"Ain't nobody gone take it from you"  A SHORT HISTORY OF BAHAMIAN JUNKANOO
By Dr Nicolette Bethel

Junkanoo is one of the most exciting events you can experience as a visitor to the Bahamas .In The Bahamas, Christmas is celebrated with church, parties, gifts, trees and of course Junkanoo. Between midnight and noon on December 26 and January 1 every year, the streets of Nassau play host to the most spectacular Christmas festival of its kind in the world.

Like Carnival, the festival of Junkanoo is a street parade of majestic proportions. Following the irresistible rhythm of goatskin drums, cowbells, whistles and horns, participants rush attired in fantastic costumes of cardboard, fringed crepe paper, and various decorative elements, from rhinestones to studs to feathers.

The origins of the parade are shrouded in mystery. Though there is little doubt that they are West African, their meaning and genesis have been obscured by time. Even the name is difficult to trace. Although popular legend claims that Junkanoo is name after John Canoe, an African slave resistance inspired his fellows, there is little support for that fact. However, evidence does indicate the existence of a sixteen-century Ghanaian slave trader by the name of John Konny. Other origins of the name have as much credibility, particularly the suggestion that Junkanoo is connected with the kono festivals of West Africa, where stilt dancers and masked performers helped celebrate the end of the agricultural year.

The name “Junkanoo” itself suggests links with the various John Canoe festivals throughout the New World. John Canoe or variations of it, has been practiced in places as diverse as North Carolina, Jamaica, St Vincent and Belize, and Christmas masquerades bearing similarities to Bahamian Junkanoo are found from Bermuda to Columbia.

Like those festivals, Junkanoo has ts roots in slavery, originating in the three day holiday given to the slaves in the English speaking colonies. Unlike many other John Canoe celebrations, though which tended to die out after Emancipation, the Bahamian parade has assumed mythic proportions, influencing every aspect of contemporary society.

Though we know relatively little of the slaves’ celebrations, evidence suggests that Junkanoo (or John Canoe) was held even then. As early as 1801, a John Canoe “king” was crowned in Nassau. Unlike Jamaica, however, where the John Canoe celebrations where a major activity during slavery, resembling New Orleans Mardi Gras with accompanying balls and parties and major parades, the Bahamian festival was small and sporadic, and it did not die out after Emancipation. On the contrary, Bahamian Junkanoo appeared to strengthen during the 1800s. In the 1830s, the Nassau Christmas parades had taken on a European cast. The Royal Militia Band appeared to be the major source of the marching at that time, with contemporary writers making reference to the sound of the fife and the drum. But between 1807 and 1860, large numbers of Africans were captured b British ships from Spanish, Portuguese and American slavers, and many of them were settled in the Bahamas. By 1849, their influence was evident: the dancing of the “John Canoes” on Bay Street preceded the sacrifice of several oxen in the Market. By the end of the nineteenth century, the unique sound of Bahamian Junkanoo- its focus on drum and the cowbell, and its fundamentally rhythmic character had been solidified, thanks in large part to these Liberated Africans.

A survey of Bahamian social history finds parallels in the development of Junkanoo. During the 1850s, at a time when the Government was encouraging the settlement of Inagua, two characters appeared in Junkanoo parades who have not since returned to Nassau.. Neptune and Amphitrite, the king and queen of the Sea, were part of the ritual given to sailors who were crossing the Tropic of Cancer for the first time- and sea journeys from Nassau to Inagua required the crossing of the tropic. And although Neptune and Amphitrite disappeared from Nassau thereafter, they remained part of the Christmas parades in the Southern Bahamas until well into the twentieth century.

The economic hardship of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century made itself obvious in the Junkanoo parades of the era. In 1890, a ‘Masked Army’ accompanied by a band marched to Government House to ask about employment prospects.  

At the same time, the parade became an outlet for the frustrations of the black Bahamian laborers of the city. As is not uncommon among the oppressed, the poor of Nassau turned against one another. Gangs from various neighborhoods marched to Bay Street to settle scores, and cowbells, whips and stick they carried were put to good use.

One remarkable element of the early twentieth century was the place of melody in Junkanoo. Every year, junkanoos would compose new songs which would make their appearance during the annual parades. The songs that survive tell us plenty about the times in which they are written. “Mama Bake the Johnny Cake” and “Spare Me Another Year, O Lord” were composed during the poverty of the first two decades of the twentieth century, while “Neely, Your Rum So Sweet” was the product of the Prohibition years. And “Do A Nanny”, whose chorus is all that survives these days, told the story of the burning of the Hotel Colonial in 1922, and begun thus: “The Hotel burn down to the ground,/ No more dancing in this town,/ Eh, eh, do a’ nanny do”.

In 1919, the U.S. Congress banned liquor. Overnight, fortunes were made in The Bahamas from boot-legging. Tourism and land development increased as rich Americans fled their dry home-land, and the shape of the modern Bahamas may be traced to this time. Wealth profited the junkanoo parades: the 1920s saw the adoption of fringed colored paper as decoration of junkanoo costumes, and the incorporation of ready made instruments in the parade. Money enabled the development the art of costume construction as well, and the rudimentary and frightening disguises of earlier years gave way to spectacular headdresses and giant hats. For the first time, prizes were offered, and the parade, previously reviled as “pagan” and violent, gained the support of the community at large.

By contrast, the parades of the 1930s and early 1940s were violent and dangerous. The repeal of Prohibition in 932 led to a world-wide depression, and a decade of hurricanes brought hard times back with a vengeance. The fancy costumes were replaced with sponge and newspaper as well as figures of fear, and the cowbells and whips reappeared as weapons.

During the 1930s, Junkanoo also became a symbol of solidarity for underprivileged black workers against the ruling white merchant minority. Labor riots were sweeping through the West Indies. In The Bahamas, although no major riot occurred until 1942, Bahamian workers expressed their frustration twice every year in Junkanoo. One is reminded of the words of “Rushing Through the Crowd”: “Iron, iron, iron can’t stop us now,” and “Ain’t nobody/Gone take it from you.” Junkanoo has also been linked with the Burma Road Riots of June 1942. Popular legend has it that Junkanoo music accompanied the protesters as they marched to Bay Street, although historians have not found solid evidence to support that claim. What is true is that one more Junkanoo song – perhaps the last of its kind for another half a century – describes the action taken that day: “Burma Road declare war on the Conchy Joe…/Come on boys, let’s go uptown/Turn that Conchy Joe upside down/…Do, nigger, don’t lick nobody.” Not surprisingly, Junkanoo was banned from Bay Street in the Christmas season of 1942. It was a ban that would last for five years.

The development of tourism after World War Two and the accompanying prosperity of The Bahamas brought Junkanoo back to Bay. In 1947, Parliament voted to allow Junkanoo to return to the city for the first time since the riots, and on New Year’s Day 1948, Junkanoo took place. The active promotion of the festival as a tourist attraction began. The voluntary Masquerade Committee, formed during the 1920s to encourage the organization of the parade, was revitalized and given greater responsibilities to control the festival. At the same time, young men from lower-middle-class backgrounds, among them Winston “Gus” Cooper, Doyle Burrows, Percy “Vola” Francis, Brian “Boldie” Gibson, reorganizing the artistic potential of the parades, joined Junkanoo groups and began the active reorganization of the parades. Until that time participation, costumes were carried by individuals, and music was made by groups. The major innovation of the beginning of the 1960s was a marriage of the two. Once that step had been taken, the foundation of modern Junkanoo had been laid.

Although Junkanoo is traditionally regarded as an Afro-Bahamian celebration, white or near-white Bahamians have been notable performers for almost 200 years. From the participation of the military bands in the 1830s to the wry observations made by magistrate Leslie Powles about the “white young gentlemen” who were active participants in the parades of the 1880s, “white” Bahamians took part in Junkanoo. Any history of modern Junkanoo that ignores the contributions to costume development made by men such as Philip Kemp, George Halkitis and A. B. Malcolm is incomplete; and modern Junkanoo dance steps owe plenty to the movements of “Sweet” Richard Dean, and individual performer from Long Island. From the 1940s to the 1990s, too, the Westerners, popularly known as the “white” scrap group, made regular appearances in the parades, its fair-skinned members committed to keeping scrap alive.

By the beginning of the 1970s, Junkanoo had become more of a street performer than a war. The fierceness of the competition had not disappeared, however; instead, it had become a war of art and performance. In 1973, the source of most of the street violence – the rushing of groups up and down on Bay Street, fighting their way through one another, was eliminated, and the modern practice of circling two or more city blocks was introduced. The development of various aspects of the festival – the art, the music, the dance and the overall spectacle – began in earnest, led by those groups whose names dominated the parades of the Sixties, Seventies, Eighties and Nineties – the Valley Boys, the Mighty Vikings, the Saxons Superstars, the Music Makers, Roots, and One Family.

The last 25 years of Junkanoo’s development have brought an increased focus on the organization and administration of the parade and recognition of the festival’s place in the national imagination. In 1982, the Masquerade Committee was reconstituted as the National Junkanoo Committee, its members appointed by Cabinet. Part of its mandate was to make the festival into a national celebration, and the past quarter century has seen the establishment or revitalization of Junkanoo parades on every major Family Island. Perhaps the most important achievement of the Committee was the establishment of the Junior Junkanoo parade in 1987, in conjunction with the JLA. During the 1990s, this committee’s actions were monitored more and more closely by the Junkanoo participants themselves through various Junkanoo organizations, among the Junkanoo Leaders’ Association, the Junkanoo Corporation New Providence, formally incorporated in 2005.

Today, Junkanoo finds itself in a state of flux. The fathers of the modern parade are nearing the ends of their careers as Junkanoos leaders, the festival taken on national proportions, and the government and the Junkanoo community are struggling to find the most appropriate way of administering the parades to ensure their continued development. The cost of Junkanoo has skyrocketed, and no reliable method of cost recovery has yet been found. Within the parades themselves, rapid changes have taken place, among them the widespread incorporation of women, the centrality of melody, and – thanks to the innovation of the scrap group Sting – the reintroduction of the Junkanoo song. Contention remains central, with the main controversies surrounding the outcome of each parade, and the collection of revenue from the parades themselves. But the future is bright. Junkanoo stands poised to become a globally-recognized festival, the ultimate symbol of the Bahamian nation.










History of Junkanoo
By Lenora I.C. McCartney

Junkanoo is a Bahamian cultural expression that has been derived from our ancestry. In the past it encompassed parades that were held here in the Bahamas twice a year, the 26th of December “Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade” and the 1st of January, “New Year’s Day Parade”. Today we also have added Junkanoo in June and Feel the Rush in Grand Bahama to these parades. So we literally enjoy year round Junkanoo. 

There is a huge controversy about the origin of Junkanoo as many historians have offered explanations for the origins and beginning of this festival. The most accepted one is that the name “Junkanoo” comes from the name John Canoe, an African prince and slave trader was operating on the God Coast in the seventeenth (17th) century. He was said to have outwitted the English and subsequently gained control over Fort Brandenbury. Therefore, the Dutch and English alike feared him. However, to the slaves, he was a hero and was worshipped and idolized by them. Those slaves who were brought here to the Bahamas kept up this distinct form of worship.

In the Pre-Emancipation era, the slaves were allowed three days off during the year; 1st January, 25th December and the 26th December. On the 1st January and the 26th December, they were allowed to perform their Junkanoo festival. The 26th December was the day for exchanging gifts and visiting friends. After emancipation however, the festival continued, and individual characters such as Neptune and Amphitrite portrayed John Canoe.

In the 1920’s, the Bahamas Development Board commercialized Junkanoo, as the festival was held on Bay Street for the first time. Prizes were offered and the parade became more competitive, thus eventually becoming the main tourist attraction for the Bahamas.

In 1938, December 26th was declared a public holiday and given the name ‘Boxing Day”, which was synonymous with the boxing and exchanging of gifs that would normally occur on this day. The Junkanoo parades continued up to 1942, when they were suspended after the Burma Road Riots. They were again revived in 1947. In the 1950’s the parade became more organized, as categories were introduced and groups were formed to represent different districts.

The first evidence of this organization was witnessed in 1954 when a group led by David Kemp, Maureen Duvalier and Bruce Beneby entered the parade as “the Mexicans”. Other persons responsible for bringing organization to the parade include such illustrious names as Sweet Richard, Johnny Kemp and the Chipman family.

In1960, the pioneering Valley Boys was the first group to have he Junkanoo participants’ parade in lines. Consequently, the 1960’s saw the advent of other famous groups such as the Saxons (1963) and the Vikings, which is said by many to be the oldest Junkanoo group. The Music Makers, credited by any to have pioneered the up-tempo beat, came on the local scene in 1976.
Today, we have six (6) major Junkanoo groups that compete earnestly every year for the grand prize. The “Valley Boys” and “The Saxon Superstars” are considered to be the senior groups. We now have “Roots” which was formed in 1991, after most of its members left the Valley Boys. There is also the “One Family” Junkanoo group, which was formed after most of its members left the Saxon Superstars. The “Prodigal Sons” was formed in 2003. The name “Music Makers” was assumed in 1976 by another group because of their reputation for real good pulsating, rhythmical Junkanoo Music.

Other prominent senior groups, which have fallen on hard times of late attributable to the serious lack of sponsorship and certain internal leadership problems, include the “Music Makers” and “Vikings” which merged in 1991 to give birth to the formation of the ‘Musical Kings”.

The upstart ‘Fox Hill Congos”, formed in 1986 and comprised mainly of residents of the Fox Hill area in the eastern district of New Providence island, have also experienced the identical growing pains associated with the budding Junkanoo Groups. The community of Fox Hill played an important role in the emancipation of slavery in the Bahamas in 1838, as it is widely believed that the joyous news of this proclamation was received almost a week late, as evidenced by Fox Hill Day being celebrated on an annual basis even today, on the Tuesday Following Emancipation Day which is the first Monday in August.

In addition to these major Junkanoo groups, we have smaller ones with such outlandish names as Most Qualified, Fancy Dancers, Redland Soldiers and the P.I.G.S.(Power, Integrity, Guts and Strength), just to name a few. Even though these smaller groups seemingly have little or no chance when going up against the more formidable veteran groups, it still does not detract from that Junkanoo fever exuded by every reveler who has paraded down Bay Street come December 26th and January 1st each year.

Our unique, authentic, real Bahamian Junkanoo Parade normally begins with a shotgun start at 2.am, on both Boxing Day (26th December) and New Year’s Day (1st January), and continues until approximately 9 am when the results of the parade are publicly announced in world famous Rawson Square. After all, winning is not everything. To anyone who is either an active participant or spectator in this unique street parade, just being there and rocking to the sounds of the Junkanoo drummers, cow-bellers and dancers, completely exonerates one from getting up and going to Bay Street at 2 am, in the morning.

In these parades we showcase this part of our culture in three forms:

Costumes

Before the slaves were brought here to the Bahamas, the costumes that they normally wore and used in Africa were fashioned from mud from the ground. They also used paint to paint their faces and bodies.

Here in the Bahamas, the slaves would gather any type of material that they could find in order to make their costumes. In fact, the materials mainly used were shrubs, leaves, stones, bottles and paper. They generally made their masks from these materials. It should be noted that after Emancipation, the slaves continued with their Junkanoo parades using these materials, with most costumes portraying Neptune and Amphitrite.

However, the 1930’s saw the introduction of sponge costumes, as sponging was our number one industry at the time. During the 1950’s, the costumes were made from cloth and fringed tissue paper. In 1960’s, the Valley Boys abandoned the shirt and trousers costumes and introduced shoulder pieces and skirts, made out of cardboard and fringed crepe paper.

The Vikings Junkanoo group started to use chicken coop wire, which allowed for some movement of the costume. But these first generation large costumes had to be leaned against a wall as they were unable to stand by themselves. In fact, Peter “Gold” Turnquest was the first person to construct a frame that allowed the costume to stand by itself.

In 1996 the rules governing the Junkanoo parade dictated that all participants must be costumed in order to take part in the parade on Bay Street. Construction techniques evolved to such a degree that during the 1970’s the very large costumes were now being built from card board and fringed crepe paper. Today we construct our costumes from six (6) major materials, Cardboard, Crepe Paper, Aluminum Rods, Tie Wire, Contact Cement, and Glue.

When constructing a costume, the first thing we do is build a frame using the aluminum rods. The design for the costume is then drawn out by hand onto the corrugated cardboard. The excess cardboard is subsequently removed from the frame by cutting off with shears or paper cutter. Tie wires are then pushed throughout the grooves of the cardboard to achieve the distinctive form and shape of these local artistic masterpieces. Contact cement is liberally applied to the cardboard pieces to stick and hold them together. The cardboard pieces are then attached to the frame by tie wires.

The cardboard structure is afterwards painted with white paint to camouflage the dab brown hue of the corrugated card board pieces and strips. The next step invokes the real passion of the Bahamian Junkanooer, even though it is a very demanding and time consuming process. The half complete costume now has to be fringed with crepe paper, which is mostly imported from Vienna, Austria. The edges of the crepe paper are then painstakingly applied to the cardboard one strip at a time with Elmer’s glue. We estimate that the average costumes requires three (3,000) to five (5,000) thousand strips of this multi colored crepe paper for competition and entry into he Junkanoo parade.

Years ago, the faces and hands of the bigger and more colorful costumes were fashioned from the ubiquitous cardboard. Nowadays, our avid and artistic junkanooers carve them out of Styrofoam and airbrush or utilize water paint on the costume faces and hands. We have also implemented the use of ethno-foam, which is generally used for carving and making circular objects. The final touches to one of these radiant costumes calls for it’s decoration with glitter, stone, studs and decorative beads. From time to time a small amount of cloth is also incorporated in the construction of a mid-sized or large costume.

The individual costumes worn by a dancer, drummer or cowbeller are likewise made from the same basic materials. Tradition calls for the absolute minimal use of cloth to make costumes, as this is reflected in the Junkanoo Committee’s rule that allows fro a maximum of four (4) paraders to be attired in this material.

Our lead or big costumes are constructed to be sixteen (16) to eighteen (18) feet tall, and to weigh anywhere from 10 to 400 pounds. The rules clearly stipulate that the big lead costumes should not be built on wheels and that only one person at a time be allowed to lift them. They also insist that the person carrying such a costume dance in it as well. The judges will automatically disqualify any costume built on wheels and/or carried by more than one person at a time.

However, there is a category in the parade that allows for individual costumes or pieces that are not part of a organized, official Junkanoo group to be placed on wheels. These bigger individual costumes are judged and awarded separate prizes from those that belong to the organized Junkanoo group.

Music

The music that we call Junkanoo is very primitive, but at the same time very infectious. Our basic musical instruments are made right here in the Bahamas, and consist of the drum, cowbells, horns, whistles, scrapers and brass.

Drums

The first drums were made from wooden barrels with cured goat or sheep skin stretched and nailed over one end of the barrel. The other end is left open. The drum is carried under one 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 this instance, the skin is either 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.

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 lead rhythms for the Junkanoo groups.

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 drum 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 pair. They are joined at the end by a cord or chain, with one held in each hand and shaken and 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 you now have two (2), three (3) or even five (5) bells per hand. We know of two men in particular who make a living form making cowbells, namely Mr. Donzel Huyler and Mr. Meghorn. Mr. Huyler is locally known to be a pioneering force in cowbell making and 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 horns to accompany the rhythmic and infectious strains that are all called Junkanoo.
The first in line is the traditional conch shell, which is taken from the local seafood delicacy, a mollusk scientifically known as the strombus gigas. We also utilize fog horns that are normally installed on boats, in addition to bicycle horns taken from the bicycle. The foghorn and the bicycle horn are usually or tripled for a louder sound effect. Then there is the bronze bugle used in old armies that carried the melody in this delicious sound and sigh spectacle known both here and abroad as Junkanoo.

Scrappers

It was during the 1930’s that these instruments became an integral part of the Junkanoo parade, and added a 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 ad screwdrivers. None of these instruments are used any longer in our modern day parades.

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 Bahamamen
The integration of brass with the traditional sounds of Junkanoo was not too well received at first, but nowadays, 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 sections of most groups.
Even our corporate citizens have caught onto the act, as Commonwealth Brewery, local brewers of Kalik and Heineken beer, Guiness and Vitamalt, sponsors of the annual best Music Award for both the Boxing Day and New Year’s Day Junkanoo parade.

Dance

Most visitors to our country, who have never had the privilege of viewing a live Junkanoo parade, often ask the question; what is Junkanoo dancing? Before our African ancestors came to the Bahamas some two and a half centuries ago, the dance was led by an African whose name is recorded as Yokonomo or Junkanoo.

His original version of this hypnotic, gyrating, pelvis shaking dance, was simply accomplished by taking one step forward and two steps backwards. Throughout the ensuing years, the Junkanoo dance was free spirited, free style dance where the Junkanooers did whatever they waned to do.

However, it was during the 1950’s that Richard “Sweet Richard” ushered I a new era in the development of Junkanoo dance choreography, with the introduction of the “Shuffle”. Likewise, when Percy “Vola” Francis came to the forefront of local Junkanoo as leader of the Saxon Superstars in the 1960’s he brought with him his own version of the dance affectionately known as the “Vola Shuffle”, which has continued to be the most famous dance to this day.

In the 1980’s Junkanoo dance choreography took o a new look. For a time many of the local stage choreographers would take the steps showcased on the street Junkanoo Parade and incorporate them into their productions on stage. Now the time has come for these plagiarized steps from the stage to make their way to the real Junkanoo stage, which is the world renowned Bay Street.

The year was 1988. The venerable Paul Knowles, who was then co-leader of the Valley Boys Junkanoo group, acquired the services of the Carolyn Vogt Dance Company to come up with the choreographed routines for the parade. Their fancy steps and routines brought tremendous success to the already seasoned Valley Boys, as they became almost unbeatable.

The other major groups soon realized the advantage to be gained from having their own routines, and now hire the services of choreographers and dancers for the Boxing Day and New Year’s Day Parades. As the Junkanoo music and dance is distinctly African in nature, most modern day Junkanoo dance choreographers try to make their own routines as ethnic as possible. At the present time, individual prizes for the best dance category are not given, but hopefully this anomaly will soon be alleviated in the not too distant future. Such a prize would undoubtedly serve as a tremendous incentive for both groups and individuals to come up with even more fanciful moves and steps to add to the enjoyable parade.

Videotapes of this annual affair are normally available, as our local Radio and television Station ZNS carries both live, and offers tapes for sale to the general public at large. Interested persons can obtain copies from other video companies here in the capital or simply drop in at the Junkanoo Expo at Prince George Dock in downtown Nassau, to sample part of a cultural experience unsurpassed anywhere in the world.  





JUNKANOO DICTIONARY

Not familiar with the Junkanoo lingo, here’s a list of popular terms that will get you through this Junkanoo season and beyond.


BACK LINE: A Junkanoo group’s music section, which traditionally consists of bellers, drummers, and the brass section.

BELLERS: Persons in the Junkanoo group who ring cowbells.

BOXING DAY: The name given to the December 26th public holiday, which was synonymous with the boxing and exchanging of gifts that would normally occur on this day by the slaves.

CONCH SHELLS: The outer shell, taken from a sea mollusk scientifically known as strombus gigas. These shells, when blown into, make a very unique horn-like sound and have traditionally been used as Musical instruments in the Junkanoo parade.

CHOREOGRAPHED DANCERS: A part of the Front Line of a Junkanoo group, this collection of dancers, usually women, parade in lines, wear similar costumes, and perform choreographed dance routines.

COWBELLS: Flat, galvanized tin or cast iron bells usually played in pairs. They are joined at the end by a cord or chain, with one being individually held in each hand, and shaken or struck together.

CREPE PAPER: A light, colored paper material imported from Europe that is “fringed” and used to finish Junkanoo costumes. There are about 30 different colors used in Junkanoo costumes.

FREE DANCERS: Also called “Naked dancers” are a part of the Front Line of a Junkanoo group. These dancers wear smaller, uniquely designed costumes that are easier to dance with, and dance “freely” toward the front of the group.

FRINGING: The cutting of the edges of the crepe paper with barber’s shears to make a short cut which gives the costumes a slight ruffled appearance.

FRONT LINE: The section of the group that lines up directly behind the group banner, and consists of a variety of “Free” dancers and choreographed dancers.

LEAD PIECES: Very large costumes that usually appear at the end of the groups and can weigh over 300 pounds each.

PASTING: The act of applying the fringed crepe paper to the cardboard costumes with glue one strip at a time.

SHACKS: Makeshift buildings constructed by Junkanoo groups, where Junkanoo costumes are built, pasted and stored by group members leading up to the Junkanoo parade.

SHUFFLE: A Junkanoo dance introduced during the 1950s, which ushered in a new era in the development of Junkanoo dance choreography, and spurred different versions of the dance over time.

TUM-TUM: A recently incorporated part of the music section, this is a set drum made from fiberglass and plastic.

•Source: junkanoo.com






  “Da Shack”
  By: Philip T.

The word “Shack” immediately brings to mind an assortment of negative images.

A hodge-podge of collapsing materials, haphazardly and hastily put together in a paltry effort to afford shelter to its occupants; in other words the epitome of dilapidation.

Disorganization, lack of aesthetics, lack of amenities, transience, lack of planning, limited social interactions, immorality, drunkenness- all these negatives come to mind when one hears the word shack.

But fortunately the shack is in fact a microcosm of all that is positive in this society in which we live.

How did shacks come about?

In the 1950’s Junkanoo participants for the most part were viewed with curiosity. Junkanoo was considered to be a “Past time” that was inextricably associated with the less fortunate of the Bahamian society. Costumes were usually “tailored” meaning made from cloth, therefore there was no need for Junkanoo groups to have an edifice for construction of costumes.

But eventually costumes were constructed and “pap” – an am porous substance made from flour, water and do not forget the kerosene to keep rodents away. On hundreds of occasions those who forgot this important step in making the pap, which was used as glue, suffered the revelation on attempting to put on their costumes to suffer dismay when they realized that all the cloth had been eaten away. Thus, no boxing day for you.

When Chippie introduced a new approach with his costumes depicting the Romans which added a new dimension, a costume hoisted on the shoulders of four stalwart “slaves” with his lovely daughter sitting like a Roman Empress on a throne, it was no longer possible to make this type of costume in a house. Therefore it was necessary to move “outdoor” either to a garage, an abandoned house or a quickly constructed edifice from the scraps of sheet metal, heavy cardboard, plywood and rotten 2x4 or 2x6 planks.

At the same time the “Banner” had emerged from a small placard to a large sign proclaiming the sponsor, the theme and the inevitable greeting Merry Xmas or Happy New Year. These banners were carried by strong young men.

I miss those seasonal greetings on the banners. These structures were usually temporary and by January 2nd had been destroyed.

Then the shack was temporary. It came about out of necessity. Disgruntled wives, mothers, fathers, siblings-complaining about the smell of pap, the littering of pieces of crepe paper which would be found all over the carpet (few people had that), the linoleum or on the new oil tablecloth.

The message was – “get out of the house go and make that costume somewhere else”. So numerous supplications were made to the leaders of the various groups and the move to find secured buildings became frantic. But these buildings were not owned by the groups. By now the costumes were becoming larger, instead of one lead piece you had twelve lead pieces and a new structure of the creative Junkanoo mind had emerged to play an integral part of these groups presentation…Behold the dancer! Groups would have in excess of 30 dancers. Obviously they had to be constructed, pasted and housed somewhere. Thus, the shack took on a new image. No longer temporary; but one of the permanence.

They were now constructed with new materials; had concrete floors, in some cases bathrooms – because gradually those of the opposite gender had emerged as a pivotal part in the groups’ presentation on “Bay”.

Some shacks had carpeted floor and of course, the refrigerator, the radio, the TV, the microwave and in some instances the “outside grill”.

So much pride has been taken in these edifices some have applied names to them – A “Team Gaza Strip”, Park Boys”, the “Academy”, the “Universe” and a new addition, the “Franchise” just to name a few.

Now, mom, the wife, the children, the siblings did not have to deal with the smell of pap, with the kerosene – we now have Elmer’s glue anyway – the clumps of cut crepe paper – but now a new “annoying” aspect, however enjoyable to the Junkanoo enthusiast – the appreciation of the “tricks”.

A lot of this was done in a little room or in fact the den – so you see the complaints came flying in again. But that is all Junkanoo.

The shacks therefore have now evolved into a home away from home where the positive ethics is encouraged; namely:

1.Proper planning and co-ordination
2.Punctuality and proper manners – good day etc.
3.Attention to detail, color coordination, cleanliness.
4.Sobriety.
5.Speech devoid of expletives.
6.Sharing.
7.Completion of assigned tasks.
8.Further your education, no matter what you do.
9.Children encouraged doing homework or they will not be allowed to “paint” the costumes white prior to them being drawn out and pasted.
10.Above all, believe in the Almighty.

Therefore the shack is a place not only where costumes are assembled, but it is microcosm of life which is open to all 24-7. A place to meet, discuss positive values, let our imagination run freely, a place to aspire to a better way of living and most of all a place devoid of criminal activities.

Yeah my brethren, the shack is the Place to be anytime of the year. Come around!