Wiktionary
n. A animal horn utilized by the Maroon people of the West Indies as a musical instrument.
Wikipedia
Abeng (Ä běng) is a novel related to Maroons published in 1984 by Michelle Cliff. It is a quasi-autobiographical novel about a mixed-race Jamaican girl named Clare Savage growing up in the 1950s. It explores the historical repression resulting from British imperialism in Jamaica. Facts regarding imperialism of the island are dispersed throughout the narrative, as well as facts about slavery in Jamaica and Jamaican folklore. It is emphasized that the protagonists are generally unaware of these facts, which often serve to reveal the brutal nature of both slavery and imperialism. In this way Cliff reveals her intentions for the book. It is a piece of revisionist literature meant to counteract Britain's cultural imperialism in Jamaica. The character Clare Savage would return in Michelle Cliff's next novel, No Telephone to Heaven.
Usage examples of "abeng".
Whereas the Maroon tribes, living in settlements, used an abeng - a type of bugle made from the horns of cattle - to signal their warriors or spread the alarm of an approaching white enemy, the followers of Acquaba were nomadic and could not rely on animal products with any certainty.