John Canoe

John Canoe
John Canoe celebrants (Kingston, Jamaica, Christmas 1975)
Status	Active
Genre	Folk festival, street festival, parade
Country	North Carolina, Caribbean

John Canoe, or Jankunu (also spelled "Junkanoo" and "Jangkunu") is a festival derived from Akan slaves once common in coastal North Carolina and still practised in the Caribbean in islands that are or were part of the British West Indies, particularly Jamaica, The Bahamas, and among Garifuna tribes in Belize and Honduras. It is of Akan origin and is dedicated to an Akan warrior called John Kenu from Axim, Ghana. Similar festivals also take place on the coastal region of Ghana, where the advent originally took place, such as the "Fancy Dress Festival" of the Fante people.

January Conny (also named John Kenu, Johann Kuny, John Conrad, Johann Cuny, Jean Cunny, January Konny or John Conni by German, Dutch, British or French-language designation) was a powerful Gold Coast merchant. Conny had a private army and was an ally of Brandenburg-Prussia at the time of the Brandenburger Gold Coast colony (1683–1720) in Axim on the coast of present-day Ghana in West Africa. Between 25 December 1708 to 1724 he took over control of the abandoned Brandenburger fortress and defended it against several massive conquest attempts of the Dutch. The history of the defence of the fortress was distorted for propaganda purposes in the 19th century by followers of a German colonial commitment and used for their own purposes. The tale of January Conny has today spread to different parts of the Caribbean and Ghana's Fancy Dress Festival, which was probably based on the story of January Conny.

The names listed above are European corruptions of a still unknown African name, though it can be safely assumed that "Kenu" was a part of it, as this is a typical Akan name. Jon Conny, chief of the Ahanta ethnic group, often referred to as "the King of Prinze Terre", as the Prussian’s African broker, was a most effective ally, succeeding in directing such trade to the fort that revenues dwindled at the Dutch forts at Axim, Butre and Sekondi. More than 95 ships are recorded as having traded with Fort Fredericksburg between 1711 and 1713. In 1717, with their departure from the Gold Coast, Brandenburg sold its possessions to the Dutch, without John Conny's knowledge.