Kromanti dance or Kromanti play (capitalised to Kromanti Dance or Kromanti Play [1] ) is a Jamaican Maroon religious ceremony practiced by Jamaican Maroons. It is rooted in traditional African music and religious practices, especially those of the Asante people of Ghana. The name Kromanti (or Coromantee) derives from Kormantin (or Cormantin ) where a historical slave fort in the coast of Ghana was located. Kormantin was the home of the rivals of inland Asantes and their allies who were captured. The captives the British called Kromanti. Many slaves shipped to Jamaica during the Atlantic Slave trade originated from present–day Ghana in West Africa. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The pure form of Kromanti dance is not one of those contemporary dances of Jamaica, neither is it a Jamaican party or hall dance, but a sacred dance based on the tenets of traditional African religious practices. Although the dance has influenced some aspects of Jamaican culture, and is still practiced today, the religious aspects of the dance are no longer performed as in the past—due to Jamaican Maroons' conversion to Christianity. [5] [1] [2] Despite its modern twist, it is still concerned with solving problems of day-to-day life, such as illnesses resulting from spirit possessions, infidelity, and any other life problems. The Maroons viewed Kromanti dance as a form of metaphorical warfare, a protection on a spiritual level rather than a physical one. [6]
The ritualistic aspects of Kromanti dance involves a "distinctive music and dance styles" which is "centered around possession by ancestral spirits." [7] [1] [2]
Some of the surviving elements derived from African tradition are Country, a music style that uses a drum language like the Dondo, in order to play songs and proverbs; and healing, which is achieved through a rhythmic dance, music, and possession. Like "many other African-derived healing ceremonies, a possessed medium attends to patients, employing song, dance, sacrifice, and herbal remedies." [7] [1] [2]
The Kromanti dance usually begins after nightfall and continues until daybreak. After several hours, the dance loses its recreational momentum and the chief "fete-man" (ritual specialist, similar to an African high priest) becomes possessed. [6]
Junkanoo is a festival that was originated during the period of African chattel slavery in British American colonies. It is practiced most notably in The Bahamas, Jamaica and Belize, and historically in North Carolina and Miami, where there are significant settlements of West Indian people during the post-emancipation era. In the present day, there are considerable variations in performance and spelling, but there are the shared elements of masquerade, drumming, dance, and parading.
Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It is a fusion of African rhythmic elements and European elements, which reached peak popularity in the 1940s and 1950s. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box — a large mbira in the shape of a box that can be sat on while played. The rhumba box carries the bass part of the music.
African diaspora religions, also described as Afro-American religions, are a number of related beliefs that developed in the Americas in various areas of the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Southern United States. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam.
Obeah, also spelled Obiya or Obia, is a broad term for African diasporic religious, spell-casting, and healing traditions found primarily in the former British colonies of the Caribbean. These practices derive much from West African traditions but also incorporate elements of European and South Asian origin. Many of those who practice these traditions avoid the term Obeah due to the word's pejorative connotations in many Caribbean societies.
Accompong is a historical Maroon village located in the hills of St. Elizabeth Parish on the island of Jamaica. It is located in Cockpit Country, where Jamaican Maroons and Indigenous Taíno established a fortified stronghold in the hilly terrain in the 17th century. They defended it and maintained independence from the Spanish and then later the British, after the colony changed hands.
Queen Nanny, Granny Nanny, or Nanny of the Maroons ONH, was an early-18th-century freedom fighter and leader of the Jamaican Maroons. She led a community of formerly-enslaved escapees, the majority of them West African in descent, called the Windward Maroons, along with their children and families. At the beginning of the 18th century, under the leadership of Nanny, the Windward Maroons fought a guerrilla war lasting many years against British authorities in the Colony of Jamaica, in what became known as the First Maroon War.
Akan is the largest language of Ghana, and the principal native language of the Akan people, spoken over much of the southern half of Ghana. About 80% of Ghana's population speak Akan as a first or second language, and about 44% of Ghanaians are native speakers. Akan is also spoken across the border in parts of Côte d'Ivoire.
The Akan people are a Kwa group living primarily in present-day Ghana and in parts of Ivory Coast and Togo in West Africa. The Akan speak languages within the Central Tano branch of the Potou–Tano subfamily of the Niger–Congo family. Subgroups of the Akan people include: the Agona, Akuapem, Akwamu, Akyem, Anyi, Ashanti, Baoulé, Bono, Chakosi, Fante, Kwahu, Sefwi, Wassa, Ahanta, Denkyira and Nzema, among others. The Akan subgroups all have cultural attributes in common; most notably the tracing of royal matrilineal descent in the inheritance of property, and for succession to high political office. All Akans are considered royals in status, but not all are in royal succession or hold titles.
Big Drum is a genre, a musical instrument, and traditional African religion from the Windward Islands. It is a kind of Caribbean music, associated mostly closely with the music of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Music of Guadeloupe, Carriacou in Grenada and in the music of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Jamaican Maroons descend from Africans who freed themselves from slavery in the Colony of Jamaica and established communities of free black people in the island's mountainous interior, primarily in the eastern parishes. Africans who were enslaved during Spanish rule over Jamaica (1493–1655) may have been the first to develop such refugee communities.
Jamaican Maroon language, Maroon Spirit language, Kromanti, Jamaican Maroon Creole or Deep patwa is a ritual language and formerly mother tongue of Jamaican Maroons. It is an English-based creole with a strong Akan component, specifically from the Asante dialect of modern day Ghana. It is distinct from usual Jamaican Creole, being similar to the creoles of Sierra Leone (Krio) and Suriname such as Sranan and Ndyuka. It is also more purely Akan than regular Patois, with little to no contribution from other African languages. Today, the Maroon Spirit language is used by Jamaican Maroons and Surinamese Maroons. Another distinct ritual language consisting mostly of words and phrases from Akan languages, is also used by Jamaican Maroons in certain rituals including some involving possession by ancestral spirits during Kromanti ceremonies or when addressing those who are possessed and sometimes used as a kind of code.
Winti is an Afro-Surinamese traditional religion that originated in Suriname. It is a syncretization of the different African religious beliefs and practices brought in mainly by enslaved Akan, Fon and Kongo people during the Dutch slave trade. The religion has no written sources, nor a central authority. The term is also used for all supernatural beings or spirits (Wintis) created by Anana, the creator of the universe.
Afro-Jamaicans are Jamaicans of predominantly African descent. They represent the largest ethnic group in the country.
The Asante, also known as Ashanti in English, are part of the Akan ethnic group and are native to the Ashanti Region of modern-day Ghana. Asantes are the last group to emerge out of the various Akan civilisations. Twi is spoken by over nine million Asante people as their native language.
Coromantee, Coromantins, Coromanti or Kormantine is an English-language term for enslaved people from the Akan ethnic group, taken from the Gold Coast region in modern-day Ghana.
Myal is an Afro-Jamaican spirituality. It developed via the creolization of African religions during the slave era in Jamaica. It incorporates ritualistic magic, spiritual possession and dancing. Unlike Obeah, its practices focus more on the connection of spirits with humans. Over time, Myal began to meld with Christian practices and created the religious tradition known as Revivalism.
The traditional Jamaican Maroon religion, otherwise known as Kumfu, was developed by a mixing of West and Central African religious practices in Maroon communities. While the traditional religion of the Maroons was absorbed by Christianity due to conversions in Maroon communities, many old practices continued on. Some have speculated that Jamaican Maroon religion helped the development of Kumina and Convince. The religious Kromanti dance is still practiced today but not always with the full religious connotation as in the past.
Convince, also known as Bongo or Flenke, is a religion from eastern Jamaica. It has roots in Kumina and Jamaican Maroon religion.
Kenneth M. Bilby is an American anthropologist, ethnomusicologist, and author. His published works include the books Words of Our Mouth, Meditations of Our Heart: Pioneering Musicians of Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae, and Dancehall (2016), Enacting Power: The Criminalization of Obeah in the Anglophone Caribbean, 1760–2011, True-Born Maroons (2005), and Caribbean currents: Caribbean music from rumba to reggae.
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