Walter Roth’s ‘The Animism and Folklore of the Guiana Indians’
WOULD YOU like to know why honey seems always in short supply?
If so, then turn to entry number 135 in Walter E. Roth’s book, ‘The Animism and Folklore of the Guiana Indians’.
“In olden times, bee’s nests and honey were very plentiful in the bush, and there was one man in particular who earned quite a reputation for discovering their whereabouts. One day, while chopping into a hollow tree where he had located some honey, he suddenly heard a voice from the inside calling, ‘Take care! You are cutting me’.
“On opening the tree very carefully, he discovered a beautiful woman, who told him she was Maba [lit. ‘honey’], the Honey-Mother, that is, the Spirit of the Honey. As she was quite nude, he collected some cotton, which she made into a cloth, and he asked her to be his wife. She consented, on condition that he never mention her name, and they lived very happily together for many years.
“And just in the same way he became universally acknowledged as the best man for finding bee’s nests, so she made a name for herself in the way of brewing excellent cassiri and paiwarri.  She had to make only one jugful, and it would prove quite sufficient, no matter the number of visitors; more than this, the one jugful would make them all drunk…”
However, one day, he made the mistake of mentioning her name, quite innocently, and instantly she flew away back to her bee’s nest. He was unable to stop her as she flew off… “And with her, his luck flew, and since that time, honey has always been more or less scarce.”
That is one of the 370 stories in this ‘landmark compilation of the cosmology and beliefs of three of Guyana’s indigenous peoples – Arawak, Carib and Warau’. And there is more.
Would you like to know how the moon got a dirty face? Would you like to know how pain, misery and death came into the world; how alligator came to have its present shape; how the birds obtained their distinctive markings; how the Indians learned to paddle; how the lazy man was cured; how the world was created…?
Then turn to a recent reissue of Walter E. Roth’s book, ‘The Animism and Folklore of the Guiana Indians’.
Reprinting of rare and out-of-print Guyanese books will re-shape the landscape of Guyanese Literature. No, not a single word or thought has been changed in those texts since they were first published, some first published centuries ago.
The reprinting will make those texts readily accessible to more people for scholarship, elucidation and enjoyment. This reprinting movement will, according to the Series  Preface written by President Bharrat Jagdeo, “remind us of our literary heritage, and it will also remind us of our reputation for scholarship in the fields of history, anthropology, sociology and politics, through the reprinting of seminal works in these subjects.”
In June 2011, The Caribbean Press released another two titles of a projected target of thirty six in a series titled ‘The Guyana Classics Library’. With these releases, the new press can boast a record of producing some twenty books in approximately twenty months.
The reprinting of the text is one aspect of the project, but more importantly, each text carries a scholarly introduction by authorities on the subject. The two most recent reprints are ‘Mama Dot’ by Fred D’Aguiar, and ‘The Animism and Folklore of the Guiana Indians’ by Walter E. Roth.
‘The Animism and Folklore of the Guiana Indians’ by Walter E. Roth was first published in June 1913. It was the result, according to the author’s preface, of a determination to devoting “all my spare time – and there has been plenty of it – to an ethnographical survey of the native tribes of British Guiana, somewhat on the lines I had already followed in the case of North Queensland [Australia].” He further stated: “In the course of my ethnographical work, I collected sufficient material in the way of myth, legend, and fable to warrant the publication of a separate volume on Animism and Folk-lore, and so the following pages have come to be written.” In 1970, it was reissued by Johnson Reprint Corporation.
This 2011 reissue by The Caribbean Press is accompanied by a scholarly introduction written by Janette Bulkan. Listing the merits of the book, Bulkan writes: “…is the scrupulous care which Roth characteristically brought to the task of recording the words of his interlocutors [and] Roth’s separation of his comments from the text… permits each reader to experience a story directly.”
Further, Bulkan states that we can read these narratives on different levels. “Firstly, as a window into the fascinating neo-tropical world, with its endemic profusion of plant and animal life forms. We, like the European explorers and naturalists, can immerse ourselves into this biodiversity through the medium of these stories. Secondly, we can also marvel at this glimpse into the sophisticated cosmology and complex world views of Guyana’s first peoples.”
The efficacy of the book is strengthened with a detailed table of contents, skilful illustrations, listing of stories, a bibliography and a glossary. This, Bulkan says, is “a bequest to our nation.”

WHAT’S HAPPENING:
•    A UNESCO-sponsored one-week creative writing workshop is set for Monday, August 8, 2011, between 09:00h and 16:00h. This project will be supervised by Writers in Concert (WICK), headed by Mr. Petamber Persaud. Limited places are available on a ‘first-come-first-serve’ basis. Facilitators will include local and international teachers/writers. The venue is the national Library. In order to apply, please email me your intention.

(To respond to this author, either call him on (592) 226-0065 or send him an email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com)