Posted by: travadmin on Dec 09, 2003 – 10:39 PM
shows The word “Junkanoo” was adopted officially in The Bahamas in the early 1950s to replace ë”John Canoe,” the name of a festival celebrated by West African slaves in the Southern U. S. A., the Bahamas and the Caribbean in the 17th and 18th centuries.
During the three-day Christmas holidays the slaves paraded in colourful rags and cloth costumes, made music with homemade instruments, and moved in rhythm (Archives 1). According to supposition, the event commemorated the exploits of renowned West African trader Prince John Conny, Conni or Connie, who, around 1720, defended the abandoned Prussian Fort Brandenburg on the Gold Coast against combined English and Dutch forces.
Researcher Ira De A. Reid noted that a John Canoe king was evident in The Bahamas as early as 1801 (Bethel 25). Apart from Jamaica, Bermuda and the Bahamas, most Caribbean islands have discontinued junkanoo observances. Only in The Bahamas is it given much attention (Archives 3). This paper deals mainly with manifestations of elements of the visual arts in junkanoo but, given the eclectic nature of the phenomenon, it will also attempt to treat the elements of sound (music) and movement (dance), if only tangentially.
Tourism and John Canoe
In a radio interview with Wendall Jones in 2002, the Hon. Paul L. Adderley stated that, in about 1852, Edwin Charles Moseley, founder of the Nassau Guardian, was the first to invite North Americans to winter in The Bahamas at a time when Florida was still swamp. By 1920, “John Canoes” were making costumes from crepe paper, a synthetic substance processed in Europe. In that decade, to profit from a tourist attraction, the Development Board decided to promote Junkanoo by offering cash prizes. That increased the competitiveness and the quality of the parade.
VISUAL ARTS ELEMENTS IN JUNKANOO
The first detailed account of John Canoe in The Bahamas was by plantation owner Charles Farquharson. In his journal of 1831-32, A Relic of Slavery, he described how the slaves amused themselves during their holiday and had “grand dances.” Although some transformation happened in the post-Emancipation era, the parade retained its distinctive African tone. It incorporated stilts with costumes and the ubiquitous mask (Archives 9,11).
Masks
In the 19th century the mask was a terrifying feature of Junkanoo. It could be made in several ways: by rubbing powder or flour over the face; from cardboard or a brown paper bag with openings cut out by hand; from gauze over wire mesh painted for effect; from crocus sacks, or even be mobile and held up to the face (Archives 11). Most horrifying of all was the sieved or “sifter faced” mask. Contoured, painted a pinkish-white and completely devoid of expression, it had slits for eyes. According to Franco Monti, the composite of tribes known as the Balumbo group also wore masks similar to the Bahamian “sifter face” (Bethel 42).
Certain folklorists see masks in the original Bahamian John Canoe parade as survivals of an ancient West African tradition, but there are differences between the Bahamian tradition and that of West Africa. In West African rituals masks are vital. The costume is but an extension of the mask or headgear (Willett 172-73). Not so in the Bahamas. Also, in West Africa, the creation and function of masks demonstrate alterity between European and African concepts of art. Whether mask or sculpture, an African artwork is intended not merely for aesthetic purposes, but to reveal and exalt the abstract life values personified by the chief, the guardian of the village (Laude 101).
In West Africa, no women — and only certain categories of men can make or wear masks. The belief is that masks transform their wearers into mystical beings capable of corresponding with deceased ancestors, who would show them benevolence (Layiwola).
Although Bahamian Junkanoo might be similar to certain initiation, agrarian and funeral ceremonies performed by selected Yoruba, Ashanti, Mandingo, Fulani, Hausa and Ibo men, its mood is celebratory, not religious. This is understandable, when one considers that slave traders separated the Africans they captured from members of their clans, rendering them incapable of communicating by a common language as well as through common ethnic, religious and social systems.
Occasionally, modern Junkanoos wear masks or paint their faces, but this is not to conceal their identities. The only truly anonymous person in the parade is the “toter”, who “totes” or carries over his head and body throughout the parade lead pieces up to 11 feet high and 300 pounds in weight (Nash-Ferguson 45).
Headgear and Costumes
“One was dressed like the Englishman in the Boutique, another had on a Shakespearean costume of red velvet with a trench hat; there were three Highlanders, and a quantity decked out as women in the latest Paris fashions.
“One man especially pleased me: his face was grotesquely whitened, on his head was a little clown’s cap, for the rest he was dressed entirely in flour bags. Over his shoulder he carried a vast bundle of sugarcane, and his middle was wreathed round with 20 or 30 green bananas.” (Archives 19).
The above extract from A Winter in Paradise, by Allan Parsons, describes John Canoe on Christmas Day, 1924, performed by ex-slaves. Europeans, most likely, passed down the costumes, except that worn by the man in flour bags.
After Emancipation came Depression in The Bahamas (1866-1899), when freed slaves could no longer depend on their masters for food and clothes. Even rags for costume making were hard to get, since cloth was expensive (Nash-Ferguson 9). They improvised, using banana leaves; straw from the coconut; silver and pond top palms; tissue paper; newspaper and sponges (Archives 27). When fungoids destroyed the sponge beds between 1938 and 1939, John Canoes adapted rags and the other substances to make costumes. As late as the 1950’s, an old junkanoo rushed on Bay Street with a banana plant strapped to his body. This was probably an involuntary carry-over from a West African agrarian ritual.
The first John Canoes wore any headdress, so long as it was showy. In the 19th century, these were homemade and included wide-brimmed cardboard hats, clown hats and even a huge bird nest compiled from straw. Especially when crepe paper came into use, in about 1920, skills increased; headgear grew more sophisticated. The January 2, 1926 issue of the Guardian showed a multiplicity of tall (steeple) hats, and fringed clown and other loftier headwear (Archives 20). Some reflected happenings of the time — replicas of battleships in the 1940s; schooners, sailboats and luxury cruise liners in the 50’s (Archives 11).
By the latter 20th century the National Junkanoo Committee made it compulsory for participants to wear headpieces and costumes that were completely fringed (Nash-Ferguson ii.).
From “Junk to Art”
One explanation of the word “Junkanoo” referred to mythical Scottish settlers in Trinidad centuries ago who watched the cavorting of outrageously-dressed, pre-Lenten
revellers and described the spectacle as junk eneu–junk enough (Archives 1). This paper applauds the efforts of Junkanoos over the decades that turned junk into fine art.
Fringeing. “John Canoes” of the early and mid-twentieth century made their costumes by cutting long, broad cloth fringes with razor blades or tearing them by hand. The present writer believes that this fringing of cloth, then of crepe paper, was the slaves’ way of substituting for fibre strips from leaves of Africa’s raffia palm. Men of Nigeria, Ghana and Liberia used those leaves to make costumes for religious ceremonies (Willett 154). The slaves’ fringing practice was, perhaps, their atavistic, subconscious longing for their ancestral homeland.
Today, the most important resources for costume preparation are cardboard and crepe paper. Even with its capacity to run when wet, good crepe paper with clear colour distinctions and “stretch” capabilities is a godsend to Junkanoos (Nash-Ferguson 21). It allows them to try seemingly far-fetched ideas and techniques.
Crepe paper costume making reveals intricacies of fringing and pasting techniques that make it a fine art. The long fringes of the 1940’s were one inch wide and 19 inches long, cut from a standard sheet of crepe paper measuring 50 centimetres in width by 250 centimetres in length, held in a vertical position. An uncut horizontal band of crepe paper between two and three inches wide held the produced long strands together.
Shingling is a finer technique than long fringeing. It is done by holding the sheet of crepe paper vertically and cutting it in that position into half or three-quarter- inch-wide fringes. A one-inch horizontal band is left to hold the fringes together. These are then pasted in layers onto the cardboard, one layer on the other, similar to the manner by which carpenters overlap shingles (Francis).
Perhaps the finest fringe is the 1/16 inch type, achieved by using an electrical barber clipper. This fringe allows the artist to design very intricate images that approximate to the fine details in mosaics. Many groups use the barber clipper widely. They apply shears primarily to cut out bands for holding the fringes in place. When these bands are stuck on to the cardboard surface with adhesive, if it is done effectively, only the fringes should be visible.
During the 1980’s streaking was introduced into costume making. The process is as follows: a sheet of crepe paper is positioned horizontally and a piece 1/16 inch wide is cut in the same alignment. It is used to create a boundary for designs. Streaking can also be done with different colours of tin foil, fluorescent paper, and even newsprint. In the last instance, the worker would apply contact cement to the surface of the newsprint.
In the last instance, the worker would apply contact cement to the surface of the newsprint. On this coated surface he would sprinkle different colours of glitter, which would adhere to it. He could do another form of streaking by gluing round and flat coloured beads onto a paper background to form a boundary around a design on paper. The foregoing are only a few techniques that produce the finished costumes on Junkanoo parades (Francis).
Skirt Making. Building the most basic junkanoo costume – the prototype of the skirts worn by the Dance Line and the Bell Line — is complex. Once the group decides on a theme, designers translate that theme on to paper. Artists then draw the translation on to cardboard. Then cutters cut out the cardboard shapes and run wire through them, to provide mobility for the wearers. Next, builders assemble the cardboard pieces and glue them with contact cement to make forms. After that, “band-aiding” takes place, where workers tape over rough edges using additional contact cement, masking tape or brown paper. Painters then cover the forms with white paint, following which the artists draw in the designs. Over these, colour men pencil in the initials of various colours. . Finally, pasters surface the forms with fine strokes of white glue, before engaging in the painstaking process of positioning fringed paper, layer upon layer upon layer (Nash-Ferguson i.).
Organizing. Primeval John Canoes had neither organized groups nor themes. For decades in The Bahamas females involved in Junkanoo were ostracized by society. That situation changed after the coming to Bay Street on December 28, 1954 of Maureen Duvalier, David Kemp and Bruce Beneby, with their group of 35. According to record, theirs was the first properly constituted group with the first properly fringed costumes to rush on Bay Street. They won First Prize, five pounds sterling (Archives 35). Nowadays, females participate in all aspects of the festival. Introduction of the National Art and Crafts Curriculum in the schools gave children the opportunity to learn costume building. They compete in Junior Junkanoo.
In 1958, teenagers from Centreville formed the “Valley Boys” junkanoo group. Two years later they entered as “Scottish Highlanders.” Not only was that the first time a group had selected a theme on which to base their appearance and performance, they also brought discipline and order with first-time line formation. That has peaked to the situation of present parades, with the banner team; off-the-shoulder dancers in hats, shoulder pieces, shirts and skirts; naked dancers (such as Gus, “Vola,” Jackson and Barabbas) in cloth; lead pieces; front-line dancers; choreographed dancers; brass instruments; cowbellers; first, second and bass drummers and horn blowers (Nash-Ferguson ii.).
Novelty-izing. Friends in Nassau Street neighbourhoods got together in 1964 and went to Bay Street as “The Vikings,” a name that stayed with the group. By Christmas 1965, with the theme “The Hibiscus: Tribute to Bahamian Beauty,” they introduced hibiscus sculpted from cardboard, the first three-dimensional costumes in the known history of Junkanoo (Nash-Ferguson i.).
It was a feat that generated the production of fully rounded, multi-dimensioned costumes by the “Valley Boys” and the “Saxon Superstars” junkanoo groups in the 1970’s and 1980’s, and “One Family” junkanoo group in the 1990’s. Costumes can now be viewed from the front and the back. Prior to that, even in relief, costumes could only be viewed from the front. Sculpted, sanded and painted styrofoam has created many more realistic junkanoo portraitures.
Boxing Day Junkanoo, 1976 saw the “Music Makers” junkanoo group lay siege to Bay Street with a full line of brass instruments in an onslaught that is still continuing (Nash-Ferguson 16). The “Saxons,” operating on the theme “Let My People Go: The Flight of The Israelites from Egypt,” at one time presented a live horse on Bay Street!
“Barabbas and The Tribe” junkanoo group can also be credited with creating perhaps the most original junkanoo instrument in the past 50 years – a collection of cowbells attached to a bicycle chain mechanism that produces a multi-ringing sound when the person bearing it on his shoulder turns the pedal by hand.
Adapting versus Adopting
All costumes of participants in the parade must be fully (75%) fringed, including headpieces, footwear, pants and skirts. Other materials may be used to enhance the costumes, such as rhinestones, beads, bangles, glitter, feathers, felt, etc. but must not constitute more than 25% of the costumes (19).
Those who infringe the rule stipulated above in The Official Junkanoo Handbook would be liable to penalties, with the exception of the choreography girls who have to wear tights under their cardboards skirts for ease, and the drummers, who need T-shirts because they perspire a lot (Nash-Ferguson ii.). While the Handbook seems to advance costume fringing, it allows groups to use “tricks,” (accessories such as rhinestones, beads, bangles, glitter, felt and feathers) that are a special feature of Carnival, Trinidad’s street festival. Tricks have revitalized the look of modern Junkanoo, but overuse of feathers, for instance, cheapens the worth of the costumes. The part, therefore, becomes so flagrantly obtrusive it diverts attention from the value of the whole.
“Tooling” Around. Modern junkanoos are skilled in adapting natural and synthetic materials and making use of esoteric as well as traditional resources, tools and devices. Their dexterity and resourcefulness have enabled them to depict an infinity of themes. They come from every social, economic and political stratum. They are maids, teachers, garbage collectors, architects, physicians, morticians, beauticians and even priests. This diversity of knowledge and talents enriches the festival not only in ideas for themes, but by innovative uses of tools and resources that transform folk art into fine art. Not only must the costumes they make be aesthetically pleasing; they must be able to bear performance stress.
Toolboxes that once held mainly the basic scissors for fringing cloth, and flour paste for gluing, must today hold electric barber clippers and shears for clipping and fringing crepe paper; cutters for separating cardboard; pliers for bending wire frames; large needles and cord to sew parts of costumes together; contact cement; white glue; glue sticks and guns; box-cutters and knives for carving styrofoam; coloured markers; sand paper to smooth rough surfaces; velcro, and sealant, to prevent excessive paint absorption (Nash-Ferguson).
MUSIC IN JUNKANOO
While non-junkanoos might dispute this, according to many marchers music IS the presentation. In the words of Arlene Nash Ferguson, “In spite of the allocation of points (50% Costume; 50% Music, Performance and Relevance to Theme), everyone knows that the music is the soul of Junkanoo” (Nash-Ferguson 32).
Instruments in contemporary Junkanoo parades are different from the indigenous prototypes, although specimens of the latter are still in use. Drums made by early Junkanoos consisted of sun-dried goat and sheep skins stretched over open ends of wooden salt pork and salt beef barrels, cheese kegs, and rum casks. To get the desired tone they heated the drums over open fires. Drum construction has developed over the years. Junkanoos now stretch animal skins over 30-gallon cardboard cylinders; B-52 washing machine tubs; five-to-25-gallon plastic and metal barrels, and even cut-off 50-gallon oil containers.
They leave ends of metal barrels open so that they can weld sterno burners inside. Once lit, the burners supply almost constant heating (Dames).
Cowbells were once welded from abandoned car tyre rims, and then metal tongues were hung from their hollow, semi-conical bodies. Modern cowbell makers, like 85-year-old Bruce Newbold, make their instruments — single, double, triple and in clusters — from sheet metal welded together (Bahama Journal).
The following devices form part of the awesome array of sound-effecting mechanisms used by junkanoos: shakers made from rum bottles with nails inside; brass bugles; fog/bicycle; horns; whistles; queen conchshells; saws scraped by screwdrivers; scrub-boards scraped with spoons; brass wind instruments (trumpets, cornets, trombones, tubas, saxophones, French horns); fog horns, bicycle horns, black horns, combination bicycle/black horns bound with duct tape; clustered bicycle horns (taped together and blown simultaneously); recorders, and whistles.
A major contributor to the evolution of current junkanoo music is the trained musician who can either read music, or play it by ear effectively. “Roots” and the “Saxons” groups have produced CD’s of their music. The indigenous rhythmic, cacophonic Bahamian sound still persists, but conventional instruments are overwhelming it. Bahamians must compose additional songs to compete with the abundance of foreign offerings.
DANCE IN JUNKANOO
Amelia Defries wrote in her book The Fortunate Islands:
A curious kind of pas seul (French for not aloneí) – one step forward and two steps back (Archives 22) to describe primeval John Canoe dancing, which was primitive in contrast to what takes place now.
Richard (ìSweet Richards) Dean has been lauded for bringing focus to Junkanoo dance. He pioneered individual lead dancing and inspired the present “Junkanoo King,” Percy “Vola” Francis. Mr. Francis’ unique, spontaneous movements are regarded as the link to indigenous Bahamian idioms in the current parade. He himself ignited the interest of a fresh generation of dancers. Maureen Duvalier is credited with being the first person to take an all-female Junkanoo group to Bay Street in the 1950’s. She also made a valuable contribution to dance (Bain).
The turning point in Junkanoo dance came about post-1983, with the introduction of junior junkanoo. Then, formally trained Ministry of Education and National Dance School instructors transformed the customary junkanoo dancing by coaching public school students for junior junkanoo. Following that, the adult Junkanoo group, “Rootsî” performed choreographed dances on Bay Street under the direction of Carolyn Voght. Other adult groups followed (Bain)
Choreographed dance is a recent devolvement in Bahamian junkanoo. Once a group chooses a theme, every facet of the parade emanates from it. Selection of music for interpretation of the theme determines the type of dance act the choreographer will design. It is a complicated and substantial art form. For a parade that will take place on 26 December (Boxing Day), rehearsals begin as early as the previous May. Dancers are concerned not only with learning the steps but also with co-ordinating steps with music (Bain). At intervals during the costume-building process, dancers test their costumes for weight, visibility, balance and reliability (Bain; Nash-Ferguson 30).
Besides being fine artistes, dancers must also be disciplined athletes. In order to build up endurance for performing in costume as front line dancers, for example, they undergo strength training, such as running in sand. Weeks before the parades, choreographers scout Bay Street to inspect routes and determine the logistics of progressing from Charlotte Street to Rawson Square and from Rawson Square to Elizabeth Avenue (Bain). Because of the secretive nature of Junkanoo, dancers memorize routines. At one time dancers used to give cues with whistles, but since the multiplication of whistles in the music section they indicate signals by hand. This ensures secrecy of the choreography.
Choreographed dance must have the correct shape and texture. For this to happe, music is pivotal. Choice of dance patterns feeds on the music, whether it is Bahamian folk, Negro spiritual, Reggae, Calypso or American “pop.” During the latter part of the 20th century, junkanoo parades saw an invasion by dances from the Caribbean and the U.S.A., such as the “Butterfly,” the “Bogle” and the “Electric Slide.” One view is that this influx of foreign music and dances will dilute indigenous Junkanoo dance fundamentals and cause the demise of the Goombay rhythms, which first infused Bahamian Afro-centric expression (Bain).
The controversy as to whether Bahamian Junkanoo will become more like Trinidadian Carnival can perhaps be addressed by revisiting the works of Italian Renaissance artist Raphael Sanzio. He was one of the great triumvirate of late sixteenth-century Italian art which included Leonardo DaVinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti. Raphael was said to be eclectic. From Leonardo he borrowed compositional devices and from Michaelangelo heroic figural types. At no time did he copy their entire compositions. Instead, he selected forms and motifs from them to create the monumental style for which he became known (Gardner 346). Junkanoos might do well to keep this principle in mind.
At the Boxing and New Yearís Day parades, then, Junkanoo fans witness revelation of the arts of music, movement and costume construction in all their glory, as musicians perform, dancers prance and costumed individuals and groups ërushí.
REFERENCES
Adderley, The Hon. Paul L. “Issues of The Day” (Love 97.5 Radio) with Wendall K.Jones of Jones Communications Int’l. Ltd. Friday, 5 July 2002.
Archives Section, Public Records Office. Junkanoo Booklet (“Junkanoo Archives Exhibition,” Art Gallery, Jumbey Village. 13 February ñ 3 March, 1978). Ministry of Education and Culture, Nassau, Bahamas.
Bahama Journal. 11 December, 2001: A2.
Bain, Robert, Director of “Dance Bahamas.” Personal interview. 15 June 2002.
Bethel, Nicollete,.ed. Junkanoo: Festival of The Bahamas. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan Caribbean, 1991
Dames, Eddie, Assistant Director of Culture (Junkanoo Unit), Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture. Telephone interview. 18 June 2002.
“Educultureî Exhibition – Junkanoo in June.” 6 July 2002. Arawak Cay, Nassau, Bahamas. Co-ordinator Arlene Nash Ferguson.
Francis, Percival “Vola,” M.B.E., Leader of the “Saxons Superstars” Junkanoo Group. Personal interview. 19 June 2002.
Gardiner, Helen. Art through The Ages 4th Ed. New York: Harcourt Brace and Company Inc, 1959.
Laude, Jean. The Arts of Black Africa, translator Jean Decock. Berkley: University of California Press, Ltd., 1971.
Layiwola, Dele, ìGelede: Metaphysics and Gender in An African Ritual Playî. Ijele:Arts Journal of The African World 2000. Africa Resource Centre, 2000.
Nash-Ferguson, Arlene. I Come to Get Me! Nassau, Bahamas: Doongalik Studios, 2000.
Nash-Ferguson, Arlene. In telephone interviews i. 14 July 2002; ii. 17 July, 2002.
The Official Junkanoo Handbook. 1998-1999 Boxing Day & New Yearís Day Junkanoo Parades. Nassau, Bahamas: The Ministry of Youth, Sports & Culture.
Willett, Frank. African Art. New York: Thames and Hudson Inc., 1985.
By James O. Rolle, B.F.A., M.Ed