Folklore 103: Krik? Krak!

When we tire kont, tell stories, there is a simple starter question.

Krik?

And the room should enthusiastically answer:

KRAK!

This call-and-response technique is centuries old—older than colonization and similar devices are used all across the Caribbean islands.

Where the Call Comes From

The call-and-response form is one of the oldest organizing principles of oral culture across the African continent.

In Yoruba tradition, the griot or aròkin would open a ceremony with a call that the community was expected to answer.

In Fon and Ewe communities of present-day Benin and Ghana, communal song and story were structured around the same principle: the leader calls, the group responds.

Enslaved Africans brought this structure to Saint-Domingue (modern-day Haiti).

But interestingly, the island already had its own traditions of communal voice.

The Taíno people of Ayiti practiced what they called areítos—ceremonial gatherings where history, genealogy, and cosmology were sung and danced, often in a call-and-response form.

The cacique or designated singer would lead; the community would follow and repeat. The areíto was how the Taíno remembered who they were, passed laws, and marked seasons.

The two worlds blended, resulting in a strong call-and-response culture.

Side note: French colonial culture contributed, but more in the framed story—the morality tale with a tidy lesson, the domestic fable. Think of the rat who plays tooth fairy in Haitian culture; it is actually a derivative of French tales.

The Contract of Krik/Krak

What makes the Haitian form distinctive is that Krik/Krak doesn’t just open a story—it holds the storyteller accountable to the audience throughout.

If people are participating in your storytelling, you have to match their energy.

Another common call-and-response vehicle is the riddle format, which often gets confused with Krik/Krak, but Krik/Krak is uniquely for storytelling.

Timtim? Bwa chèch! is a call-and-response used specifically to signal a riddle or a puzzle. 

The structure is:

Timtim? — Essentially “Are you ready?” It has no direct meaning in Kreyòl beyond the call itself.
Bwa chèch! — Literally “dry wood.” And of course, dry wood catches fire easily—meaning, I am ready.

Then a devinèt (riddle/puzzle) is told, and the responder must try to solve it.

Although we conflate the two, because often a devinèt is told within the storytelling communal practice, they are distinct storytelling devices.

What are some other examples of call and response that you know of?

An Example of Haitian Story, in Haitian Creole

This article is part of Fonkoze’s ongoing series on Haitian culture, oral tradition, and the knowledge systems carried across generations.