The Legend of Choncholí
In 2019, after a long hiatus, I returned to Santiago de Cuba to study the conga rhythm. Through readings, online research, and conversations with Cuban friends, I was acutely aware of the famous comparsa (carnival troupe) known as La Conga de Los Hoyos (“The Conga”). I soon learned that this group’s prestige stems not only from its music, but from its rich history and deep connection to the Black community it represents. As my friend and teacher Lázaro Bandera, the group’s musical director, emphatically told me, “Esta conga tiene mucha historia.” (“This conga [group] has a lot of history”). One of the most fascinating stories about the group’s home community, Los Hoyos, is the legend of “Choncholí se va Pal Monte,” a song closely linked to rebellion, Black resistance, and the birth of the Cuban nation. Although “Choncholí” has a complex history, I’ve attempted to bring together a variety of sources to write this account.
Los Brujos de Limónes
Throughout the long history of slavery in Cuba, cimarrones (fugitive slaves or Maroons) fled to el monte (the bush or backwoods) and formed self-sufficient communities called palenques, many of which were in the Sierra Maestra mountains of Oriente (Eastern Cuba). Around 1815, a contingent from the palenque Sigua, which probably included people born in West and Central Africa, Cuba and Haiti, raided several farms in the district of Limónes near Santiago, freeing many enslaved people. Several sources agree that white children died in the raid, but the circumstances of these deaths are unclear. In response to the raids, colonial authorities stirred up fear in the white community by accusing the Maroons of being brujos (sorcerers or “witch doctors,” practitioners of feared diasporic religions) and killing the children for “demonic” rituals (Ferrer 84). The news of this raid eventually reached Los Hoyos, a Black and mixed-race neighborhood in Santiago.
The Black war hero José Guillermo “Guillermón” Moncada Veranes was born free in Los Hoyos in 1841 and in his youth become known for his adamant opposition to slavery and Spanish rule (Ferrer 84-85). During the 1860s, Moncada co-organized and performed as primer bastonero (lead mace-bearer or stick fighter) in the neighborhood comparsa Los Brujos de Limónes (Bettelheim 147; Ferrer 84; Galis 120). Los Brujos’ name boldly and subversively honors the Maroons who conducted the above-mentioned raid, re-deploying the perjorative term “brujos.” This group is generally classified as a tajona, a type of comparsa that performs a music and dance genre of the same name. Tajona groups were prominent in Oriente and its carnivals in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The following tajona performance by the Santiago group Cutumba features a bastonero at around 1:25. The lead singer is Berta Armiñan Linares, whom I had the fortune to meet and learn from in 2019.
Los Brujos de Limónes
Throughout the long history of slavery in Cuba, cimarrones (fugitive slaves or Maroons) fled to el monte (the bush or backwoods) and formed self-sufficient communities called palenques, many of which were in the Sierra Maestra mountains of Oriente (Eastern Cuba). Around 1815, a contingent from the palenque Sigua, which probably included people born in West and Central Africa, Cuba and Haiti, raided several farms in the district of Limónes near Santiago, freeing many enslaved people. Several sources agree that white children died in the raid, but the circumstances of these deaths are unclear. In response to the raids, colonial authorities stirred up fear in the white community by accusing the Maroons of being brujos (sorcerers or “witch doctors,” practitioners of feared diasporic religions) and killing the children for “demonic” rituals (Ferrer 84). The news of this raid eventually reached Los Hoyos, a Black and mixed-race neighborhood in Santiago.
The Black war hero José Guillermo “Guillermón” Moncada Veranes was born free in Los Hoyos in 1841 and in his youth become known for his adamant opposition to slavery and Spanish rule (Ferrer 84-85). During the 1860s, Moncada co-organized and performed as primer bastonero (lead mace-bearer or stick fighter) in the neighborhood comparsa Los Brujos de Limónes (Bettelheim 147; Ferrer 84; Galis 120). Los Brujos’ name boldly and subversively honors the Maroons who conducted the above-mentioned raid, re-deploying the perjorative term “brujos.” This group is generally classified as a tajona, a type of comparsa that performs a music and dance genre of the same name. Tajona groups were prominent in Oriente and its carnivals in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The following tajona performance by the Santiago group Cutumba features a bastonero at around 1:25. The lead singer is Berta Armiñan Linares, whom I had the fortune to meet and learn from in 2019.
Moncada joined the rebel army shortly after the beginning of the Ten Years War (Cuba’s first war of independence), in 1868; he eventually rose to the rank of General and was present at the 1878 Protest of Baraguá where a group of rebel leaders of color rejected a peace treaty with Spain because it failed to recognize Cuban independence or abolish slavery. Moncada then served as commander of the eastern army in the 1879-1880 “Little War'' and a general in the 1895 rebellion before his death that year. Moncada is thoroughly memorialized as a “favorite son” of Santiago and Los Hoyos: his bust is present in the foco cultural (clubhouse) of La Conga de Los Hoyos, and several streets, a military barracks (which Fidel Castro famously led an attack on during the 1953 carnival), and a baseball stadium bear his name.
Choncholí
According to most accounts, Moncada and the Brujos de Limónes sang the “Choncholí” refrain as they marched through the streets:
“Choncholí se va pa’l monte -- Cógelo que se va”
(“The blackbird is heading for the hills--
catch him! He’s getting away”)
This chant has been interpreted and remembered in multiple ways, which I elaborate on here, but in most narratives, Choncholí (the Cuban Blackbird) represents a Black person fleeing to freedom in the backwoods. The most common interpretation of “Choncholí” is as a coded call to arms, urging Black men to join Moncada, flee to the mountains and join the mambíses (Cuban rebel soldiers, a majority of whom were people of color) to fight for independence. In the context of an 1860s Los Brujos performance it may have simultaneously honored the Maroons from the raid on Limónes. While “Choncholí” is usually associated with Moncada and Black mambíses in oral and written accounts, there are other examples of this refrain’s public performance.
El Doce (1912): Re-activating “Choncholí”
In 1898, after three years of war and an intervention by United States troops, Cuba finally won its independence from Spain. When the U.S. occupation ended in 1902, the island was technically independent, but in practice an American protectorate: the Platt Amendment gave the United States legal justification to intervene militarily as it saw fit. In the aftermath of the war, many Cuban veterans of color felt politically and economically excluded from the new nation and that their war efforts were going unacknowledged. The Partido Independiente de Color (PIC or Independent Party of Color), was founded in 1908 as a way of addressing these concerns. In 1910, the Black Senator Martín Morúa Delgado, a member of the ruling Liberal Party, introduced a proposal to ban race-based parties; when this law passed, the PIC was outlawed. In 1912, members of the PIC, led by Evaristo Estenoz, organized an armed protest, demanding that their party be legalized. Just like the Maroons and mambises in the previous century, they fled to the mountains of Oriente. In June and July of that year, during a somber Carnival season in Santiago, government forces and volunteers massacred three to six thousand Cubans of color, including PIC members, supporters, and peasants, sending a brutal message and denying many of the victims’ families the right to bury their loved ones (Helg, 321). "Choncholí" was once again heard on the streets of Santiago, perhaps as a call to arms or a commentary on the uprising and repression as it occurred (Ortiz 573, Galis 226).
Choncholí as Rebelde
From 1956 to 1959, Fidel Castro and his rebeldes (rebel troops) waged guerilla warfare against the regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista. Much of the fighting took place in the Sierra Maestra. According to Felix Bandera, Lazaro’s father and the current director of The Conga, “Choncholí” once again rang out on the streets of Santiago, this time to the unmistakable beat of La Conga de Los Hoyos. Bandera states that the crowd defiantly sang this refrain in front of Batista’s troops. This account links Castro, his rebels, and The Revolution to Moncada, the mambíses, and Santiago’s rebellious spirit.
Bembé: Inviting Choncholí to the celebration
“Choncholí” may have been incorporated into conga and tajona processions in subsequent years, but most of my sources agree that it is rarely if ever heard in contemporary Carnival; I’ve watched hundreds of conga videos on YouTube and don’t recall hearing this song. A notable contemporary use of "Choncholí" was described to me by Andrés Cobas, a multi-talented musician and singer. Andrés described the song’s use in fiestas religiosas (Afro-Cuban religious celebrations) to summon an ancestor spirit. In "Memories," I explore different ways in which “Choncholí” continues to be remembered, and propose possible interpretations.
According to most accounts, Moncada and the Brujos de Limónes sang the “Choncholí” refrain as they marched through the streets:
“Choncholí se va pa’l monte -- Cógelo que se va”
(“The blackbird is heading for the hills--
catch him! He’s getting away”)
This chant has been interpreted and remembered in multiple ways, which I elaborate on here, but in most narratives, Choncholí (the Cuban Blackbird) represents a Black person fleeing to freedom in the backwoods. The most common interpretation of “Choncholí” is as a coded call to arms, urging Black men to join Moncada, flee to the mountains and join the mambíses (Cuban rebel soldiers, a majority of whom were people of color) to fight for independence. In the context of an 1860s Los Brujos performance it may have simultaneously honored the Maroons from the raid on Limónes. While “Choncholí” is usually associated with Moncada and Black mambíses in oral and written accounts, there are other examples of this refrain’s public performance.
El Doce (1912): Re-activating “Choncholí”
In 1898, after three years of war and an intervention by United States troops, Cuba finally won its independence from Spain. When the U.S. occupation ended in 1902, the island was technically independent, but in practice an American protectorate: the Platt Amendment gave the United States legal justification to intervene militarily as it saw fit. In the aftermath of the war, many Cuban veterans of color felt politically and economically excluded from the new nation and that their war efforts were going unacknowledged. The Partido Independiente de Color (PIC or Independent Party of Color), was founded in 1908 as a way of addressing these concerns. In 1910, the Black Senator Martín Morúa Delgado, a member of the ruling Liberal Party, introduced a proposal to ban race-based parties; when this law passed, the PIC was outlawed. In 1912, members of the PIC, led by Evaristo Estenoz, organized an armed protest, demanding that their party be legalized. Just like the Maroons and mambises in the previous century, they fled to the mountains of Oriente. In June and July of that year, during a somber Carnival season in Santiago, government forces and volunteers massacred three to six thousand Cubans of color, including PIC members, supporters, and peasants, sending a brutal message and denying many of the victims’ families the right to bury their loved ones (Helg, 321). "Choncholí" was once again heard on the streets of Santiago, perhaps as a call to arms or a commentary on the uprising and repression as it occurred (Ortiz 573, Galis 226).
Choncholí as Rebelde
From 1956 to 1959, Fidel Castro and his rebeldes (rebel troops) waged guerilla warfare against the regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista. Much of the fighting took place in the Sierra Maestra. According to Felix Bandera, Lazaro’s father and the current director of The Conga, “Choncholí” once again rang out on the streets of Santiago, this time to the unmistakable beat of La Conga de Los Hoyos. Bandera states that the crowd defiantly sang this refrain in front of Batista’s troops. This account links Castro, his rebels, and The Revolution to Moncada, the mambíses, and Santiago’s rebellious spirit.
Bembé: Inviting Choncholí to the celebration
“Choncholí” may have been incorporated into conga and tajona processions in subsequent years, but most of my sources agree that it is rarely if ever heard in contemporary Carnival; I’ve watched hundreds of conga videos on YouTube and don’t recall hearing this song. A notable contemporary use of "Choncholí" was described to me by Andrés Cobas, a multi-talented musician and singer. Andrés described the song’s use in fiestas religiosas (Afro-Cuban religious celebrations) to summon an ancestor spirit. In "Memories," I explore different ways in which “Choncholí” continues to be remembered, and propose possible interpretations.