Jonkonnu: The Dance Of Christmas
North Carolinians often associate Christmas time with pine trees, presents, and Santa Claus, but never stop to think about how other Christian cultures such as the African American ones in New Bern,Jamaica, and the Caribbean celebrate this time of year.The contrast between the African-American celebrations called Jonkonnu, and American Christmas celebrations is profound. The Jonkonnu celebrations occur in tightly knitted communities that use music,dance, and songs to express their appreciation of one another instead of the tradition of gift-giving. Jonkonnu is an African-American Christmas celebration, which takes place in New Bern, but originated in Jamaica, and the Caribbean.
Jonkonnu can be traced back
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According to Lasseter, eventually slaves from different areas met with each other, and spread their culture amongst themselves and the whites. This caused a large pool of cultural practices to mix together and create what is now known as Jonkonnu(Mims). There are a few theories on where its name derives. The first and most accepted is based off of the tale of a man named John Canoe(Mims). “There is a bit of controversy as to the source of the name of the festival. While some believe that the origin of the name is unknown, others contend that the name and principal character are honourable memorials to John Conny, an active, successful black merchant near Axim along the Guinea Coast around 1720”. John Conny was an important historical person. He worked for the …show more content…
The day begins with the official announcement of Jonkonnu by the Town Crier, which is followed by revelers dancing for people on their doorstep to collect donations.(Mims). The Town Crier usually yells a chant such as “John Canoe is Coming John Canoe is coming!”(Mims). According to Mckown, Participants in the celebrations, dress in their best clothing, or in a costume. Typical costumes include horse heads,horned masks, and tails which are usually made of cloth,wood,colorful rags and leather(Mckown). The most important figure known as the Rag Man, is covered head to toe in colorful rags and is often danced around once the celebration begins; however, the Rag Man’s importance pales in comparison to his significance during the era of slavery(Mims). The Rag Man essentially had the social hierarchy of a white man during the short period in which he was allowed to shake his slave master’s hand(Mims). This was unheard of the rest of the year and anything of this sort would be devastating to the owner’s reputation among other whites(Mims). The celebration begins with people dressed up in their costumes dancing to music and the beat of the drums. Children dance to the chant “Funga alafia, ashay ashay! Funga alafia, ashay ashay!” which roughly translates to “I welcome you into my heart”(Mims). The festivities spread throughout the town and can be heard from any corner of Tryon
Human needs are similar- health, physical appearance, human body and economic resources to meet these needs. Nacirema culture bears some semblance to more civilized culture. While reading this article it seems most of the practices are similar with modern culture. A major difference is the magic, ritual and the crude method of doing things. One of the cultural practices that stood out for me is the “holy-mouth-men” ritual, which seems like what a dentist will do. I also find interesting the diagnostic ability of the diviner.
There are quite a number of people who believe that Jehovah's Witnesses are prudish for their differences in their morals and standards. For example, many find it difficult to believe that they do not celebrate Christmas or birthdays, or any other festive holiday. Many don't understand what's so wrong about standing for O Canada or singing anthems for any other country. The fact of the matter is, there are quite a number of festive holidays that people around the world celebrate that they may or may not know have pagan backgrounds, or are quite obviously based on its influences. To Jehovah's witnesses, it is very important to stay away from such kinds of celebrations because they feel that it's a necessity to worship God with their whole soul and in the way he wants them to. This would not be possible while participating in celebrations that have paganism as its origin.
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"Molly Ockett Days Festival Beginning to Truly Honor Native Namesake." Indian Country Today Media Network.com. Gale Courey Toensing, 3 Dec. 2013. Web. 08 May 2014.
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Question 1: In what ways does Source 1 incorporate elements of spirituality and religion in the Murri people’s preparation for Christmas.
Source 1 displays the aspects of the Indigenous culture and spirituality during the festive season. It acknowledges the native Indigenous Aboriginals of Australia; specifically their land, sea, and their inhabitants. This source is almost a manual, giving instructions to what is to be done, being a step by step process in acknowledging “the light Jesus brought into the world”. “The light”, as Jesus is described, is a symbol of Truth and Righteousness, opposite to Darkness as that of Hell and Evil. The ceremony starts with a spiritual act of a coolamon being placed with stones every week, including the act of placing
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The men of the tribe then join in the preparations for the dance by construct sweat lodges, which are used in the ceremony. They also collect other necessities, which are needed for the dance. The first day before the Sun Dance is a very significant day. In the early morning hours a group of men “known for their eminence in their tribe were chosen to look for a (cottonwood) tree with a fork in the top” (“Dance”). Along with this select group went a chosen woman.
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