Kumina

Kumina
Classification	Afro-Jamaican
Region	Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica
Origin	Post-Abolition era Jamaica
Separations	Kongo, Machunde, Mondongo, Moyenge

Kumina is a branch of the Myal religion, dance and music form. Kumina has practices that include secular ceremonies, dance and music that developed from the beliefs and traditions brought to the island by Kongo enslaved people and indentured labourers, from the Congo region of West Central Africa, during the post-emancipation era. It is mostly associated with eastern Jamaica particularly the parish of St. Thomas Portland, St. Mary and St. Catherine, and the city of Kingston.

The Myal Dance of Kumina also gives its name to a drumming style, developed from the music that accompanied the spiritual ceremonies, that evolved in urban Kingston. Like all Myal drumming styles Kumina has a great influence on Rastafari music, especially the Nyabinghi drumming, and Jamaican popular music. Count Ossie was a notable pioneer of the drumming style in popular music and it continues to have a significant influence on contemporary genres such as reggae and dancehall.

The Kumina riddim is a dancehall riddim produced by Sly & Robbie in 2002. It has featured in recordings of over 20 artists including Chaka Demus & Pliers and Tanya Stephens.

Definition

Kumina is a branch of the Myal Religion and is not the same as Pukkumina or Pocomania.

History

Kumina emerged from the religion and practices of the Bakongo people of Central Africa, who were brought to Jamaica as indentured servants, after the abolition of slavery in 1834. Kumina, as a branch of the Myal religion, differed from Zion Revivalism in rejecting the belief that the Bible should be the central authority behind worship.

With the Slave Trade Act of 1807, the British royal navy established a naval blockade along the West African coast, called the West Africa Squadron, to intercept slave ships still attempting to transport African slaves across the Atlantic, for import into the Americas. Thus, any intercepted ship would be confiscated by the British, its crew apprehended as pirates, and its slaves liberated.

Slaves liberated from slave ships were not returned home, but were instead brought to British colonies as indentured servants. These included British Sierra Leone and regions of the British Caribbean, such as Trinidad, Jamaica, and St. Lucia. Although Jamaica abolished slavery in 1834, Cuba did not end slavery until 1886, and Brazil did not end it until 1888. Thus, slavers from these regions continued to smuggle slaves across the Atlantic, up until 1860.

During the reign of King Henrique III of Kongo, from 1840 to 1857, civil conflict once again arose between the rival elite families. Henrique III belonged to the Kinlaza, and in 1848, he faced armed opposition by the Água Rosada faction, led by Ande II. This armed conflict led to the acquisition of captives by Henrique, who illegally sold them into the Atlantic slave trade, in open violation of the Slave Trade Act of 1807. Thus, some of the Kongo-captives enslaved in this conflict would have been liberated by the West Africa Squadron, and rerouted to Jamaica, giving rise to Kumina.

Beliefs and practices

The practices of Kumina in the Myal Religion are primarily linked to healing. Healing ceremonies utilise singing, dancing, drumming, animal sacrifice, and spirit possession, with the intent of summoning spirits to heal the sick individual. These elements are also found in Revivalism.

Organization

Within the Kumina branch of the Myal Religion there are sub-branches or sub-communities which follows the general local character of pre-Christian religions in Jamaica. These communities are small family based communities or nations. Some nations include Mondongo, Moyenge, Machunde, Kongo, Igbo, and Yoruba. People from Kumina families are given the title Bongo. Marrying into a Bongo family is one avenue to become a part of a Kumina nation; special initiation is the other avenue. Kumina nations are led by a "King" and "Queen". Imogene "Queenie" Kennedy AKA Queenie III (c1920-1998) was a well-known Kumina Queen in the 20th century, born in St Thomas in the late 1920s she later moved to Kingston and then Waterloo, St Catherine.

Influence on Rastafari

The use of cannabis or ganja in Kumina Myal ceremonies influenced the adoption of this plant as a sacrament in Rastafari [a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s] and is a direct influence of the sacramental use in Kumina Myal ceremonies.

References

Sources

• Edmonds, Ennis B. (2012). Rastafari: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199584529.
• Fernández Olmos, Margarite; Paravisini-Gebert, Lizabeth (2011). Creole Religions of the Caribbean: An Introduction from Vodou and Santería to Obeah and Espiritismo (second ed.). New York and London: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-6228-8.

External links

• Jamaica Cultural Development Commission