DICTIONARY

OF THE

GUYANESE AMERINDIANS

AND OTHER SOUTH AMERICAN NATIVE TERMS

An A-Z Guide To Their Anthropology, Cosmology, Culture, Exploration, History, Geography, Legend, Folklore and Myth

Compiled and Edited by

Lal Balkaran

At long last – here is an indispensable reference tool on Guyana’s Amerindians containing over 5,000 entries. As the title indicates, it is a comprehensive A-Z compendium defining and explaining those unique notions relating to their anthropology, acculturation, belief systems, cosmology, ethnobotany, ethnography, ethnology, ethnohistory, religion, exploration, history, geography, folklore, legend, music, myth and politics including other South American native terms. For instance, words like quinine, curare, coca, pepperpot, cassareep, hammock, cannibal, barbecue, buccaneer, ‘Amerindian’ itself, kanaima, peaiaman, shaman, maloco, balata, pegall, corial, woodskin, paiwari, parakari, the syncretic Alleluia Indian religion, and thousands of others are all explained. And there is more!

Amerindians have a unique relationship with the forces of nature, the cosmos, the environment, the forests, rivers, mountains, animals, plants, trees and people of other races. Colourful stories have been woven to explain all of these including: creation myths; reason for animals; the forces of nature; the different Indian tribes and races of mankind; the songs and plumage of birds; shapes of boulders and mountains; origin of strife; trees and many other natural phenomena. Rare legends of Roraima, Shiriri, Kanuku, Essequibo and the more common Kaieteur and El Dorado are all here in this excellently compiled guide.

The book also profiles Amerindian organisations and many who defended and promoted Amerindian cause over the years including:

· The early explorers and missionaries – Keymis, Gravesande, Brett, Schomburgks, Hilhouse, Waterton, Cary-Elwes, MacLintock, Peberdy, and McKenna;

· Early anthropologists – Brett, Im Thurn, and Roth;

· Amerindian ‘Who’s Who’; – Stephen Campbell, John Bennett, Basil Rodrigues, George Simon, Stephanie Correia, David Campbell, and others;

There is also a Time Chart of major Amerindian-related events from 11000BC right up to 2001AD. Added to that are three maps and sixteen appendices. As a bonus, there are twenty two photographs showing the various faces and scenes of the current nine Guyanese Amerindian tribes – Ackawaois, Arawak, Arekuna, Carib, Macushi, Patamona, Wai Wai, Wapishana and Warrau. This is the first time that such broad-based information has been carefully researched and accumulated in a single volume. Indeed, it represents value for money well spent.

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SAMPLE ENTRIES

ALLELUIA INDIANS

An Amerindian religion that started in the 1870s blending Amerindian animistic belief systems with elements of Christianity. This syncretic mixture resembles, to some extent, Macumba of Brazil and Santería of Cuba, both these sects blending elements of Christianity with West African beliefs. Alleluia is now known as the Areruya Church and was started by a Macushi named Pichiwöng (Pisiwöng, Bichiwöng) who lived near the Kanuku mountains in the 1870s…

BABRACOT

The babracot is a kind of wooden grill. Used by Indians throughout South America, it consists of a small stage of green sticks built some two feet above an open fire. Early Spanish settlers observed Taino Indians from Hispaniola using a similar wooden grill they called barbacoa, a term which the Spanish quickly borrowed and corrupted into barbecue.

RORAIMA, MOUNT

Arekunas call it Roroyima, a word that means ‘Mother of the Great Waters’. Other Venezuelan Indians name it Loloima and Dodoima. According to Venezuela’s Pemón Indians, the correct name of Mt. Roraima is Roroima where roro means bluish-green and ma means big. The Makiritare Indians of Venezuela say that the mountain is the remains of a giant sacred tree, felled by mythical animals in order to create the cassava and all other fruits…

TABLE OF CONTENTS

¨ Introduction

¨ Acknowledgements

¨ Time Chart of Amerindian Related Events

¨ General Map of Guyana

¨ Map Showing Distribution of Current Nine Amerindian Tribes

¨ Map Showing Distribution of Some Extinct Tribes

A-Z ENTRIES

APPENDICES

A. Sources of Information

B. Extinct Tribes of Guyana

C. Venezuelan and Surinamese Tribes

D. Brazilian Tribes

E. Sample Words From Amerindian Languages in Guyana

F. Minerals in Guyana

G. Animals in Guyana

H. Main Timbers in Guyana

I. Waterfalls/ Rapids in Guyana

J. Rivers in Guyana

K. Mountains and Mountain Ranges in Guyana

L. Amerindian Villages in Guyana

M. Amerindian Population from 1891

N. Commanders, Directors-General, Lieutenant-Governors, Governors, Governors-General, Chief Minister, Premiers, Prime Ministers, and Presidents for the 1600-2001 Period

O. Amerindian Members of Parliament for the 1957-2001 Period

P. List of Jesuit Priests who worked among the various tribes for the 1857-2002 Period

INDEX

PHOTOGRAPHS and ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Wai Wai men in Konashen

2. General Map of Guyana

3. Map Showing Nine Current Amerindian Tribes

4. Map Showing Some Extinct Amerindian Tribes

5. A Wai Wai benab in Konashen

6. Wai Wai women in Konashen

7. Wapishana vacqueros rounding up cattle in the South Rupununi

8. A typical Amerindian house in the Rupununi

9. A Macushi girl grating cassava

10. Ackawaois Indians preparing to do the ‘Alleluia Dance’

11. Ackawaois Indians doing the ‘Alleluia Dance’

12. An old Arekuna woman fetching firewood in a warishi

13. A Wapishana vacquero in the South Rupununi

14. A Wapishana woman weaving a hammock in Aishalton, South Rupununi

15. A Patamona woman with her child

16. Macushi women and children of the North Rupununi

17. Arawaks and Spanish Arawaks (Basil Rodrigues & the Mariaba band)

18. Arawaks and Warraus doing the ‘Baboon Dance’ in Santa Rosa

19. Spanish-Arawak children off to lunch in their corials

20. A Macushi girl and a Carib boy after a cultural presentation

21. Macushi boys practicing archery

22. A Warrau boy in Santa Rosa

Praise received for Dictionary of the Guyanese Amerindians

… a valuable reference book on the subject.

- Dr. John Hemming, a former Director of the Royal Geographical Society and world-renowned author of several books on the conquest of Peru, Brazil’s Amerindians, and El Dorado.

A very useful study and a good read. Lal Balkaran is to be commended for his zeal and industry. We wish him well and are proud to be associated with this excellent production.

- Tony Montfort - Jesuit Missions, London, England

This well researched and convenient Guide to the history and culture of the Guyanese Amerindians restores awareness of a long forgotten people, and invests them with the respect and dignity they deserve.

- Dr. Frank Birbalsingh, Professor, York University, Canada.

This book provides easy information for anyone who wants to learn about the Amerindians of Guyana, and furnishes enough background data for the serious researcher who may want to indulge in more in-depth research into the history and culture of these proud people.

- Dr. Odeen Ishmael, Ambassador of Guyana to the United States of America.

275pp ISBN 0-9699833-8-7 (8½ x 11 Soft Cover)

Ordering Information

Price is US$29.95 inclusive of ordinary postage. For airmail, please add an extra 15%. Cheques or payment by VISA/MC/AMEX accepted. Please call, e-mail, fax or send your order to:

LBA Publications, 18 Portsmouth Drive, Scarborough, Ontario M1C 5E1, CANADA

Tel: 416-283-4051 Fax: 416-283-7497

E-mail: lbalkaran@attcanada.net www.lbapublications.com

A brief profile of the author

Lal Balkaran is an internal auditor by profession and a widely published author who has written several books and articles on a diverse range of subjects including management, business, third world issues, corruption, travel, education and music. He spent five years among the Wapishana Amerindians as a school teacher in his native Guyana between 1970-75, a defining moment for him ever since. As a result of those years which impacted him, he developed a profound interest in Guyana’s Amerindians in particular and their South American counterparts in general, accumulating a wealth of rare material relating to these indigenous peoples over the years. This guide is the result of that interest and years of research on the subject. Through this book, Mr. Balkaran has made more than a useful contribution towards a greater understanding of Amerindians in Guyana.