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pre-indian history of jamaica
by Princess Bambi
(Jamaica)
QUESTION:
What was life like before the East-Indians arrived in Jamaica?
ANSWER: April-21-2009 by Wellesley Gayle
Hi Princess Bambi,
I'll answer your question by quoting from the early history of Jamaica page on this website.
"...there is very little we know about the early history of Jamaica,however, there is enough to give us some insight.
Any study of the history of Jamaica would consider the three main eras, the Aboriginal, the Spanish and the English- in similar order. So naturally, for this purpose, we'll focus on the very first group- the aborigines.
The aborigines, or earliest recorded inhabitants, of Jamaica is recorded as the Arawak Indians- also called The Tainos.
Originating from the region of the Guianas and Venezuela, they sailed northwards in their dug out canoes, ventually settling in each of the island of the Antilles, from Trinidad to Cuba, and arriving in Jamaica.
It is believed that they they came in two waves- the first (the so-called 'redware people') around AD 650, and the second sometime between AD 850 and AD 900."... the complete article here>>
Question: Please explain the rasta faith. I am a beleiver of Christ and truly am interested in educating myself about this Jamaican religion.
Sincerely, Kerrie. (p.s. Thank you God for Reggae)
Answer: by W.Gayle Jan-21-2009
Hi Kerrie,
The Rastafari movement began in Jamaica in the 1950's and has been an important religious and cultural movement since.
From my observation, there are still subtle differences within the Rastafari movement itself, relative to their beliefs and customs, but generally, most Rastafaris believe in the Divinity of Emperor Haile Selassi I of Ethiopia and they revere Marijuana (Ganja) - although it is still an illegal drug in Jamaica.
Rastafarianism became internationally known through its associations with reggae music and some of Jamaica's most successful musical stars.
Burning Spear, Peter Tosh, and Bob Marley for example, were all Rastas. Wikipedia has a detailed article on Rastafarianism.
You can view it from here. Please take a look on my religions in Jamaica page as well for a little more background.
How did the Jamaican maroons achieved independence
by Shanna
(Jamaica)
QUESTION:
How did the maroons achieved independence?
ANSWER: May-26-2009 by Wellesley Gayle
Hi Shanna,
From my recollection, their 'independence' came from escaping into the hilly, mountainous regions of the island.
When the British captured Jamaica from the Spanish in 1655, many that were left on the plantations joined those who had previously escaped from the Spanish to live with the Taínos, rather than be re-enslaved by the British.
They survived by subsistence farming and by raiding plantations.
Over time, the Maroons came to control large areas of the Jamaican interior. Those raids led to the Maroon Wars.
Bob Marley died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami, Florida on the morning of May 11, 1981 at the age of 36.
In July 1977, he was found to have malignant melanoma in a football wound on his right big toe but he refused amputation, citing worries that the operation would affect his dancing, as well as the Rastafari belief that the body must be "whole"
The cancer then spread to his brain, lungs, liver, and stomach. After playing two shows at Madison Square Garden as part of his fall 1980 Uprising Tour, he collapsed while jogging in NYC's Central Park. The remainder of the tour was subsequently cancelled.
He played his final concert at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 23, 1980. The live version of "Redemption Song" on Songs of Freedom was recorded at this show. Marley afterwards sought medical help from Munich specialist Josef Issels, but his cancer had already progressed to the terminal stage
While flying home from Germany to Jamaica for his final days, Marley became ill, and landed in Miami for immediate medical attention.
He died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami, Florida on the morning of May 11, 1981 at the age of 36. His final words to his son Ziggy were "Money can't buy life."
Marley received a state funeral in Jamaica, which combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Rastafari tradition. He was buried in a crypt near his birthplace with his Gibson Les Paul, a soccer ball, a marijuana bud, a ring that he wore every day that was given to him by the Prince Asfa Wossen of Ethiopia (eldest son of HIM), and a Bible.
A month before his death, he was awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit.
Who were they, and what did they do to became famous?
Anwser: Feb-03-2009 by Wellesley Gayle
Hi Carl,
The Jamaican Maroons are runaway slaves who fought the British during the 18th century.
When the British invaded Jamaica in 1655 the Spanish colonists fled leaving a large number of Africans who they had enslaved.
Rather than be re-enslaved by the British, they escaped into the hilly, mountainous regions of the island, joining those who had previously escaped from the Spanish to live with the Taínos (Arawaks).
Their opposition, their isolation and independent lifestyle is essentially what made them stood out.
Revivals attire themselves in many different ways for different occasions.
Fundamentally though, they are mostly attired with a head wrap known to many as turban -some will have various attachments in it, such as a pencil, ruler, candles etc - pleated skirts and blouse to match.
Some revivalist wears a gown as well. Even though some may be attired in this way, there are revivalist who dress like other christian protestant denominations, but traditional revivalist are normally dressed in their turban, pleated skirts or gown.
They tend to wear a lot of African type/print materials as well. (See picture above)
Rasta flags, and Rasta wear and reggae wear in general, are quite abundant these days online.
And while there maybe some substandard suppliers, there are some apparently good ones out there (see below).
By the way, I pulled this bit of interesting information on Rasta flags from the rastagear.com website as well:
'...Red, yellow, green are the colors of the Rasta flag. The red symbolizes the blood of black people, the yellow the stolen gold and the green the lost lands of Africa.
The Rasta flag can also be seen during coptic celebration in the motherland Ethiopia. These colors are too on the Senegalese flag, from where thousand of slaves were deported, transiting by the Goree island.
Original Rasta Flag The original flag of Rastafarians was Red, Black and Green. Red represented the blood of blacks that died in struggle to fight off their white oppressors.
Black represented the color of black Africans skin. Green represented the vegetation of Jamaica and Jah's (God) earth.
Current Rasta Flag The current flag is the old Ethiopian flag with the Lion of Judah symbol.
The meaning of the colors in the Ethiopian flag is: red for the blood, gold for the minerals & resources and green for the land.'
Here are a few of the sites you might want to try.
What are the most celebrated Jamaican celebrations?
by Tegan
(Australia)
QUESTION:
Can you please answer this question? What are some celebrations that are very special to Jamaicans?
ANSWER: May-26-2009 by Wellesley Gayle
Hi Tegan,
I'll answer you by quoting from my Jamaican Celebrations page:
"Generally speaking our Jamaican celebrations pays tributes to, recognize, and honor our people -past and present- our culture, our music, our food, and everything that defines us Jamaican.
We have lots of them and there are year round! If you ask me, I would probably tell you they fall into four categories...": The Music Festivals, National Holidays, Food Festivals, Cultural Celebrations. Please see the entire article here.
Question: Thanks for the great website! I am visiting Jamaica again with my wife in a few weeks and I'd like to know a little about Jamaican language and words used, like "irie."
Answer: Nov.15.08 by W.Gayle Hi Cody, Thanks for your interest in our great country and for visiting once again.
What is the history behind the Jamaican flag? Was it in any battles or wars? what is the whole history behind the flag ?
ANSWER: March-25-2009 by Wellesley Gayle
Hi McCorkle,
Regarding the history of the flag:
A bipartisan committee of the Jamaica House of Representatives designed the Jamaican Flag which consists of a diagonal cross with four triangles placed side by side.
The diagonal cross is gold; the top and bottom triangles are green; and the hoist and fly (side) triangles are black.
"The sun shineth, the land is green and the people are strong and creative" is the symbolism of the colours of the flag.
Black depicts the strength and creativity of the people; Gold, the natural wealth and beauty of sunlight; and green, hope and agricultural resources.
It was first raised on Independence Day, August 6, 1962. It signifies the birth of our nation. The flag brings to mind memories of past achievements and gives inspiration towards further success.
Question Can you send me the picture of national costume of jamaica?
I need it for my daughters presentation at school..tnx
Answer: 10/1/08 by Wellesley Gayle Please see the picture above. Thanks to flickr.
"The traditional folk dress is a well loved costume of Jamaica. It is a beautiful outfit of red and white plaid cotton material which is worn for Independence Galas and other holidays in Jamaica by ladies.
There have been various designs of this costume worn by all Miss Jamaica World Contestants but the the most constant is the bandana skirt and the bandana head tie in red and white plaid.
Jamaican men also wear this costume in a shirt with white pants and a bandana head tie."
Question My Church is having a ladies Christmas brunch. I have signed up to set a table. The theme is Around the World.
I want to do a Jamaican table. Please help with some ideas as to what goes on the table.
For instance, what would the tablecloth look like? What kind of centerpiece would I have? What sort of colors would be used? What sort of plates, cups and glasses would you use? I just need some ideas to make my table look like it will represent Jamaica.
All the brunch food is prepared at the church and served buffet style. So far I find foods used at Christmas in Jamaica but not the basic table decoration.
Thanks for any ideas.
Answer: by W.Gayle, Nov.16.2008 Hi Jerry,
Super idea! I love it.
I would say though that based on how you described it, the dinner table (setting)will look similar to how you know it. We typically go with red table cloth though, but you may want to get creative and use red and white with some sort of lace (skirting) depicting the Jamaican colors. That should do it. {Make sure it blends nicely)
You said you are already aware of the foods so that's good, but please, whatever you do, make sure not to forget the Sorrel and Jamaican Christmas cake!
Please name five important things that the Jamaican coat of arms is on.
ANSWER: September-29-2009 by Wellesley Gayle
Hi Monique,
Interesting question, thanks for asking. It really got me and a few of my friends thinking.
This is what we came up with:
1) All Jamaican coins and bank notes 2) The National Identification Card (ID) 3) The National Driver's Licence 4) The Jamaican Passport & 5) All documents or correspondences from the government of Jamaica.
Hi my name is Tiffany and I am in 9th grade this year.
I am taking music for credit, and I need a picture of an original Jamaican tambourine and I saw your web site and thought that I would ask you. Thank you.
ANSWER: August-19-2009 by Wellesley Gayle
Hi Tiffany,
Thanks for asking. Please see the photo of the Jamaican tambourine above.
The tambourine or Marine (commonly called Tambo) is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils".
Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all.
Tambourines come in many different shapes with the most common being circular. It is found in many forms of music, Italian folk music, classical music, Roma music, Persian music, gospel music, pop music and rock music.
The word tambourine finds its origins in the Middle Persian word tambūr "lute, drum" (via the Middle French tambour). (Source: Wikipedia.org)
>What does "cau di girls weh we pokin' got to smokin'" mean? >What does "dem love how we flow king hear dem shoutin'" mean? >What does "we be earnin' dollars turnin' cau we mind deh pon we pay" mean? >What does "gal dem a page mi, wah fi rage mi" mean? >What does "we a di gal dem pro dem know we flow wid di lyrical content dat mek dem dip low" mean? >What does "sean-da-p gal a cruisin' but refute it, cau, we a di gal dem champion, got nuff a dem like di great king solomon" mean? >What does "from dem ready fi yuh hype night just gimme di light, and, mek we blaze it di roof we haffi raise it" mean?
Excuse for a lot of questions, but I can't understand some of this word especially because the words are not English. Hope can help me.
Thank you so much.
This is my mail "jolios.sezar@yahoo.com"
ANSWER: September-14-2009 by Wellesley Gayle
Hi Shahzade,
Very interesting questions.
Although I am a born Jamaican, I must admit I have a little challenge writing and reading patois (Jamaican creole). I speak it very well and understand it clearly if listening, but the minute it goes to paper I have a problem - interesting huh?
The challenge is compounded because I am not sure which of the Sean Paul song you are speaking to. I'll defer to one of my ardent site visitors to help me out on this one.
Jamaica's religions are many and varied. This is so although majority of our people are aligned to Christianity (albeit different denominations).
This includes approximately two-fifths who are Protestants and one-tenth of the Roman Catholic faith.
It is projected that approximately one (1) in every ten (10) Jamaicans are Pentecostals. A smaller number are Seventh Day Adventists and Baptists. Although, I can tell you the Seventh Day Adventists are making serious head ways in this regard; they are very visible and there is always something happening in their circle!
Only a small percentage of the total population attends the Anglican church, which, as the Church of England, was the island's only established church until 1870...full article here
We have quite a few notable events in Jamaica's history.
Here is a quick summary by key dates leading up to Independence in 1962.
1494- Christopher Columbus discovered the island.
1509- The Spaniards occupied the country and remained in possession for 146 years.
1655- The English captured the island from the Spaniards and colonized the territory.
1692- Port Royal, which had become the focal point of the pirates plundering the Caribbean and Central America, was destroyed by earthquake and Kingston became subsequently the chief city and port.
1838- Slaves were emancipated and the economy foundered due to the crisis on the plantations.
1848- Britain’s free trade policy led to a further deterioration in the Jamaican economy because sugar protection was lifted and Jamaican sugar was in competition with cheaper sugar from elsewhere.
1865- The Morant Bay Rebellion broke out after prolonged disputes between the planters and the settlers.
1866- Crown Colony Government replaced the old system of representative government.
1870- An export trade in bananas replaced the predominance of sugar and restored the island’s economy.
1944- Universal adult suffrage was introduced under the new Constitution and proved to be the first step in the gradual move toward independence.
1953- A full ministerial system was established.
1958- Jamaica joined the federation of the West Indies, which was an association of 10 British Island territories in which Jamaica and Trinidad were the largest.
1959- The country was granted full internal self-government.
1961- Jamaica voted in a Referendum to secede from the Federation of the West Indies and to achieve Independence.
1962- The Federation was dissolved and Jamaica became independent on August 6th.
Is it legal to smoke ganja in rastafarian churches?
by Michelle
(USA)
QUESTION:
When I was in Jamaica I was told by a tour guide that it was legal to smoke pot in churches and the Bob Marley house. Is this true?
ANSWER: May-11-2009 by Wellesley Gayle
Hi Michelle,
I am inclined to say Yes.
I have never been there, nor to any other Rastafarian celebration, but I think Rastafarians are given some leeway there.
I know for example, the Nyabinghi movement that has their annual celebrations/crusades and the smoking on marijuana is a central part of the event, but only on that compound.
I don't know that the structures are called 'churches' though. Stay in touch Michelle.
Can you tell me some places in Jamaica with Spanish names- and there meanings?
ANSWER: Feb-28-2009 by Wellesley Gayle
Hi Denny,
The following Spanish place names have been found with short notes on each place.
These were taken from Frank Cundall’s text "Jamaica Place Names" (pages 4-7) published in 1909.
Thanks to Burnadette and Nicole at the National Library.
Some of the place names are:
Auracabeza.
Aura, air or breeze. Cabeza, head or high land. (This is now Oracabessa in St. Mary. Others derive it from Oro Cabeza, the golden head.)
Alta Mela.
Deep Gap (Alta MEla Savanna, St. James.)
Agua Alta Bahia.
Deep Water Bay, corruptly Wag Water. Still known as Wag Water, probably the name is Arawak, Guayguata.
Los Angelos.
The Angels. (Angels in St. Catherine was the first terminus of the railway.)
Rio Bonito.
The Pretty River.
Cabo Bonito.
The Pretty Cape. (In St. Catherine.)
Cabarita Punta
Kid or goat point. (In Westmoreland, where there is a river of the same name: there is another Cabarita point in Old Harbour Bay, and a Cabarita Island in Port Maria Harbour.)
Rio de Camarones.
Perhaps from Gambaro, a crab, from the abundance of black crabs hereabouts.
Cobre Rio.
Copper River or Cobra Port, Snake River. (Still known as Rio Cobre.)
Caborido.
Quasi Caba Arido, the dry or withered cape. Part of Healthshire highlands.
Carvil or Caravel Bahia.
Carvela signifies a light round kind of a ship fornmerly used by the Spaniards.
Diablo Monte.
Devil’s Mount. Now called Mount Diablo.
Flora Ria.
Flower River.
Fortaleza Punta.
Fort Point.
Gallina Punta.
Hen Point. Galina Point St. Mary.
Guada Bocco.
Guada- brook of water, bocca- mouth.
Hoja Rio.
River of leaves, now corruptly called Rio Hoe.
Jarisse Punta.
Cross-bow or arrow, probably refers to some action with the Indians.
Lacovia. Quasi Lago-Via, or the way by the lake? (A village in St. Elizabeth.)
Liguanea.
Lia-white-guana, the name of an animal, probably one frequent in that part of the island. (That
part of Lower St. Andrew, bordered by the Long Mountain, St. Andrew Mountains and the Red Hills.)
Moneque, or Monesca Savannah.
Savannah of monkeys. (Now confined to the village of Moneague. This word is Arawak but was perhaps brought by the Spaniards from Cuba where manique’ still means ‘thicket’.
Spanish documents have ‘manegua’ for 'Moneague’.)
Mario bona.
Maria-buena, Mary the good. (Maria Buena Bay is in Trelawny.)
Mantica Bahia.
Butter (now Montego Bay.)
Ocho Rios
Oor ‘Tehi Rios’, said to mean eight rivers. (In St. Ann, it was more commonly called Chareira. As late as 1841 William Rob wrote "Ocho Rios, called to this day by the old inhabitants ‘Cheireras’ its early and appropriate name ‘the Bay of Waterfalls’, but has now gone back to Ocho Rios".
Perexil Insula.
Samphire Island, now known as Tower Isle.
Sombro Rio.
Shady River. (Now called the Sambre.)
Yalos.
Frosts (whence, perhaps corruptly, Yallahs) the high white cliffs having the appearance of a frosty covering. (Now called Yallahs.)
Luidas.
Perhaps from Luzida; gay, fine or from Lluvias rains? (Lluidas Vale is in St. Catherine.)
Martha Brea.
Martha- a woman’s name; Brea, tar; perhaps a nickname of some Spanish sailor’s Dulcinea like the English vulgar appellation of Jack Tar. (Martha Brea Village and river are in Trelawny.)
Bog Walk is supposed to be the Spanish Boca de Agua, for which there is no early authority.
The old English name was Sixteen Mile Walk and the Walk of Bog Walk must have been suggested by the older Spanish name which may have been bogua and the same name as Bogue.
Porus
...is probably called after some well sunk there, or from the porus nature of the soul "pitted with holes".
By the way, the Spaniards called the Black River, el Caovana, meaning the Mahogany River.
