An insightful account of Guyana’s rich folkloric heritage
GUYANA has a rich culture of stories, dance, superstitions, rituals and traditions, to which all six races have contributed. So important are these shared bits of culture that they are often attributed to the root of our being. First, there are the Amerindians, Guyana’s indigenous people, who crossed the Bering Strait through Canada, the United States and Central America. Amerindians mastered their natural surroundings, but kept their dances, rituals, ceremonies, and the belief that Man could triumph over his environment if he knew what magic to use.
Millennia later, weapon-bearing White adventurers followed from Holland, Spain, France and Portugal, bringing the book and their own collection of beliefs.
Later on, the slaves who were brought from Africa to serve as human machines comforted themselves and reminisced about their homeland by singing and beating their drums, dancing and telling stories.
Then there are the Chinese and the Portuguese, who came in 1835 and 1855 respectively, bringing their own peculiar cultural bits; then the East Indians came in 1838, adding to the hodgepodge of dance, story, language and practices.

Language
The language we use every day is rife with examples of words from our ancestors. Words such as STELLING for wharf, and POLDER, for drainage trench pay tribute to our Dutch ancestry. And who knew that we got KISKADEE from the French?
The Amerindian heritage of words is far too vast to mention. “Guyana” itself is an Amerindian word; as are the names of many rivers, waterways, mountains, flora and fauna.
We often use Indian words such as carahi for a stew-pan; tawa for a roti pan; and phrases such as naram karam for an ungrateful child. And we owe many of our proverbs and parables to our African ancestors. ‘Run from de coffin; butt up wid de jumbie’ is one such colourful example.

Rituals
Guyana, because of its intensely mixed-up social and cultural background, is a country extremely rich in ritual. In the far ‘Interior’, Amerindian tribes or tribal groupings still dance their native dances. Many of the Amerindian dances imitate animals and birds. In some dances, men stand in a long line with their arms linked, and the women do likewise on the opposite side. The lines then advance and retreat to the beat of a monotonous chant, with each individual stomping hard upon the ground.  Occasionally, the lines break up to drink, and then resume the same dance. Sometimes men and women would get together and link arms, and strut about slowly, bending their bodies forward and backward, this side and that.
Hindu weddings possess colour and symbolism, which place them high on the list of Guyanese rituals.  Invited guests are lavishly fed creole Indian food such as dhal, curry, puri, pumpkin, rice and achar, prepared and cooked outdoors in large pots on makeshift fireplaces.
Unlike the western groom, the Hindu groom is decadently dressed, even wearing a brightly coloured tinsel crown. The ceremony includes many ritual things, such as coloured flags, coloured rice, brass jars, ghee-fed fire, brass jars, mango leaves and more.

Cumfa: A dance of West African origin, the cumfa is characterised by the possession of spirits summoned by the drumming. In the 1930s, the dance was primarily practised in La Penitence, Albuoystown and Charlestown. Main features of this dance include dancing barefoot on broken bottles scattered on the ground, eating fire, plunging into trenches; and butting heads on the ground.

Queh-queh: is a pre-nuptial ceremony still widely practised in the Afro-Guyanese community. The ceremony is celebrated with energetic singing of songs with witty lyrics and sexual innuendos, a game of hiding the bride, and dancing and drinking sessions of wild abandon.

Obeah: men or women were often individuals who desired to dominate; who used a variety of materials for the purpose of harming others. Compounds of dirt from a human grave and the blood of a black cat were mixed into a paste and kept in a goat’s horn.  A dried frog, the tail of a pig, feathers from a white ‘senseh’ fowl, and various herbs to induce trances were some of the other concoctions used.

Folk music
The folk music of Guyana is rich and diverse. There are faith songs, work songs, wedding songs, wake-house songs, play songs, queh-queh songs and a host of other songs.

Folktales
Like folk songs, folk tales and parables are rich and diverse. We can all remember stories of ‘Sensie Bill’ and ‘Stupidee Bill’ and Brer Anansi. The latter, whose stories have come to be known as ‘Nancy Stories’, was brought by West African slaves.

Supernatural beings
There is the ‘Ole Higue’ as known in Guyana.  The Ole Higue prefers the blood of babies or young children, but others are not entirely free from the Ole Higue’s fangs.  She lives as an ordinary mortal in villages among everyone else, and since her real identity is secret, speculation is rife among the villagers, with dire consequences for some hapless people.  Not so long ago, in contemporary Guyana, an elderly woman was beaten to death by villagers on the East Coast of Demerara, with the explanation that they thought she was an Ole Higue.

The Baccoo:  Many are familiar with the genie, a fellow that lives in a lamp, who grants the bearer his wishes whenever the lamp is rubbed. In some parts of Guyana, some old folks will tell you that if you happen upon any closed bottle on the road, seawall or wherever, leave it alone! It is said that the Baccoo lives in such a bottle, and anyone foolish enough to open a green bottle that holds a baccoo pretty much gets stuck with him.
The Baccoo will then grant his master’s wishes, but the master must see to it that the baccoo is well fed with banana and milk. The moment the baccoo begins to feel slighted or neglected, that’s when the trouble starts. The baccoo engages in wanton destruction of his master’s property, breaking windows, throwing rocks, and lighting fires.

Tocouyaha:  The Tocouyaha is a monster in a river opposite Timehri Airport, high up on the Demerara River. It is supposed to be found in the deeps of the Waratilla Creek, opposite Timehri. This is an Amerindian belief, and they say bubbling water can be seen over the spot where the monster is located.

Kanaima:   This is the spirit of vengeance or justice, believed in by Amerindians. Death is caused by a knot in the intestines or in some other mysterious fashion. The kanaima may also possess a person to carry out acts of vengeance.

Makonaima: The Great Spirit of many Amerindian tribes is the Makanaima. The Amerindian legend of the Patamona tribe has it that Kaie — one of the tribe’s great old Chieftains, after whom Kaieteur is named — committed self-sacrifice by canoeing himself over the Kaieteur Falls in order that Makonaima, the Great Spirit, would save the tribe from being destroyed by the savage Caribisi.

Dai-Dai: is a short, squat Amerindian spirit of the forests, who protects the gold and diamond treasures.

Fairmaid: The Fairmaid is a female water spirit that is fed with food without salt. This food is left on foreshores and at the edges of trenches.

Jumbie: This generic term has been given to a spirit, ghost or any sort of supernatural being.

Masacouraman: A powerful spirit of the rivers, the Masacouraman pulls down into the water, at rapids, the boats carrying pork knockers into the bush.

Moongazer: A tall, white and misty figure in legend, the Moongazer habitually gazes at the moon. He may also kill children.