The legacy and heroics of Chief Takyi (also Tacky) will be celebrated with a civic ceremony in Port Maria, St Mary, on National Chief Takyi Day, Tuesday, April 8.

The event has been held annually since the proclamation of the national observance by Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen, in 2022 and will take place at Claude Stuart Park under the theme ‘The Spirit of Chief Takyi Never Forgotten’.

On Easter Monday, April 8, 1760, Chief Takyi led a powerful uprising against British colonial rule, known as Takyi’s War or the 1760 Easter Rebellion. This defiance against slavery also laid the foundation for Jamaica’s Emancipation 74 years later.

Acting Community Programmes Coordinator at the St Mary Municipal Corporation, Shantrese Brown, in an interview with JIS News, said that the civic ceremony is being used to keep the history and legacy of Takyi alive, particularly among schoolchildren.

“Chief Takyi is our hero for St Mary. He is not a national hero and as such, sometimes his name is not spoken in the schools, so this is one way of preserving his legacy,” she said.

She noted that Chief Takyi “has done so much… to show that we are a fighting parish. We want to celebrate his spirit and what his role in the 1760 Easter rebellion did for the parish,” she added.

The ceremony will begin at 10:00 a.m. and will feature a main address by Associate Professor of Divinity and Religious Studies at Yale University, Dr Todne Thomas.

Other remarks will be brought by Mayor of Port Maria, Councillor Fitzroy Wilson; Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and Member of Parliament for St Mary South East, Dr Norman Dunn; Member of Parliament for St Mary Central, Dr Morais Guy; and Member of Parliament for St Mary Western Robert Montague.

There will also be cultural tributes and presentations by Tacky High School, Port Maria High, Liberty Learning Centre, Horace Clarke High and St Mary High, as well as dramatic re-enactments, drumming, storytelling, and student-led displays honouring the legacy of Chief Takyi.

The event will also serve as a cultural exhibition and marketplace with authentic Jamaican cuisine, crafts, plants, and locally made goods by local entrepreneurs.

The function is being organised by the St Mary Municipal Corporation, in collaboration with the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), the St Mary Parish Library and Takyi Heritage Foundation. It is supported by Couples Sans Souci and Total Tools.