Guide to Garifuna language materials
by Wendy Griffin
Part III--Books
Written in the Garífuna Language
A. Traditional
Stories (Uragas)
Uraga garifunouti, Summer Institute of Linguistics.
See www.sil.org/language/cab
Uraga: la
tradición oral del pueblo Garifuna by Salvador Suazo This is a bilingual text
which read one way is in Spanish and when turned around and upside down is in
Garifuna. Garifuna traditional stories
are told at wakes by men at night when children are not present. Since children
are not their intended audience, many traditional Garifuna stories are not
suitable for use in bilingual intercultural education in primary grades.
CUNY Brooklyn published two bilingual books
(Garifuna/English) of Belizean Garifuna Uraga or folk tales by Belizean
Garifuna Jessica Castillo when she was in the US doing graduate work. She is
now in Belize again.
Roger Reeck’s SIL project has reportedly printed a
book of Garifuna stories Uraga in Garifuna as something easier to read before
trying to begin to read the Bible in Garifuna. He also has many Garifuna
stories which they have not published.
Being a Baptist missionary and the Honduran Baptist church condemns
Garifuna ceremonies as diabolic and is against dancing, causes some tension in
what Garifuna materials that project would publish.
The Honduran Garifuna stories Wendy Griffin, who does
not speak Garifuna well, has collected are in Spanish only in Los Garifunas de
Honduras, and in English and Spanish in Habia Una Vez en una Comunidad
Garifuna/Once Upon a Time in a Garifuna Village (a manuscript with drawings by
her). She also published many of the stories in Honduras This Week in English,
but that newspaper is no longer published nor is it online. The principal paper
archive is held by the owner’s children in Tegucigalpa who own Honduras This
Week Videos at www.hondurasthisweek.com.
There were many articles about the bilingual intercultural education project in
this newspaper and also about the cultures of the ethnic minorities of Honduras,
particularly the Afro-Honduran cultures like Garifuna, Miskitos, and Black
English speakers, because those were the groups near her Trujillo home and
those were with the Pech the principal groups she helped with bilingual
intercultural education.
EduAcción, a USAID funded project in Colon and the
Mosquitia areas of Honduras, has collected Garifuna, Pech, and Ladino stories
in Spanish. They then asked Pech and Garifuna teachers to hurry up and
translate them into Garifuna. It does not work well trying to go from Spanish
to Garifuna for a traditional story which has very specific vocabulary in
Garifuna and the Garifunas of the National bilingual intercultural program now
called DGEIM are unhappy with the
results and it is uncertain if the book will actually be released to the
schools. There are also issues of intellectual property rights as the stories
were collected without putting people’s names of them and not being clear that
the purpose was to publish them and make them available not only to Garifuna
and Pech children, but also Ladino children. Garifunas sometimes say “celo mi
cultura” I am jealous of my culture, that a lot of elements they do not like to
share, and Wendy Griffin in spite of living among the Garifunas for 16 years in
general most Garífunas will not tell the meaning in Spanish of Garifuna songs
and stories being sung or told. In some
cultures, stories and songs are owned by particular people. Bilingual
intercultural education programs need to take into account Intellectual
Property Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which in Honduras at least are not well
protected under Honduras’s current Intellectual Property Law.
SIL also has the book Shaw, Mary (ed.) According to
our Ancestors: Folk texts from Guatemala and Honduras (1971) and in Spanish
Segun Nuestros Antepasados (1972).
The collections of Honduran Garifuna stories that
exist do not support Nancie Gonzalez’s statement in Sojourners of the Caribbean
(1988) that most Garifuna stories told at wakes are Anasi stories. There may
also be a class of Uraga or traditional stories traditionally told by Garifuna
women, especially when with their children or other women, that are not the
same as the Uraga told at wakes by men. In Los Garifunas de Honduras and in La
Danta que Bailó Dugu there are Uraga stories collected among Honduran Garifuna
women. La Danta que Bailó Dugu which is only in Spanish which has stories told
by a 103 year old Garifuna woman from Masca, collected by a Honduran Spanish
professor from the UNAH, and published
by the Honduran Ministry of Culture is available from www.libreroonline.com. This book is historic as it was the first
book of Honduran oral literature published by the Honduran Ministry of Culture
as traditionally the Honduran Ministry of Culture did not feel that oral
literature, much less of Honduran Blacks, met the criteria of “culture”. The
names of many of the Garifuna spirits or similar dangers in nature like the
Agayuma are recorded here and defined.
B. Poetry
written in Garifuna
Xiomara Cacho, the first Garifuna woman to have a book
published in Honduras, her trilingual Garifuna-English-Spanish poetry book was titled “ La Voz del Corazon” (The Voice
of the Heart), a collection of 8 poems, in 1998 with Editorial Guaymuras. Later
she also published Dios Negro (Black God) and “Wafein and His Rattle” (Wafein y
su Maraca). She recently presented her Master’s thesis on Bilingual
Intercultural Education in Honduras and won a Honduran Literary Prize for her
poetry books. She is a native of the
Garifuna community at Punta Gorda, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras and grew up
speaking more English and Spanish than Garifuna, but improved her Garifuna
while attending the Trujillo Normal School (grades 10 -12). She is currently
studying her doctorate degree in the US with a scholarship. She is also
mentioned in Honduran literary historian Helen Umaña’s book “La Palabra
Iluminada” (The Illuminated Word) on Honduran poetry (2006). She is included in
an article on Garifuna women poets that was published by Latinoamerica: Revista
de Estudios Latinoamericanos (Latin America: A Journal of Latin American
studies). The article is available online. She was previously the Garifuna
representative to the national bilingual intercultural education program
PRONEEAH.
C. Modern
Children’s stories Written in Garifuna
The Honduran national bilingual intercultural
education program PRONEEAH produced the book Yalifu (Pelican) with a collection
of Garifuna stories suitable for young children. Although it says on the cover
that it is a collection of the Oral Tradition, in fact these are modern stories
written by two Garifuna teachers-- Prof. Casimiro Laredo of the Socorro Sorrel
School in Trujillo and Prof. Teofilo LaCayo retired from the school in Limon,
Honduras. All of the materials produced by PRONEEAH are developed in
Tegucigalpa while the people who know the culture like uragistas (men who tell
uraga) are in the communities. Also noted above, many uraga are not suitable
for young children, just as some Grimm’s fairytales like Bluebeard are not
really children’s tales, so these teachers wrote new stories for Garifuna
children. Most Honduran teachers do not know how to teach with stories in the
classroom as this is not a technique common in Honduran schools nor is it
taught in Normal Schools. Although the Honduran Ministry of Education had World
Bank funding to put libraries in Garifuna and other ethnic schools, in fact, most Garifuna schools,
except for Punta Gorda, Roatan, do not have libraries.
D. History Books
Written in the Garifuna language
Salvador Suazo has published a bilingual
(Spanish-Garifuna) history book of the Garifunas. It is listed in WorldCat
under his name.
Ruben Reyes has made two audio tapes one in Spanish
and one in Garifuna (Luragate Garifuna) on the History of the Garifunas. Available
on www.garistore.com
E. Cookbooks
Written in the Garifuna language
Salvador Suazo has published a bilingual
(Spanish-Garifuna) cookbook of Garifuna foods—Da Nubebe: Un Compendio de
Comidas Garifunas. Read one way it is
all in Spanish and read the other way it is all in Garifuna. This is currently
out of stock at Garistore.com It was for sale at Libraria Guaymuras last year and
thus probably can be obtained by ordering from Libros Centroamericanos or
Literatura de Vientos Tropicales, book importers from Central America. Libraría
Guaymuras has a website so that you can see what is in stock, but they do not
ship.
F. Books or
CD liner notes with Songs in the Garifuna Language
Lanigui Garifuna by Salvador Suazo. (Garifuna Heart)
This was a small songbook with songs only in Garifuna. It included Yarumein (St.Vincent)
the National Anthem of the Garifunas, a song from Moors and Christains (Tiras),
a song about a curse coming from new York by way of Haiti to come and kill the
person, hunguhungu songs of women, Piajamadi a Christmas time dance seldom done
any more. It was accompanied by a cassette. Primarily it was the women’s dance
club from Sangrelaya who was singing. It was published on the occasion of the
200th anniversary of the arrival of the Garifunas to Honduras (1997)
and was sold in Libraria Guaymuras. While most of Salvador Suazo’s works are in
US university libraries it appears that this one is not. Yarumein sung by Honduran Garifuna Aurelio
Martinez with his traditional music group Lita Ariran can be heard on the
Garifuna Coalition website.
Ayó by the Garifuna Collective. Recorded by Stonetree
Records, Belize.
There are a lot of CD’s of Garifuna music, but Ayó
(GoodBye) is the first one I have seen with liner notes that include the whole
text of the song in Garifuna and then the whole text of the song in English.
They also have a summary of what the song means and what type of song it is and
they have beautiful color photos including of some rare instruments the
Garifunas can use, but seldom do like the jawbone of a horse or burro, an
African origin instrument. The CD is called Ayó because a number of the songs
were written to say Good bye to Andy Palacios the Garifuna singer who died in
2008 and who founded the Garifuna Collective which has toured the US, Belize, and Canada. Writing songs on the occasion of
someone’s death is very common in the Garifuna culture. Even my Garifuna friend
who seldom attends ceremonies and generally does not sing, wrote a song in
Garifuna when her only son and main financial support died. Stonetree Records recordings can be obtained
on many places on the Internet including their own very informative website and
Amazon.com. There are videos of the Garifuna Collective with Andy Palacios on
Youtube, but the members who actually tour changes.
Armando Crisanto Melendez, the man who has
choreographed and led the Balet Nacional Folklorico Garifuna of Honduras for
over 40 years has written a bilingual Spanish Garifuna songbook,but has not
been able to get funding to publish it, although he is the author of several
other books that have been published. The Balet Nacional Folklorico Garifuna is
part of Casa Garinagu, an autonomous part of the Honduran government and
located on the second floor of a downtown office building right on Central Park
in Tegucigalpa. There are Youtube clips of him speaking at the UCLA library
prior to the presentation of his Balet Nacional Folklórico Garifuna.
G. Plays in the
Garifuna Language
Loubavagu by Rafael Murrillo Selva and Salvador
Suazo. This play uses both Garifuna and
Spanish intermixed. It was presented over 1,000 times nationally and
internationally at theater festivals by the Garifuna theater group Superación
Guadelupe,from the Garifuna community of Guadelupe, and is Honduras’s most famous play by
Honduras’ most famous playwright. Rafael Murrillo Selva did another Garifuna
play Las Danzas de las Almas with a Garifuna theater group from Triunfo de la
Cruz, but it never reached the same success. Rafael Murrillo Selva also did a
play combining Garifuna and Miskito about AIDS with Normal School students in
Tegucigalpa. Honduran students often do plays about diverse aspects of the AIDS
epidemic, and also other topics like immigration. This play tells the story of
the history of the Garifuna people from their formation of Indians mixing with
Blacks, includes some ceremonies like wakes, and includes hysterical parts
about government corruption, immigration, illiteracy, and the walking postman
(correo peaton) in relation to the building of the road to the community of
Guadelupe, Honduras.
H. Health Related Materials in Garifuna
AIDS/HIV Prevention
Radionovela in Garifuna and in Spanish
USAID paid for a radionovela that was bilingual in
Garifuna and in Spanish called Los Ancestros no Muere which was designed to
help Garifunas talk about AIDS. Discussion groups were held in the communities
after the radionovela played on the radio. This radionovela seemed to have been
quite popular, although it seemed to have little effect on teen pregnancies
which if they were doing the things to avoid that then they would also be
avoiding AIDS. Pamphlets about AIDS and
how to use condoms have also been developed in the Garifuna language and used
in bilingual Garifuna Spanish seminars which address questions like how do you
talk to your spouse about protecting your health from AIDS if you use Garifuna
at home.
The Garifuna in Peril Movie, available at www.garifunainperil.com
This movie which is 55% in Garifuna with either
Spanish or English subtitles shows how mothers can talk to daughters, and how
daughters can talk to boyfriends about AIDS, AIDS testing, teen pregnancy in
the context of a teen romance in Los Angeles in what are in my opinion the
tenderest love scenes I have seen with African American actors, teen or older.
The father is also present saying things like What? A boyfriend? Why am I the
last to know?
The SIL people have also done a booklet on malaria
(paludismo) in Garifuna.
I. Christian
and Catholic Religious Materials in the Garifuna Language
Garifuna Bible (Sandu Burutu) 1587 pages. Developed by
the team lead by SIL/Wycliff Bible Translator linguist Roger Reeck. Sociedades
Biblicas Unidas/The Bible Society in Honduras.
Available from garinet.com for $49.97.
Garifunas in Honduras have given it mixed reviews as far as ease of
reading or quality of translation, but it is definitely in use especially on
occasions when there is a Garifuna Mass. Selections from the Garifuna Bible can
be seen for free on the Internet. I have also seen Garifunas use readings from
the Garifuna Bible for the readings of the Via Crucis for Holy Week which in
Trujillo is done going through the Garifuna neighborhood of Cristales to the
Cross of Pardon at the River.
Garifuna Audio New Testament (audio Mp3 CD)
Garifuna Audio Drama New Testament, available from
itunes.
Bungiu Wabai lemesi luma uremu Garifuna by Roy
Cayetano et al. (Hymns, Garifuna, Texts, Liturgies, Belize) There has been a small revolution within the
Catholic Church which now permits and encourages masses said in the indigenous
languages. The Garifunas have embraced this and do Garifuna Masses for special
occasions like Garifuna Day, or in Trujillo every second Sunday of the month is
a time for a Mass with the songs in Garifuna and accompanied by Garifuna
instruments like drums and marracas,and the Lord’s Prayer is even accompanied by
the semi-sacred dance abeimajani and arumajani, the gestured songs done without
drums.
A Belizean
Garifuna Father Marin rose to the level of Bishop of Belize and Chiapas in the
Catholic Church and has helped increase this positive attitude towards the use
of the Garifuna language and instruments in Church. There is a special part of
the Catholic Church el Pastoral Garifuna which helps attend to the spiritual
needs of Garifunas and includes radio shows on Catholic Radio in Garifuna. The
use of Garifuna on the radio in Belize, where they had to write down messages
people wanted to give over the radio, was part of what spurred some activists
to really study how do we write Garifuna. So the two most oppressive
institutions which were killing the Garifuna language—the public schools and
the Church have both done an about face in their official policies since 1992,
some of which has trickled down to the actual communities. In Trujillo, some
teenage Garifuna girls went to older Garifuna women to learn Garifuna so that
they would be able to sing the songs of the Garifuna mass. This is in a
community where trying to form youth dance groups of traditional Garifuna
dances has usually failed due to the low or non-existent level of Garifuna
among Garifuna young people. In Trujillo, there is also a low access cable TV
channel owned by the Garífunas and it frequently shows Garifuna activities in
the community, including anything with Garifuna songs and dances. So Garifuna
is being heard in the media, too, in Garifuna communities.
The Jesus Movie is available in the Garifuna language.
J. Miscellenous
Garifuna Text for Linguistic Analysis
Lines by a Black Carib, by Douglas Mac Rae Taylor
K. Sociolinguistic
Studies and Language Loss among Garifunas
There are also Doctoral Dissertations on
Sociolinguistics and Language Shift among the Belizean Garifunas. Dr. Genevieve
J. Escure also studies the Sociolinguistics of language contact and use between
Creole speakers in Belize and Garifuna speakers in Belize.
Escure, Genevieve (2004) Garifuna in Belize and
Honduras in Creoles, Contact and Language (2004)
Escure, Genevieve, “An Endangered language: Garifuna
in Central America” (Belize and Honduras) 2001-2002 research project with
recordings.
For a general article on the situation of the Garifuna
language over the whole area it is spoken see Wendy Griffin’s Spanish blog www.crisisderechoshumanoshonduras2015.blogspot.com
L. Methodology Text for Teaching Garifuna in the Garifuna
Language
Wani Lé—from SIL
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