Latin American & Caribbean Studies
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The Big Drum Ritual of Carriacou

Name: The Big Drum Ritual of Carriacou
Author: Lorna McDaniel
ISBN: 9780813081441

Praisesongs in Rememory of Flight

by Lorna McDaniel

Published by: University Press of Florida

A study of the Big Drum dance rite on the island of Carriacou, Grenada, this book introduces 120 ceremonial song texts and dances that reflect African-Caribbean religion as practiced by enslaved people in the early 1700s as well as the Carriacou religious experience today.

216 Pages6.00 × 9.0019 b/w illus., 29 musical scores with verses, 6 tables, appendix, glossary, discography, notes, bibl

Paperback
9780813081441
Published: May 5, 2026

$26.95

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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.

Lorna McDaniel is the founding editor of the journal New Directions: Readings in African Diaspora Music. She has taught at the University of Michigan, the University of Nigeria, and Cheyney University.

"This intensely interdisciplinary study is rich in research, subtle in analysis and humane in intent, a model of diasporic scholarship. A brilliant achievement."—Sterling Stuckey, author of Slave Culture: Nationalist Theory and the Foundations of Black America
"The definitive work on the Nation Dance. . . . It will be the critical book that every scholar and every other person interested in the Caribbean, its culture and its religious expressions, will have to read."—Donald Hill, author of Calypso Calaloo

“McDaniel provides extensive and excellent transcriptions of song texts, melodies, and rhythms. Overall, she contributes significantly to understanding the potential of music and dance to effect personal transformation, to knowledge about the Big Drum ritual of Carriacou, and to scholarship on diasporic performance, practice, and experience.”—American Ethnologist
“A welcome contribution to the study of traditional music and dance in the Caribbean. . . . Highly recommended for all those interested in the African diaspora and Caribbean studies.”—Ethnomusicology
“McDaniel’s fine work should be read as much for its explication of the Big Drum dance as for the light it sheds on the origins of the Afro-Caribbean ritual and its deep symbolism. . . . A must-read for anyone interested in Caribbean ritual music, its origins, its current status, and by extension, Caribbean culture generally.”—Yearbook for Traditional Music
“Rarely are we given such depth of insight and wealth of comparative research as are presented in [McDaniel’s] ethnomusicology of Carriacou—truly a satisfying, informative, and provocative read.”—Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies

List of Figures and Tables

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. The Runagate Nation

2. Sleepers Awake!

3. Lavé Tete

4. Beg Pardon

Appendix 1. Big Drum Song List

Appendix 2. Glossary

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Books

Authors

Journals

On The Site

Books

Authors

Journals

On The Site

The Big Drum Ritual of Carriacou

Praisesongs in Rememory of Flight

The Big Drum Ritual of Carriacou

Praisesongs in Rememory of Flight

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