Junkanoo

For the Baha Men album, see Junkanoo (album).

Junkanoo is a street parade with music, which occurs in many towns across The Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands every Boxing Day (December 26), New Year's Day and, more recently, in the summer on the island of Grand Bahama. The largest Junkanoo parade happens in Nassau, the capital. There are additionally Junkanoo parades in both Miami, in June and Key West, in October, where the local Afro-American populations have their roots in the Bahamas.

History

The word "Junkanoo" derived from an African slave named "John Canoe" in the 17th century. These slaves were not allowed much freedom and would hide in the bushes when they had the chance. While in the bushes, they would dance and make music while covered in costumes that they made from various paints that they made and leaves that they found, sponges and old newspaper. This festival represented the slave's freedom from slavery.

Parades in Nassau are judged in various categories; A (or Major) Category, the B Category, Individual costume, and fun groups. The A category groups involved in the Nassau Junkanoo include, The Valley Boys, The Music Makers, Roots, Saxons, One Family and The Prodigal Sons (New). Groups of the past include, The Vikings and Chippie and the Boys. In the B category groups include One Love Soldiers, Clico Colours, Fancy Dancers, Fox Hill Congos, and Conquerors for Christ. Fun groups include The Pigs, Sting and Barabbas & The Tribe. The Tribe's debut was as an "A" category group, however, after years of bringing innovative techniques in music and costuming to Bay Street, they have returned to the spirit of Junkanoo, and are bringing the fun with a flair.

Popular culture

The Junkanoo parade has been featured in multiple media properties.

• The parade was featured in After the Sunset.
• The parade was featured in Jaws The Revenge.
• A Junkanoo parade is featured in sequences of the James Bond film Thunderball that occur in Nassau. The celebration was staged specifically for the movie since it was filmed at the wrong time of year, but local residents were enthusiastic, creating elaborate floats and costumes and involving hundreds of people.^{[citation needed]}
• In Top Chef: Allstars Season 8, episode 13, "Fit for a King", the chef-testants danced at the Junkanoo parade, learned about its history, and competed to make the best dish for the Junkanoo King.

See also

• Jonkanoo (Jamaican parade)
• Jonkonnu parades

Sources

• Nissenbaum, Stephen. The Battle for Christmas. New York: Vintage Books, 1997.
• Wisdom, Keith Gordon. Bahamian Junkanoo: An Act in a Modern Social Drama (Dissertation)
• Wood, Vivian Nina Michelle. Rushin` hard and runnin` hot: Experiencing the music of the Junkanoo Parade in Nassau, Bahamas (Dissertation)
• Strachan, Kristoff. Bahamian student.

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  Rush for Peace Freeport Bahamas 2011

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  Costume Sans Participant After the Parade

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  Junkanoo Costume

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  Saxons Junkanoo Costume

External links

• everythingjunkanoo.com
• http://www.junkanoo.com
• http://www.ancestraltravels.com
• http://www.junkanoobeat.com
• http://www.bahamaslife.com
• http://www.coloursbahamas.com
• http://www.junkanoopaparazzi.com
• 360-degree virtual reality panoramic photograph above the street during Nassau's Junkanoo on New Years Day, 2007
• Information about Junkanoo music, dance, pictures and video

junkanoo instruments

Drums

The first drums were made from wooden barrels with cured goat or sheep skin stretched and nailed over on end of the barrel. The other end id left open. The drum is carried under on arm and supported by a thick strap, which runs over the opposite shoulder of the drummer, who plays or beats it with his bare hands.

Today, goat or sheep skin are still used to make the drums, but they are generally made from metallic oil barrels. In the instance, the skin is ether tightly nailed or screwed onto the metal barrel. We are also making bigger drums fashioned from bigger oil barrels or the middle parts of old washing machines. These huge drums are affectionately referred to as B-52’s or Rocket Launchers.

tom tom drums a new drum that has been recently incorporated into the Junkanoo rhythm is the Tum-Tum, which is actually a set drum made from fiberglass and plastic. These skins from these higher pitched drums are more likely to break, and are therefore used by the lead drummers to play the lead rhythms for the Junkanoo group.

A local folk hero by the name of John Chipman is widely known and credited for making goat skin and sheep skin drums. It is estimated that he alone makes some four (4,000) thousand drums a year alone. Most of the skins used in the construction of these drums either come from Long Island, and the Ragged Islands in The Bahamas, or Jamaica, West Indies.

Cowbells

These noisy flat slider clapper bells are mostly made from galvanized tin or cast iron. They normally range in size from six (6) to fourteen (14) inches long and are usually played in pairs. They are joined at the end by a cord or chain, with one held being individually held in each hand, and shaken or struck together.

Nowadays, most Junkanoo revelers use what we affectionately call the “Meghorn” cowbell. They are essentially made in the same manner, except they are joined together, in the sense that we now have two (2), three (3) or even five (5) bells per hand. We know of two men in particular who earn a living from making cowbells, namely Mr. Donzel Huyler and Mr. Meghorn. Mr. Huyler is locally known to be a pioneering force in cowbell making, whilst Mr. Meghorn introduced the “Meghorn” bell some years ago.

Horns

Modern day Junkanoo has seen the introduction of various types of horns over the years. Today we use four (4) basic types of horn to accompany the rhythmic and infectious strain that we all call Junkanoo.

The first in the line is the traditional conch shell, which is taken from the local seafood delicacy, a mollusc scientifically known as strombus gigas. We also utilize foghorns they are normally installed on boats, in addition to bicycle horns taken from the bicycle. The foghorn and bicycle horn are usually doubled or tripled for a louder sound effect. There is the bronze bugle used in the old armies, that carries the melody in this delicious sound and sight spectacle known both her and abroad as Junkanoo.

Scrapers

It was during the 1930s that these instruments became an integral part of the Junkanoo parade, and added a unique twist to the broad cacophony of sounds emanating from Bay Street every Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Examples of these rudimentary instruments were washboards and spoons, jawbones of animals, sticks bottles, nails, saws and screwdrivers. Nor of these instruments are used any longer in our modern day Junkanoo parade.

Brass Instruments

The year 1976 ushered in a new era in local Junkanoo. The group known as the Music Makers under the leadership of the youthful Sammy Thompson put together a brass section and made it a part of their musical backline. The brass section of the group was led by Isaiah Taylor, who is presently the leader of the Bahamas number one band, the world famous Bahamen.

The integration of brass with the tradition a sounds of Junkanoo was not too well received at first, but today, most major Junkanoo groups can boast of having a brass section to accompany the traditional goatskin drum, cowbells, horns and whistles. Members of our Royal Bahamas Police Force Band, the youth marching bands and even members of various church bands comprise the majority of the well received brass section o most groups.

Information taken from Junkanoo.com on the public domain.