Unstoppable Avenging Women: 4 Female Leaders of Resistance

Who says a woman should be modest and quiet? We know of women who fiercely fought for themselves, their honor, and their loved ones, often in bloody battles. They may not be superheroines to emulate, but their achievements are certainly worthy of respect.

Queen Nanny of the Maroons

Queen Nanny was a spiritual, cultural, and military leader of the Maroons, guiding them through the most challenging period of resistance against British invaders from 1725 to 1740. Born on the Gold Coast of Africa, now known as Ghana, she later moved to Jamaica as a free woman.

At that time, Jamaica’s slaves were fierce fighters who preferred to fight for their freedom. Between 1655 and 1830, rebels regularly staged uprisings. Women did not escape the brutalities of slavery. Marriage and partnerships were forbidden. Children born of secret unions were taken from their parents and sold back into slavery. Many women chose abortion rather than see their children suffer the same fate. Female slaves cultivated crops and were responsible for most of the agriculture. Additionally, women on plantations were regularly sexually exploited by slave owners.

Sometimes, plantations were raided by Maroons to free enslaved women and increase their population. Legends even speak of great women warriors who attacked plantations with large knives, beheading the English. Queen Nanny was a master of guerrilla warfare and taught the Maroon troops the art of camouflage. Legends say she instructed them on how to disguise themselves with branches and leaves and move silently.

The Maroon settlements were located high in the mountains, accessible only by narrow roads. Thus, British soldiers were always clearly visible, and the Maroons eliminated groups of attackers one by one.

In 1737, during the height of the resistance, the people faced starvation. However, their leader heard a voice in her dream telling her not to give up. When she woke, she found pumpkin seeds in her pocket, which she planted on a hillside. Within a week, the Maroons had huge pumpkins, enough to feed the entire population.

There are two amusing legends about how she caught bullets. Some said Nanny caught bullets with her hands, which was considered an art in some parts of Africa. Others told that she deflected them with her buttocks. The vulgar nuances in the stories likely stemmed from British colonizers who despised the leader.

The most famous legend was that Nanny placed a large pot on the edge of a mountain path. It constantly boiled, although there was no fire beneath it. Curious British soldiers who approached too closely fell off the cliff. Some speculated that the pot contained herbs with anesthetics, but modern historians assert that the pot was essentially a pit with bubbling waters from a rocky river, giving the appearance of boiling water.

All images of Nanny appear quite bloodthirsty. For example, she wore bracelets made from the teeth of British soldiers. On her belt, she had a dozen different knives, each clearly stained with human blood. Nanny remains a symbol of resistance against slavery at any cost. Queen Nanny is the true queen of Jamaica.

Princess Olga

The Drevlians sent twenty noblemen to Olga for negotiations. She received them courteously but asked them to return to the court the next day. That night, on her orders, her subjects dug a deep pit before the porch of the princely house. When the envoys returned, they fell into this pit and were buried alive. Chronicles suggest that Olga leaned over the edge of the pit and asked if the dear guests liked the reception.

After this, the princess sent a messenger to the Drevlians, demanding more noblemen to accompany her on a journey to the Drevlian land. When the valiant men arrived, the princess gave them a cordial reception and led them to the bathhouse, where she locked them in and burned them alive.

The Drevlians, unaware that all their envoys and warriors had been killed, were not surprised by the arrival of a messenger announcing the princess’s imminent arrival. Olga said she intended to hold a funeral feast for her deceased husband—a memorial combining sorrowful mourning with a joyous, drunken feast and the scratching of faces in a sign of grief.

Unsuspecting, the Drevlians drank, while Olga’s warriors waited for the right moment. When the tribe’s eyes were sufficiently clouded, Olga’s supporters killed the Drevlians.

Returning from the bloody feast, she gathered a new army, larger than the previous one, and went to the Drevlians again, this time declaring war. They locked themselves in their capital, Iskorosten, so the princess proposed they