KNOWN for their interesting culture, traditions and way of life, Guyana’s first peoples have been working tirelessly to ensure that their heritage is preserved and is passed from generation to generation.
Kaikan, an indigenous village in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), has managed to preserve its unique indigenous language of Akawaio mixed with Arapuna.
During a recent visit to the community, the Guyana Chronicle spoke with Toshao Marlon Williams, who noted that this is a language specific to the village of Kaikan and it puts villagers at an advantage.
According to the village leader, the villagers are able to communicate with those from two other Amerindian tribes, the Patamona and the Akawaio.
He explained to this publication that currently the language is being preserved like many of the other pieces of culture that are being passed down “from grandparent to grandchild.”
The toshao stated that the majority of elders in the village fluently speak the language which was passed down to them by their fore-parents and have been working to ensure that their grandchildren, the next generation, can continue to preserve such a significant part of their identity.
“At home they learn it. Most of the community, it has been passed down from generation to generation and it’s mostly the grandparents teaching their grandchildren because they have a better understanding of it, how to teach it and so on,” said Williams.
BRINGING IT TO SCHOOL
The toshao told the Chronicle that the village council has noted the importance of preserving culture and plans to integrate the native language into the school curriculum starting at the primary level, so that younger children can have a more formal foundation of the language.
“When minister was here last year, we brought it to her attention and she said I think most hinterland schools are doing that; so I think that’s something we are currently working towards to ensure that we can preserve our language,” Williams said.
He further stated that while teaching the language in schools will allow for the preservation of the indigenous culture, it will also provide job opportunities for villagers who could be hired to teach the language to the learners.
Meanwhile, as the council awaits the Ministry of Education’s guidance on this plan, Toshao Williams noted that several initiatives are in the works to ensure that children in the community are able to benefit from free teaching sessions in their native language.
“We’re trying to promote preserving our culture and we want to launch initiatives to ensure that these languages are preserved, especially for the younger ones, because we know sometimes we might have people that might shy away from it and because of modernisation and parents speaking to them predominantly in English. But, it’s our culture and we want to preserve it as much as we can,” he added.
