The sky gods, the earthbound gods and the ancestral zombi, the three orders of spirit recognised in Kumina, a Kongo derived tradition maintained chiefly by the descendants of nineteenth century indentured Central African labourers in eastern Jamaica, particularly around Saint Thomas parish. Kumina ceremony centres on drumming, possession and the calling of ancestors by name in a ritual language derived from Kikongo, and it has functioned both as private devotion and, since the 1930s, as a recognised strand of Jamaican cultural performance and national heritage.
Facts
Attestation
Era of Attestation Era of AttestationThe tradition is traced to Kongo indentured labourers who arrived in Jamaica after emancipation, from the 1840s, and it is observed today 1 Veneration TodayActively venerated in a living tradition 1 Structure
Structure of the PantheonA supreme creator above a working order of intermediary powers 1 Divine HeadshipNo sovereign; the gods act as peers 1 Succession Between Divine GenerationsOne divine generation; no succession between generations is recorded 1 Sources
Primary SourceOral tradition held within Kumina bands, carried in the African country language and in the drumming, with published ethnography. 1 Organisation
Membership of the PantheonEvery place, clan and lineage adds its own 1 How Mortals Enter the PantheonAncestors and founders become objects of cult 1 Cult
Principal Cult CentreNo single centre. Kumina is held by the bands of eastern Jamaica, above all in Saint Thomas, at wakes, burials and other occasions called by a family 1 Connections
Associated With
Its own cited description places Kumina in eastern Jamaica.
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
This source names Thomas directly: "Jamaica, particularly around Saint Thomas parish."
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Sources
1. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005View the Source Kumina (Wikipedia)
In Group: Afro-Caribbean and Latin American Folk Pantheons, Introduction, sentences 1-2Quote, In Group: Afro-Caribbean and Latin American Folk Pantheons, Introduction, sentences 1-2
Kumina is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 19th century. It draws in large part on elements from Kongo religion that had been introduced to the island.
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