Guyana

Guyana, or the Co-operative Republic of Guyana celebrates independence on 26 May. Guyana, Guyana. It’s such a beautiful name. Independence from the United Kingdom came in 1966, followed in 1970 (on 23 February—celebrated by Mashramani-Republic Day) by the establishing of Guyana as a republic. The name Guyana comes from an Amerindian word meaning “Land of many water.” The capital is Georgetown—and when I told one of my friends I was going to Georgetown (University, DC) he looked up Georgetown online, and had visions of me living in Guyana.

There are jaguars in Guyana.

Beyond being a beautiful name, it’s the only country in South America whose official language is English, though it also recognises the languages Guyanese Creole, Akawaio, Hindustani, Macushi, Wai-Wai, Arawakan, and Cariban. I love reading the names of languages I hadn’t heard of before this project. It’s generally considered a Caribbean nation, as its culture is similar to that of the English-speaking Caribbean.

So, before the Europeans dropped anchor around 1500, Guyana was peopled by Arawak and Carib peoples. The Dutch were the first to establish colonies there (Essequibo, Berbice, Demerara…ah, Demerara sugar) before the British took over in the late 18th century. This was formalised when the Dutch ceded the territory in 1814.

Recently, it has the unfortunate association with the Jonestown massacre at the Jonestown settlement in northwestern Guyana created by the Peoples Temple.

And, I love this: escaped slaves formed maroon communities before the abolition of slavery in 1834 meant that many came into urban areas.

Today’s poems is by the Guyanese poet Martin Carter, who died in 1997. He was a pre-eminent poet of anti-colonial radicalism. Due to his association with the movement for independence he was jailed in the 1950s, and following his release remained active in the movement—in 1965 he was a member of the delegation to the Guyana Constitutional Conference in London. His best-known poem is a protest poem from the 1960s entitled “I come from the nigger yard of yesterday.” For this project I have chosen the earlier poem “Old Higue.” From his book The Hill of Fire Glows Red, I found it online here.

                            Old Higue

                  Old Higue in the kitchen
                        peel off her skin—
             mammy took up old higue skin
               and pound it in the mortar
                 with pepper and vinegar.
                 "Cool um water cool um
                 cool um water cool um"
        Old higue come back in the kitchen
                 "Cool um water cool um"
       She grab the skin out of the mortar
                 "Cool um water cool um"
     She danced merengue when the pepper
                       burn up her skin—
         dance merengue when the pepper
                       burn up her skin
             "skin skin you nah know me
             skin skin you nah know me"
      She danced merengue when the pepper
                       burn up her skin.

—Martin Carter
from The Hill of Fire Glows Red, 1951