#3672: Kawolin Akawo (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Lois E Wilcken <makandal-ny@juno.com>

Some time ago I posted a query regarding the identity of Kawolin Akawo of
the well-known Kongo song.  I speculated that she was related to
Jean-Jacques Acaau, who led the19th-century piquet rebellion, and that
the phrase "neg nwe ti zorey anraje" referred to the uprisings.  I got
some modest response, although no one knew anything definite.

Yesterday I was pleased to discover this passage about the song on pages
73-74 of Fouchard's La Meringue, Danse Nationale d'Haiti (I'm spelling
exactly as Fouchard does, minus the accents Juno doesn't provide):

	"1844!  l'annee meme ou nous, Haitiens lancions la centieme ou la
millieme meringue-carabinier, la celebre 'Caroline Acao' qu'une samba de
Port-Salut, la belle Lerezzia, devait populariser, authentique temoignage
de la revolte des piquets du Sud:

Caroline Acao
Metie Congo
pas ba-ou temps
pou travail, rhoi
Ou danse congo (bis)
Jouc corps ou
Fe ou mal
Caroline Acao
Negg yo enrage
Lan corps ou

Fouchard credits Constantin Dumerve's history of Haitian music for this
text.  It's apparently undergone some metamorphosis over the years, but
the hints of historic content remain.

Lois Wilcken
La Troupe Makandal - New York City's #1 Haitian Roots Ensemble
621 Rutland Road, Brooklyn NY 11203
718-953-6638 / makandal-ny@juno.com