Kenneth M. Bilby Jamaican Maroon collection
By: collected by Kenneth M. Bilby
Contributors: Smithsonian Folklife Festival
Published: 1977
Language: cpe
Number of pages: 29
Subjects: Social life and customs; Ethnic identity; Kumina (Cult); Dance; Ethnomusicological collections; Field recordings; Rites and ceremonies; Creole Folk songs; Religious life and customs; Religion; Music; Maroons
Description: An ethnographic field collection of sound recordings, moving images, and accompanying materials that document the music and dance of Jamaican Maroons, particularly the Kromanti Dance ritual complex. The sound 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. Videorecordings made in 1991 as fieldwork documentation for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival provide visual documentation of a staged dance performance and annual Nanny Day celebration.
Notes: Sound recordings were made in 1977 and 1978 by Kenneth M. Bilby as part of his fieldwork research for a master's thesis in anthropology from Wesleyan University. He recorded the video with Diana Baird N'Diaye in late 1991 as part of the fieldwork documentation for the Maroon Program at the 1992 Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife.

Collection includes a copy of Kenneth M. Bilby's master's thesis, "Partisan Spirits: Ritual Interaction and Maroon Identity in Eastern Jamaica," Wesleyan University, 1979.

Access restrictions apply.  Please contact the Folklife Reading Room for more information:  202-707-5510; folklife@loc.gov

Original sound masters on 40 sound tape reels : analog ; 5 in.

Original video masters on 3 videocassettes (Hi-8) : digital.

Duplication of collection materials is governed by copyright and other restrictions and requires permission of the collector, whose address is available in the Folklife Reading Room, Library of Congress.

Kenneth M. Bilby; Loan for duplication; 1983.

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution; Loan for duplication; 1994.

in English.

in Jamaican Creole, Kromanti, and Maroon Spirit Language.

Finding aid is available in the Folklife Reading Room and online via the American Folklife Center web pages.