Stretching up to 15 feet in the air and dressed head to toe in bright madras prints or raffia skirts, Moko Jumbies are soaring figures with roots all over the African continent. Using their height to keep a lookout and wearing mirrors to ward off evil, they are protectors, towering above the villages they shield with a revered omnipotence.⁠ ⁠ When enslaved people were transported from Africa and forced to labor in the Caribbean, their Moko Jumbies came with them. And while the presence of Moko Jumbies faded throughout the Caribbean (until a fierce revival brought them back in the 1990s), they never left the Virgin Islands. Here in St. Croix, Moko Jumbies have watched over their ward for the last 200 years. You can see them at least three times a week during the holiday season—especially during the Crucian Christmas Festival, which runs from December 26 through January 9, as well as the Coconut Festival in early December. For more on their history and how Moko Jumbies remain a Caribbean...