Gaming

Legends of Moko Jumbies in St Croix

Every celebration on St. Croix seems to include Moko Jumbies, so here’s a bit of history on these colorful mosquitoes. Most references place the origin of the term in “moko”, an African god from Congo and Nigeria, and “jumbi”, an Antillean term meaning ghost or spirit, possibly derived from the Kongo word “zumbi”. Traditionally, Moko watches over her village and foresees danger and evil from her great height. “The Soothsayer” was represented by men on stilts who performed acts beyond normal human capacity, rising to the skies unaided. Jumbies are supernatural beings for better or for worse. They are never to be seen by non-believers, they supposedly reflect the islands’ African heritage and are believed to be one’s ancestors or one’s connection to the spiritual or superstitious world.

Moko initially came to Trinidad by crossing the Atlantic from the west coast of Africa. The idea of ​​the Moko survived by living in the hearts of Afro-descendants during slavery and colonial life to eventually walk the streets of Trinidad in a celebration of freedom, during Carnival. Trinidadians added “Jumbie” to the name and, in the early 1900s, the figures were an integral part of their Carnival, protecting revelers from evil.

The supernatural force, called Obeah, is what creates good and bad events, and is an African religion similar in some respects to voodoo. While the belief in Obeah has never been prominent in the US VI, it has been part of the territory’s environment for years. During the carnival, the parades and the Jump Ups, the dancing and masked mosquitoes are interpretations of the spirits and superstitions of yesteryear.

In the early 1990s, the tradition was revived in Trinidad by 2 men, Moose and Dragon, who created a new type of Moko Jumbie. They adopted a leg brace in the stilt design, and “Dragon” Glen de Souza pioneered the idea, in an effort to teach children to dance. In 1986, he began teaching the art of stilt dancing in Trinidad, and now about 100 children practice at his Keylemanjahro School of Art and Culture.

The Thanksgiving Jump Up in Christiansted, US VI, featured many colorful dressed Moko Jumbies, who danced and encouraged the spirit of celebration and goodwill from the crowd.

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