Activities from December 2014 to March 2015

1. MURPHY BROWNE
ACTIVITIES

2. BERBICIAN GRIOT

3. Wychwood Barns December 2014

4. Kwanzaa presentation December 2014

5. Kwanzaa Art 2014

6. Murphy Browne (Abena Agbetu)

7. Ngoma Griots February 21 - 2015

8. Dub poet Mutabaruka at University of
Toronto

9. Wychwood Barns December 2014

10. Ngoma Griots in action

11. Ngoma Griots storytelling session

12. Nana Yaa Asantewaa II and Taiwo

13. AMERINDIAN HERITAGE MONTH IN
GUYANA
• Guyana is an Amerindian word which means Land of many waters.
September is Amerindian Heritage Month in Guyana and has been
officially recognized as such since 1995. The word Amerindian is a
combination of the words American Indian. This is the name that
was given to the indigenous people of the Americas, the Caribbean
and the Guianas by the European colonizers who arrived in this
part of the world on the heels of “explorer” Christopher Columbus
and others of his ilk. We know that Columbus did not “discover”
any new lands when he arrived in this part of the world since these
lands were already populated. What many people surprisingly still
do not know is that Columbus was lost when he happened upon
these shores. He was on his way to India and with the arrogance of
Europeans, on landing and deciding that he was in India named the
people he met “Indians.” The name obviously stuck and more than
five hundred year later the indigenous people of the “Americas”
remain “Indians.”

14. AMERINDIAN HERITAGE MONTH IN
GUYANA
• Guyana formerly “British Guiana” also fondly known as
“BG” or sarcastically sometimes referred to as “Bookers
Guiana” in days of yore is the only English speaking
country on the South American continent. Guyana is
also home to nine groups of Amerindians who mostly
live in Guyana’s interior area of rainforests and
savannah land. The Guyana census of 2002 puts the
Amerindian population at 9% of the country’s
inhabitants. The vast majority of other Guyanese (90%)
live on the narrow coastland. Guyana’s 83,000 square
miles is home to less than 800,000 people, the 2012
census puts the number at 795,369.

15. AMERINDIAN HERITAGE MONTH IN
GUYANA
• The petroglyphs found near Kurupukari in the
Iwokrama rainforest in Guyana prove that
Guyana’s indigenous people (Arawaks,
Arecunas, Akawaios, Caribs, Macushis,
Patamonas, Wapisianas, Warraus and Wai-
Wais) have lived on the South American
continent since at least 5000 BCE.

16. AMERINDIAN HERITAGE MONTH IN
GUYANA
• As a child attending Primary School (Elementary/Grade School) in Guyana
we read about the Arawaks in our “reading books.” Those “Caribbean
Reader” books were a series which began from the Preparatory Division A
(Grade one) with Mr. Joe a farmer and his animals Miss Tibs (a cat) Mother
Hen and her chick Percy, Mr. Dan (a dog) Master Willy (a pig) Mr. Grumps
(a goat) Miss Peg (a donkey) and Mrs. Cuddy (a cow.) In Book 2 which we
read in Standard 2 (Grade 4) we read the story of Rainstorm – an Arawak
story explaining the reasons for rainfall. The story told of an Arawak
woman who became stuck between the sky and earth and when it rained
she was crying because she could not return to the sky or come down to
earth. In the series of Caribbean Readers there were other stories about
some of the indigenous people of the Caribbean and South America (the
Arawaks and Caribs.) These stories did not include the other native people
of Guyana (Arecunas, Akawaios, Macushis, Patamonas, Wapisianas,
Warraus and Wai-Wais) who I did not know about until my father (a police
officer) was transferred to the Rupununi. In the Rupununi Savannahs
where we lived for several years we met several groups of Amerindian
people and learned of their culture and their history.

17. AMERINDIAN HERITAGE MONTH IN
GUYANA
• In the Rupununi which was somewhat isolated from the mainland of
Guyana, the Amerindian people frequently crossed the border which
Guyana shares with Brazil because families lived in both countries and
spoke English, Portuguese and their native languages. Amerindians and
their culture thrived in the Rupununi where every year at Easter while
Guyanese on the coastland celebrated with kite flying the Amerindians
celebrated with a rodeo. The vaqueros (cowboys) who worked on the
various ranches scattered across the Rupununi would display their skills at
staying seated on a bucking bronco, fastening a lasso on a wild bull and
riding same, milking wild cows, racing and subduing greasy pigs and many
other entertaining activities. The Rupununi Rodeo was the highlight of the
year for everyone living the region. The staple food for the Amerindians
was farine and tasso. Farine is made from grated cassava the after the
cassava juice has been squeezed out; what is left is sifted and then
parched in a heated flat pan leaving grains which is eaten with tasso (dried
beef.)

18. AMERINDIAN HERITAGE MONTH IN
GUYANA
• The Amerindian culture was also expressed
through dance performances and language. In
1977 African Guyanese linguist Dr. Walter F.
Edwards now a professor at Wayne State
University in Detroit, Michigan, did a study of the
Akawaio and Arecuna languages through the
University of Guyana. Together with another
African Guyanese linguist Dr. Kean Gibson who is
now a professor of Linguistics and Anthropology
at the University of the West Indies they
published An introduction to the Akawaio and
Arekuna peoples of Guyana.

19. AMERINDIAN HERITAGE MONTH IN
GUYANA
• Interest in Guyana’s indigenous people and their
inclusion in the Guyanese society also led to the
Guyana government including the Amerindian word
Mashramani as the celebration of Guyana’s Republic
Day on February 23. Mashramani means "the
celebration of a job well done." Timehri which means
“paintings and drawings on the rock” was the name of
Guyana’s national airport (named by the then
Guyanese government to honour the indigenous
people of Guyana, changed from Atkinson in 1969)
until 1997 when the new Guyana government elected
in 1992 did another name change.

20. AMERINDIAN HERITAGE MONTH IN
GUYANA
• In 1972 the Umana Yana which means "Meeting place of the people" was
commissioned by then Prime Minister of Guyana Linden Forbes Sampson
Burnham. The Umana Yana was built by a team of about 60 members of
the Wai-Wai people. The famous benab which was modelled on the
traditional home of the Wai-Wai people was located on Main Street,
Kingston in Georgetown, Guyana’s capital city. This historic landmark stood
55 feet (16.78 metres) high and was made from thatched allibanna and
manicole palm leaves and wallaba posts lashed together with mukru, turu
and nibbi vines. There were no ladders, nails or hammers used in the
construction of the Umana Yana and when it was finished it occupied an
area of 460 square metres, which made it the largest benab in Guyana.
The Umana Yana was specially constructed to serve as a V.I.P. lounge and
recreation spot during the Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference held
in Georgetown in August 1972. Over the 42 years that the Umana Yana
stood in majestic splendour and a testament to the skill and representing
the recognition of Amerindian culture in Guyana, it was used as an
exhibition and conference centre.

21. AMERINDIAN HERITAGE MONTH IN
GUYANA
• Unfortunately the historic Umana Yana is no longer standing in pride of
place in Georgetown. In the midst of celebrating Amerindian Heritage
Month in Guyana the historic building was which was a testament to the
high regard in which Guyana’s Amerindian people and their culture are
held, was destroyed by a mysterious fire. On September 9 the building
burned reportedly with 15 minutes. There is of course great hope and
anticipation that the Umana Yana will be rebuilt. Representatives from
the Peoples National Congress Reform which is the political party of the
late LFS Burnham who commissioned the construction of the Umana Yana
issued a statement following the destruction of the historic building: “The
PNCR has a proud association with this historic landmark, which was
commissioned by our Founder Leader Forbes Burnham in 1972 and was
erected by a team of about sixty Wai–Wai Amerindians, one of the nine
indigenous tribes of Guyana. Everything must be done to ensure that this
historic and iconic landmark is rebuilt as soon as possible.”
•

22. AMERINDIAN HERITAGE MONTH IN
GUYANA
• The Guyana government has promised to
rebuild the Umana Yana. A representative
speaking on behalf of the Guyana government
is quoted as saying: “We are happy that no
one was injured and we will be working along
with the fire service to determine the cause of
the fire…we have to include this in next year’s
budget because this is an important heritage
building for us and we would want to see it
erected back as fast as possible.”

23. AMERINDIAN HERITAGE MONTH IN
GUYANA
Murphy Browne
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
© Tuesday , March 31, 2015