Pet maroonage occurred when a slave often on a large sugar plantation ran away for a period of days. The runaway slave may have been driven to leave by a particularly brutal beating, the sale of a spouse or children, or some unbearable humiliation. Great maroonage occurred when the slave did not return but instead remained in a maroon community of other runaway slaves. Grand maroonage was a central feature of Cuban slavery and led to the formation of palenques or cumbes. 4 However, creating and maintaining a brown community free from colonial interference has been very difficult. Colonies often enlisted the help of maroons to quell slave revolts in exchange for their freedom to live in their community without the threat of colonial intervention. Returning to the quote from journalist Jerry Pournelle “Freedom is not