, with the crowd deciding the winner.

Once again, the African retentions in our rich heritage will be showcased with special performances from the Manchioneal Cultural Group, the exciting Port Morant Kumina group, Islington Dinki Mini, Nine Night from St. Ann, Stella Maris Dance Ensemble and many other award-winning traditional groups. These will be joined by the Nigerian Dance Troupe who will perform courtesy of the Nigerian High Commissioner Peter Oyedele.

After midnight, the celebration will see performances by the Unique Vision Band, Voice Mail, Delroy Morgan, Leroy Sibbles and a host of other performers including a surprise top artiste to be announced. Gospel lovers will not be left out of the mix as the ever popular Sister Scully will get the crowd moving with her special brand of music and she will be joined by Jabez.

Executive Director of the JNHT Mrs. Laleta Davis-Mattis explained that this year's celebration of Emancipation Jubilee is being held against the background of this year being the International Year of People of African Descent.

Once again the grounds of the great house will be transformed and this year patrons will be able to purchase ground provisions from an area set up to feature the traditional market setting. There will be exhibitions, traditional candy making, basket making and mouthwatering local foods, all adding to the excitement of the product. Patrons are being reminded to walk with their enamel mug for complimentary 'chawklit tea' - No mug, no tea.

Gates will open at 6:00 p.m. and tickets will cost $1,000 for adults and $500 for children. The event has so far attract sponsorship support from CVM Communications Group, Jamaica Tourist Board, UNESCO Kingston Cluster Office for the Caribbean, Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort and Spa and The Gleaner Company.

For further info contact:
Communications Division
922-1287-8/922-3990 or Seville Heritage Park 972-2191

For further info contact:
Andrea Braham
922-1287-8/922-3990
885-8105

Hon. Olivia Grange, Minister; Senator Warren Newby, Parliamentary Secretary
Mr. Robert Martin, Permanent Secretary (Acting)

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) is in the process of declaring Nanny Town and the Cunha Cunha Pass as National Monuments. The sites form part of the Blue and John Crow Mountain, which is up for designation as a world heritage site and they are of historic and cultural significance as a result of them being intimately connected with the Windward Maroons of Jamaica.

Nanny Town is possibly the most sacred of all Maroon sites and is named after the great Maroon leader, Nanny, who is Jamaica's only national heroine. It was from this strategically located stronghold in the parish of Portland, that Nanny launched her wars against the British Colonial Government. The Stony River in the area is viewed as the place in which the spiritual powers of the great founding ancestors is most concentrated. Maroons commemorate the place in songs.

Nanny Town was considered to be a large village with over 140 houses. After years of conflicts with the English, the village was attacked, occupied and destroyed by English soldiers between 1734 and 1738. The site though abandoned more than two and a half centuries ago, following a prolonged siege by the British colonial troops, is regarded by Maroons with such reverence that is difficult to comprehend by non-Maroons.

Cunha Cunha Pass
The Cunha Cunha Pass is an 8-kilometre mountain trail, which was first used by the Maroons to travel between the parishes of St. Thomas and Portland. It was also an escape route for the Maroons during battles with the British forces. The trail connects Hayfield and other parts of St. Thomas with Bowden Pen and the Rio Grande Valley in Portland; via the main ridge of the Blue Mountains. According to oral tradition, the site once ended at a plantation which the Maroons could not or "cunha cunha" pass. The Trail was also an important trade route, particularly before the road was built that linked Morant Bay to Port Antonio. The pass provided passage, by foot and donkey, for produce grown in the upper Rio Grande Valley to markets on the southern plains.
The Cunha Cunha Pass Maroon Trail was restored and reopened by the Bowden Pen Farmers' Association, a community-based organisation in collaboration with the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica, the Jamaica Conservation Development Trust and others in 2002 after being nearly wiped out during Hurricane Gilbert in 1988.

On the trail visitors are exposed to the history of the Maroons as well as the fauna and flora of the Blue Mountains. The trail is one of the most popular routes that pass through the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park. The trail also has other important sites including the Three Finger Spring and Lookout which is a midpoint of Cunha Cunha pass. It was from Lookout that the Maroons monitored plantations.

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust protects his sites by declaring them National Monuments or Protected National Monuments.

For further info contact:
Andrea Braham
PRO, Jamaica National Heritage Trust
922-1287-8/885-8105

'The JNHT Presents...The Ultimate Field Trip Experience' workshop engaged approximately 75 senior and master teachers from high schools across the island, teachers' colleges, the University of the West Indies, the University of Technology and the Ministry of Education. They spent two days drafting lesson plans in Biology, Mathematics, Language Arts, Information Technology, Chemistry, Physics, Social Studies, Geography, Theatre Arts and Economics, among others, using various heritage sites across the island to bring out key concepts.

One of the highlights of day two was a field trip to the over 350 year old Fort Charles heritage site in Port Royal where participants paid keen attention to a Mathematics lesson taught by Dr. Verleine Henry of the University of Technology. Using the Victoria Albert Battery and Giddy House, she taught concepts such as shapes, area, circumference, and angles. Excitedly, the participants used ropes, tape measure and other tools to calculate angles and width, while at the same time learning about the history of the site. They were also introduced to concepts in Geography such as plate tectonics and saw firsthand the impact of an earthquake.

Yanique Jones, a Mathematics teacher at Holy Childhood High School, had high praises for the workshop. "I have really learnt a lot. The workshop has opened my eyes to seeing history as a very interesting subject. I have now developed an appreciation for history. I can also now see where I can take my students to the heritage site and discuss Math."
Another participant, Mrs. Karlene McBean, teacher at Bishop Gibson High, has discovered a new love for heritage. "I am impressed with what is happening. I have a passion for Mathematics and Information Technology and now I have a new passion, history. When my school had Jamaica day we realized that the children did not know much about the heritage. I am impressed with what is happening. I thank the JNHT for allowing me to be part of the programme."

Executive Director of the JNHT Mrs. Laleta Davis-Mattis explains that the project was conceptualised as part of the organisation's vision to utilise heritage sites as a fundamental part of the education process. "The JNHT recognises that heritage education in schools is generally geared towards students of History, Social Studies and, in some cases, Geography. We recognise however, that heritage education, particularly aspects of the tangible heritage, can be taught successfully in other subjects."
According to Mrs. Davis-Mattis, the end result of the project will be the publication of a guide that will be issued to schools across the island initially at no expense to them. The publication will introduce teachers and parents particularly to the unending world of Jamaica's heritage, both tangible and intangible, and to create links between the heritage 'stock' and the various subjects taught in schools.

The workshop was just another phase in the project that has involved meetings with key persons within the education sector, more specifically the Ministry of Education, teachers' colleges, the Institute of Education and the Faculty of Humanities and Education of the University of the West Indies. Mrs. Davis-Mattis told participants that a follow-up workshop is being planned which will allow even more persons to participate.

For further info
Contact: Andrea Braham
Public Relations Officer
922-1287-8 / 885-8105

Taino Day was introduced in 2007 to publicly celebrate the lives of the early Jamaicans who often get left out of annual cultural celebrations. The day is especially important as it aims to remind the nation especially the children, that Jamaican history began long before the arrival of Christopher Columbus and his crew of colonisers.

Within 50 years of Spanish occupation the Tainos were virtually extinct. Many were forced into labour gangs and tortured by the Spanish from whom they contracted diseases to which they had no immunity. Some fled to the hills and cohabited with the Africans, thereby creating Maroons. By the time the English arrived they all but disappeared, surviving only in the culture of the maroons.


For further information contact:
Andrea Braham 922-1287-8/922-3990

For further information contact:
Andrea Braham
PRO
885-8105/922-1287-8
andreabraham@jnht.com

The historic Seville Great House and Heritage Park in St. Ann will be closed to the public as of April 29, 2011 to facilitate renovations to the site and the installation of a new exhibition. The heritage park, which operates as a heritage tourism attraction, is a favourite venue for school field trips with its informative displays and artefacts that feature Jamaica's history from the time of the Tainos, the island's earliest inhabitants. The site is expected to be reopened in October 2011.

"The Jamaica National Heritage Trust will be installing an exciting new multi-media, interactive exhibition that focuses on the history of the site, as a microcosm of Jamaica's history. We will also be putting in a brand new gift shop featuring an exciting line of souvenirs," explains Mrs. Laleta Davis-Mattis, Executive Director of the JNHT.

The exhibition is being designed with the kind assistance of the Spanish Jamaican Foundation and is being sponsored in part by the Tourism Enhancement Fund to the tune of $10 million. This is the first stage of a project that will lead eventually to the development of Seville Heritage Park as a living history museum.

There will be extensive renovations to the Great House to include fixing the roof, floor and bathrooms. The road surface leading to the Great House will also be rehabilitated and new look storyboards installed all across the property to extend tours beyond the Great House.

Seville Heritage Park sits on a site that was once a Taino village called Maima. The Spaniards settled there and made it their first capital - Sevilla la Nueva. This was where Christopher Columbus spent a year after he was shipwrecked on the island. Archaeological excavations over the years have unearthed important new insights into the site yielding numerous artefacts that provide clues to the life and activities of the inhabitants of the site.

The property changed hands over time and it also functioned as a sugar plantation with many of the ruins from that era still visible including the great house, waterwheel and copra kiln among others. The remains of four Afro-Jamaicans were unearthed in a burial ground near to the rear of the Great House. These remains were reburied in a moving ceremony on Emancipation Day 1997 and form the basis of celebration each year through the JNHT's Emancipation Jubilee which pays tribute to the African ancestors.

For further information contact:
Andrea Braham, PRO
922-1287-8/922-3990

Following a major discovery of several historic cannons and cannon balls at the its construction site on Port Royal Street in downtown, Kingston, Digicel Jamaica is assisting the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT)in its efforts to preserve the artefacts. The telecommunications company has donated over $400,000 to aid the JNHT in the stabilization and conserving of the cannons.

As a first step towards conserving them, the JNHT removed the artefacts from Port Royal Street on February 4, 2011, where they were being stored following their discovery in October last year. The cannons, cannon balls and ship's anchor were transported on a flat bed truck to Port Royal where they were placed in several tanks to begin the conservation process. The donation by Digicel was used to prepare the 10 tanks for use and to purchase materials and equipment to aid in the conservation process.

Since October 21 last year, workmen at the Digicel construction site have unearthed 10 cannons of varying sizes, 21 cannon balls and sections of an 18th century ship's anchor. The latest major find of two more cannon balls was made on February 8, 2011.

The first step in the conservation process is to rid the artefacts of the salt and corrosion that had accumulated for more than a century while it lay below the ground by flushing with fresh water for about 3 weeks. Then they will then undergo a process of electrolysis where all the chlorides will be removed. The artefacts will be stabilized to minimize the likelihood of further corrosion. They will be coated with a lacquer to seal the surface from further deterioration before they are placed on display.

The JNHT now has a constant presence at the Digicel site because of its sensitive nature. The area where the discovery was made was once an ordnance yard for the British military. Supplies including weapons, ammunition, maintenance tools and equipment were stored there before being distributed across the island.

For further information contact:
Andrea Braham
922-1287-8/ 885-8105

Contact Division of Communications
Jamaica National Heritage Trust
Telephone : 922-1287-8; 922-3990
Fax : 967-0924
E-mail : jnht@jnht.com
home page

The building that houses the charming Lillian's Restaurant located in the heart of the University of Technology (UTECH) Campus is now a National Monument. The building was so declared by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust on July 8, 2010 along with the ruins of three concrete silos that are on the campus.

The campus of the University of Technology stands on part of the site that was once the Hope Sugar Estate. Part of this estate was leased from a Baroness Kinloss from January 1, 1909 for 21 years at an annual rental of 200 pounds per annum for use as a farm and school. The school's aim was to train the approximately 12 young men enrolled at the time in the "art and science of agriculture". This Farm School was forerunner to the Jamaica School of Agriculture (JSA) in 1942 and later the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE).

The building now known as Lillian's Restaurant served as a part of the Farm School which produced such outstanding Jamaicans as Dr. T. P. Lecky, the late animal scientist who developed the Jamaica Hope and Jamaica Black breeds of cattle. The current restaurant which is built bungalow style with Georgian features, provides hands-on training for UTECH students in the areas of Dining Room Service Management and A La Carte preparation.

The Ruins of the three concrete silos are some of the last remaining relics to mark the existence of the Hope Farm. The silos were necessary owing to the drought conditions which prevailed almost continuously at Hope during seven or eight months of the year. These three silos enabled the farm to store approximately 600 tons of silage, enough to keep the herd going for 200 days. The declaration of these structures as National Monument is part of the JNHT's attempt to protect them under the law. This means that the owners/occupiers of the sites will not be able to demolish or alter them without the approval of the agency.

The JNHT is largely a regulatory agency. It protects the nation's architectural, archaeological and material cultural heritage in two primary ways, either by declaring a site a national monument or designating it to be a protected national heritage. In order to acquire this status, the site must identify with Jamaican history; prominently identify with great Jamaican persons; prominently identify with an important moment in Jamaican history; illustrate the culture of the prehistoric people; associated with the archaeological style related to an early master builder or architect; possess great antiquity; be an example of important regional or local architectural style; be of importance to the public imagination; possess great natural beauty or be a place name associated with the above criteria.

For further information contact:
JNHT's Communication Division
922-1287-8/922-3990