Accompong (from the Akan name Acheampong) is a historical Maroon village located in the hills of St. Elizabeth Parish on the island of Jamaica. It is located in Cockpit Country, where Jamaican Maroons and indigenous Taíno established a fortified stronghold in the hilly terrain in the 17th century. They defended it and maintained independence from the Spanish and then later the British, after the colony changed hands. Accompong is reportedly named after the son of Miguel Reid, the first African Maroon leader in western Jamaica, and allegedly the first leader of Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town). This would make Accompong brother to Kojo or Cudjoe, and possibly Cuffee, Quaco and Nanny of the Maroons. Accompong Town was reportedly built by Kojo who assigned his Brother Accompong to watch over it. After years of raiding and warfare, they established their autonomy, self-government and recognition as an indigenous people by a peace treaty with the British in 1739. Since independence in 1962, the government of Jamaica has continued to recognize the indigenous rights of the Jamaican Maroons in this area. Accompong is run by a chief who is elected by voting. The current chief is Chief Richard Currie. Accompong Town under Accompong In the 18th century, Maroon leader Cudjoe is said to have united his people under the Kindah Tree, as they struggled for autonomy. This was the site for signing the 1739 treaty with the British, according to this Maroon town's oral history. This legendary, ancient mango tree is still standing (2009). The tree symbolizes the common kinship of the community on its common land. However, the Returned Maroons of Flagstaff believe that the treaty was signed at Petty River Bottom, near the village of Flagstaff. During the First Maroon War, rebel slaves and their descendants fought a guerrilla war to secure the independence of Free black people in Jamaica against the British. Hostilities were finally ended by a treaty between the two groups in 1739, signed under British governor Edward Trelawny. It granted Cudjoe's Maroons 1500 acres of land between their strongholds of Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town) and Accompong in the Cockpits. While the treaty granted this land to Trelawny Town, it did not recognize Accompong Town. In 1756, following a land dispute between Maroons from Accompong Town and neighbouring planters, the Assembly specifically granted Accompong Town an additional 1,000 acres of land. The treaty also granted the Maroons a certain