What does Kinkamache mean?  Is it related to Santeria?  What role does
it play?  Is it a God?  What or who is it?

Dear ladybug0710,

I have looked for this word and have found a couple things:

It indeed seems to be related to Santeria which is a traditionally
African religion that is also referred to as Ifaism, Yoruba, Lukumi,
and Orisha.

[ http://sparta.rice.edu/~maryc/FAQ.html ]
[ http://www.cultural-expressions.com/ifa/ifaism.htm ]

The religion has many verses and prayers which total the whole of
knowledge. Out of one of those prayers, the word "Kinkamache" was
born. "Kinkamache" is a shortened form of the phrase "Ki nkan m'ase"
which means "Be well" as in:

"...In Chief Fama's book she says that ki nkan m'ase means "may
nothing
bad happen to...(name of individual). It's interesting to know your
prayers are shorter..."

[ http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&th=c2146b009404e2d2&rnum=2
]

It is in the Yoruba language and part of traditional Yoruba practices.
Although this does not mention the word, you can see a sample Yoruba
prayer with side by side english version of the same prayer here:

[ http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/adogame_main.html
]

There is also a mention of "Kinkamache" here:

[ http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Kinkamache+-eddie&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&selm=3A5B5973.A0A8C805%40home.com&rnum=2
]

From what I can understand of the dialog, in the context it is used
there, it means "well being."

So to summarize, you can be certain it is not a god, that it is
related to Santeria, and that it is a pray of "well being" for the one
whom is being prayed.

I hope this helps clear up the words meaning. If you have any other
questions about this then please Request Answer Clairification and
I'll do what I can.


Sources/Links:

Institute of Yoruba Language and Culture
http://www.Yoruba.org/education.htm

alt.religion.orisha newsgroup
message 6 by osunmilaya5@my-deja.com dated December, 24, 2000 20:00:05
PST
Subject: Re: Obi Abata/new thread
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&th=c2146b009404e2d2&rnum=2

Brief overview of Ifaism
http://www.cultural-expressions.com/ifa/ifaism.htm
(thanks to crabcakes-ga for the link)

Yoruba FAQ by Mary Ann Clark
http://sparta.rice.edu/~maryc/FAQ.html

Marburg Journal of Religion (Framed) [Online]
Volume 3, No. 1 March 1998, Page 3
http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/adogame_main.html

Search Strategy:

Kinkamache
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Kinkamache&sourceid=opera&num=100&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

orisha religion
://www.google.com/search?q=orisha+religion&sourceid=opera&num=100&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

ki nkan ma'se
http://www.alltheweb.com/search?cat=web&cs=utf-8&l=any&q=ki+nkan+ma%27se

"Yoruba language"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22Yoruba+language%22&num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&sa=n&oq=%22Yoruban+language%22

---

Clarification of Answer by arcadesdude-ga on 17 Oct 2002 21:40 PDT

Although I read and re-read this before I posted, I just caught a typo.
a pray of "well being"
should read: a prayer of "well being"
Sorry for any confusion.

ladybug0170,

I searched Spanish search engines, as well as Google in Spanish, using
various spelling of “kinkamache”. Almost every lead sent me to Eddie
Palmieri’s song/album.

I know from living in Latin America, that the theme of Voodoo/Santeria
comes up pretty regularly in latin music, especially Caribean and
Brasilian music, without necessarily indicating the singer follows
those beliefs. I found that many Latins simply enjoy the sound or ring
of some words, and just incorporate them into their music.

My own Latin family side loves to “invent” new words, and eventually
one wonders if a word is real, or coined! My family examples are
“massaweeses” for money…a silly twist on Massachusetts, but no one
knows why it came to mean money. It just sounded catchy. My favorite
is “right-nigh-itoh” (rolling that “R”) for “right now”, but with the
commonly used “-ito” as a diminutive.

It appears the this word, “kinkamache”  DOES have a link to Santeria,
but I was unable to find supportive evidence.( Thus, this in form of a
comment instead of an answer.) However, I suspect, in Eddie Palmieri’s
case, it was just a catchy word to use.

Song number 4 on Eddie Palmieri’s “Lo Mejor” Album
http://www.tumimusic.com/english/edenways.htm

Album by Eddie Palmieri  “ Kinkamache, Un Puesto Vacante, Cobarde”
http://music.zodchiy.com/E/Eddie_Palmieri.html

This site, in Spanish talks about how Palmieri did not want to use the
name “Kinkamache”, but was overruled by the recording industry.
http://www.oasissalsero.com/tommy/nicky_marrero.htm


This site mentions Eddie  Palmieri and Voodoo
http://www.warr.org/palmieri.html

Mentions “Kincamache” and other unrecognizeable languages.
http://www.cultural-expressions.com/Guestbook/guestbook98.htm

I did not care to explore this site further, but you may want to…
http://www.cultural-expressions.com/ifa/ifadef.htm
~crabcakes

Search strategy:
Kinkamache
Kincamache
Kincamache + brasil
Kinkamcahe + Puerto Rico
Kinkamache + brujeria
Kinkamache + Santeria
Santeria
Santerismo
cultismo