To Watch the Full Video click on the image above 👆🏿
Most of the slaves from this route were taken to the northwestern side of Jamaica to work in plantations; to date, many Jamaicans of Ibo descent can be found there.
The "Red Ibo" or "Red Eboe" were used to refer to the Igbo slaves in Jamaica because of their light skin.
It's little wonder there are lots of similarities between Igbo and Jamaican culture, dance, mannerisms, folklore, cuisine, religion, language and even music.
Let's start with the similarities between the Igbo language and the Jamaican Patois language.
The Jamaican patois language has some exact words and borrowed words from the Ibo languages, they include the following;
Mba ji which means Yam known as 'Himba' in Jamaican patois.
Iro Anya, known as Cutting eye in Jamaican patois
Potopoto means mud also known as potopoto in Jamaican patois.
Igbo as Eboe in Jamaican patois
Anya ukwu which means greed is known as big eye in Jamaican patois.
Atu which means chewing stick is known as 'atoo' in Jamaican patois
Akara which means bean cake is known as Akara in Jamaican patois
Soso: the word means “only” both in Igbo and patois.
Anya ukwu: the word that means greed is known as big eye in Jamaican patois.
Domot: Domot is a loss and also a direct translation of the Igbo phrase Onu Uzo which means Door Mouth (Domot)
Unu: unu means you or you people both in Ibo and patois
Chinch: chinch means Bedbug, which is called chinchi in the Ibo language.
Okra: Okra is a vegetable. The original word is “Okwuru” in Ibo.
Obeah: Means mysticism which comes from the Ibo word Abia/Obia
There are also similarities in culture; they are;
Pouring libation and the use of Igbo drums.
Instead of using palm wine, Jamaicans are known to use rum for libation.
Jonkonnnu festival, this festival is practised in other west indian nations and it is attributed to the popular Igbo deity called Njoku ji.
Similarities in proverbs.
Here is a list of Jamaican proverbs similar to Igbo proverbs
In Igbo,
"He who will swallow udala seeds must consider the size of his anus"
In Jamaican it goes like this:
"Cow must know 'ow 'im bottom stay before 'im swallow abbe [Twi 'palm nut'] seed";
In Igbo:
"Where are the young suckers that will grow when the old banana tree dies?"
In Jamaican
"When plantain wan' dead, it shoot [sends out new suckers].
In the Igbo language:
"A man who makes trouble for others is also making one for himself."
Jamaican patois:
"When you dig a hole/ditch for one, dig two."
In Igbo:
"The fly who has no one to advise it follows the corpse into the ground."
In Jamaican patois:
"Sweet-mout' fly follow coffin go a hole"
In the Igbo language:
"The sleep that lasts for one market day to another has become death."
In Jamaican patois:
"Take sleep mark death [Sleep is foreshadowing of death]."
The Story of the Black River Igbo Slave Rebellion.
During the transatlantic slave trade, slaves were said to organise themselves by ethnicity, the Igbo Jamaica slaves were no different, they were known to be the fiercest, most resilient and most outspoken of all the slaves,
In the year 1815 over 250 Igbo slaves in Saint Elizabeth’s Parish, Black River, Jamaica conspired to kill every white man in the land.
The conspirators elected three fellow Ibo slaves whom they gave the title “King of the Eboes” they made the other two “Captains"
If not for their decision to take immediate action rather than wait until Christmas as suggested by their King, they may have been successful.
The plot was discovered by an overseer who not only noticed unusual activities by the Igbo slaves but also overheard them discussing the details of their plot.
The king of the Igbo ( Eboes ) and one of the captains were eventually captured, but throughout their trial, they seemed unconcerned and did not deny or acknowledge any of the facts with which they were charged.
One of the captains was said to have escaped by burning the prison gate before he was recaptured again.
That's all for now, hope you enjoyed watching this video.
For more stories in History, hit the subscribe button 😊
See you later!
Credit
Mbbaglobal
Wikipedia
Guardian Ng
IgbereTV