‘AMERINDIAN Stories for young Guyanese’, compiled by Sister Rose Magdalene, now deceased, is a curious mixture of eight stories that are expansive in the telling, where the reader is likely to become part of the story, empathising with a character or a character trait (the stories are about animals and humans and mythical beings).

Of the eight stories, two involved the monkey, two the mermaid, and many about shape-shifters.
A reason for this expansiveness is signalled in the Foreword, written by Celeste Dolphin, wherein she declared: “When I was a child, we read Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Hans Anderson, and we managed quite well with long words like ‘Rumpelstiltskin’; so, our young people should be able to cope quite easily with words like ‘Arawidi’ and ‘Parashara’.”
Another reason for this expansiveness can be found in the way the stories are delivered. The writer is a master storyteller who had made those tales her own, and was able to manipulate them as if performing at a live storytelling session around the fireside, the campfire, or under a silk cotton tree…
The first two stories are about the monkey: One good, the other mischievous. In ‘The Legend of Kako’, the kindheartedness of the monkey was played out, as the animal was instrumental in bringing water down from a mountain to a devastated village.
The story goes that Monkey wanted to help the Akawaio people suffering and dying from drought and lack of food. Soliciting the assistance of Tiger, a conference was called to find a solution. Owl suggested that they find a way of getting water from the top of the mountain to flow naturally down to the village.
The solution was found within another story: Acouri’s hole was flooded, and, together with Labba, they found the source of the leakage, turning the situation (with the help of the other animals) into a river flowing through the village, bringing fish and other foods, also fertilising the land, resulting in the abundance of trees thereby returning the village to former vibrancy.
The river also brought down thousands of beautifully carved stones called jasper, “and the people named their village ‘Kako’, which, in the language of the Akawaios, means ‘jasper’.”
The other story on the monkey was played out when the mischievous deeds of the animal caused Makonaima, the Great Spirit and Father of the Akawaio people, to put a curse on him. So, unto this day, we can still find Monkey swinging and howling through the ‘green mansions’ of our interior.
In ‘The Legend of the Maracca’, the people were under the curse of the dreaded ‘Yauhau’, which brought on dementia and crushing pain. One day, Chief Aranawilli came into contact with Orehu, Mother of the Sea, who was a form of ‘surpassing loveliness’ with “a figure of a woman, her long tresses flowing free, and sparkling with dewdrops or, were they ocean pearls? The skin of the upper part of her body was rich and glowing; her eyes were deep sea green and filled with compassion. The lower half of her body, shaped like the tail of some exotic fish covered with iridescent scales of blues and greens, scintillated as they caught the fiery rays of the dying sun.”
The Mother of the Sea promised to help the Chief by making him a charm, a maraca, to keep out the evil, hence the people returned to their former vibrancy. And to this day, the ‘maracca’ is always at hand.
The other mermaid story is called ‘Arawidi, the Glorious Sun’. In this story, many different worlds met and clashed, resulting in peace and beauty returning to the world again.
Arawidi was in the habit of changing into human form to visit the earth. One of his favourite pastimes was to visit a stream to gaze upon the beautiful fishes. One day, he caught Alligator trying to eat the fishes and threatened to kill the reptile who begged to be spared, and in turn would provide the most beautiful bride for Arawidi.
Unable to keep his promise, the alligator turned to the Mother of the Sea, who eventually touched a spirit maiden with her gold comb, resulting in the most beautiful creature Arawidi had even seen, and she became his forevermore.
‘Haburi and Wowtah’ is an Oedipus love story gone sour. Haburi was an innovator and friend of the people. He was raised by Wowtah, who treated him as her personal slave, hoping one day to be married to him.
The creative spirit of the man was volatile, and he sought ways out of his predicament, failing each time. Until he met a young maiden in the forest, who told him that Wowtah was in fact a frog, and provided him a successful escape.
The people grieved over their loss, because Haburi used to teach them how to make the best canoe, the best bow and arrow, and was always there for them with survival tips. They were so aggrieved, that they trapped Wowtah in a hole in a tree; her only escape was to turn into a frog. To this day, she is still that frog with a sad croak, grieving over Haburi.
‘The Magic Stick’ is a story of how the bush dai-dai was defeated by his own stick, used by some clever children. This story is not unlike the Pied Piper. Bush dai-dai used to lure children (playing in lakes) away to his wife, who used to prepare them as food for her husband. However, one set of children was able to get hold of the stick, and use it to ‘transfix’ both man and wife. Afterwards, the lake became safe for children to play in, and to this day, it is a cheerful sight seeing children gambolling about in the creeks of Guyana.
‘Goat and Dry Bones’ is a moralist tale, a reminder of what can likely happen to rumourmongers who tell lies and spread rumours. Goat, who was a trickster and rumourmonger, was finally tricked into carrying a bag of dry bones on his back forever; the crackling of bones was a warning to stay away from goat, who was left on his own, friendless.
Finally, ‘The Legend of the Parashara Dancers’ is a strange mythical tale of how the Amerindians got their Parashara songs and dances. It is a sad story of the unrequited love of two individuals, but it ended in a happy story for the community, providing them with the instruments of fun and frolic. It is a story where the wellbeing of the community is valued above the happiness of individuals.
These eight stories in this collection add to a better understanding of the Amerindian; but, more than informational purposes, the book makes for beautiful reading, challenging the imagination, and exciting the emotions.