Mocko & Jumbie!
Mockojumbie; Mock O Jumbie; Moko Jumbie
(mocko rhymes w/taco: jumbie rhymes w/boom-bee)
Mocko
Jumbies are the stilt walkers which originatated in Ghana, West Africa. The
word Mocko Jumbie means Good God, or Good Spirit. The art came about, according
to one myth, when some of the native tribe had to build their huts on stilts
high above the ground due to bad flooding during certain times of the year.
In order to get to their huts, they developed the art of stilt walking.
Another myth says that the art was developed by a tribe
who felt that because they buried their ancestors underground that if they walked
on the ground they would be walking on their ancestors, but the most commonly
known myth states that the art of stilt walking was practiced by the African
tribe's witch doctor who towered himself over the village in order to see and
ward off evil sprits.
It is not certain when the art was originated
or by which specific tribe. Unknown to most of the Caribbean, the art surfaced
in the Caribbean in the early 1930's and was introduced by a gentleman known
as Willie Peepup. It then surfaced in the Virgin Islands around 1952, when the
Island of St. Thomas, one of three islands that makes up the United States Virgin
Islands (The American Paridise) had it's first carnival. It was introduced to
the island by Mr. John Magnus Farrell and Mr. Alfred Richardson, who brought
along with them the attire of the African stilt walkers in Africa, that of a
female dress like costume and the Kan-Kan. In 1963, a young man by the name
of Ali J. Paul exploited the art of stilt walking and it evolved into what is
known today.
( ibid.)