Latin-American Studies

Religion has evolved a lot in Jamaica since the colonial era. The British colonialists considered the slave population inferior to understand or even be introduced to Christianity. This way, the Church of England displayed its hypocrisy and this prompted the establishment of a neo-African religion enhanced by the influx of African slaves who introduced various religious beliefs and practices in Jamaica (Morris, 2006). These religions later became structured around the indigenous Myal and Obeah priests and leading to the establishment of the Kumina cult. With time, Christianity got established in Jamaica through the non-conformist denominations such as the Moravians, Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterian. At this particular time, there evolved a folk religion which was blend of these African religions. As a dominant ethnic group in Jamaica, the Ashanti impacted greatly on the Kumina cult. With respect to symbolism, these traditional religions had a number of ceremonies including marriages, deaths and births all of which were characterized by vigorous drumming, dancing, sacrifices, ancestral spirit possession and alcohol use. For instance, drums were regarded as Gods voice and a worship medium.

Between the emancipation and the Great Revival periods, there grew an infectious Christian enthusiasm in Jamaica. The Great Revival hence provided for the dynamism of the African religion (Nelson). Missionary expeditions to Jamaica commenced in 1754 and had the objective of eliminating the neo-African religions. However, the Great Revival led to the formation of three new cults Revival Zion Revivalism and Pukumina which provided an opportunity for the African religion to impose a Christian guise (Morris, 2006). This made the traditional religions more popular leading to their eventual fusion with Christianity. The Rastafarian religion based on the Old Testament, the Kebra Negast and Garveys philosophies developed much later. Religion had already been established before independence and played a great role in the same.