Times of the Islands Fall 2022

astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum
FRANK QUAYSON
Co-author of this article, Christopher Davis was officially coronated
and enstooled as Jan Kwaw II and a member of the Ahanta Traditional
council.
service in Princess Town, the Ahanta traditional council
and the Chief of Princess town gave titles to the Sankofa
Flamingo team. The titles and honours are:
• Christopher Davis — Nana Asafohene Jan Kwaw II (John
Canoe II);
• Angelique McKay — Asafokyerba (warrior Queen of
Junkanoo);
• Tamara Scavella-Davis — Nkosuohema (development
and progress); and
• Dr. Michael Pateman, Robin Lightbourne, and Oswald
White — Okufo (warriors of Junkanoo)
Further, the King of the Ahanta, who is currently the
longest reigning African monarch, Otumfo Baidoo Bonsoe
XV, Ahantahene, officially coronated and enstooled
Christopher Davis as Jan Kwaw II and a member of the
Ahanta Traditional council.
This research is due to be published in a book, The
Black Rinse: Spirit of Junkanoo by Christopher Davis. It
changes the historical narrative of Junkanoo and the transatlantic
slave trade in The Bahamas and the wider African
Diaspora. It not only challenges the conservative narrative
of Bahamian historiography but confronts the global
rhetoric of Africans’ so-called “role” in the Transatlantic
slave trade. Africans are the only ones blamed for their
own genocide from the halls and theatres of academia,
entering the global consciousness where blame is placed
on an entire diverse group of people. A documentary
“Pilgrimage to Pokesu” based on the research and journey
for the team to becoming Ahanta is being produced by
Dr. Michael Pateman. To learn more about the research
on Junkanoo, Jan Kwaw, and the Ahanta, follow Sankofa
Flamingo on Facebook. a
Christopher Davis (Nana Jan Kwaw II) is a historian and
researcher at the Antiquities, Monuments, and Museum
Corporation (Bahamas) and founder of the Sankofa
Flamingo Foundation; Alex Kwofie is an oral historian
and tour guide from Pokesu (Princess Town), Ghana;
Angelique McKay, also known as the Junkanoo Goddess, is
the founder of the Junkanoo Commandos, a group who is
dedicated to bringing the celebration of Junkanoo to the
world by way of presentations, workshops, and performances;
and Dr. Michael P. Pateman is a former director
of the Turks & Caicos National Museum and currently
curator/lab director of the Bahamas Maritime Museum
on Grand Bahama.
70 www.timespub.tc