Shirlene Green Newball
Mayaya lass im key
Mayaya oh!
Mayaya lass im key
Mayaya oh!
I wan mi key fu go opin mi do
Mayaya oh!
I wan mi key fu go opin mi do
Mayaya oh!
Mayaya key da gool
Mayaya oh! (repeat)
During the month of May, each neighbourhood on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, once known as La Mosquitia, organised its own May Pole celebration.
Two weeks ago, it was Arlen Siu’s neighbourhood’s turn. The celebration took place near where my grandparents lived, a place I often visited as a child. It brought back beautiful memories.
Songs like “Mayaya Lass Im Key” filled the streets. Women wore colourful clothes, and trees decorated with ribbons of different colours, called Ribbon Pole, represented the dry season. Another tree, decorated with fruits, called the May Pole, symbolised the harvest season. Both Ribbon Pole and May Pole dances are performed around a tree.
People gathered in circles to watch the performances. There were games for children and adults, and many kinds of traditional food. This is May Pole: an Afrodescendant Creole cultural practice and an important expression of identity.
The Creole people of Nicaragua are one of the Afrodescendant communities living on the Caribbean Coast. They speak Creole English, maintain many traditions and celebrations, and coexist with other Afrodescendant and Indigenous communities. I belong to the Creole-Miskito community of Bilwi, Puerto Cabezas.
Growing up on the Northern Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, May Pole became one of my strongest memories of Afro culture. I am proud of it and continue to carry it with me wherever I go.
Why the May Pole Celebration?
During May, the Creole community celebrates May Pole to mark the end of the dry season and the beginning of the rainy season. The rains make the soil fertile for planting crops that will later be used during festivities in the dry season, such as Christmas celebrations. May is also a time when many fruits are harvested, including mangoes, breadfruit, guinep, plums, and others. Is a celebration of fertility (Hodgson, 2009).
But how did this celebration begin?
It is time for you to put on your brightly coloured clothes, move your body to the rhythm of the music, and travel through the history of this cultural practice.
History of May Pole
The origin of the May Pole dates back to Egypt, where it was associated with agriculture and the Nile River. When the Roman Empire conquered Egypt and expanded into Europe, this cultural celebration spread to several European countries. In Egypt, the goddess Isis was associated with fertility, whereas for the Greeks and Romans, the celebration was connected to Maia (Hodgson, 2009).
In England, “May Day” marked the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Trees blossomed, symbolising new life. Communities decorated houses and churches with flowers, and a tree was planted in the town square. Around it, people sang, danced, and drank wine (Sujo, 1991).
The British protectorate in the Mosquitia brought the May Pole tradition to the region. However, the celebration evolved through the mobility of people and products between Jamaica, the largest British colony in the Caribbean, and the Mosquitia Kingdom. It is also important to remember that other colonial powers, including the Germans, Dutch, and Spanish, arrived in the Mosquitia.
At the beginning, this cultural practice happened spontaneously within neighbourhoods. In Bluefields, only adult women danced around the tree. According to Miss Lizzie Nelson in the documentary Al Son de Miss Lizzie, 2011, ‘when men tried to join the dance, they were pushed out of the circle’.
Children were not allowed to attend the adult May Pole celebrations, so separate events were organised for them earlier in the day.
My mother is from the Southern Caribbean Coast. She told me that when she was a young girl living in Point Teen, Bluefields, she wanted to see the dance but was not allowed. She also heard stories that President Anastasio Somoza García visited Bluefields to celebrate May Pole in the Beholden neighbourhood, where he danced with one of the dancers.
May Pole has never remained static; it has always evolved.
Songs and instruments
The songs used during the celebration changed over time. Some came from other parts of the Caribbean, while others were composed in Nicaragua’s Mosquitia region. According to Hodgson’s study, “Donkey Wan Wata” came from Jamaica, “Mayaya Lass Im Key” from San Andrés, and “Brown Girl in the Ring” from Jamaica or Belize. Songs such as “Judith Drownden,” “Lanch Ton Ova,” “Sin Saiman,” and “Sin Mai Love” were composed in Bluefields by Silvester Hodgson.
One important transformation was that the songs became testimonial and critical. Professor Hugo Sujo explained: ‘No one escaped. Names were not respected.’ If someone committed a wrongdoing, their name could appear in a May Pole song for everyone to hear.
The song “Lanch Ton Ova” tells the story of a banana boat accident in which the money meant to pay workers was lost. The lyrics describe the incident and mention the names of people connected to the company.
The instruments also evolved. The Creole community incorporated drums, accordions, banjos, coconut graters, turtle-shell combs, metal jars, guitars, and other instruments, giving the celebration its own distinctive sound.
Dancing in a circle
Ribbon Pole and May Pole dances are performed in a circle. Mr Maxwell Atily described how the song “Mayaya Lass Im Key” was danced in a circle while participants secretly passed a key from hand to hand. One person stood in the centre and had to guess who held the key. Once they guessed correctly, the person with the key entered the centre and repeated the game (Sujo, 1991).
“Brown Girl in the Ring” is also danced in a circle. One girl stands in the middle and acts out the movements described in the song. When she finishes, she chooses another person to enter the circle ( Sujo, 1991).
Last month, while attending a Brazilian seminar at the University of Helsinki, I listened to Adriano Adewale, a researcher and musician, who explained the meaning of the circle in African traditions. In his study Sonic Equity: Exploring questions of inclusion, equity, and decolonisation through the voice of the Brazilian berimbau , he described it as the ‘circle of life,’ connecting the physical and spiritual worlds, birth and death. This ‘cosmogram refers to the cycle of life and reflects aspects of Congo Bakongo philosophy’ (Adewale & Thompson, 2024).
Hearing this made me connect the May Pole circle to other African and Afrodescendant cultural practices such as Amapiano from South Africa, Capoeira from Afro-Brazilian traditions, and Mapalé from Colombia. In all these practices, a circle is formed while someone performs in the centre.
I do not think it is a coincidence that May Pole is danced in a circle like many other African cultural traditions and rituals. We must remember that forced movements of people also took place between African countries before crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Traditions mixed, transformed, and evolved, but their roots remained connected.
In one issue of Wani Magazine, Professor Sujo mentioned that Reverend Hernan Savery recalled an African visitor who witnessed the May Pole celebration in Bluefields and said it resembled the Shongo dance from West Africa.
May Pole then and now
As we have seen, May Pole has undergone many transformations over time. At one point, the Moravian Church even tried to prohibit it (Hodgson, 2009). It may no longer look exactly like the version danced by our grandmothers and aunts, but this cultural practice, deeply rooted in Creole identity, still survives today.
Since the 1980s, May Pole celebrations have increasingly been organised and promoted by local governments. This visibility helped make the tradition internationally known, allowing groups like Hilda Haida to travel abroad and perform May Pole dances (Sujo, 1991; Al Son de Miss Lizzie, 2011).
The songs, instruments, dances, choreography, and clothing of May Pole are all part of a collective celebration in which the whole community participates. However, it is important to recognise that the tradition is rooted in the culture of the Creole Afrodescendant community (Ylönen, 2002). As Shira Miguel explained in an interview with Avocenic:
It is a celebration of the Caribbean Coast, but we must recognise that it is part of Afrodescendant culture. We include and involve other communities, but it belongs to Black Creole cultural identity.
Miss Lizzie once said:
Wake up and look about your culture.
Al Son de Miss Lizzie, 2011.
This tradition has been passed down from generation to generation. Older women have always played a central role in teaching younger generations about the dance and its meaning, as groups like Zinica in Bluefields.
Today, we must continue this legacy by teaching these traditions to younger generations. We must unlearn colonial ideas and relearn our traditions in the right way. Let us decolonise our culture!
References
Avocenic. ( May, 2026). Interview with Shira Miguel Downs. Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1528518815278159
Hodgson, D. J. (2009, abril-junio). Historia del Palo de Mayo. Revista de la Costa Caribe Nicaragüense Wani, 5-23 (57).
Green, N. S. My notes.
Lacayo, I. (Director). (2011). Al Son de Miss Lizzie…[Documentary]. Bluefilms.
Sujo, W. H. ( 1991, agosto-diciembre). Palo de Mayo. Todos los Colores del Mundo. Revista de la Costa Caribe Nicaragüense Wani, 103-107 (11).
Thomson, N. R., & Adewale, A. (2024). Sonic Equity. Exploring questions of inclusion, equity, and decolonisation through the voice of the Brazilian berimbau. Ruukku, (2).
Ylönen, M. (2002, enero-marzo). El Baile de Evelyn: Experiencias e Interpretaciones del Ritual del Palo de Mayo. Revista de la Costa Caribe Nicaragüense Wani, 34-47 (28).
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