Kumina
Kumina is a branch of the Myal religion, dance and music form. Kumina has practices that include secular ceremonies, dance and music that developed from the beliefs and traditions brought to the island by Kongo enslaved people and indentured labourers, from the Congo region of West Central Africa, during the post-emancipation era. It is mostly associated with eastern Jamaica particularly the parish of St. Thomas Portland, St. Mary and St. Catherine, and the city of Kingston.
The Myal Dance of Kumina also gives its name to a drumming style, developed from the music that accompanied the spiritual ceremonies, that evolved in urban Kingston. Like all Myal drumming styles Kumina has a great influence on Rastafari music, especially the Nyabinghi drumming, and Jamaican popular music. Count Ossie was a notable pioneer of the drumming style in popular music and it continues to have a significant influence on contemporary genres such as reggae and dancehall.
The Kumina riddim is a dancehall riddim produced by Sly & Robbie in 2002. It has featured in recordings of over 20 artists including Chaka Demus & Pliers and Tanya Stephens.
Definition
Kumina is a branch of the Myal Religion and is not the same as Pukkumina or Pocomania.History
Kumina emerged from the religion and practices of the Bakongo people of Central Africa, who were brought to Jamaica as indentured servants, after the abolition of slavery in 1834. Kumina, as a branch of the Myal religion, differed from Zion Revivalism in rejecting the belief that the Bible should be the central authority behind worship.With the Slave Trade Act of 1807, the British royal navy established a naval blockade along the West African coast, called the West Africa Squadron, to intercept slave ships still attempting to transport African slaves across the Atlantic, for import into the Americas. Thus, any intercepted ship would be confiscated by the British, its crew apprehended as pirates, and its slaves liberated.
Slaves liberated from slave ships were not returned home, but were instead brought to British colonies as indentured servants. These included British Sierra Leone and regions of the British Caribbean, such as Trinidad, Jamaica, and St. Lucia. Although Jamaica abolished slavery in 1834, Cuba did not end slavery until 1886, and Brazil did not end it until 1888. Thus, slavers from these regions continued to smuggle slaves across the Atlantic, up until 1860.
During the reign of King Henrique III of Kongo, from 1840 to 1857, civil conflict once again arose between the rival elite families. Henrique III belonged to the Kinlaza, and in 1848, he faced armed opposition by the Água Rosada faction, led by Ande II. This armed conflict led to the acquisition of captives by Henrique, who illegally sold them into the Atlantic slave trade, in open violation of the Slave Trade Act of 1807. Thus, some of the Kongo-captives enslaved in this conflict would have been liberated by the West Africa Squadron, and rerouted to Jamaica, giving rise to Kumina.