GLOWING tributes have been pouring in for the late Joseph Barnabas Simon, who was buried last week in his home community of Pakuri (St. Cuthbert’s Mission).

He is being remembered as a cultural icon, who helped fellow community members embrace a more pro-traditionalist mindset. ‘Uncle Barney,’ as he was commonly known, passed away two Wednesdays ago at the age of 78.

In the days that followed, friends and family members reflected on his life and accomplishments, while almost 300 of them joined him for his final farewell last Monday afternoon.

His body was taken to three different locations in the community before his final resting place, which is where his parents, his third son and sister are also buried.

Joseph Simon, who was the second cousin of master artist and archaeologist, the late George Simon, was not only known at home, but by numerous national and international bodies as well.

The Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology mentioned him as one of the better-known Lokono-Arawak Mucru basketry, traditional weapon, and dugout canoe artisans of the tribe within Guyana. They also displayed a photo of him in action.

Uncle Barney also appeared in the 1996 BBC documentary called ‘Spirits of the Jaguar’ in episode 3 of 4, which was titled ‘Hunters of the Caribbean Sea’ (released in the USA in 1997).
In the episode, elder Joseph Simon can be seen from minute 12:30 to 14:00 wearing a traditional weraka (cotton loincloth) and using a stone axe to fell a tree, which he then turns into a dug-out canoe.
This is perhaps the first modern documentary film ever made for an international audience that featured Lokono-Arawak actors from Guyana.
Prior to that, in late 1992, Mr. Simon’s third daughter Shirling married Damon Gerard Corrie, a well-known and sometimes controversial Lokono-Arawak Guyanese descendant and CARICOM Indigenous rights activist from Barbados.

With the help of his son-in-law and a prominent Taino-Arawak cultural activist and leader called Roberto Borrerro (another indigenous consultant contracted by the BBC to ensure accuracy) Mr. Simon soon embraced a more traditionalist standpoint in the community. He felt that the youths had lost their heritage and wanted to remind them of the values of their ancestors and the use of the land.

For the better part it has worked, but sticking to tradition while navigating through life is no easy task for youngsters, so it continues to be a work in progress — one which the Simson family will continue in Uncle Barney’s name.