Discover Jamaican People and Culture

The national motto "Out of many, one people," speaks of the ethnic diversity that is Jamaican society as well as the national pride that unifies its citizens. Members of the Arawak tribe, aboriginal inhabitants of Jamaica, greeted Christopher Columbus in 1494 and provided food and shelter for his expedition. Soon after his arrival, Jamaica became a colony of Spain. In 1655, a British expedition seized Jamaica from the Spanish colonists, who released their slaves and left the island. Many freed slaves disappeared into the mountains. Known as "maroons," many remained free and cultivated their own way of life. Maroons in Jamaica may have up to four ancestral lines, from Ghana (formerly the Gold Coast), the area from Burkina Faso to Benin (formerly the "slave coast"), creoles born in Jamaica, and Arawak and Miskito indigenous peoples from Central America. The culture of Jamaica has been deeply influenced by the disparate societies that at various times colonized the island. Today, Jamaica's people blend traditions from African, European, Arabic, East Indian, Chinese, and East Mediterranean descent.

Popular Celebrations: A number of popular sects, such as Pocomania and Rastafarianism, are a significant and famous feature of the national religious life. Jamaicans, traditionally highly religious, celebrate many traditional Christian holidays. Christmas is typically observed by various denominations with Communion services, candlelight ceremonies, concerts, all-night prayer meetings and the singing of Christmas carols. The "Jonkonn" Festival is secular in nature and its performance at Christmas time is merely historical. It was conceived as a festive opportunity afforded the slave class by the planter class, as Christmas was one of the few periods when the slaves were relieved of their duties. Jonkonnu dancers most often wore costumes that would depict a cow, a horse, the devil, the different categories of warriors and Indians, as well as a character known as "Pitchy-Patchy."

Music and Dance: Perhaps reggae first comes to mind when people think of Jamaica. Reggae, a distinctively syncopated style of Jamaican music, is highly political. Emerging from traditional indigenous Jamaican music with African and Black American roots, Reggae was popularized in the 20th century by Bob Marley and others. It was a pervasive influence on rock music in the 1980s, especially in Britain. For his cultural contributions, Marley received Jamaica's third highest national honor -- the Order of Merit -- and was posthumously enshrined in the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the late 1990s. Jamaica's folk music is said to have its origin in West Africa. The drum is central to all Jamaican music having ties to Africa. Many village bands use maracas, mbiras (and a bass mbira called a "rhumba box"), graters (cheese graters scraped with a nail), triangles, and glass bottles (struck with a stone or any hard object). Some groups also use a bamboo stick beaten with two other sticks and a machete struck with a metal beater. "Mento" is Jamaica's own original style of songs, instrumental music, and dancing.

Jamaicans invest a great deal of trust in the wisdom of folktales and proverbs. Some are handed down for many generations. The use of proverbs among Jamaican slaves was common. They would use this form of language to convey messages to each other while preventing their masters from understanding what they were saying. Some, such as "Mi come here fi drink milk, mi noh come here fi count cow" are intended as a reminder to conduct business in a straightforward manner. For examples of Jamaican proverbs, see the African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica. Traditional Jamaican music, as well, often contains elements of proverbs. In addition, traditional storytelling is used to communicate a morale or common belief.