Jonkonnu in Jamaica free essay sample

Kinkajou in Jamaica. A dying tradition or a vibrant practice. According to Pamela and Martin Mirrored, they opined that culture is referred to whatever traditions, beliefs, customs, and creative activities characterize a given community. Every group has its own specific culture, its own way of seeing, doing and making its own traditions. Junking is a Jamaican traditional dance of African origin. Cheryl Raman postulated that Kinkajou linked music and dance, mime and symbols as the earliest traditional dance form of African descent.It is performed at Christmas time ND a strong feature of the dance is the all male characters whose movements match their roles. The music is distinct with its fife and drum that has survived in Jamaica but has Kinkajou become a vibrant practice or dying tradition? This paper will seek to analyze this. Cheryl Raman wrote that Kinkajou richly illustrated both the historical and social realities of Jamaica and provided a model for examining several old world traditions and new world phenomena. Reflecting on Jamaican colonial history, according to E.Noble the British in 1 660 seized control from the Spanish and established a colonial outpost there. Some slaves had already lived on the island and in the late seventeenth century, the English colonists began to import more slaves from West Africa in great numbers to work on the sugar plantations. The English colonists brought many cultural traditions with them to Jamaica which included the celebration of Christmas with music, dance and masquerade. The African slaves retained their own music, dance and masquerade traditions which were utilized as an outlet against their oppressive state.The evolution of Kinkajou is reflected in the serialization process in Jamaica, emerging from African and European cultural expressions. These two cultural streams flowed together in Jamaica celebrations gave rise to Kinkajou. In Jamaica, Kinkajou is the oldest recorded traditional dance form. A combination of European and African forms combined in some aspects and identifiably different in others with further addition of Creole elements. Its essential features are costumes masking, a special fife, drum music, dance and mime. There are types of Kinkajou in Jamaica and these are Fancy Kinkajou and Roots Kinkajou.Mirrored called the two distinctly African Kinkajou groups and Masquerade actor groups derived from English folk heater. These actor groups recited dramatic excerpts, many from English plays such as Shakespeare and enacted many types of mime. (Mirrored 159-160). An examination of Jonquils evolve caution led to the discovery of several characters. The traditional set of Kinkajou characters includes Belly- woman, policeman, Devil, Horseshoed, Pitch- Patchy, Cowshed and House- head to name a few. The character Belly woman, a pregnant woman is primarily played by a male.The antics and ability to make her belly move to the rhythm of the music is designed to amuse the audience. The character Policeman, represents legal authority and wears a uniform that consists of a black hat with a red band. He has a red cloth hanging from the crown of the head down to the neck. The character Devil is usually clothed in black, wears a cowbell attached to his backside and carries a trident. His headdress is made of cardboard in the shape of a cone and bears mirrors throughout. This character seeks to remind society of the need to resist the influence of this malevolent force. The character Horseshoed is usually presented with a mules skull fitted with an artificial jaw which is attached to a pole. The skull is minted and eyes are added to give a real life experience. It is believed that this character represents the overseer of the plantation era who usually appeared mounted on a horse and clutching a whip. The character Pitch Patchy is perhaps the most popular Kinkajou figure. He is dressed in shredded strips of cloth bearing bright colors. He appears in a square hat or a feathered cap adorned with tinsel and mirrors.Cheryl Raman described this character as a ghost from the past becoming all things to all people, ever changing, ever constant. He runs into the crowd Of Spectators sometimes confronting them with a loud growl. According to oral tradition, Pitch Apathys costume is the same type that was used by the Maroons as camouflage during warfare. Pitch Patchy turns cartwheels and large movements in circular patterns. The character Cowshed consists of a cloth tied tightly around the head and half a coconut shell is worn on the head to which real cow horns are attached. A wire mesh mask on which facial features are painted covers the face.Cowshed charges into spectators to keep them back, waving his head from side to side, displaying the notion of power surrounding tales of horned animals transmitted by the African ancestors. In the African tradition horned figures symbolized strength and power of important individuals in society who display superior physical, supernatural and political attributes. Horned figures have also been known to be associated with funerals, warriors, initiation and circumcision ceremonies and secret societies. The character House-head is of the past wore a frightful mask and carried on his head a huge, elaborate house filled with puppets.The specific nature of the house carried by this figure attests to the origins of Kinkajou. The house was a replica of the architecture of the Great Houses mound in the pre-emancipation era. There were symbolic of power, privilege and oppression. Characters interact with each other and both African and European instruments such as the gumball drum and fife are utilized. To understand the evolution of Kinkajou in Jamaica, there are three stages to consider. Stage one is called the pre-set Girl era which is prior to the year 1785.This was marked by the interaction between a variety of African people and their adoption to an alien environment with limited input from or influence by the ruling class. Stage two is called the Set Girl era. Here both he African and European elements are evident. In sass, the set girls, a European feature was added and European influence was greatly felt. Stage three is the post emancipation period. This era was marked by social upheaval experienced by the Black population as they move from slave to free and there was increased pressure for Euro -centric aspirations. For many of the new citizens, viable participation and mobility in society involved a movement towards European ideal. The mask is central to African dance and it is said that once the masquerade begins dancing, he enters the life force of rhythm and the god or ancestral spirit possesses him. In Africa, the mask and masquerade are often linked to secret societies and to communication with and the embodiment of the ancestors and deities. Mervin Allen wrote that Kinkajou masquerade form and Meal a possession healing form of religion were closely allied in their early forms in Jamaica.There were allied in the two most powerful male secret societies of West Africa called the poor and Gangue. In these societies, the masks conveyed a supernatural authority. It is in this respect, of the masks, music and dance, that the possibility of an actual relationship between Kinkajou and Malay are associated. Masquerade was the first type Of dance to be recorded as being performed by the slave population. According to Beryl Allen, Christmas was a very special holiday for slaves who received four to five days holiday, special gifts of food and drink and new clothes.The slaves celebrated and performed for their masters by marching in procession accompanied by musicians who played drums, fife, the banjo and other instruments such as scrapers, conch shells and cow horns. They dressed in clown like costumes depicting West Africa characters and would dance in the trees, entering homes and requesting money however as the cost of costume materials increased and people became less generous in their gifts to the players, fewer Kinkajou players appeared at Christmas. Inclusion, the custom of Kinkajou dates from the days of slavery and at one period, the bands were large and elaborate. Over the years the custom has died out and Kinkajou today is but a shadow of its former self. Oliver Senior suggest ed that Jon Kong reached its zenith at the height of the plantation era when European slave masters actively encouraged it by promoting the festival on the estates. He wrote that after emancipation (1 838), Kinkajou suffered decline as the churches combined to stamp out pagan amusements and rituals.In 1841, there were riots when the Mayor of Kingston banned the Kinkajou parades resulting in clashes with police and the bands. In the first half of the twentieth century bands were seen less and less frequently in the streets but remained alive in the deep countryside. Although Jamaica is credited with the longest running tradition of Kinkajou, the tradition is dying. Today the Kinkajou bands only appear as entertainment at cultural events and in the rural parts Of the island.