Guides to the Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture THE KENNETH M. BILBY JAMAICAN MAROON COLLECTION AFC 1983/008 Library of Congress American Folklife Center May 1995 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Library of Congress American Folklife Center THE KENNETH M. BILBY JAMAICAN MAROON COLLECTION AFC 1983/008 SUMMARY The Kenneth M. Bilby Jamaican Maroon Collection consists of manuscript materials, audio recordings, and video recordings that document the music and dance of Jamaican Maroons (descendants of runaway slaves), particularly the Kromanti Dance ritual complex. The audio recordings were made in 1977-1978 by Bilby as part of his fieldwork research for a master's thesis in anthropology from Wesleyan University. He recorded the video in late 1991 as part of the fieldwork preparation for the Maroon Program at the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife in 1992. The collection was loaned to the Library for duplication in 1983. The video was duplicated in 1994 for the Library's collection from tapes housed in the Smithsonian Folk Festival Archive. Access and Reproduction: Listening and viewing access to the collection is unrestricted. Duplication of the materials requires prior permission of the donor and may be governed by copyright and other restrictions. Key Subjects: Jamaican Maroon, music and dance; Kromanti Dance; Kromanti Play; processional music; grave digging songs; drumming styles; Nanny Day; Kumina; Convince Languages and Dialects: English, Jamaican Creole, Kromanti, Maroon Spirit Language Physical Description: Location Numbers: Manuscripts 1 folder 1 binder Audio Recordings 29 10" DT tapes at 7.5 ips. AFS 21,959-21,987; RWA 6073-6101 Moving Images 3 videocassettes 1/2" sound, color AFC1983/008:V1-V3 (Original copies) ---------------------------------------------------------------- SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE The Kenneth M. Bilby Jamaican Maroon Collection consists of manuscript materials, audio recordings, and video recordings. The materials span the years 1977-1979 and 1991. Bilby conducted fieldwork in Jamaica from 1977 to 1978 as part of his research for a master's thesis in anthropology from Wesleyan University. His focus was on the traditional religion and music of the Jamaican Maroons (descendants of runaway slaves) who live in Moore Town, Scott's Hall, Accompong, and Charles Town. The collection is the result of a 1983 Library audiotape duplication project, and includes a manuscript copy of Bilby's master's thesis. Duplicates of videotape made in 1991 further informs the materials. Bilby and another researcher, Diana Baird N'Diaye, recorded the Maroons in October 1991 as part of their fieldwork in Jamaica prior to the 1992 Maroon Program of the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife. The collection documents the traditional music and dance forms that the Jamaican Maroons have maintained as part of their unique cultural identity. The materials focus on the ritual complex known as Kromanti Dance or Kromanti Play, a ceremony that incorporates a variety of music and dance styles. The ritual involves the possession of participants by spirits of Maroon ancestors, most often to heal spirit-caused ailments. The audio and video recordings include examples of various "pleasure" (yanga) and "business" (nyaba) styles of dance and music, such as Jawbone, Sa Leone, Mandinga, Tambu, Prapa, and Ibo. Also included are audio recordings of drumming demonstrations, processional music, grave digging songs, and related music of the Kumina and Convince religions practiced by non-Maroons in neighboring areas. The video provides visual documentation of the annual Nanny Day celebrations during which various styles of music and dance belonging to Kromanti Dance are displayed. Also included on the video are scenes of dance performance at the Symposium on Maroon Heritage held in Kingston, Jamaica; demonstrations of the uses of natural materials found at Nanny Falls; and demonstrations of Maroon music, dance, and crafts at Accompong, Jamaica. Manuscript materials include an audiotape inventory created by Bilby, duplication concordance, background notes on the videotape and on an interview with Bilby at the American Folklife Center, a copy of his master's thesis based on fieldwork research, and Bilby's liner notes from published recordings that draw from these materials. ---------------------------------------------------------------- GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF SERIES SERIES I: MANUSCRIPTS Location Contents Folder 1 Archive of Folk Culture administrative materials. The collection guide [this document], original audiotape inventory, duplication concordance, notes on Bilby interview and videotape content, and copies of liner notes from published recordings taken from this collection. Folder 2 Kenneth Bilby's master's thesis. _Partisan Spirits: Ritual Interaction and Maroon Identity in Eastern Jamaica_. Anthropology Department, Wesleyan University, 1979. SERIES II: SOUND RECORDINGS Location Contents AFS 21,959- 21,987 29 10" DT tapes at 7.5 ips. Duplicates of original field recordings on 40 5" audiotapes of various formats. Recorded by Kenneth Bilby in Moore Town, Scott's Hall, Accompong, and Charles Town, Jamaica, 1977-1978. Documents song and drumming genres that are part of the Kromanti Dance ritual complex. Includes music of the Kumina and Convince cults, drumming demonstrations, processional music, and grave digging songs. SERIES III: MOVING IMAGES Location Contents AFC1983/008:V1 1 1/2" VHS, sound, color, approximately 90 minutes. Filmed by Diana Baird N'Diaye and Kenneth Bilby. Documents music and dance performance at the Symposium on Maroon Heritage, Kingston, Jamaica, and music and dance at the Nanny Day celebration in Moore Town, Jamaica. October 1991. Duplicate of hi-8 video from the Smithsonian Folk Festival Archive, FP-1992-SUPER8-0090. AFC1983/008:V2 1 1/2" VHS, sound, color, approximately 2 hours. Filmed by Kenneth Bilby. Continuation of AFC 1983/008:V1 documenting music and dance at the Nanny Day celebration in Moore Town, Jamaica. Also documents demonstration by Major Charles Aarons of the many uses Maroons derived for natural materials found at Nanny Falls. October 1991. Duplicate of hi-8 video from the Smithsonian Folk Festival Archive, FP-1992-SUPER8-0091. AFC1983/008:V3 1 1/2" VHS, sound, color, approximately 90 minutes. Filmed by Kenneth Bilby. Documents demonstrations of music, dance, storytelling, drum-making, and crafts at Accompong, Jamaica. October 1991. Duplicate of hi-8 video from the Smithsonian Folk Festival Archive, FP-1992-SUPER8-0092. ---------------------------------------------------------------- RELATED PUBLICATIONS Bilby, Kenneth M. _Drums of Defiance: Maroon Music from the Earliest Free Black Communities of Jamaica_. Compact disc and accompanying booklet. Washington DC: Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings (SF 40412), 1992. _____. "The Kromanti Dance of the Windward Maroons of Jamaica." _Nieuwe West-Indische Gids_ 55 nos. 1,2: 52-101. _____. _Music of the Maroons of Jamaica_. LP record and accompanying booklet. New York: Folkways Records (FE 4027), 1981. _____. "Jamaica's Maroons at the Crossroads." _Caribbean Review_ 9 no. 4: 18-21, 49.