itself is a manifestation of racism; it derives from the Spanish word cimarrón meaning a domesticated beast that has reverted to a wild state. “History has dismissed the Maroons as runaway slaves and never given much thought to what communities they might have formed afterward. Jamaica’s Maroons in particular are renowned for their strong sense of community, which resulted in treaties with the British Empire that recognized their sovereignty. Historians, however, have not focused on Maroons from the indigenous point of view,” he notes. Challenged by that paucity of interest and understanding, Lucayo set out to discover as much as he could about their life and history. “Studying Maroons,” he says, “is a great way to look at the larger issues of class, race, and the clash of civilizations.” Lucayo’s mother is Trinidadian, his father Chicano, and his aunt and uncle have strong Native American identities and were prominent scholar-activists in California. Often he was by their sides at ceremonies, lectures, and gatherings. That personal history has given him an appreciation for the precarious gift of heritage and a lifelong commitment to understanding and communicating the ramifications of roots. Lucayo began his investigation into Maroon cultures with a Mellon Mays Fellowship from Dartmouth that allowed him to imbed himself in Maroon communities in Jamaica and Ghana. What he learned inspired him to put together a Senior Fellowship project that would allow him to travel back to those same communities and drill deeper into his research. “The Maroons in Jamaica and Ghana brought me into the heart of their clans,” Lucayo says. “I was so privileged to have that access. I knew I was recording living history.”
PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT GILL
“What I have discovered is that I really love scholarship. Having a future as an academic doesn’t mean living in an ivory tower.” –Clara Chin ’19
Lucayo has now spent several weeks in each country interviewing members of Maroon communities and building an understanding of their traditions. “I believe strongly that racial and ethnic tensions around the world can be reduced by information. Information leads to understanding. People need information about other people to develop an awareness and compassion for them and their challenges.” Lucayo’s scholarly journey has not been confined to foreign soil. He has established strong connections to members of the faculty like his thesis advisor Colin Calloway — a professor whose research into Native American history he admired as a boy growing up in East Palo Alto, California. And he has been deeply involved in Native American activities on campus, once serving as the lead organizer of Dartmouth’s annual powwow. He also has been active in the NAACP and helped organize a campus conversation with noted scholar, activist, and raconteur Cornell West. As the culmination of his Senior Fellowship project, Lucayo is producing an extensive thesis that outlines his research and conclusions. He intends to pursue a graduate degree in African American history knowing that, with his Senior Fellowship experience, he has established some scholarly street cred. “So much of what I’ve been able to do here at Dartmouth has been made possible by the D-Plan,” Lucayo reflects. “It has given me the freedom to investigate areas of scholarly interest that would not fit into the confines of a traditional academic schedule. I have felt that I could be as mobile as I needed to be in my study of the Maroons and have had some amazing experiences as a result.”