Ettu
is a small ethnic African group, found in the communities
of Pell River, Cauldwell and Kendall in the Parish of Hanover.
The Ettu people claim ‘Yoruba’ (Nigerian) ancestry.
Their fore-parents were brought to Jamaica as slaves in the
sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. Today while much of the
religious practices have been lost over the years, one of
the customs of the Ettu people are ritual play performed on
the occasions of weddings, dinner feasts, ‘nine night’
and ‘forty night’. The Ettu people regard themselves
as very special; outsiders may observe but are not allowed
to participate in their rituals.
Ettu
plays are rooted in African traditions. Food is an important
part of the ceremonies, with some variation between the memorial
for the dead and the dinner plates to seek help from the ancestors
or to celebrate a wedding. Okra
stew, coloured with annatto seeds, fufu (pounded yam) and
boiled cassava often accompany these ceremonies. After the
killing of an animal (usually goat) some of the blood is preserved
and Ettu participants are initiated by a mark in the form
of a cross on their forehead. Grated kola-nut, (obi or bizzy)
is placed on their tongue and white rum is passed around for
participants to drink, as part of a purification ritual. Some
of the rum is also poured on the ground, for the ancestors,
this is known as “Pouring libation for the spirits”.
Their drumming style, dance and songs also show significant
African retention.
Ettu plays are usually held in the nights, and all the representives
of a family have his or her own dance steps and usually dances
to a particular song and rhythmic pattern.
If a person dies no one else can do his or her dance. One
dancer usually dances at a time and conversation is set up
between the lead drummer and the dancer. During the dance,
if something intricate is executed, the Queen (senior member
of the group) will get up and place a shawl around the neck
of the dancer, who is then ceremoniously ‘dipped back’
from the waist for strength. Then, the shawler would raise
the dancer’s arm in salutation and congratulation.
If
its a man, the shawl would be tied around is waist. During
the dancing it is evident that one could see the similarities
of the African derived dance posture (knees, body slightly
forward to erect, and flat-footed contact with the ground)
rapidly response to the last beat of the drum.
During
the dancing, singing is usually led by the lead singer in
the Yoruba language. Song are usually short repetitive phrases.
Their musical instrument is an adaptation from Africa, which
consist of a 6-gallon kerosene tin, which used as a drum.
The lead drum is called the “ere”, a double headed
goatskin drum. It
is shaped like the rattling drum, but the head extends a little
beyond the rim. For the ‘forty night’ play, the
people would use rice, rum, coffee, bread, sugar and bizzy
(obi), and for the dinner feast cornmeal, rice, yam (fu fu)
and cassava, which is grated and put to dry and turned. It
is called ‘oka’.
The
Ettu group would show a sign of friendship to their guest
by allowing them to pinch off a part of the pounded yam that
is smooth mass, and to use only their finger to dip into a
dish of stew and swallow it without chewing. After all the
drumming and dancing the play would end with a closing salutation
by bowing.
For
further information please contact:
African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica/
Jamaica Memory Bank
12 Ocean Boulevard, Kingston
Tel: 922-4793/7415
Fax: 924-9361
Email: acij@anngel.com
Okra
stew, coloured with annatto seeds, fufu (pounded yam) and
boiled cassava often accompany these ceremonies. After the
killing of an animal (usually goat) some of the blood is preserved
and Ettu participants are initiated by a mark in the form
of a cross on their forehead. Grated kola-nut, (obi or bizzy)
is placed on their tongue and white rum is passed around for
participants to drink, as part of a purification ritual. Some
of the rum is also poured on the ground, for the ancestors,
this is known as “Pouring libation for the spirits”.
If a person dies no one else can do his or her dance. One
dancer usually dances at a time and conversation is set up
between the lead drummer and the dancer. During the dance,
if something intricate is executed, the Queen (senior member
of the group) will get up and place a shawl around the neck
of the dancer, who is then ceremoniously ‘dipped back’
from the waist for strength. Then, the shawler would raise
the dancer’s arm in salutation and congratulation.
If
its a man, the shawl would be tied around is waist. During
the dancing it is evident that one could see the similarities
of the African derived dance posture (knees, body slightly
forward to erect, and flat-footed contact with the ground)
rapidly response to the last beat of the drum.
It
is shaped like the rattling drum, but the head extends a little
beyond the rim. For the ‘forty night’ play, the
people would use rice, rum, coffee, bread, sugar and bizzy
(obi), and for the dinner feast cornmeal, rice, yam (fu fu)
and cassava, which is grated and put to dry and turned. It
is called ‘oka’.