THE works of Canon John Peter Bennett were recently honoured by the Amerindian Research Unit of the University of Guyana (UG) Turkeyen Campus with a programme titled, “Asserting the Amerindian Presence: The life and works of JP Bennett”. Held in the Education Lecture Theatre at the Turkeyen campus, the work was coordinated by Unit Coordinator Al Creighton in Bennett’s memory. Bennett was a priest, a leader among his people, the author of an Arawak/English dictionary, and translator of biblical texts into Arawak.
He was zealous for the development of the Pomeroon River community, especially his home village of Kabakaburi.
According to Creighton, Bennett was a unique individual, in many ways a pioneer and an important contributor to Amerindian studies in Guyana. His work has been innovative and very important in the preservation and propagation of Indigenous languages.
The programme featured presentations from visiting researchers — Professor Ian Robertson of the University of the West Indies, and Professor Walter Edwards of Wayne State University.
Also in attendance was Jennifer Wishart, Director of the Walter Roth Museum; as were Romona Bennett of UG, who also happens to be the granddaughter of the late Canon Bennett; Jennifer Baharally of Kabakaburi; and Ms Claudette Austin, Dean of the School of Education and Humanities at UG.
The proceedings were chaired by the Head of Language and Cultural Studies at UG, Terrence Fraser-Bradshaw.
According to the Public Relations Division of UG, Bennett died at the age of 97 in November 2011, and has left a “distinguished record” of work and achievements. He was the first Guyanese Amerindian to be ordained a priest and a canon in the Anglican Church.
A release from the UG Public Relations Department said Bennett was outstanding in the field of language and culture — for his own work as an author, researcher and translator, and for his assistance and contribution to the work of other scholars and linguists.
It said Bennett wrote an Arawak Dictionary (1974, unpublished) at UG, the expanded version of which was published as An Arawak/English Dictionary (with an English world list) (1989; 1994) by the Walter Roth Museum.
His other publications are The Arawak Language in Guyanese Culture (1998); Kabethechino with Richard Hart, edited by Janette Forte (1991); Twenty-Eight Lessons in Loko (Arawak): A Teaching Guide (1995); and he wrote Loko stories.
“His public and social contributions through his career in the church, combined with his linguistic and educational work in the translations of religious biblical texts, have strengthened attempts at language preservation,” UG said.
The event also saw exhibits by the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology; the UG Library; The Division of Creative Arts at UG, and the Amerindian Research Unit.