Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T09:19:29.666Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cuban Abakuá Chants: Examining New Linguistic and Historical Evidence for the African Diaspora

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Ivor Miller
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

The Cuban Abakuá society—derived from the Èfik Ékpè and Ejagham Úgbè societies of southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon—was founded in Havana in the 1830s by captured leaders of Cross River villages. This paper examines the process by which West African Ékpè members were able to understand contemporary Cuban Abakuá chants, and indicates how these texts may be used as historical documents. This methodology involves first recording and interpreting Abakuá chants with Cuban elders, and then interpreting these same chants with the aid of West African Èfik speakers. The correlation of data in these chants with those in documents created by Europeans and Africans from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries indicates a vocabulary that includes many geographic and ethnic names and an occasional historical figure. These examples may lead to a reevaluation of the extent to which African identity and culture were transmitted during the transAtlantic diaspora. Abakuá intellectuals have used commercial recordings to extol their history and ritual lineages. Evidence indicates that Cuban Abakuá identity is based on detailed knowledge of ritual lineages stemming from specific locations in their homelands, and not upon a vague notion of an African “national” or “ethnic” identity. The persistence of the Abakuá society contradicts the official construction of a Cuban national identity.

Résumé:

Résumé:

La communauté cubaine Abakuá—descendante des communautés Èfik Ekpè et Ejagham Úgbè du Sud Est du Nigéria et du Sud Ouest du Cameroun—a été fondée à la Havane dans les années 1830 par des leaders capturés des villages de Cross River. Cet essai examine le processus par lequel les membres de la communauté Ékpè d'Afrique de l'Ouest ont été capables de comprendre les chants de la communauté Abakuá moderne de Cuba, et montre comment ces textes pourraient être utilisés comme documents historiques. La méthodologie utilisée a consisté en un premier temps à enregistrer et interpréter les chants Abakuá avec les anciens de la communauté cubaine, puis à interpréter les mêmes chants avec les membres de la communauté Éfik d'Afrique de l'Ouest. La corrélation entre les éléments de ces chants et ceux des documents produits par les Européens et les Africains entre le dix-huitième et le vingtième siècle aboutit à un glossaire comprenant beaucoup de noms géographiques et ethniques, et occasionnellement, des personnalités historiques. Ces exemples pourraient mener à une réévaluation de l'étendue de la transmission de l'identité et de la culture africaines lors de la diaspora trans-Atlantique. Les intellectuels de la communauté Abakuá ont jusqu'à présent utilisé des enregistrements commerciaux pour mettre en valeur leur histoire et les origines de leurs rituels. Il est possible de démontrer que l'identité Abakuá cubaine est basée sur une connaissance détaillée de l'origine des rituels provenant de locations spécifiques dans leurs pays d'origine, et non sur la notion vague d'une identité “ethnique” ou “nationale” africaine. La persistance de la communauté Abakuá constitue une résistance à la construction officielle d'une identité nationale cubaine.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , April 2005 , pp. 23 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abímbólá, ΄Wán̄dé. 1976. Ifá: An Exposition of Ifa Literary Corpus. Ibadan, Nigeria: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Andah, B. W. 1990. “Pre-History of the Upper Cross River People.” In History and Culture of the Upper Cross River, edited by S. O. Jaja, et al., 27–37. Enugu: Harris Publishers.Google Scholar
Austen, Ralph A., and Derrick, Jonathon. 1999. Middlemen of the Cameroons Rivers: The Duala and their Hinterland, c. 1600–1960. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aye, Efiong U. 1991. A Learner's Dictionary of the Efúk Language. Vol. 1 (Efúk-English). Ibadan, Nigeria: Evans Brothers.Google Scholar
Bassey, B. E. 2001. Ekpe Efik: A Theosophical Perspective. Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Publishing.Google Scholar
Cabrera, Lydia. 1958. La Sociedad Secreta Abakuá: narrada por viejos adeptos. Havana: Ediciones C. R.Google Scholar
Cabrera, Lydia. 1988. La Lengua Sagrada de los Ñañigos. Miami: Colección del Chicherekú en el exilio.Google Scholar
Cabrera, Lydia. 2000 [1969]. “Ritual y símbolos de la iniciación en la Sociedad Secreta Abakuá.” Catauro: revsita cubana de antropología 1 (1): 130–64.Google Scholar
Carpentier, Alejo. 1989 [1946]. La música en Cuba. 2nd edition. Havana: Editorial Pueblo y educación.Google Scholar
Clarkson, Thomas. 1968 [1808]. The History of the Rise, Progress, and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade by the British Parliament. Vol. 1. London: Frank Cass.Google Scholar
Connell, Bruce. 2001. “The Role of Language Contact in the Development of Usaghade.” In Nurse, D., ed. Historical Language Contact in Africa. SUGIA (Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika), vol. 16/17: 51–81. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.Google Scholar
Connell, Bruce. 2004. “Efik in Abakuá: Linguistic Evidence for the Formation of a Diaspora Identity.” Contours: Journal of the African Diaspora (11).Google Scholar
Crabb, David W. 1965. Ekoid Bantu Languages of Ogoja, Eastern Nigeria. Part 1: Introduction, Phonology and Comparative Vocabulary. West African Language Monographs 4. West African Languages Survey, Institute of African Studies, Ibadan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Deschamps Chappeaux, Pedro. 1967. “El Lenguaje Abakuá.” Etnología y folklore 4: 39–47. Havana: Academia de Ciencias de Cuba.Google Scholar
Eltis, David, et al., eds. 2000. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: A Database on CD-ROM. New York.Google Scholar
Essien, Okon E. [ca. 1982]. “Efik Orthography.” Orthographies of Nigerian Languages. Manual 1, edited by Bamgbo, A., 5–30. Lagos: National Language Centre, Federal Ministry of Education.Google Scholar
Essien, Okon E. 1985. “Ibibio Orthography.” Orthographies of Nigerian Languages. Manual 3, edited by Banjo, A., 62–82. Lagos: National Language Centre, Federal Ministry of Education.Google Scholar
Essien, Okon E. 1986. Ibibio Names: Their Structure and their Meanings. Ibadan: Daystar Press.Google Scholar
Essien, Okon E. 1990. A Grammar of the Ibibio Language. Ibadan: University Press Limited.Google Scholar
Eyo, Ekpo Okpo. 1986. The Story of the Old Calabar: A Guide to the National Museum at The Old Residency, Calabar. Lagos: National Commission for Museums and Monuments.Google Scholar
Forde, Daryll, ed. 1956. Efik Traders of Old Calabar. London: International African Institute.Google Scholar
Franco, José Luciano. 1974. “La conspiración de Aponte, 1812.” In Ensayos historicos, edited by Franco, J. L., 125–90. Havana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales.Google Scholar
Goldie, Rev. Hugh. 1964 [1862]. A Dictionary of the Efúk Language. Part 1: Efúk and English. Part 2: English and Efúk. Westmead, England: Gregg Press.Google Scholar
Goldie, Rev. Hugh, and Dean, Rev. J. T.. 1901 [1890]. Calabar and Its Mission. Edinburgh: Oliphant.Google Scholar
Green, Margaret M. 1958. “Sayings of the Ọkọnkọ Society of the Igbo-Speaking People.” Bulletin of School of Oriental and African Studies 21: 157–73.Google Scholar
Grupo AfroCuba: Raíces Africanas/ African Roots. 1998. “Abakuá.” Traditional arrangement by Francisco “Miníni” Zamora. Recorded February 1996, EGREM studios, Havana. Shanachie 66009.Google Scholar
James, Winston. 1998. Holding Aloft the Banner of Ethiopia: Caribbean Radicalism in Early Twentieth-Century America. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Jones, G. I. 1956. “The Political Organization of Old Calabar.” In Efik Traders of Old Calabar, edited by Forde, Daryll, 116–57. London: International African Institute.Google Scholar
Jones, G. I.. 1963. The Trading States of the Oil Rivers: a Study of Political Development in Eastern Nigeria. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ibiono. 2001. Caribe Productions. Recorded in Havana, 2001. Produced by Dagoberto A. González, Jr. CD 9607.Google Scholar
Kubik, Gerhard. 1979. “Angolan Traits in Black Music, Games and Dances of Brazil: A Study of African Cultural Extensions Overseas.” Estudos de Antropologia Cultural 10. Lisboa: Junta de investigaç˜es científicas do ultramar.Google Scholar
Latham, A. J. H. 1973. Old Calabar 1600–1891: The Impact of the International Economy upon a Traditional Society. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Lovejoy, Paul E., and Richardson, David. 1999. “Trust, Pawnship, and Atlantic History: The Institutional Foundations of the Old Calabar Slave Trade.” The American Historical Review 104 (2): 333–55.Google Scholar
Marrero, Levi. 1980. Cuba: economía y sociedad: del monopolio hacía la libertad commercial (1701–1763). Vol. 8. Madrid: Editorial Playor.Google Scholar
Fitzgerald Marriott, H. P. 1899. “The Secret Societies of West Africa.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 29: 21–27.Google Scholar
Meza, Ramón. 1891. “El día de Reyes.” La Habana Elegante. Havana 5 (2).Google Scholar
Miller, Ivor. 2000. “A Secret Society Goes Public: The Relationship between Abakuá and Cuban Popular Culture.” African Studies Review 43 (1): 161–88.Google Scholar
Los Muñequitos de Matanzas: congo y yambumba. 1994. “Abakuá #3.” Recorded in 1983. New York: Qbadisc.Google Scholar
Los Mu˜equitos de Matanazas: vacunao. 1995. “Abakua Makonica,” d.r. (tradicional). Qbadisc, Inc.Google Scholar
Musica afrocubana. 1993. “Encame.” Viejos cantos afrocubanos: antología de la música afrocubana. Vol. 1. Performed by Victor Herrera, guía, y su grupo. Recorded in 1962 by Algiers León. La Habana: EGREM. C 3325.Google Scholar
Nicklin, Keith. 1991. “Un emblème Ejagham de la société Ekpe/An Ejagham Emblem of the Ekpe Society.” Art Tribal ((Bulletin annuel publié par l'Association des Amis du Musée Barbier-Muller): 3–18.Google Scholar
Northrup, David. 1978. Trade without Rulers: Pre-Colonial Economic Development in South-Eastern Nigeria. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Northrup, David. 2000. “Igbo and Myth Igbo: Culture and Ethnicity in the Atlantic World, 1600–1850.” Slavery and Abolition 21 (3): 1–20.Google Scholar
Ortiz, Fernando. 1952. Los instruments de la música afrocubana. Vol. 2. Havana: Ministerio de Educatión.Google Scholar
Ortiz, Fernando. 1954. Los instruments de la música afrocubana. Vol. 4. Havana: Cárdenas y Cía.Google Scholar
Ortiz, Fernando. 1955. Los instrumentos de la música afrocubana. Vol. 5. Havana: Cárdenas y Cía.Google Scholar
Ortiz, Fernando. 1960. La antigua fiesta afrocubana del ‘Día de Reyes.’ La Habana: Ministerio de Cultura.Google Scholar
Ortiz, Fernando. 1981 [1951]. Los bailes y el teatro de los negros en el folklore de Cuba. La Habana: Letras Cubanas.Google Scholar
Paley, Ruth. 2002. “After Somerset: Mansfield, Slavery and the Law in England, 1772–1830.” In Law, Crime and English Society, 1660–1830, edited by Norma Landau, 165–84. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Price, Richard. 2001. “The Miracle of Creolization.” New West Indian Guide 75 (1–2): 35–64.Google Scholar
Price, Richard, & Price, Sally. 1991. Two Evenings in Saramaka. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Troche y Monteagudo, Rafael. 1925 [1908]. La policía y sus misterios en Cuba. 3rd ed. Havana: La Moderna Poesía.Google Scholar
Ruel, Malcolm. 1969. Leopards and Leaders: Constitutional Politics among a Cross River People. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Simmons, D. 1956. “An Ethnographic Sketch of the Efik People”; “Notes on the Diary [of Antera Duke].” In Efik Traders of Old Calabar, edited by Forde, Daryll, 1–26; 66–78. London: International African Institute.Google Scholar
Sosa Rodríguez, Enrique. 1982. Los ˜a˜igos. Havana: Ediciones Casa de las Américas.Google Scholar
Sparks, Randy J. 2002. “Two Princes of Calabar: An Atlantic Odyssey from Slavery to Freedom.” William and Mary Quarterly 69 (3): 555–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Talbot, P. Amaury. 1912. In the Shadow of the Bush. London: William Heinemann.Google Scholar
Talbot, P. Amaury. 1923. Life in Southern Nigeria: The Magic, Beliefs, and Customs of the Ibibio Tribe. London: MacMillan & Co.Google Scholar
Talbot, P. Amaury. 1969 [1926]. The Peoples of Southern Nigeria: A Sketch of Their History, Ethnology, and Languages, with an Abstract of the 1921 Census. Vol. 2. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Thompson, Robert Farris. 1983. Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy. New York: Vintage.Google Scholar
Thompson, Robert Farris. 1991. “New York: The Secret African City.” New York: Caribbean Cultural Center.Google Scholar
Thompson, Robert Farris. 1993. Face of the Gods: Art and Altars of Africa and the African Americas. New York: Museum for African Art.Google Scholar
Vélez, María Teresa. 2000. Drumming for the Gods: The Life and Times of Felipe García Villamil, Santero, Palero, and Abakuá. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Waddell, Rev. Hope Masterton. 1863. Twenty-Nine Years in the West Indies and Central Africa: A Review of Missionary Work and Adventure, 1829–1858. London: T. Nelson and Sons.Google Scholar
Williams, Gomer. 1897. History of the Liverpool Privateers and Letters of Marque with an Account of the Liverpool Slave Trade. London: William Heinemann.Google Scholar
Yoruba Andabo:Del Yoruba al Son. 1997. “Enyenisón Enkama 2” (D.R.). Arrangement and lead voice, Ogduardo “Román” Díaz Anaya. Magic Music/ Universal. CD FMD 75141, La isla de la música, vol. 6.Google Scholar
Yoruba Andabo: el callejón de los rumberos. 1993. “Enyenisón Enkama Africa habla” (Abakuá). Arrangement and lead voice, Ogduardo “Román” Díaz Anaya. La Habana: CDPm Records 2039. Recorded in EGREM Studios, 1993.Google Scholar