Jamaican
Culture
Colourful crocheted beanies, long
black dreadlocks, Djembe Drums and African dances are a few
things that might come to mind when you hear the word Jamaica, but Jamaican
culture is not limited to these stereotypes. Do you even know why Jamaica has
these appearance clichés? Why they wear such bright colours? Or, why African
culture as well as European culture is so closely connected to theirs? Well, by
the end of this post, you’ll be able to confidently answer those questions.
History:
The first people to inhabit Jamaica
probably came from the islands in the east around 600 CE. They were known as
the “Redware people” and little is known of them. They were followed later by
the Taino people who settled throughout the island, with their economy based
around fishing and the cultivation of corn. In 1494 Christopher Columbus reached
the island and spent a year ship-wrecked there. 15 years later, Juan de Esquivel
founded the first European settlement, the town of Seville la Nueva. Here, the Spanish
enslaved many of the Taino, and introduced African slaves. Only in
1655, did a British expedition, come across Jamaica. The British were quick to capture the island and began expelling the Spanish.
However. many of the escaped Spaniard slaves began forming communities in the
highlands. They were called Maroons a name derived from the Spanish word meaning
“wild” or “untamed”. Jamaica then became a British colony for over 300 years,
and at a certain time became one of the world’s busiest slave markets. African
slaves soon began to outnumber Europeans (5:1) and became a valuable colony in
terms of agricultural production. Finally, on the 6th of August 1962 Jamaica gained independence, a national holiday celebrated literally as “Independence
Day”.
People:
Today, 92% of Jamaican’s residents
are of Black African descent, with East Indians making up 2.4% and Caucasians
representing 3.2%. Their official language is English, but the common street
language is patois, (a combination of English, Spanish, Portuguese, African phrases
and Jamaican slang). Even when speaking in English though, Jamaican speech has
a distinct rhythmic and melodic quality.
Family and friends is an important
part of their culture. Family is a close-knit web of aunts and uncles, cousins
and grandparents. These families are close and provide emotional and economic
support to their members. Economic support can be seen in the way they form a
partner between friends and family (a financial agreement, where each person
agrees to contribute a set amount into the partner for a specific number of
weeks). It also shows the centuries of engraved distrust of authorities (from
the times they were in slavery) where they tend to put their faith in those
they know well rather than to go to a bank to secure a loan.
Religion:
Religion is an important part of
Jamaican life, with Christianity being the majority religion (also
broken down into Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Anglicans and Roman
Catholics). Jamaica has the highest number of churches par capita in the world
and can be seen dotted around the hillsides. Besides from Christianity,
Rastafarianism is the most known religion associated with Jamaica. This
religion only makes up a small sector of the society but because of such Rasta’s
as the late Bob Marley, they are symbolic to Jamaica. These people are easily
identified by their dreadlocks, and crocheted tams (a type of hat), who band
together in communities outside towns and in the hills. They mandate
vegetarianism, with the best-known facet of the religion being the smoking of
marijuana.
Clothing:
The central them for most clothing styles
in Jamaica is that it is light-weight and breathable, due mainly to the humid Caribbean
weather. The clothes are made from cotton, linen and calico fabrics, which are
produced locally. Due to the strong sense of propriety instilled by the
English, most traditional styles do not show much skin. Traditional clothing also
includes vibrant colours and is symbolic to the spirit of the Jamaican people
and homage to the beautiful surroundings of the tropical paradise.
Music:
Jamaican music has gone through an evolution of genres and its influence is present on pop music charts around the world.
Old genres such as reggae and ska are being combined with other genres like
punk-rock which are becoming increasingly popular among young people in the U.K
and U.S.
The first globally
known Jamaican music was called mento music, which was present around the late
1940s. It featured a fair balance between African and European elements and was
played with acoustic instruments including banjo, guitar and the
rumba box.
Ska music came about after this, near
the early 1960s. It was a combination of traditional mento music and incorporated
other elements from American boogie-woogie rock music. The music featured
harmony singing, danceable rhythms and songs frequently about love.
Rocksteady came shortly after
(around mid to late 1960s) but was short lived. It featured a slow-beat and
lack of a horn section. This music quickly evolved to the reggae genre.
Reggae music is the genre most
people identify as Jamaican. Reggae features nyabinghi drumming, two guitars
(one for lead) and a couple of vocalists. Important figures in Reggae music
include Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.
Food:
Jamaican food has flavours and
ingredients native to the island, and as a result lots of the national dishes have
a tropical hinting and a bit of a kick to it. Common Jamaican dishes include; curry
goat (cooked for long periods of time, so the goat becomes tender and falls of
the bone when bitten), fried dumplings (mainly served with fish dishes), Ackee
and saltfish (ackee is a Jamaican fruit, similar to the way avocadoes are a
fruit and is grown in abundance around the island. The meal is prepared in one
big pot with tomatoes, onions and plenty of spices), and Jamaican patties (have
a pastry outer that can be stuffed with meat, vegetables or fish).
Sources:
https://dance.lovetoknow.com/traditional-dance-jamaica
https://indianajo.com/what-to-eat-in-jamaica-traditional-jamaican-food.html
https://www.leaf.tv/articles/traditional-clothing-in-jamaica/
https://indianajo.com/what-to-eat-in-jamaica-traditional-jamaican-food.html
This has a lot of information and your introduction draws in the reader. I like how you included a description of what the foods were.
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