Many Jamaican traditions are rooted in our heritage. The Christmas festival of Jonkanoo, Junkanoo or Jonkonnu is one such tradition that has its roots in Africa and origins in the colonial period. We can find Jonkanoo in many places in the Caribbean. Connections in West Africa include the New Yam Festival of the Igbo tribes, the Egungun masquerades of the Yoruba people and the Homowo Yam Festival of the Ga people of Ghana are clear to see in the masked and costumed Jonkanoo figures of the Jamaican tradition.
Dating as early as the 1700s, it is believed to be named after an Akan warrior and chief of the Ahanta people of West Africa who Europeans gave the English name John Canoe. The festival arose as a celebration of John Canoe and his resistance against enslavement in the Americas, according to lore. Other sources suggest the tradition began when enslaved Africans celebrated the break from their labours granted by plantation owners as part of the Christmas holidays. They gathered in community to share song and dance to the rich beat of the African drums. The tradition continued after emancipation.
This energetic masquerade is one of the oldest dance traditions in Jamaica. It gradually turned into a street fair around the Christmas, when elaborately costumed revelers danced to the music of African drums, bamboo fifes and conch shells. Jonkanoo was once a highlight of the holiday festivities. Full of Christmas cake and sorrel, people lined the streets to see the antics of characters like King and Queen, Police Man, Cow Head, Horse Head, Devil, Belly Woman and Pitchy Patchy. Small children and adults alike anticipated being chased by these beloved characters and though they claimed to be scared, their squeals betrayed their delight. Jamaicans in the diaspora keep the tradition alive by putting on masquerades wherever they make their home.
In Jamaican’s urban areas, Jonkanoo seems to be disappearing. But there has been a recent push to rejuvenate this dearest of cultural practices. Last December, visitors to the island were greeted at Normal Manley International Airport by a traditional Junkanoo Band and fife quartet. Why not take in a Junkanoo performance this Christmas.