I live in England and my Mother is from a small island in the Caribbean called Carriacou. Carriacou is known for holding onto many African traditions but of course after thousands of years these have probably changed from the African traditions brought by their ancestors.

It is known that the people on the island of Carriacou originate from the Ibo, Akan and Temme tribes. We have a tradition that has been past down from our ancestors brought to the island from the slave trade, known as the big drum dance, this is usually done for weddings, deaths ect, in order for the ancestors to bless the ceremony.

I am particularly interested in what we call the Ibo nation dance, a song they sing and dance to is called: Ibole Ibole woy yo

The lyrics are as follows:

Gongo banan plantain me wo yo
Ibole Ibole woy yo
Hele bu Legba wo yo

I wanted to know if any Ibo speakers know if this actually comes from the Nigerian Ibo language?
Just curious about understanding my culture better and hope someone can help, any answers will be appreciated.... Thanks in advance

Dunno oo. Tat sounds more like yoruba sha.

Thank you for your reply, it could possibly be Yoruba because many of our churches are based on an ancient yoruba religion. Which would make no sense considering they say we mostly orignate from the Igbo and no mention of Yoruba origins.

Yes, it sounds more like Yoruba. I spotted only one seemingly igbo word.

Thank you also for your reply, I changed the title to also include Yoruba speakers, so hopefully I can get some clarity. From some research I did online I found out Legba is a Ancient West African God but I didn't find out which tribe is associated.

That's not igbo language if you got the lyrics right. The only igbo word there is "me"=do and "bu"=is

Pls don't be offended phrankin. I am not familiar with Igbo language or culture, just trying to learn more of my own culture and our link to west Africa. These songs have been preserved and passed down for thousands of years so the language could have well been muddled along the way and could be a mixture of the languages of the various tribes from west Africa which settled there.

Carriacou1985:
Pls don't be offended phrankin. I am not familiar with Igbo language or culture, just trying to learn more of my own culture and our link to west Africa. These songs have been preserved and passed down for thousands of years so the language could have well been muddled along the way and could be a mixture of the languages of the various tribes from west Africa which settled there.

Why should I be offended? I was just pointing out something to you. Wish you luck on your quest.

Thank you Phrankin, no luck so far. I guess it will remain an unsolved mystery.

Carriacou1985:
The lyrics are as follows:

Gongo banan plantain me wo yo
Ibole Ibole woy yo
Hele bu Legba wo yo

I wanted to know if any Ibo speakers know if this actually comes from the Nigerian Ibo language?
Just curious about understanding my culture better and hope someone can help, any answers will be appreciated.... Thanks in advance

Hello Carriacou1985.

This is a stretch, but after reviewing the words and twisting them into something intelligible I've transliterated the words into what it could be in Igbo then I've given the English translation. You're correct about the amount of Igbo and Akan peoples to your island and the Leewards Islands. It's funny because Igbo people are also known to wear those imported 'madras' (or "tartan" ) cloths the ladies are wearing in your post.



So here are the proposed translations (question marks are unintelligible):

Igbo:
Gongo (?) Banana, Plantain mu ewoh yo!
Igbo lé! Igbo lé! Ewoh yo!
Hanile bú Legba ewoh yo - or - Hé lé bụ Legba ewoh yo!

English:
Gongo (?) my Bananas, Plantains, ewoh! (ewoh is an expression like 'oh my god', or 'lord god')
Igbo nation! Igbo nation! ewoh yo!
All of them go to Legba (vodou deity) ewoh - or - They are all Legba ewoh yo!

---

Conclusion: to me this is an offering to Papa Legba in the Igbo language of plantains and bananas possibly, from a brief search on the net, Papa Legba indeed is given offerings of sweet fruits including plantains and bananas. Vowels at the beginning and end of words often blend in Igbo so in 'me wo yo', the 'me' could be 'mu e[woh]' > 'mewoh', if you see what I mean.

Also, in Haiti (who also have Legba) there is a song of the Igbo nation called Ibo Lele.

Interesting. Hopefully this helps. By the way Ibo is the older (European) way of spelling Igbo just for future reference.

I do know that the dance was created in remembrance of their Igbo ancestors. In Haiti, they have a native dance done in remembrance of their Igbo ancestors called 'ibo lele'. There is also a drum popular in the caribbean used in creating beats and tune pattern according to the beat tune called 'ibo udu' drum.



On deep inspection of the lyrics, the lyrics look a lot Igbo. There are a lot of Igbo words in it such as he', 'bu', 'le', 'ewoh' (or 'awoh' as used in Jamaica - another area with a huge percentage of Igbo-descended peoples). 'Le' and 'ewoh' are Igbo words used for expression. If you watch Nigerian Nollywood movies that portray mostly Igbo culture, you would hear 'ewoh' a lot. Take for example, 'he has died. ewo!', 'i just bought a car. ewo!' I see a lot of 'wo' in the lyrics, probability elongated over the years to 'wo yo', as common with language evolution over time. Examples of 'le' in Igbo: nne m le (my mother le), O biala le (he/she has come le) etc.

Igbo Translation:
Gongo banan plantain me wo yo: goro banana na plantain m ooo (buy my banana and plantains oo)
Ibole Ibole woy yo: proper in modern Igbo orthography as: Igbo le Igbo le [e]wo oo = a chant mentioning the Igbo ancestors expressively.
Hele bu Legba wo yo: proper in modern igbo orthography as: he le bu Legba, [e]wo oo = this is Legba, ewo oo.

Coincidentally, 'he' is commomly spoken in southern igbo, where majority of Igbo slaves were taken from, for 'this thing', compared to 'ihe' used in upland Igboland.

'bu' is the Igbo word for 'is'.

The lyric is exceedingly similar to Igbo language. However, I'd like your interpretation of the lyrics in creole to be able to finally balance both meanings. And if both meanings match, this would be great evidence of the survival of the Igbo language in the Caribbean after over 300 years.

bigfrancis21:
Hele bu Legba wo yo: proper in modern igbo orthography as: he le bu Legba, [e]wo oo = this is Legba, ewo oo.

Coincidentally, 'he' is commomly spoken in southern igbo, where majority of Igbo slaves were taken from, for 'this thing', compared to 'ihe' used in upland Igboland.

I was wondering about 'he le', sounded familiar. Do you also mean 'this is Legba' as in these are Legbas offerings?

Also, Carriacou1985, I think we can confirm that 'wo yo' is ewoh and that 'Ibole' is Igbo lé.

And I like that you also noticed Jamaicans say awoh. Cha may also be Igbo related.

It does sound Igbo to me. Corrupted, but still possible to make some sense of.

But I suspect that as most Afro-Caribbean cultures are syncretic, some at least of the words could have come from somewhere other than Igboland.

Legba, for example, is a Beninios-Togolese deity, and not Igbo.

Ezeagu and Francis have attempted translations. This is my attempt (not too different from theirs).

Gongo banan plantain me wo yo (Ngwongwo banana na plantain mu-ee, woyo)
Ibole Ibole wo yo (Igbo le Igbo le, wo yo)
Hele bu Legba (He le bu Legba)

In English:

My loads of bananas and plantains, wo yo
Igbo le, Igbo le,wo yo
They are all [for] Legba.

Wo yo being a meaningless onomatopeic expression. Igbo chants typically use such expressions at the end of a line to keep the rhythm.

And 'le' being a commonly used interjection in the Southern Igbo axis. [See bigfrancis' comment for further explanation of the use of 'le').

To Ezeagu, Big Francis 21 and Radoillo, many thanks for your contributions to my post and for helping me make some sense of this.

Ezeagu, your points are very valid and interesting, it's interesting to see the similarities of the beautiful Igbo women in their traditional dress also I really didn't know that Hatians also share similarities with us. Carriacou is a very small island approximately 13sq metres and 6,000 people only... I will be continuing my research to find out more about the Hatian traditions and possible similarities. The people who sang these songs have never seen any written Igbo, so maybe my spellings or pronounciations were wrong, thanks also for the (Igbo instead of Ibo) correction, always a pleasure to learn something new.

To big Francis
The song of the Hatians sounds very similar to that of our song. I will definitely research it and look at similarities. What we have in Carriacou is known as the nation dance or more often the big drum maroon. It was done to honour the ancestors for special ceremonies and I guess it brought a sense of comfort to the captives of slavery and was therefore passed down to us as a way of trying to hold on to their heritage. The drums used were 3 drums, cannot remember the names, always played by men to a call and response rhythm. The dancers were always women and there were various dances for various occasions, some talk about Dahomey which is now the rebublic of Benin. Videos of the exact dance can be found on YouTube.

Unfortunately I don't know the creole version, I don't speak or understand creole but I will ask some of my Aunts and Grandmother for more insight, they know a few creole words.

Thank you Radoillo for you interpretation, I agree with you that the language in the song is possibly made up of different languages from the various tribe, so not sure why it is called Igbo nation dance. I also found Legba to be a ancient God of Benin and made a connection in another song of ours which talks about returning back to Dahomey, present day Republic of Benin... I'm so excited to have uncovered some history and culture which none of my family could trace back to apart from the fact it is west African.

Unfortunately I couldn't post the video from YouTube on here as it would have been interesting to ask any Igbo people about the style of dance the dancers do, to determine if it is an Igbo tribal dance.

Thank you all for your input on this subject.

Carriacou1985:
Thank you Radoillo for you interpretation, I agree with you that the language in the song is possibly made up of different languages from the various tribe, so not sure why it is called Igbo nation dance.

It is probably called that because the original dance, tune and lyrics were imported by Igbo slaves. With the passage of time, other elements crept in (eg. the reference to Legba).

They also have an 'Ibo dance' in Haiti, I hear.

Carriacou1985:
Thank you Radoillo for you interpretation, I agree with you that the language in the song is possibly made up of different languages from the various tribe, so not sure why it is called Igbo nation dance. I also found Legba to be a ancient God of Benin and made a connection in another song of ours which talks about returning back to Dahomey, present day Republic of Benin... I'm so excited to have uncovered some history and culture which none of my family could trace back to apart from the fact it is west African.

Unfortunately I couldn't post the video from YouTube on here as it would have been interesting to ask any Igbo people about the style of dance the dancers do, to determine if it is an Igbo tribal dance.

Thank you all for your input on this subject.

@bold...From language similarities, the song can be definitely said to be Igbo language in line with its dedication to the Island's Igbo ancestors, with an adoption of 'Legba' (being a god) over time. Radoillo's rendition of its meaning seems to be the best. However, note that languages borrow words from each other, especially in Africa. Yoruba borrows from Hausa, Igbo borrows from Yoruba, Yoruba borrows from Igbo, Igbo borrows from Hausa, etc. It does not come as a surprise if ancient Igbo slave speakers adopted 'legba' into their lexicon, especially when a worship of the god was widespread on the Island.

And yes, there is an 'Ibo lele' song in Haiti also in remembrance of the Igbo slaves of Haiti. Haiti was one of the first non-african countries to recognize the republic of biafra (made up of mostly Igbo, Ibibio and Ijaw peoples with majority Igbo) in a symbolic extension of ancestral ties to the Igbo people. Jamaicans practice a form of Igbo native doctoring system called 'obeah' (obia/dibia in Igbo) but the belief system has a great part of it originating from the Akan of Ghana).

Bigfrancis,Radoillo and Ezeagu! You guys are great, can't believe how you guys succeeded in breaking that song down. I couldn't make a single sense of the song on my own. Unu di egwu o!

pazienza:
Bigfrancis,Radoillo and Ezeagu! You guys are great, can't believe how you guys succeeded in breaking that song down. I couldn't make a single sense of the song on my own. Unu di egwu o!

It is called, an eye for the song.

but to some extent, the song is equally intelligible in Yoruba, I'm not trying to spoil the party, brothers.

Gongo banan plantain me wo yo
ibole ibole wo yo
Helebu legba wo yo

Gongo is Yoruba for drumstick used in beating the drum known in Yoruba as gongon.
You can compare the song 'Gongo Aso' by 9ice for instance.

Now the song:

Gongo...me wo yo
My talking drum (banana) parade of joy,
My earth ritual phenalia for parade of joy
The stigmatized as devil, parade for joy.

wo in Yoruba is to move in one accord from place to place in celebration, it is iwo lu or iwode (e-war-day).
But if your pronounciation is Wo as in Woe, that stands for a shout of joy.

Elebu is someone that was labeled wrongly or for disability 'eebu' is something that one can be mocked by.

Elebu is someone who has done anything that can be mocked. Legba is the Yoruba leader of old mocked as the devil.

absoluteSuccess:
but to some extent, the song is equally intelligible in Yoruba, I'm not trying to spoil the party, brothers.

Gongo banan plantain me wo yo
ibole ibole wo yo
Helebu legba wo yo

Gongo is Yoruba for drumstick used in beating the drum known in Yoruba as gongon.
You can compare the song 'Gongo Aso' by 9ice for instance.

Now the song:

Gongo...me wo yo
My talking drum (banana) parade of joy,
My earth ritual phenalia for parade of joy
The stigmatized as devil, parade for joy.

wo in Yoruba is to move in one accord from place to place in celebration, it is iwo lu or iwode (e-war-day).
But if your pronounciation is Wo as in Woe, that stands for a shout of joy.

Elebu is someone that was labeled wrongly or for disability 'eebu' is something that one can be mocked by.

Elebu is someone who has done anything that can be mocked. Legba is the Yoruba leader of old mocked as the devil.

Hian! You see the problem with Yorubas. This was probably how Oyibo became Oyinbo, and Egusi. Elegushi!

The song is called Ibo nation song for a reason, stop forcing it!

pazienza:


Hian! You see the problem with Yorubas. This was probably how Oyibo became Oyinbo, and Egusi. Elegushi!

The song is called Ibo nation song for a reason, stop forcing it!

brother, stop having hangover from thread to thread for your own health, these languages are related, it is not a do or die affair and stop seeing apparitions.

What is in it other than trying to see where collocation of ideas may lead?

Legba is not dibia, it is Yoruba/beninois term for Legba (elegbara) or devil.

Gongo is gongo, drumstick.

Stop making noise as if you lost a grammy jor.

absoluteSuccess:


brother, stop having hangover from thread to thread for your own health, these languages are related, it is not a do or die affair and stop seeing apparitions.

What is in it other than trying to see where collocation of ideas may lead?

Legba is not dibia, it is Yoruba/beninois term for Legba (elegbara) or devil.

Gongo is gongo, drumstick.

Stop making noise as if you lost a grammy jor.

Gongo there could mean anything, seeing as we don't know the tune of the "o" there, if the "o" there is pronounced as that in "Congo" , what then happens to your Gorngor( Gongo Aso ) fabrication.

Secondary, the Op specifically mentioned that the people have Beninoise influence, he never mentioned any thing about Yoruba, you are the one forcing the issue, cos as we know, Yoruba is but a tiny minority in Benin republic, the likely hood of Beninoise influence being Yoruba is so small, but that won't still stop you from pushing it now, would it?

Legba is a Fon culture, the Fon ethnic group of Benin republic and Togo, go figure.

pazienza:



Gongo there could mean anything, seeing as we don't know the tune of the "o" there, if the "o" there is pronounced as that in "Congo" , what then happens to your Gorngor( Gongo Aso ) fabrication.

Secondary, the Op specifically mentioned that the people have Beninoise influence, he never mentioned any thing about Yoruba, you are the one forcing the issue, cos as we know, Yoruba is but a tiny minority in Benin republic, the likely hood of Beninoise influence being Yoruba is so small, but that won't still stop you from pushing it now, would it?

Legba is a Fon culture, the Fon ethnic group of Benin republic and Togo, go figure.

I am partly Fon, partly Yoruba.

I did not force anything...my post is as clear as noon. I am not telling you my conclusion or 'fabrication' as you put it is 'absolute truth'. I am wrong as you can see, but look at the thread and topic, it is open to both Yoruba and Igbo. The thread is not a trophy, but linguistic exercise.

Legba is shared between Fon and Yoruba, another example of such is Ofa (Ifa), Sango, Duduwa (Oduduwa), Gu (Ogun) and Sapata, (Jakuta). Elegba(ra) is Yoruba for devil or Esu, as the Yoruba would say "Ko b'esu b'egba".

I can't say I am right with my interpretation, I don't know what the song sounds like, but as to the written words, you can see I point the Yoruba aspect of the sounds out. I have greater material to offer the public, I don't know why I should be jammed in this duel.

Op, sorry I respect your humble quest.

absoluteSuccess:


I am partly Fon, partly Yoruba.

I did not force anything...my post is as clear as noon. I am not telling you my conclusion or 'fabrication' as you put it is 'absolute truth'. I am wrong as you can see, but look at the thread and topic, it is open to both Yoruba and Igbo. The thread is not a trophy, but linguistic exercise.

Legba is shared between Fon and Yoruba, another example of such is Ofa (Ifa), Sango, Duduwa (Oduduwa), Gu (Ogun) and Sapata, (Jakuta). Elegba(ra) is Yoruba for devil or Esu, as the Yoruba would say "Ko b'esu b'egba".

I can't say I am right with my interpretation, I don't know what the song sounds like, but as to the written words, you can see I point the Yoruba aspect of the sounds out. I have greater material to offer the public, I don't know why I should be jammed in this duel.

Op, sorry I respect your humble quest.

You are right
Elegbara (Legba) is another Yoruba word for the god more popularly known as ESU, while Jakuta (Xevioso) is another name for SANGO, and Soponna in Yoruba is Sakpata in Dahomey.
Amazing how people would try and argue with you on your own culture, isn't it?

scholes0:


You are right
Elegbara (Legba) is another Yoruba word for the god more popularly known as ESU, while Jakuta (Sapata) is another name for SANGO
Amazing how people would try and argue with you on your own culture, isn't it?

You are absolutely right bruv, my approach was to call attention to dual nature of the song and before I say jack, it has become an ethnic recrimination as if I've stolen the Island of Comoros from world map. God! nairaland is nairaland indeed, every dot is fiercely contested. Yoruba is the second largest group in Benin Rep.

absoluteSuccess:
You are absolutely right bruv, my approach was to call attention to dual nature of the song and before I say jack, it has become an ethnic recrimination as if I've stolen the Island of Comoros from world map. God! nairaland is nairaland indeed, every dot is fiercely contested. Yoruba is the second largest group in Benin Rep.

Unfortunately, yorubas were not among the slaves taken to Carriacou. Igbo, Akan and Temne slaves were mostly the ones moved to Carriacou. The op also confirmed this for himself. How the song would suddenly be Yoruba is ludicrous.

The fact that 'legba' is a borrowed word from Fon doesn't make the lyrics Yoruba. The word is a borrowed word from 'Fon'. It was called Ibo nation dance for a reason, not Yoruba nation dance. The same way you would want to hold on to 'legba', you've conveniently chosen to ignore 'ibo' that is all over the song? English language has borrowed several words from spanish, french and latin, that still doesn't stop it from being the language it is. And it acknowledges the fact that it borrowed some of its words. Radoillo, Ezeagu and I all acknowledged Legba is a borrowed word not from Yoruba but from Fon. How you conveniently choose to shorten elegbara to legba just to conveniently claim something not attributed to Yorubas is quite baffling.

Or maybe go ahead and twist some yoruba origin of the words 'unu'/'una' used in Jamaican patois/Nigerian pidgin, or 'awoh', or red ibo etc. used in Jamaica just to satisfy your insatiable quest.

absoluteSuccess:
You are absolutely right bruv, my approach was to call attention to dual nature of the song and before I say jack, it has become an ethnic recrimination as if I've stolen the Island of Comoros from world map. God! nairaland is nairaland indeed, every dot is fiercely contested. Yoruba is the second largest group in Benin Rep.

Maybe this should enlighten you a little bit:

Azizi Powell at 6:21 PM
Temne And Ibo (Igbo) Nation Dances & Songs From The Carriacou Big Drum songs and dances.
Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of two part series on Carriacou Big
Drum songs and dances. This post showcases videos of Big Drum songs and dances that are performed by the descendants of Temne Nation and Ibo Naton [Igbo] (ethnic groups) who were enslaved in Carriacou.
Part I of this series showcases the Cromanti Cudjoe
(Beg Pardon) song and dance. This post also provides information about Carriacou and the Carriacou Big Drum tradition.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all the ancestors who are honored by these ritual drum calls and dances. Thanks also to all those featured in these videos, thanks to Cultural Equity, the publisher/s of those videos on YouTube, and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT CARRIACOU AND THE BIG
DRUM DANCES
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carriacou
"Carriacou is an island of the Grenadine Islands
located in the Southeastern Caribbean Sea,
Northeast of Grenada... It's the largest in the Grenadines and in the Grenada Grenadines. It is the 3rd largest island in the Grenadine Islands (Vincentian and Grenadian Grenadines)...It's part of the Carriacou and Petite Martinique Constituency and also Carriacou is a dependency of Grenada...
The inhabitants of Carriacou perform the "Big Drum" or "Nation" dance which celebrates their West African ancestors that were brought to the island during slavery. These Big Drum dances are usually performed at "Maroons" village festivals or fetes, where food and drink are prepared. They can also be danced at wakes and tombstone feasts in honor of dead relatives. The Quadrille dance is also performed on the island of Carriacou during festivals and historic events."...
-snip
From http://www.lameca.org/dossiers/bigdrum/
musiq_eng.html
"The Big Drum or Nation Dance (also at one time
called called Gwa Tambu) is a traditional religious
and social ritual that has been sustained on
Carriacou, Grenada since the slave era and the early
importation of Cromanti people. It teaches history
and reinforces knowledge, family lineage, and
tradition in our time.

The Big Drum ritual survives as a community event
hosted by any family that wishes to celebrate or
toast good luck in the dedication of a new house, the launching of a new boat, a wedding, a memorial or any event that improves the social status of the host family. With food, rum, ritual behavior, the Big Drum performance holds religious and social meaning in the songs, drumming, and dances.
The Chantwell and her troop of about 12 singers,
surrounded by the crowd of guests who form a circle around them, dance and sing the repertoire with the drum trio accompanying them....

Nine West African groups, speaking various
languages, were brought into slavery on Carriacou.
The Cromanti nation, made up of mixed Akan groups (Fanti, Asanti, Akwapim) was named after the Dutch- built Gold Coast slave castle Kormantin and exited Africa from that site (Meredith 1812:130). We suggest, given structural cues from the songs, that the Cromanti were, most likely, the nation that established the Big Drum, as the largest and most influential of those enslaved on Carriacou (McDaniel 1998: 42). And as other people were traded and sold, the Igbo, Manding, Chamba, Temne, Banda, Arada, Moko, and Kongo repertoires were appended to the ritual, with their peoples forming a nine nation congress of multinational representation (Pearse 1978-79:638).

The nine nations of Carriacou remained somewhat intact exhibiting a historical, political/cultural
sensibility in their society. The oldest, most treasured, and spiritual Nation items of the Cromanti, Igbo, and Manding are set at the beginning of the event with the other 6 Nation dances performed later intermixed with secular dances...
[Nations listed:

Nation

Cromanti
Igbo
Manding
Arada
Congo
Chamba
Banda
Temne
Moko
...We find ancestral petition prominent in the oldest
texts, social concerns in the Creole songs, and a call
to enjoyment and dance in the Frivolous poetry.
Anancy is not a mysterious name, but one of a well
known and provocative deity, a spider with
uncommon stealth and trickery. Anancy is known in
many West African cultures, and here it belongs to
the first nation, the Cromanti, with word phrases that
may be Hausa....

[Transcription of "Anancy-O" (Cromanti) song]

...An Igbo song follows [a song about a Yoruba god
Oko*]. “Ovid-o Bagade,” a social metaphor, tells of
the fear faced by a paranoid farmer, Ovid, who plants
and yields unexpected evil. “Bagarde, Don’t be
afraid,” sings the chorus.

Ovid-o Bagadé [Igbo]
Mwen planté shu mwen
Li turné ba legé
Ovid-o bagardé, bagardé éh-hé
Mwen planté shu mwen
Li turné maljo-jo (melangen, balissé)
Ovid-o bagardé, bagardé éh-hé
[Translation]
I plant tanya
And it turns to nothing
Ovid, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.
I plant tanya
And it turns to fear (eggplant, bush)
Ovid don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid."...
-snip-
*This writer indicates that "Oko is a Yoruba god, a
member of the Nigerian Orisha pantheon, guardian of
crops and fertility. But Yorubas did not enter
Carriacou as a group...Virtually forgotten within the
Nigerian Orisa ritual of Trinidad, the memory of Oko
wandered. The enslaved population of Trinidad
thought it absurd to entreat the god of agriculture
and fecundity to work in the favor of the colonialists, increasing their holdings and wealth (Simpson
1962:1217). However, the Yoruba deity, Oko, was
appropriated by those who traveled away from the
drought-ridden landscape of Carriacou and worked in
the cane fields of Trinidad soon after the end of
slavery in 1838 (Hill 1973:23)."...
****
FEATURED VIDEOS
Example #1: Tiwe Tiwe-o (Cheer Up Pike)
Cultural Equity Published on Jul 29, 2013
Sung at this stage so that people who don't know
how to dance the nation of the host family (in this
case, the Kromanti) get to dance.
****
Example #2: Tewe-M Kouman M Ye (Temne nation
dance)
Cultural Equity Published on Jul 29, 2013
Boula, Lennox Corian; koupeé, James "Laka" Moses;
David Gibbs, foule; Denise Duncan, chak-chak.
Dancing: Denise Duncan, Suzanne Duncan, Angela
Theresa Billy Matheson, Princess Noel
-snip-
Here's information about the Temne ethnic group:
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temne_people
"The Temne people are currently the largest ethnic
group in Sierra Leone, at 35% of the total population
[1] The Temne are predominantly found in the
Northern Province and the Western Area, including
the national capital Freetown...
There were Temne speakers along the coast in what
is now Sierra Leone when the first Portuguese ships
arrived, in the 14th century. Temne were indicated
on subsequent Portuguese maps, and references to
them and brief vocabularies appear in the texts.
Trade began, albeit on a small scale, in the fifteenth
century with the Portuguese and expanded in the
late sixteenth century with the arrival of British
traders, and later traders of other nations. Slaves,
gold, ivory and local foodstuffs were exchanged for
European trade goods—mostly cloth, firearms, and
hardware...
Sierra Leone's national politics centers on the
competition between the north, dominated by the
Temne and their neighbour and political ally, the
Limba; and the southeast, dominated by the Mende,
who are a Mande people like the Mandinka, Bamana,
and Malenke (of Guinea, Senegal, Mali, etc.). The
current president of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma,
is the first Sierra Leonean president from the Temne
ethnic group; he receives most of his support from
Temne-dominant areas in the north and western
regions of Sierra Leone."...
****
Example #3: Temne-o (Nation song)
Cultural Equity, Published on Jul 29, 2013
In this dance, participants dance one by one. When
someone new wants to dance, she raises her hands
in the air, and the dancer in the ring will receive her
and wheel her out.
****
Example #4: Ibole Ibole Woy Yo (Ibo Nation Song)
Cultural Equity, Published on Jul 29, 2013
-snip-
Here's some information about the Ibo (igbo) people:
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igbo_people
"The Igbo people, formerly known as the Ibo, are an
ethnic group of southeastern Nigeria. They speak
Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and
dialects. Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic
groups in Africa...
Before British colonialism, the Igbo were a politically
fragmented group. There were variations in culture
such as in art styles, attire and religious practices.
Various subgroups were organized by clan, lineage,
village affiliation, and dialect. There were not many
centralized chiefdoms, hereditary aristocracy, or
kingship customs except in kingdoms such as those
of the Nri, Arochukwu, Agbor and Onitsha...
Due to the effects of migration and the Atlantic slave
trade, there are descendant ethnic Igbo populations
in countries such as Cameroon[11] and Equatorial
Guinea,[12] as well as outside Africa. Their exact
population outside Africa is unknown, but today
many African Americans and Afro Caribbeans are of
Igbo descent. According to Liberian historians, the
fifth president of that country, Edward James Roye,
was of "pure" Igbo descent."...
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.

absoluteSuccess:
but to some extent, the song is equally intelligible in Yoruba, I'm not trying to spoil the party, brothers.

Gongo banan plantain me wo yo
ibole ibole wo yo
Helebu legba wo yo

Gongo is Yoruba for drumstick used in beating the drum known in Yoruba as gongon.
You can compare the song 'Gongo Aso' by 9ice for instance.

Now the song:

Gongo...me wo yo
My talking drum (banana) parade of joy,
My earth ritual phenalia for parade of joy
The stigmatized as devil, parade for joy.

wo in Yoruba is to move in one accord from place to place in celebration, it is iwo lu or iwode (e-war-day).
But if your pronounciation is Wo as in Woe, that stands for a shout of joy.

Elebu is someone that was labeled wrongly or for disability 'eebu' is something that one can be mocked by.

Elebu is someone who has done anything that can be mocked. Legba is the Yoruba leader of old mocked as the devil.

Interestingly, the meaning you rendered makes no sense at all. How banana became 'talking drum' and 'plantain' conveniently omitted leaves much to be desired.

Unfortunately, Yorubas, who are migrants from Nigeria, are 4th in line and make up only 12% of the population of benin republic or only 1 million out of its 10 million people, the largest group being the Fon (39.2%) and Adja (15.2%) and Bariba (12% - tie with Yoruba.

Demographics of Benin republic

The population of Benin is 99% African. However,
although several of the larger groups in southern
Benin are culturally and socially closely related,
Benin is not ethnically or linguistically homogeneous, and there is a particularly marked division between the peoples of the south and those of the north. The largest ethnic group is that of the Fon or Dahomeyans (about 25%), the closely related Adja (about 6%), and the Aizo (about 5%), who live in the south of the country and are predominantly farmers. The Goun (about 11%), who are related to the Adja, are concentrated around Porto-Novo. The Bariba (about 12%) are the dominant people in northern Benin. The Yoruba (more than 12%), essentially a farming people, came from Nigeria and are settled along the eastern boundary of the country. In the northeast, the Somba (more than 4%) subdivide into a number of distinct groups. The Fulani (about 6%), traditionally nomadic herders, gradually are becoming sedentary. Other groups include the Holli, the Dendi, and the Pilapila (or Yowa). The remaining
1% of the population is largely European, numbering about 5,500 in 1998.

http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Benin-ETHNIC-GROUPS.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCTPMTy5M5A

Hey Carriacou, this is the video you were referring to, right?