The Big Drum Ritual of Carriacou

A study of a dance rite on the island of Carriacou, Grenada, that reflects African-Caribbean religion dating back to the early 1700s

The Big Drum is the lively ancient dance rite of the small island of Carriacou, Grenada. This book introduces 120 of the ceremonial song texts and dances that call and entertain the ancestors who are central to Carriacou religious experience.

Performed since the early 1700s, the Big Drum dance reveals an African-Caribbean religion at its inception as practiced by enslaved people and in its current expression as a vital, living aspect of Carriacou society. No other Caribbean ritual like it still exists.

Lorna McDaniel maintains that the nine coded rhythms of the boula drums hold the history of the nine African "nations" that inhabited early Carriacou, keeping alive their memories of Africa and of family lineage. In discussion of the spiritual bases of the Yoruba dances of Grenada, Trinidad, Cuba, and Jamaica, McDaniel illustrates the connection between the liturgical symbols of danced religions and the ancient myth of "The Flying Africans."

McDaniel, who lived in Carriacou at the time of the 1983 invasion of Grenada, frequently observed Big Drum dances and interviewed many "old heads" (wise people) for this book. She concludes it with an analysis of a single calypso that memorializes the invasion and illustrates the history-keeping function of the calypso and Big Drum. She uncovers a structural relationship between ancient praisesongs and modern political songs and suggests the continuing impact of music on the memory of Caribbean people.