From their most primitive ancestors, the heart of the Jamaican culture has retained its family and spoken traditions. Like most cultures, the family unit plays a significant part in teaching and preserving the Jamaican way of life.

Music and Dance

Music and dance in the Jamaican culture give illustration to ancestral heritage. Mento, the earliest of Jamaica’s original music forms, had its rise to fame during the plantation period and dwelled there until the 1950’s. Stemming from African and British influences, Mento was practiced to focus on endeavors of life considered to be taboo. Reggae is the latest form of music to arise with Bob Marley being awarded the Order of Merit, earning his title of the Honorable Robert Nesta Marley, O.M.

The quadrille is a dance artistically expressing the joys, sorrows, and triumphs of the Jamaican family. The Dinki Mini dance is associated with death, but comforts family and friends with lively music.

Pantomimes

Pantomimes are musical-comedy theatrical productions traditionally performed at Christmas. Consisting of Jamaican folklore intertwined with English folklore, this style of drama using facial expressions started in the 1940’s. The “roots” theatre came along during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Still a favorite today, root plays are tales full of jokes on controversial matters usually held in outdoor theatres.

Christmas Traditions

The most festive season in Jamaica is Christmas. It is the largest family occasion of the year. Christmas carols are performed in a Reggae version. Santa Claus still makes a visit even though houses on the island are built without chimneys. The feast eaten on Christmas day consists of rice and gungo peas, which ripen in December and are considered a specialty, chicken, oxtail, roast beef, and roast ham.

Jonkanoo is a traditional Christmas parade with individuals dressed in intriguing masquerades. The bizarre characters include the horned Cow Head, the Horse Head, the Devil, the Belly-Women, Pitchy-Patchy, and House Head, an illustration of a house carried on the head of a performer.

Food

On the weekend before Christmas Eve, the Grand Market takes place in Jamaica. The Grand Market is a neighborhood fair fused with food, drink, music, dancing, and crafts. Jamaicans wear their most elegant clothing to celebrate throughout the day and night. Venders set up shops selling firecrackers, petite toys, balloons, and sugary sweets of all kinds. The following is a recipe for their most popular cake:

Jamaican Christmas Cake

6 ounces or 1.5 cups flour

8 ounces margarine or butter

8 ounces sugar

4 eggs

1 pound raisins

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Half teaspoon mixed spice

Half teaspoon salt

4 ounces mixed peel

4 ounces cherries

Half pound prunes (chopped)

1 cup wine/brandy

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

Finely grated rind of 1 lemon/lime

2 tablespoons browning

Cream butter, sugar, and browning until soft and fluffy. Sieve all dry ingredients together. Beat eggs and wine/brandy together. Add egg mixture to creamed mixture, add fruits. Add flour and fold in. Do not over-beat when mixing. Bake at 350 degrees for 1.5 hours. Yield: 9-inch round cake