First and foremost, marronnage was a man’s thing, as men were more likely to undergo the hardships of marronnage. On the other hand, maroons were more likely to be stuck or trailing women, who might have children and weaken the chances of survival as a group.

Femininity, on the other hand, was also considered a physical and mental weakness and led to the conclusion that female slaves would not adapt to the wilderness and other difficulties associated with marronage. However, despite all this, female marronage did exist, and there were many reasons why female slaves were abandoned. According to Grand Marron records, the main reasons were that they wanted to escape the control of their masters, nor did they want to be associated with Maroon groups.

Very often, female slaves also wanted to meet relatives who had already escaped. It was said that these escapes were planned in advance after arrangements had been made to meet a relative.

It is also true that maroon slave women did not escape on their own. Maroons often attacked estates to obtain food, clothing, weapons and also sexual partners. However, female slaves were not always willing to follow male maroons.

Another reason for female marronage was the poor treatment they received from their owners. There was a report of a female slave, Louison, who had stated that she had been abandoned because of mistreatment by her owner. She had claimed that she had run away several times, but had stayed close to the property and been surprised each time, and that the intensity of her punishment increased proportionately. Therefore, as a last resort, she had resolved to run away forever.

The recordings of Monique, a Mozambican brown slave, are quite revealing. After being captured, she declared that she had not voluntarily become brown. She had been kidnapped by an armed maroon named Guinga while picking vegetables with her child. Guinga forced her to accompany him into the woods and join the brown group. The latter killed the child and took him as a partner. However, after a while, another maroon from the same band killed Guinga and made Monique his partner, and she bore his child.

It was also a common trait among maroons to practice infanticide. As a result, the babies proved to be a burden for the group, which was always on the move, trying to evade maroon detachments.

Another important maroon practice was that women belonging to groups did not accompany the men when they went on raids. They stayed behind and received food and clothing that had been stolen. It was customary to punish maroon slaves upon capture, often by death. However, brown women received different punishments depending on their testimony.

After testimony given by a maroon slave named Rose, she was spared the death penalty because the court concluded that she had not escaped on her own. Rose had been kidnapped by a group of 15 maroons while chasing monkeys from the fields of her master, Jacques Coignard.

The information on marrons in the archives has definitely proved its importance because of its reliability. The oral history of marronnage associated with Le Morne is very attractive and fascinating, and deserves special attention.