1.
George Simon (artist and archaeologist)
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George Simon is a Lokono Arawak artist and archaeologist from Guyana. He is the founder and mentor of the Lokono Artists Group, Simon is widely regarded as one of the leading Guyanese artists of his generation, and his paintings are notable for their explorations of Amerindian culture and the Guyanese environment. He has also recognized for his achievements as an educator, his efforts to develop opportunities for Amerindian artists in Guyana. George Simon was born on 23 April 1947 to Olive and Mark Simon in St. Cuthberts Mission on the Mahaicony River in British Guiana and his father was a woodcutter, and his mother was a housewife. Simon attended school at St Cuthberts Mission up until the age of 12, when he was 12 years old, Simon was adopted by James William Pink - an English Anglican priest who was serving in the Mahaica-Berbice region at that time. He subsequently moved with his foster-father to Linden and then to Georgetown, in 1970, Simon and his foster-father moved to Essex, England. From 1972 to 1974 Simon studied A-level Art at Thurrock and Basildon College in Grays, in 1975, he enrolled at the University of Portsmouth where he studied for a BA in fine art, with a special focus on art history and 19th-century art. He graduated with honours in 1978, in 1978, Simon returned to Guyana and began working as a lecturer in art at the Burrowes School of Art, and then at the University of Guyana. Simon worked at the Walter Roth Museum until 1992, and it was during this time that he began his training in archaeology and anthropology, as part of his work at the Walter Roth Museum, Simon took part in numerous anthropological expeditions to various parts of Guyana. These expeditions had a impact on his life and his artistic development. Shortly after joining the Walter Roth Museum, Simon was asked to lead an expedition to a Wai-Wai community in the south of Guyana, the expedition stayed at the Wai-Wai village of Sheparyimo for a month, conducting anthropological work among the community. Many of the expeditions in which Simon took part involved journeys on the Essequibo River and he also spoke more generally of the way in which all of the expeditions in which he took part transformed his perspective and particularly his relationship to Amerindian culture in Guyana. He explained that prior to this period he had traveled very little in Guyana, and had felt partially cut off from people and his work at the Walter Roth Museum, therefore, enabled him to be reunited with people and to explore his Amerindianness. During these years, Simon also worked hard to improve the training, concerned about Amerindians from his village not going very far in their education, Simon founded a drawing and design workshop in St Cuthberts mission in August 1988. The workshop fostered a number of talents who have since achieved artistic recognition in their own right, including Oswald Hussein, Roaland Taylor. These artists - including Simon - are known collectively as the Lokono Artists Group, in February 1991, Simon organised an exhibition of his own work along with the work of nine other artists from the Lokono Artists Group at the Hadfield Foundation. The exhibition was entitled Contemporary Amerindian Art, Contemporary Amerindian Art launched a tradition of exhibitions of Amerindian art that are organised most years as part of Amerindian Heritage Month. In 1992, Simon returned to England to study for an MA in Field, Simon completed the MA in 1994, when he returned to Guyana
2.
Guyana
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Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a sovereign state on the northern mainland of South America. It is, however, included in the Caribbean Region due to its cultural, historical. Guyana is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Brazil to the south and southwest, Suriname to the east, with 215,000 square kilometres, Guyana is the fourth-smallest country on mainland South America after Uruguay, Suriname and French Guiana. The region known as the Guianas consists of the large landmass north of the Amazon River. Originally inhabited by indigenous groups, Guyana was settled by the Dutch before coming under British control in the late 18th century. It was governed as British Guiana, with mostly a plantation style economy until the 1950s and it gained independence in 1966, and officially became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970. The legacy of British rule is reflected in the political administration and diverse population, which includes Indian, African, Amerindian. Guyana is the only South American nation in which English is the official language, the majority of the population, however, speak Guyanese Creole, an English-based creole language, as a first language. In addition to being part of the Anglophone Caribbean, Guyana is one of the few Caribbean countries that is not an island in the West Indies, CARICOM, of which Guyana is a member, is headquartered in Guyanas capital and largest city, Georgetown. In 2008, the joined the Union of South American Nations as a founding member. The name Guyana is derived from Guiana, the name for the region that formerly included Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Guyana is derived from an Indigenous Amerindian language, there are nine indigenous tribes residing in Guyana, the Wai Wai, Macushi, Patamona, Lokono, Kalina, Wapishana, Pemon, Akawaio and Warao. Historically the Lokono and Kalina tribes dominated Guyana, although Christopher Columbus sighted Guyana during his third voyage, the Dutch were the first to establish colonies, Essequibo, Berbice, and Demerara. After the British assumed control in 1796, the Dutch formally ceded the area in 1814, in 1831 the three separate colonies became a single British colony known as British Guiana. Since its Independence in 1824 Venezuela has claimed the area of land to the west of the Essequibo River, in 1899 an international tribunal ruled the land belonged to Great Britain. Guyana achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 26 May 1966 and became a republic on 23 February 1970, the US State Department and the US Central Intelligence Agency, along with the British government, played a strong role in influencing political control in Guyana during this time. The American government supported Forbes Burnham during the years of independence because Cheddi Jagan was identified as a Marxist. In 1978, Guyana received international notice when 918 members of the American cult, Peoples Temple, however, most of the suicides were by Americans and not Guyanese
3.
Native American religion
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Native American religions are the spiritual practices of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Traditional Native American ceremonial ways can vary widely, and are based on the histories and beliefs of individual tribes, clans. Early European explorers describe individual Native American tribes and even small bands as each having their own religious practices, theology may be monotheistic, polytheistic, henotheistic, animistic, or some combination thereof. Traditional beliefs are passed down in the forms of oral histories, stories, allegories and principles. From the 1600s European Catholic and Protestant denominations sent missionaries to convert the tribes to Christianity and this forcible conversion and suppression of Indigenous languages and cultures continued through the 1970s. This government persecution and prosecution continued until 1978 with the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, some non-Native anthropologists estimate membership in traditional Native American religions in the 21st century to be about 9000 people. Many adherents of traditional spiritual ways also attend Christian services, at least some of the time, since the 80 years of those prior legal persecutions ended with AIRFA, some sacred sites in the United States are now protected areas under law. European Christian missionaries were active and established missions and religious schools among Native peoples. According to Jacob Neusner, Native American Christianity is often fundamentalist in theology, conservative in their practice, for example, St. David Pendleton Oakerhater, who was canonized as an Episcopal saint but was a Sun Dancer, as well. According to James Treat, Native American Christians have constructed and maintained their, Religious identities with a variety of considerations in mind. Many native Christians accomplish this identification without abandoning or rejecting native religious traditions. ”In response, in part Smith said, “In our zeal to tell you of the good news of Jesus Christ, we were closed to the value of your spirituality. We ask you to us and to walk together with us in the Spirit of Christ, so our peoples may be blessed. Two years after Smith’s Apology, the All Native Circle Conference was formed in 1988 as a conference of the United Church of Canada. It is “based on different Aboriginal cultural ways of life and languages. ”It understands and honours “the cultural values, mission and ministry of Native Peoples. ”The Earth Lodge Religion was founded in northern California and southern Oregon tribes such as the Wintun. It spread to such as the Achomawi, Shasta, and Siletz. It was also known as the Warm House Dance among the Pomo and it predicted occurrences similar to those predicted by the Ghost Dance, such as the return of ancestors or the worlds end. The Earth Lodge Religion impacted the later practice, the Dream Dance, belonging to the Klamath. Ghost Dance is a general term that encompasses different religious revitalization movements in the Western United States
4.
Christianity
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Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
5.
Island Caribs
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The Island Caribs, also known as the Kalinago or simply Caribs, are an indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. They may have descended from the Mainland Caribs of South America, at the time of Spanish contact, the Caribs were one of the dominant groups in the Caribbean, which owes its name to them. They lived throughout the Windward Islands, Dominica, and possibly the southern Leeward Islands, historically it was thought their ancestors were mainland Caribs who conquered the islands from their previous inhabitants, known as the Igneri. In the early period, the Caribs had a reputation as warriors who raided neighboring islands. Early Europeans claimed that they practiced cannibalism – the word derives from a corruption of their name. Today, the Caribs and their descendants continue to live in the Antilles, the Garifuna or Black Caribs, a group of mixed Carib and African ancestry, also live principally in Central America. The Caribs are believed to have migrated from the Orinoco River area in South America to settle in the Caribbean islands about 1200 AD, the Taíno had settled the island chains earlier in history, migrating from the mainland. Caribs traded with the Eastern Taíno of the Caribbean Islands, the Caribs produced the silver products which Ponce de Leon found in Taíno communities. None of the insular Amerindians mined for gold but obtained it by trade from the mainland, the Caribs were skilled boat builders and sailors. They appeared to have owed their dominance in the Caribbean basin to their mastery of warfare, according to Floyd, The question arose in Columbuss time whether Indians could be enslaved and Queen Isabel had ruled against it. These attacks and the some of the perpetrators, at least, were cannibals. On 3 June 1511, Ferdinand declared war on the Caribs, others were assimilated during the colonial period, a few retained areas such as in Dominica. Small populations survive, specifically in the Carib Territory in northeast Dominica, the so-called Black Caribs of St. They intermarried with the Carib and formed the last native culture to resist the British and it was not until 1795 that British colonists transported the so-called Black Caribs to Roatan Island, off Honduras. Their descendants continue to live today and are known as the Garifuna ethnic group. Carib resistance delayed the settlement of Dominica by Europeans, the so-called Black Carib communities that remained in St. Vincent and Dominica retained a degree of autonomy well into the 19th century. The last known speakers of Island Carib died in the 1930s, the Kalinago of Dominica maintained their independence for many years by taking advantage of the islands rugged terrain. The islands east coast includes a 3, 700-acre territory formerly known as the Carib Territory that was granted to the people by the British Crown in 1903, there are only 3,000 Caribs remaining
6.
Kalina people
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The Kalina, also known as the Caribs, mainland Caribs and several other names, are an indigenous people native to the northern coastal areas of South America. Today, the Kalina live largely in villages on the rivers and coasts of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and they speak a Cariban language known as Carib. They may be related to the Island Caribs of the Caribbean, traditionally, Westerners have called the Kalina people variants of the Spanish name Caribe, including Caribs in English, Galina in French, and Karaïeb in Dutch. However, the speakers call themselves Kalina or Karìna, spelled variously, variants include Kalina, Cariña, Kariña, Kalihna, Kalinya, other native names include Maraworno and Marworno. Kalina may distinguish themselves as Kalina tilewuyu, partly to differentiate themselves from the mixed Maroon-Kalina inhabitants of Suriname, use of Kalina and related variants has become common practice only recently in publications, many sources continue to use Caribs or associated names. Lacking a written form of language before the arrival of Europeans, Kalina history was passed orally from one generation to the next through tales of myth. For a long time, the few Europeans studying the history of the Amerindian people of area did not distinguish between the various Caribbean tribes. For the reasons given, historical information regarding the Kalina is rare, making up for lack of written records, archaeologists have to date uncovered 273 Amerindian archeological sites on only 310 km² of the land recovered from the Sinnamary River by the Petit-Saut Dam. Some date back as far as two years, establishing the antiquity of the Amerindian presence in this area. In their first contact with Europeans, the Kalina thought they were dealing with the spirits of the sea, Palanakiłi, the Kalina quickly succumbed in large numbers, because their immune systems were not adapted to the viruses and bacteria of the Old World. The second half of the century saw the heyday of Worlds Fairs. Fifteen Kali’na, all members of one living in Sinnamary and Iracoubo, were sent to Pau. Almost nothing is known them, except their names and the fact that they were housed in huts on the lawn of the Jardin dAcclimatation. The trip lasted four months, including three in Paris and a journey by boat. They were accompanied by a Creole who acted as intermediary and, presumably, there are several portraits of them, taken by photographer Pierre Petit. The part of South America where the Kalina live is very sparsely populated, however, the people of this ethnic group are such an extreme minority in all of the countries in which they are well established that locally they are a majority only in certain very secluded areas. Their current geographic distribution covers only a fraction of their Pre-Columbian territory. They are also in the capital of Amapá, Macapá, and in Pará, in Suriname, they are a strong presence on the left bank of the Maroni River and on the banks of the Coppename River
7.
Warao people
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The Warao are an indigenous people inhabiting northeastern Venezuela and western Guyana. Alternate common spellings of Warao are Waroa, Guarauno, Guarao, the term Warao translates as the boat people, after the Waraos lifelong and intimate connection to the water. Most of the approximately 20,000 Warao inhabit Venezuelas Orinoco Delta region, with numbers in neighboring Guyana. They speak a language, Warao. On the wide Orinoco River and its fertile delta composed of islands and marshes and these houses are usually built on the highest ground to avoid the annual floods. Sometimes a group of houses is built upon a large platform of trees. The huts each possess a clay cooking pit or oven located in the center, besides the hammocks, the only other furniture sometimes present are wooden stools, sometimes carved in the shapes of animals. Warao use canoes as their form of transportation. Other modes, such as walking, are hampered by the hundreds of streams, rivulets, marshes, Warao babies, toddlers, and small children are famed for their ability to hold tight to their mothers necks, as well as to paddle. They often learn to swim before they learn to walk, the Warao use two types of canoes. Bongos, which carry up to 5 people, are built in a process that starts with the search for large trees. When an old bongo is no longer usable, a consensus is reached by the leaders of each household on which tree is best. At the start of the dry season, they find the tree, at the end of the dry season, they return to cut it down. It is then hollowed out and flattened with stone tools traded from the mountains along with fire, the other type of canoe is a small, seating only three people, and is used for daily travel to and from food sources. The Warao diet is varied with an emphasis on the products of the delta, by 1500 they had acquired basic horticulture, although many of their daily fruits and vegetables come from the wild orchards of the delta. In July and August, Warao feast on crabs when they come to the delta from the beach, hunting is generally avoided due to cultural taboos. They occasionally also eat grubs found in the palm tree. The Warao are, according to their own reports, descended from a heavenly figure — the primordial hunter
8.
Arawak
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The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of South America, Florida, and historically of the Caribbean. The term Arawak originally applied specifically to the South American group who self-identified as Arawak and their language, the Arawak language, gives its name to the Arawakan language family. Arawakan speakers in the Caribbean were also known as the Taíno. In 1871, ethnologist Daniel Garrison Brinton proposed calling the Caribbean populace Island Arawak due to their cultural, subsequent scholars shortened this convention to Arawak, creating confusion between the island and mainland groups. In the 20th century, scholars such as Irving Rouse resumed using Taíno for the Caribbean group to emphasize their distinct culture, the Arawakan languages may have emerged in the Orinoco River valley. The group that self-identified as the Arawak, also known as the Lokono, settled the areas of what is now Guyana, Suriname, Grenada and parts of the island of Trinidad. At some point, the Arawakan-speaking Taíno culture emerged in the Caribbean, however, contact with Europeans exposed the Taino to diseases, particularly smallpox, influenza, measles, and typhus, that they no prior contact with, and thus no natural immunity. By 1504, the Spanish had overthrown the last of the Taino cacique chiefdoms on Hispaniola, and firmly established the supreme authority of the Spanish colonists over the now-subjugated Taino. The population of Hispanoila at the point of first European contact is estimated at several hundred thousand, to over a million people, but by 1514, it had dropped to a mere 35,000. By 1509, the Spanish had successfully conquered Puerto Rico and subjugated the ~30,000 Taino inhabitants, by 1530 there were 1148 Taino left alive in Puerto Rico. Taíno influence has survived even today, though, as can be seen in the religions, languages. The Lokono and other South American groups resisted colonization for a period. In the early 17th century, they allied with the Spanish against the neighboring Kalina and their population declined until the 20th century, when it began to increase again. The Spaniards who arrived in the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola in 1492, the explorers mated with the Taíno women, who bore mestizo children as a result. While the Taíno have been extinct as a distinct population since the 16th century, a 2003 mitochondrial DNA study under the Taíno genome project determined that 62% of people in Puerto Rico have direct-line maternal ancestry to Taíno/Arawakan ancestors. There are about 10,000 Lokono living primarily in the areas of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. Unlike many indigenous groups in South America, the Lokono population is growing, john P. Bennett -, first Amerindian ordained as an Anglican priest in Guyana, linguist and author of An Arawak-English Dictionary. George Simon -, artist and archaeologist from Guyana, st. Lucia, Archaeological and Historical Society
9.
Wai-wai people
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The Wai-wai are a Carib-speaking ethnic group of Guyana and northern Brazil. The Amerindian population of Guyana is approximately 31,000, the Wai-Wais are the smallest tribe in Guyana with a population of only about 170. There is only one Wai Wai community in Guyana and it is located in the most southern region of the country known as Konashen. The explorer, Sir Robert Schomburgk, may have been the first non- Indian to have contact with the Wai-Wai in December 1837 and he found one village on a tributary of the Essiquebo river, along with two others on the Mapuera River in Brazil. Schomburgk describes the Wai-Wai as, Of medium height, their skin lighter than that of Tarumas, in their general appearance, the Woyawais are great hunters and celebrated for their dogs. In appearance they are generally dirty, during the early 20th century, some of the Wai Wai in Brazil moved further north. It is speculated that this is because of the epidemic that nearly exterminated the Taruma tribe. From 1933 to 1938, the Wai Wai people moved deeper in Guyanas interior to avoid the outsiders working with the Boundary Commission, the Wai-wai in Guyana live in the far south of the country, near the headwaters of the Essequibo River. There are approximately 1000 Wai-wai in Guyana and 2000 in Brazil, in Brazil, they mostly reside in Terra Indígena Wai-wai, Terra Indígena Trombetas-Mapuera, and Terra Indígena Nhamundá-Mapuera. These are located mainly in the states of Roraima and Pará. Settlements include, Mapuera in Pará and Jatapu-zine, Catual, Cobra, though the Wai Wai are great hunters, they are also farmers. However, the light, thin soil they have to work with and their traditional, destructive method of farming was the slash and burn method. The Wai Wai are known for their weaving and they twist cotton into yarn for weaving, but they are known for their hammock weaving. All the hammocks are weaved on square hammock frames and their other artistic skills include pottery, woven combs, bone flutes, and other crafts. The Wai Wai are naturally musical people and have an affinity for musical instruments such as guitars, flutes, often the Wai Wai people will craft their flutes and drums out of natural materials found in the surrounding Amazon rainforest. Women play a role in the Wai-Wai culture. In terms of Wai-Wai constructs, the success in terms of wealth and power are dependent on female labor. The size and stability of a village are dependent on cultural values, for the Wai-Wai, the relationship between a father and daughter lends a sense of control to the father over his daughter and son-in-law
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