Afro-Atlantic 002: Jamaica and the Akan

[BigMan]

I would like to introduce a new series to The Root that highlights connections between Africa and its diaspora in the so called New World. I will try to focus on connections between specific ethnic groups in Africa as we know that most of the nations of present day Africa have European made borders. I may repeat countries/ethnic groups as different ethnic groups were brought to the various colonies in the Americas.

As many of yall know while white supremacy and colonialism aimed to complete destroy the culture of captive African slaves, African culture survived in many ways. The second iteration of this series will focus on the Akan/Jamaica connection. Please feel free to contribute/correct/educate.
shout outs to @MansaMusa @KidStranglehold @CashmereEsquire @Nemesis @Poitier @IllmaticDelta @305DeadCounty @Luken
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Next up is Jamaica and it's connection to the Akan culture of Ghana/Cote D'Ivoire. Much research has been done on the influence of the Akan (known as Coromantee in Jamaica) on Jamaican culture.

A quote:

[Jamaica had] the largest concentration of Gold Coast peoples anywhere in the British Atlantic world.”

According to several studies, the majority of Jamaicans share genetic affinities /ancestry from the Akan.

What is most interesting about this is that according to present records, most slaves taken to Jamaica were from the Bight of Biafra and Central Africa

The question is, considering that more slaves were taken from Biafra and Central Africa, shouldnt Igbo and Kongo culture/ancestry be more apparent?
Many state that this is because Akan speakers were initially the largest group being brought to Jamaica, and thus Akan people brought later to Jamaica found it easier to assimilate/survive once taken to Jamaica. Due to the harsh conditions for slaves in Jamaica, most slaves in Jamaica were born in Africa, however African born slaves were less likely to survive then Jamaican born slaves (which were more likely to be descended of Akan).
See quote below:

.....despite the historical evidence that an overwhelming majority of slaves were sent from the Bight of Biafra and West-central Africa near the end of the British slave trade, the mtDNA haplogroup profile of modern Jamaicans show a greater affinity with groups found in the present day Gold Coast region....this is because Africans arriving from the Gold Coast may have thus found the acclimatization and acculturation process less stressful because of cultural and linguistic commonalities, leading ultimately to a greater chance of survivorship and a greater number of progeny.

Interdisciplinary approach to the demography of Jamaica

The slave society on Jamaica also operated in a very rigid social hierarchy; creole slaves had much greater life expectancy, fecundity, and upward social mobility than those born in Africa. Slaves born of mixed parentage were more often the recipients of more favourable positions, including domestics and tradesmen. Slaves of colour were also much more likely to be manumitted by their owners [28]. Considering the estimated paternal contribution by Europeans for modern Jamaicans is estimated at just over 40% [10], African-European admixture may have played an important role in the legacy of the slave population.” (Deason et al., 2012, p.6)

In addition, Many slaves initially brought to Jamaica were later resold to other colonies, particularly the Spanish colonies.

For more: Jamaican maternal lineages trace back mostly to Ghana?
Coromantee - Wikipedia

Next post:Jamaican Patois

 

[Poitier]

sub

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Jamacians are decendants of the Dogons

 

[BigMan]

Jamaican Patois known locally as Patois (Patwa or Patwah) and called Jamaican Creole by linguists, is an English-based creole language with West African influences (a majority of loan words of Akan origin)[4] spoken primarily in Jamaica and the Jamaican diaspora. The language developed in the 17th century, when slaves from West and Central Africa were exposed to, learned and nativized the vernacular and dialectal forms of English spoken by the slaveholders: British English, Scots and Hiberno-English. It exhibits a gradation between more conservative creole forms and forms virtually identical to Standard English....
......Significant Jamaican-speaking communities exist among Jamaican expatriates in Miami, New York City, Toronto, Hartford, Washington, D.C., Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama (in the Caribbean coast), also London,[8] Birmingham, Manchester, and Nottingham.
[/quote]

Loanwords:

Jamaican Patois contains many loanwords, most of which are African in origin. The largest portion contributed to Patois is from the Akan language of Twi (pronounced: 'chwee').

Examples from African languages include /se/ meaning that (in the sense of "he told me that..." = /im tel mi se/), taken from Ashanti Twi, and Duppy meaning ghost, taken from the Twi word dupon ('cotton tree root'), because of the African belief of malicious spirits originating in the root of trees (in Jamaica and Ghana, particularly the cotton tree known in both places as "Odom")

Jamaican Maroon Language / Kromanti

Jamaican Maroon spirit-possession language, Maroon Spirit language, Jamaican Maroon Creole or Deep patwa is a ritual language and formerly mother tongue of Jamaican Maroons. It is an English-based creole with a strong Akan component, specifically from the Asante dialect of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is distinct from usual Jamaican Creole, being similar to the creoles of Sierra Leone (Krio) and Suriname such as Sranan and Ndyuka. It is also more purely Akan than regular Patois, with little to no contribution from other African languages. Today, the Maroon Spirit language is used by Jamaican Maroons (largely Coromantees) while possessed by the spirits of ancestors during Coromantee (Kromanti) ceremonies or when addressing those who are possessed.

Must watch video on the Kromanti language of the Jamaican Maroons

If anyone knows any Ghanaian posters please @ them.

Also any Guyanese or Surinamese posters as those two places are have a high Alan influence in their culture, especially Suriname

 

[Poitier]

If anyone knows any Ghanaian posters please @ them.

Also any Guyanese or Surinamese posters as those two places are have a high Alan influence in their culture, especially Suriname

@How Sway? @Nutritious Quata' Water @Regine Hunter @Asantehene

 

[BigMan]

Anasi stories and more on the Maroons coming next

@Luken drop de list nuh bredrin

 

[Ohene]

hmm

 

[Yehuda]

any Guyanese or Surinamese posters as those two places are have a high Alan influence in their culture, especially Suriname

@KwamePiesie @Amsterdayumn @MarrieGotBandzzz

You're the stereotypical ignorant nikka, shouldn't call yourself AA. As far from actual African culture as can be. Black American would be a better description.

Suriname has the best kept piece of Africa, OUTSIDE of Africa.

@krioro you too, you seem to be knowledgeable on this subject.

 

[How Sway?]

Kormantse - GhanaPlaceNames

1. krom = town; mante = I did not hear: I didn't hear of the town

1. ABE: "Cormantine (Krumehntsi) means 'I didn't hear of the town'."
2. URL: "In the early days of the establishment of the Fanti kingdom, Ashanti warriors are said to have held off an invasion by Fanti at this site, and their claim 'mikore mantsi' ('I was with the warriors') became the name of the town." Exact translation of 'mikore mantsi'?

 

[How Sway?]

I've seen aa handfull of DNA tests of Jamaicans on Youtube and

most of them either have a noticeably large portion of Ivory Coast/Ghana (AKAN) or Beni/Togo(EWE & FON and other Gbe ethnic groups)

 

[Bawon Samedi]

I've seen aa handfull of DNA tests of Jamaicans on Youtube and

most of them either have a noticeably large portion of Ivory Coast/Ghana (AKAN) or Beni/Togo(EWE & FON and other Gbe ethnic groups)

I didnt know you were Ghanaian.

 

[Mojo Jojo Morpheus]

Jamaican Maroon Language / Kromanti




Must watch video on the Kromanti language of the Jamaican Maroons

If anyone knows any Ghanaian posters please @ them.

Also any Guyanese or Surinamese posters as those two places are have a high Alan influence in their culture, especially Suriname

First off, you're doing great work breh, keep it up.

I'm a Surinamese Maroon. Specifically of the Ndyuka tribe.
Were you planning on doing a thread on Suriname? Or would you rather I just post what I know here?

 

[BigMan]

First off, you're doing great work breh, keep it up.

I'm a Surinamese Maroon. Specifically of the Ndyuka tribe.
Were you planning on doing a thread on Suriname? Or would you rather I just post what I know here?

Post it here since it's more likely to receive attention

I don't read Dutch so my research for Suriname might be limited

Sloppy but

 

[Mojo Jojo Morpheus]

Post it here since it's more likely to receive attention

I don't read Dutch so my research for Suriname might be limited

Sloppy but

Actually, I think this series of yours is a GREAT idea.
There are so many strands to the diaspora and connecting them to their roots on the continent can give people insight into how far back certain traditions & practices go.
That being said, I don't wanna derail the Jamaica thread with stuff about Suriname.
JM has such a wealth of history and information to be shared, it doesn't seem right to try and give some of their shine to SU.


Besides, I feel like the non-English speaking Caribbean often gets ignored when we're discussing the diaspora of the region.
I understand that language can often be a barrier to communication and that many nations in the New World inherited their bond from their former colonizers but it still hurts.


Just shoot me a PM whenever you get ready to do SU and I'll get you all the stuff you can't find on Wikipedia + any translations you might need.

 

[BigMan]

Actually, I think this series of yours is a GREAT idea.
There are so many strands to the diaspora and connecting them to their roots on the continent can give people insight into how far back certain traditions & practices go.
That being said, I don't wanna derail the Jamaica thread with stuff about Suriname.
JM has such a wealth of history and information to be shared, it doesn't seem right to try and give some of their shine to SU.


Besides, I feel like the non-English speaking Caribbean often gets ignored when we're discussing the diaspora of the region.
I understand that language can often be a barrier to communication and that many nations in the New World inherited their bond from their former colonizers but it still hurts.


Just shoot me a PM whenever you get ready to do SU and I'll get you all the stuff you can't find on Wikipedia + any translations you might need.

Definitely