Entry · catalog no. 9202
jockamo
/ /dʒɑkˈɑmoʊ/ /jock-AH-mo
noun · New Orleans, Louisiana · 1950s
✓ Verified
1.
The refrain word of a New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian chant, sung in the face-offs between Black Indian tribes on Carnival day. The word's own meaning is not settled: singers who carried it did not agree on it, and scholars have traced it to several languages.
“On Mardi Gras morning the Big Chief's call came back from the whole tribe: jockamo feen-ay!”
Origin & Attribution
The chant belongs to the Black Mardi Gras Indian tradition of New Orleans. James "Sugar Boy" Crawford released it as "Jock-A-Mo" on Checker Records in November 1953; he said he set two Mardi Gras Indian chants to music and had sung it as "Chock-a-mo" until the label misspelled it. The Dixie Cups, who learned it from their grandmother, recorded it as "Iko Iko" (1965, No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100). Crawford sued and settled in 1967 for a share of performance credit; a 2002 New Orleans jury confirmed the Dixie Cups as the song's writers. Crawford said he did not know what the word meant; Dr. John's 1972 liner notes gloss it as "jester." Proposed sources include Mobilian Jargon, Louisiana Creole French and West African languages, and none is proven.
1953
Sugar Boy Crawford releases "Jock-A-Mo" on Checker Records
1965
The Dixie Cups' "Iko Iko" reaches No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100
2002
A New Orleans jury affirms the Dixie Cups as the song's writers
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
New Orleans, Louisiana · 1950s
Spoken by
Black Mardi Gras Indian tribes of New Orleans; later singers and audiences worldwide
$JOCKAMThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Enduring73 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
35/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1953
in the culture
Recorded here
2026
point of first record
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
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Citations & Sources
■
Sugar Boy and his Cane Cutters, "Jock-A-Mo" (Checker 787, November 1953)
recording
■
The Dixie Cups, "Iko Iko" (Red Bird, 1965)
recording
■
+ Cite a sourceWikipedia, 'Iko Iko' (court history 1967, 2002; word-origin theories); secondary
web
See also