domingo, 25 de enero de 2015

Part III --Books Written in the Garifuna Language by Type of book


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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