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Mackenzie Leahy
Pr. Hayes-Bohanan
Bibliography
5 August 2014
The Mocko Jumbie: USVI Cultural Heritage for Over 200 Years
The Mocko Jumbie, also seen as Moko Jumbie, has been part of the United States Virgin
Islands culture for over 200 years. Moko is a term from Africa that referred to gods, but also
refers to healerhowever, most English speaking people interpret moko, or mocko, as mock.1
Jumbie is a Caribbean slang term for ghost or spirit. Originating from West Africa, the Moko
Jumbie was a spirit dancer who was a seeker and protector.2 The presence of the Mocko Jumbie
was important to African religious ceremonies as well as the rites of passage when a boy is
recognized as a man and a girl as a woman.3 Many tribes also believed that these seekers
could protect the village as they are usually on stilts and their height allowed them to see evil
before it arrived.4 Unfortunately, there remains little historical documentation of the spirit
dancers prior to the 19th century.5
There are two historical records from the Caribbean, however, that offer some insight into
the Mocko Jumbie culture. William Young visited the island of St. Vincent for Christmas of
1 Nicholls, Robert W. "The Mocko Jumbie of the U.S. Virgin Islands; History and Antecedents." African
Arts 32.3 (1999): 48. Web.
2 "The Mocko Jumbie: A Cultural Icon." Go To St. Croix. GoToStCroix.com, n.d. Web.
3 I.B.I.D.
4 I.B.I.D.
5 Nicholls, Robert W. "The Mocko Jumbie of the U.S. Virgin Islands; History and Antecedents." African
Arts 32.3 (1999): 48. Web.

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1791; he described a mask stilt dancer called Moco-Jumbo who roamed the streets
accompanying musicians.6 The second record is told by Charles William Day describing the
attire:
One evening in Kingston (St. Vincent) I witnessed a "Willy" or jumbee dance, got up as an
exhibition by an African Ebo [Igbo] negro...."De Jumpsa-man" was assisted by some of the Ebo soldiers
of the negro regiment stationed here....The Jumpsa-man was...on stilts six feet high, fastened to his
feet....He was dressed in a guernsey-frock and long striped trousers, made very wide, which concealed
his feet. His face was covered with a mask of scarlet cloth, ornamented with cowrie shells; and having a
huge wig and beard, with a grenadier's hairy cap on his head, he looked unearthly. The dance consisted
of various contortions of the body, sufficiently droll....[He] alternately amused and frightened the
women for twenty minutes.7

The documentation available of the early United States Virgin Islands Mocko
Jumbie has been similar to these early accounts from other islands. A line
drawing, dated 1871, depicts a Mocko Jumbie stilt-dancing masquerade with a
stilt dancer in a womans dress, holding a whip in the upraised right hand and
lifting the hem of the skirt with the left. A pale mask is worn with a tall conical hat
topped with a pennant. The performers feet are about three feet from the ground
but are covered by the ornate hem of the long dress.8 The drawing can be found
in the Danish National Museum, titled Mocha jumpy-Christmanstime. 9
6 Nicholls, Robert W. "The Mocko Jumbie of the U.S. Virgin Islands; History and Antecedents." African
Arts 32.3 (1999): 48. Web.
7 I.B.I.D.
8 I.B.I.D.
9 I.B.I.D.

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As Robert Nicholls writes in the African Arts Journal, Mangus (john Farrell) and
Marshall (Fritz Isaiah Sealey), both now deceased were well-known Mocko
Jumbies who performed in the Virgin Islands until the 1950s.10 Most of the many
performers who preceded them are no longer rememberedRufus Martin catches
the flavor of a Mocko Jumbie performance in the early twentieth century:
Ah remembah de periods of de late thirties and early forties wen Magnus performed alone and was indeed ah one
man karnivul. Yes sir, dose were de days wen masquerading had hit ah low ebb an Magnus an ah fungi ban
[scratch band] use to keep things lively on holidays. He performed in all sections of de tung, all day, dancing on
dose two high stilts, doing arl kine ah antics, showing de folks ah numbah of diffrunt colored petticoats and fancy
underwear.

The Mocko Jumbies of the earlier centuries made their costumes from whatever leftover
fabrics they could find, including potato sacks, but the later centuries have since changed
that. It is believed that the leftover and plain attire of the earlier Mocko Jumbie attire is
due in part because the African cultural practices on the islands were forbidden while they
were enslaved and thus the islanders often had to disguise their practices.11 Between the
1870s and the 1950s, the time that Mangus and Marshall were well known, Mocko
Jumbies were slightly menacing characters; the characters didnt rehearse in public, it was
unclear as to who was a Mocko Jumbie, and children were generally afraid of these
characters.12

10 I.B.I.D.
11 "Moko Jumbies in the Virgin Islands." Bolongo Bay Beach Resort RSS. Bolongo Bay, n.d. Web.
12 "Mokolution: The Evolution of the Moko Jumbie." Virgin Islands Traveller. Virgin Islands Traveller,
18 Sept. 2011. Web.

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Starting with the establishment of an annual Carnival in the 1950s on the U.S.
Virgin Islands, costumes became more elaborate and were specially designed for events.13
The common attire for the Mocko Jumbies included a womans dress or long skirt, but not
additional parody to female behavior, however since 1960, when Alli Paul begin his career
wearing long trousers, a new vision for the tradition was created.14
Alli Paul revolutionized the Mocko Jumbie, improving the stilt design along with the
previous mentioned costume design.15 Paul willingly taught others who wanted to learn
how to be a Mocko Jumbie and opened the door for women who wanted to learn the art
form.16 There are different skill levels, ages, and stilt heights for the Mocko Jumbies; they
can range from 7 to 50 years old.17 Some local establishments on the islands have gone so
far as to host their own version of Carnival for tourists that include Mocko Jumbies.18
Other locals have established the Guardians of Culture Mocko Jumbie troupe on St. Croix

13 Nicholls, Robert W. "The Mocko Jumbie of the U.S. Virgin Islands; History and
Antecedents." African Arts 32.3 (1999): 48. Web.
14 Nicholls, Robert W. "The Mocko Jumbie of the U.S. Virgin Islands; History and
Antecedents." African Arts 32.3 (1999): 48. Web.
15 "Mokolution: The Evolution of the Moko Jumbie." Virgin Islands Traveller. Virgin Islands Traveller,
18 Sept. 2011. Web.
16 I.B.I.D.
17 "Moko Jumbies in the Virgin Islands." Bolongo Bay Beach Resort RSS. Bolongo Bay, n.d. Web.
18 I.B.I.D.

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and the Mocko Jumbie Academy at the Ricardo Richards Primary School. Younger
performers have introduced more dancing, acrobatics, and stylized choreography.19
The Virgin Islands Mocko Jumbies do not necessarily represent the spirit dancer as
it once did, but rather an exhibit of the culture, heritage, and history of the Virgin Islands.20
Mocko Jumbies can be found at USVI carnivals, parades, jump-ups, and even beach
barbeques.21 Though the representation and attire has changed over the years, the Mocko
Jumbies still represent the tradition and culture that the original African slaves kept when
they were brought to the islands originally.

19 I.B.I.D.
20 "The Mocko Jumbie: A Cultural Icon." Go To St. Croix. GoToStCroix.com, n.d. Web.
21 I.B.I.D.