The Artistry of Afro-Cuban Batá Drumming: Aesthetics, Transmission, Bonding, and Creativity

2. Omo Añá: The Fraternity of Batá Drummers

50 2. Omo Añá The Fraternity of Batá Drummers Forced to migrate to Cuba in the early nineteenth century as a by-product of the transatlantic slave trade, members of the Yorùbá Àyàn cult struggled to preserve their practices and beliefs in the face of a variety of cultural pressures. Among many others, these pressures included efforts from the Spanish government and Catholic religious leaders to repress African culture ; influences from other African ethnic groups in Cuba; and, perhaps most significant for this study, fragmentation of families and the interruption of kinship lines. Adapting to these many pressures, and in particular to the loss of the social cohesion inherent in the Àyàn kinship-lineage configuration of Yorùbáland, members of the Añá fraternity in Cuba have employed a variety of strategies to establish and maintain their cohesiveness as a socioreligious entity.1 Membership in the Cuban Añá fraternity is potentially open to all heterosexual males. Entry is obtained through a swearing ceremony (juramento) that bonds a new initiate to his padrinos,2 to the community of drummers who assist the ceremony, to other members of the fraternity, and to the orisha Añá who inhabits batá de fundamento (see Fig. 2.1). While some Añá priests limit induction to their immediate family, many extend the opportunity to others regardless of kinship. In addition to welcoming Cubans of non-African descent , many highly respected Añá priests have expanded the fraternity beyond Cuba by inducting godchildren (ahijados) from such distant places as North America, Mexico, Asia, South America, and Western Europe. The expansion of the fraternity both geographically and demographically continues to strain the cohesiveness of the fraternity. While entry into the fraternity formally begins with one’s own rite of passage , bonds among members are continually reinforced and even redefined through participation in a variety of activities, including (1) the induction of new members; (2) the creation of new sets of batá de fundamento; (3) the Omo Añá: The Fraternity of Batá Drummers 51 maintenance of drums (tuning, restringing, and replacing heads); and (4) toques de santo. After briefly addressing the potential impact of the first three activities, the bulk of this chapter focuses on the musical performances at toques de santo and the nature of bonding in these environments. Induction of New Members The induction of new members into the Añá fraternity is a common event that regularly occurs in Cuba, the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, and other parts of the world. The minimum requirements are a set of batá de fundamento and the presence of experienced drummers who have the knowledge to enact the ritual. While the essential elements of the ritual are standardized, the context surrounding them is highly variable. At one extreme, a father with the help of a friend may privately and quietly initiate his son. At the other extreme, a dozen drummers might be sworn with the aid of Añá initiates who have traveled from several cities or even countries. In an effort to illustrate some of the strategies employed to enhance cohesiveness, I examine the initiation of the first white Cuban into the fraternity. With the potential to generate a Figure 2.1: Author with padrino Pancho Quinto. The author plays the iyá, the large lead drum, while Pancho Quinto plays the itótele, the middle drum of the ensemble. Photo by Kevin McRae, 2002. Omo Añá: The Fraternity of Batá Drummers 52 considerable amount of anxiety among the participants and the general Añá community, the organizers of this ritual employed a variety of strategies to mitigate any potential backlash. While most Afro-Cuban religions and secret societies, including the Lucumí religion, have long accepted white initiates, the Añá fraternity has been slow to open its ranks to whites and/or foreigners. Even today, though countless numbers of whites and foreigners play the drums throughout the world, the Añá drumming community in Cuba remains a largely black-centric society. In fact, I have rarely encountered white Cuban drummers at the many toques de santo I have attended in Havana and Matanzas.3 On August 13, 1985, Ernesto “El Gato” Gatell (Ernesto) arguably became the first white man to be initiated into the Añá fraternity.4 Though the event passed with little or no social tension, the potential for friction certainly existed . Whether or not the officiates thought strategically while envisioning the framework for the ritual, the context surrounding Ernesto...