This pancocojams post presents a full reprint of one online article by the Cape Fear Historical Institute under the heading " "Jonkonnu" or "John Kunering" or "John Kooner" at Christmas".
This pancocojams post also includes excerpts from the Wikipedia article on Jonkanoo as well as a reprint of a 2015 ourstate.com article about celebrating John Canoe (Jonkanoo) in North Carolina in the late 20th century through 2015.
The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the online publisher of this content.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/12/how-black-americans-celebrated.html for a 2016 pancocojams post entitled "How Black Americans Celebrated Christmas In The Antebellum South".
Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/12/two-article-excerpts-how-enslaved-black.html for a 2019 pancocojams post entitled "Two Article Reprints About Some Ways That Enslaved Black People Experienced The Christmas Holidays In The United States South".
Note that according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Fear_(region) "Cape Fear is a coastal plain and Tidewater region of North Carolina centered about the city of Wilmington.[1] The region takes its name from the adjacent Cape Fear headland, as does the Cape Fear River which flows through the region and empties into the Atlantic Ocean near the cape. ...Wilmington [is] the busiest port in North Carolina"...
****
ARTICLE REPRINT #1
[Pancocojams' Editor's Note] This reprint doesn't include drawings that are inserted throughout that article. This reprint also doesn't include the italics font that is used for much of the content.
From http://www.cfhi.net/JohnKuneringatChristmas.php "Jonkonnu" or "John Kunering" or "John Kooner" at Christmas" by Cape Fear Historical Instutute [sic] Papers
The John Kuners were a chief attraction of the Christmas season since colonial times.”
Dr. James Sprunt
"An old Christmas tradition of Wilmington called “John Kunering” is still remembered, with one similar in Edenton referred to as “John Canoeing.” This was a tradition practiced mainly by black slaves, a custom that would find noisy and gaily-dressed processions “singing strange tunes accompanied by banjo, accordian, tambourine and other instruments.” Some of the participants would dress as women, and they festooned themselves with shreds of cloth sewn to their daily attire.
In Wilmington, the “John Kuners” would dance throughout the town to the rhythmic chants of:
Hah! Low! Here we go!
Hah! Low! Here we go!
Hah! Low! Here we go! Kuners come from Denby!”
"With the rattles of bones, the blowing of cow’s horns, and the tinkling of tambourines, the singing slaves, grotesque in their “Kuner” costumes, would halt whenever an appreciative crowd gathered. Strips of brightly colored cloth sewn to their clothes fluttered gaily as the John Kuners danced merrily. They were bedecked in horned masks, beards, staring eyes and enormous noses with grinning mouths. All were men, but some would dress as women.
After a few songs and dancing, the Kuners would approach the spectators with hat extended to collect a monetary reward for the antics. The Kuners would then depart for another crowd to dance and sing for and the usual reward”(Johnson).
Slave Harriet Brent Jacobs described the custom (Cashman, p.51):
"Every child rises on Christmas morning to see the John Kannaus. Without them Christmas would be shorn of its greatest attraction... a box covered with sheepskin is called the gumbo box. A dozen beat on this while others strike triangles and jawbones to which a band of dancers keep time. For a month previous they are composing songs."
"John Kunering" was a way in which blacks, free and slave, would imitate the Christmas traditions in their own manner, and an opportunity to parade in gaily-dressed musical groups around the city and request gifts and treats from white families. Lacking the long Christian traditions of the annual holiday celebrated by white families, blacks initiated what may be called a pagan ritual of their own.
The custom fell into disuse in the 1880’s after being tabooed by black residents, it was seen "as tending to lower them as a race in the eyes of the public (Moore)."
Though usually viewed as a black custom, historians note that the processions was not limited to blacks, as many white youths would dress and march as well, joining in the Christmas gaiety."
"Slaves Granted Liberty at Holidays:
"Wilmington historian Louis T. Moore wrote that "At Christmas seasons especially, a greater degree of real liberty was enjoyed by the colored people...and they were permitted to band themselves together in groups and from Christmas Eve through the advent of the New Year, Wilmington verily rang with the chants, songs and merry-making of the John Kuners. As the groups would stop in front of the different handsome homes, or pass into the gardens and spacious yards of the stately houses, they would always expect some type of Christmas cheer or gift. Invariably, the Kuners were fed on the substantial viands and appetizing desserts with which the groaning tables were filled during the Christmas season.”
There was substantial support for granting slaves the freedom to enjoy time away from their labor, and antebellum North Carolina’s Chief Justice Ruffin typified this with his view that:
“It would really be a source of regret, if, contrary to common custom, it were denied to slaves, in the intervals between their toils, to indulge in mirthful pastimes…”
Christmas as celebrated by white Wilmingtonians was a quiet and reflective time with families at home, and author Guion Griffis Johnson relates in “Antebellum North Carolina” that:
“Christmas in North Carolina was celebrated without official ceremony, and the town authorities ordinarily made no occasion of the day, “leaving it to quiet church services, visiting parties and pleasant family reunions.” The Wilmington Daily Journal wrote on December 23, 1851: “Christmas is coming…and were it not for the little and big (Negroes) begging for quarters, and the “noise and confusion” and the “Kooners,” . . . and the fire-crackers, and all the other unnamed horrors and abominations, we should be much inclined to rejoice thereat…”
In 1859 the same Journal wrote that “Christmas is past… A crowd on foot preceded by an ox team was quite amusing. John Kuner was feeble. John Barleycorn retained his usual spirit…our town authorities on Christmas generally let the boys have their way so far as mere noise is concerned….much firing of crackers, rockets, sapients, etc…” It was customary to give slaves considerable freedom on Saturday afternoons, Sundays, and on general holidays such as the 4th of July and Christmas. The old Southern custom of ladies staying indoors on Saturday afternoons arose from the great numbers of slaves in town at that time.
Christmas was the time that slaves enjoyed more than others, and it was a general custom to give the workers a rest from the field labors for several days at least, and often the period between Christmas and New Year Day. The masters were liberal in issuing passes so the slaves could visit relatives and former masters on neighboring plantations. The slaves would have more money at this time as masters seldom forgot to give coins and presents on Christmas morning as “the slaves gathered about happily shouting “Chris’mus gif!”
The gifts received were usually gay head-cloths for the women and “hands of tobacco” for the men, plus barbequed pork, molasses and weakened liquor. The Negroes (in Edenton) arose early Christmas morning, singing their John Canoe songs and shouting “Chris’mus gif” at their masters’ doors. With liquor on their breaths and money in their pockets, they spent to day in one long jubilee.”
****
EXCERPT #2
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkanoo
"Historian Stephen Nissenbaum described the festival as it was performed in 19th-century North Carolina:
Essentially, it involved a band of black men—generally young—who dressed themselves in ornate and often bizarre costumes. Each band was led by a man who was variously dressed in animal horns, elaborate rags, female disguise, whiteface (and wearing a gentleman's wig!), or simply his "Sunday-go-to-meeting-suit." Accompanied by music, the band marched along the roads from plantation to plantation, town to town, accosting whites along the way and sometimes even entering their houses. In the process the men performed elaborate and (to white observers) grotesque dances that were probably of African origin. And in return for this performance they always demanded money (the leader generally carried "a small bowl or tin cup" for this purpose), though whiskey was an acceptable substitute.[8]"
****
ADDENDUM: ORIGIN OF JONKANOO
EXCERPT #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkanoo
"Junkanoo (or Jonkonnu) is a street parade with music, dance, and costumes of mixed African origin in many islands across the English speaking Caribbean every Boxing Day (26 December) and New Year's Day (1 January), the same as "Kakamotobi" or the Fancy Dress Festival of Ghana. There are also Junkanoo parades in Miami in June and Key West in October, where local black populations have their roots in the Caribbean. In addition to being a culture dance for the Garifuna people,[1][2] this type of dancing is also performed in The Bahamas on Independence day and other historical holidays.
Dances are choreographed to the beat of goatskin drums and cowbells.
History
The festival may have originated several centuries ago, when enslaved descendants of Africans on plantations in The Bahamas celebrated holidays granted around Christmas time with dance, music, and costumes. After emancipation the tradition continued and junkanoo evolved from simple origins to a formal, organised parade with intricate costumes, themed music and official prizes within various categories.
The origin of the word junkanoo is disputed. Theories include that it is named after a folk hero named John Canoe or that it is derived from the French gens inconnus (unknown people) as masks are worn by the revelers.[3] Douglas Chambers, professor of African studies at the University of Southern Mississippi, suggests a possible Igbo origin from the Igbo yam deity Njoku Ji referencing festivities in time for the new yam festival. Chambers also suggests a link with the Igbo okonko masking tradition of southern Igboland which feature horned maskers and other masked characters in similar style to jonkonnu masks.[4] Similarities with the Yoruba Egungun festivals have also been identified.[5] However, an Akan origin is more likely because the celebration of the Fancy Dress Festivals/Masquerades are the same Christmas week(Dec 25- Jan 1st) and also John Canoe was in fact an existing king and hero that ruled Axim, Ghana before 1720, the same year the John Canoe festival was created in the Caribbean.[6]
According to Edward Long, an 18th-century Jamaican slave owner/historian, the John Canoe festival was created in Jamaica and the Caribbean by enslaved Akans who backed the man known as John Canoe. John Canoe, from Axim, Ghana, was an Akan from the Ahanta. He was a soldier for the Germans, until one day he turned his back on them for his Ahanta people and sided with Nzima and Ashanti troops, in order to take the area from the Germans and other Europeans. The news of his victory reached Jamaica and he has been celebrated ever since that Christmas of 1708 when he first defeated Prussic forces for Axim. Twenty years later his stronghold was broken by neighbouring Fante forces aided by the military might of the British and Ahanta, Nzima and Ashanti captives were taken to Jamaica as prisoners of war. The festival itself included motifs from battles typical of Akan fashion. The Ashanti swordsman became the "horned headed man"; the Ashanti commander became "Pitchy patchy" who also wears a battledress with what would resemble charms, referred to as a "Batakari".[7]"...
****
EXCERPT #2: JONKANOO TRADITIONS IN THE BAHAMAS
From https://www.bahamas.com/junkanoo
"WHAT IS JUNKANOO?
Although the roots of the Junkanoo parade remain subject to long and passionate debates, what is agreed, is that after centuries of practice, today's cultural extravaganzas have become the most entertaining street carnivals of not only The Bahamas, but also the world at large.
With the costumes, dance, and music inspired by a different theme each time, preparations for the Boxing Day, New Year's Day and summertime Junkanoo literally take months, and bring together men and women from all different walks of life.
[...]
THE HISTORY OF JUNKANOO
Legend has it that you haven't needed an excuse to party in The Bahamas for well over 500 years.
But ask folks here at the top of the Caribbean how The Bahamas Junkanoo tradition got started and they'll all tell you a different story—with many believing it was established by John Canoe, a legendary West African Prince, who outwitted the English and became a local hero; and others suspecting it comes from the French ‘gens inconnus,’ which translates as 'unknown' or 'masked people".
The most popular belief, however, is that it evolved from the days of slavery. Loyalists who migrated to The Bahamas in the late 18th Century brought their African slaves with them. The slaves were given three days off during the Christmas season, which they used to celebrate by singing and dancing in colorful masks, traveling from house to house, often on stilts. Junkanoo nearly vanished after slavery was abolished but the revival of the festival in The Bahamas now provides entertainment for many thousands."...
****
EXCERPT #3
From https://www.ourstate.com/jonkonnu-is-a-whirl-of-song-and-dance/ Jonkonnu Is A Whirl of Song and Dance
Every Christmas, the little-known antebellum tradition of
Jonkonnu, found almost nowhere else in North America, comes to life in New
Bern.
by Bryan Mims, Dec
12, 2015
…."Christmas is a couple of weeks off yet, and the air on
this Saturday night is crisp. A crowd gathers expectantly along the brick
sidewalks, as if awaiting the fa-la-la-la-la of carolers. But then a woman’s
voice makes a shrill call. She emerges from a house, yelling something that
sounds like, “John Canoe is coming! John Canoe is coming!”
Before long, others stream out of the house: A man in a getup of rags from neck to toe and wide horns on his head. Another man, dapper in a dark suit, vest, and top hat. Men in straw hats, pounding on drums. Someone in a raccoon headdress. Women in raggedy dresses with white cloths on their heads, dancing. Little girls in bonnets keeping step, smiling. To the beat of the drums, they sing: Funga alafia, ashay ashay! Funga alafia, ashay ashay!
The West African chant roughly translates to, “I welcome you into my heart.” *
A year’s worth of celebrations
This festive scene plays out four times every December in
New Bern for the celebration of Jonkonnu. (It’s pronounced like John Canoe,
though the name’s origin is something of a mystery.) Twice each on the second
and third Saturdays in December, during the palace’s candlelight celebration,
African-American reenactors dance and sing, just as slaves in eastern North
Carolina once did on the day after Christmas.
The man costumed in shreds of cloth — the ragman, he’s called — leads the procession after the shrill-voiced woman — she’s the town crier — runs through the crowd to announce the coming spectacle. Revelers go door to door with a big tin cup to collect coins. In plantation days, slaveholders were the ones giving the dancers money and other small gifts. This reenactment lasts 30 minutes or so, but the beat of the antebellum celebrations often would go on all day, with the ragman doing something that was totally taboo the other 364 days of the year: shaking hands with the slave master.
[…]
Blended cultures
Spalding started the drumbeat for a regular reenactment of
Jonkonnu in New Bern. In the late ’90s, he was working full-time at Tryon
Palace, the first permanent state capitol and governor’s house for the colony.
“I was looking for ways to develop more of an interpretation of the
African-American history of Tryon Palace,” he says. “I was aware of some of the
Jamaican musical traditions, which probably contributed to the Jonkonnu
celebrations here in North Carolina.”
Those celebrations, he says, began in the state in the early 1800s, and were likely started by slaves brought from Jamaica. And those celebrations mostly stayed in North Carolina. Spalding says there are no accounts that Jonkonnu took place elsewhere in the South, save for one celebration just north of the state line in Virginia. Why? “Good question,” he says. It’s also unknown whether the festivals ever occurred in New Bern itself. Much of Spalding’s knowledge about what the ritual looked like comes from an 1829 description written by a slaveholder at Somerset Plantation in Washington County. Hillsborough and Wilmington were two other places known to host Jonkonnu festivals.
“I believe what you see in Jonkonnu is a melding of several different West African festival traditions with English traditions,” Spalding says. “The fusion of these different traditions occurred in Jamaica.” Jonkonnu spread to other Caribbean locales, such as the Bahamas and Belize.
The slaves made their costumes with whatever they could scrounge up: tablecloths, sleeping gowns, rags. Records show slave masters, too, often bought regalia for Jonkonnu parties. The crowd roved from house to house in the community, clapping and cavorting and carrying on. “Sometimes, you wouldn’t even know who was living in the next plantation until this event came about,” Bryant says. Unbeknownst to white listeners, some of the songs ribbed and mocked the slave masters.
Jonkonnu festivals faded in North Carolina by the end of the 19th century, with Jim Crow laws discouraging African-Americans from throwing boisterous parties in the street. But now, on two Saturday nights in December, the sounds of shouting, drumming, and clapping burst onto the street like a ragtag dance troupe. There they go, to the middle of Pollock Street, to the wrought-iron fence of Tryon Palace, past spectators smiling and clapping. Some don’t just spectate; they join in.
Jonkonnu is a rare sound of joy born out of a sorrowful
episode in American history. That unbridled joy, absent the sorrow, returns
every Christmastime among the lovely old houses of George Street."
-snip-
The article that is excerpted in this pancocojams post describes the song "Funga Alafia" as a "West African chant". However, the song "Funga Alafia" was composed by African American drummer and dancer LaRocque Bey in Harlem (New York City) in 1959 or 1960. Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-real-origin-of-song-funga-alafia.html for the 2019 pancocojams post entitled "The REAL Origin Of The Song "Funga Alafia" - Hint: It Isn't A Liberian Song, Or A Nigerian Song, Or A Traditional African Song".
****
Visitor comments are welcome.
