Regional differences hold up creation of Garifuna alphabet

During the 200 years they have been in Central America, the Garifunas have conserved an amazingly rich heritage of oral literature, songs, knowledge of plants and healing ceremonies. All of this had to be done from memory, because only until recently Garifuna had no written form.

Can you imagine how many songs a lead singer has in his or her head for the three days and two nights (all night!) the dugu ceremony lasts? But this tradition is in danger of being lost. Fausto Arana, approaching his 80s, warns that he is one of only two storytellers in Trujillo. Who will tell Garifuna stories at wakes when he is gone? One way to save them is to write them down.

The first attempts to write Garifuna were made in Belize, where Garifunas form approximately 8 percent of the population. An English-Garifuna dictionary exists, written by Belizean Garifuna Roy Cayetano.

Because the first Garifuna alphabets were developed by people who spoke English as their first or second language, they chose to use the letter "h," which is pronounced in English but is silent in Spanish. Thus the word for the mortar used to mash plantains to make machuca was written "hana." The word for the fermented drink made from yuca was written "hiu."

The New Testament is already translated into Garifuna. It was not written with the Garifuna alphabet from Belize. Spanish speakers use the letter "j" to represent the same sound as "h" in English. So the plantain mortar, according to Spanish-speaking Garifunas should be written "jana." The yuca drink is written "jiyu," insist Honduran Garifunas, because the "h" is silent in Spanish, so it should be silent in Garifuna, too.

The current version of the New Testament uses "j" instead of "h." So when the Garifuna bilingual education program began in 1993, there were two different Garifuna alphabets in use. It was identified as a priority to determine how Garifuna was spelt in order to develop literacy materials for Garifuna primary schools.

Belizean linguist Roy Cayetano and the head of Garifuna bilingual education Xiomara Caucho went from village to village in Honduras, asking people how Garifuna should be spelt. A seminar for Garifuna teachers was also held in Limon. Seventy percent of the Garifunas asked said that Garifuna should use "j" instead of "h," said linguist Roger Reeck of the Garifuna Bible Translation Project.

The coordinator of bilingual education in Honduras and other authorities wanted to have a single standardized written form for Belizean and Honduran Garifunas. Therefore, the proposal of how to spell Garifuna that was presented to the Garifuna teachers in November 1996, included "h" and not "j."

There are other differences between the proposed spelling of Garifuna and Spanish spelling. For example, if the "g" has a hard sound as in gate, before the vowels "e" and "i," then a "u" is written after the "g" in Spanish. For example, the yuca grater is usually written "egui" by Spanish speakers. The bitter medicinal wine of the Garifunas is written "guifity." The proposed alphabet given to the teachers recommended eliminating the "u" and writing these two words as "egi" and "gifity."

In Spanish, a "g" before an "i" or "e" has a sound like "h." The basket sifter used to sift yuca flour is written "gibise" by Spanish speakers and "hibise" by English speakers. So Garifuna teachers strongly object to "egui" being written as if it were pronounced "ehi."

Although Garifuna is seldom written, people have an idea how Garifuna should look. The Christmas dance "coreopatea" is always written with a "c" in Honduras. Thus, people here object to writing it with a "k." Borrowed words with a "c" are also written with a "c" in Garifuna. For example, the word for "cup" in Garifuna is "copu." Garifuna nouns end in vowels, so this is why this word has an extra "u." The proposal presented to teachers recommended eliminating the "c" and the "z."

Garifuna also has words with a "v" sound, like "veru" (glass -- from the French word "verre"), and veve-fruit. The "w" sound is almost a true "w" as in Wanaragua, the warrior's dance called Mascaro in Spanish. The proposal recommended spelling both sounds with "w."

The Limon seminar went badly to say the least. The book that was presented with the spellings of Garifuna words based on English pronunciation was attacked from the first page. Nothing was concluded, and everyone agreed that a second meeting was needed to further discuss the Garifuna alphabet.

Last of two parts

All during 1997 Garifuna teachers kept asking when would the alphabet and spelling rules for the Garifuna language be discussed. It was not until October 1997, however, that a surprising document showed up on the North Coast. Dated April 1997 and issued by the World Bank Project for the Improvement of the Quality of Education, the document titled "Agreements on the Spelling of Garifuna" stated, "We, the below signed teachers, agree that the following are the rules of spelling Garifuna..."

What followed was the proposal made in the 1996 seminar that was never approved. Also in the document were points, such as the elimination of "ñ" that were not even discussed. A dozen people whose names appeared on the document were asked if they had signed it, and they all responded "no." There was no agreement, says Xiomara Caucho, Garifuna representative to the national bilingual education program. The agreement on how to spell Garifuna was still pending in everyone's opinion except for Gloria Lara, the coordinator of the World Bank project.

Seminars were held with Garifuna teachers to attempt to validate this proposed spelling and a new literacy book written by Garifuna teachers in La Ceiba. These seminars had two results. First, Honduran Garifunas were extremely unhappy with the proposed spelling. "The 'h' is silent," insisted one teacher. "You have to spell the words the way they sound," said Alba Suzana Arzu of Trujillo. Some teachers grabbed the chalk out of the presenter's hand to show how they thought several words should be spelt. Others became disgusted and walked out, or sank into their chairs. "This is a deformation of Garifuna words," one teacher said.

All of the discussion over four years had focussed on the alphabet. No one had dealt with regional differences in pronunciation. For example, in parts of Honduras, dog in Garifuna is ounli and in other parts aunli. The broom to make cassava bread is beisaba or baisaba, depending on where a person is from. Whole syllables with "r" appear or disappear, depending where a person is from. No decision was ever made as to which dialect is the standard.

Guatemalan Garifunas have suggested that since most Garifunas speak and read Spanish (260,000) instead of English (about 10,000), the spelling rules should be according to the desires of the Spanish-speaking Garifunas in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Belizeans Garifunas have said the Bible with its "j" and other Spanish spellings is not hard for them to read once they get used to it, while Spanish speakers complain the English-based alphabet is very hard to use.

The Garifuna teams for bilingual education in Colon and Atlantida have recommended having meetings with Garifuna teachers from all over the North Coast to standardize the spelling of words in the new literacy book. This book, published by the Project of the Improvement of the Quality of Education, will have to be redone, because the current alphabet satisfies no one, not even Roy Cayetano, the linguist who proposed it.

Unusual root crops produce seldom tried Honduran dishes

TRUJILLO -- It used to be thought that agriculture in the New World started in the dry areas of Mexico with the cultivation of corn or maize. More recent studies in the Amazon basin and its tributaries have revealed that the cultivation of rain forest root crops dates back to at least 5,000 B.C.

Honduras was the frontier between Mesoamerican corn, bean and squash growers like the Mayas and South American root crop growers. The ethnic groups here that have predominated cultivated root crops are the Garifunas, Pech, Tawahkas and to some extent the Miskitos. This is probably due to the influence of South American Arawak Indians, who used to live on the Bay Islands and other Caribbean islands such as Jamaica, Gran Cayman, and Grenada. Bay Island traditional food is also heavily influenced by root crops.

The principal root crops consumed in Honduras are manioc (yuca in Spanish), taro or malanga, white yams or name, red grow or nigger yams, called nam pan in Spanish, sweet potato and yams, both called camote in Spanish, red and white arrowroot, called yuquilla here and badu.

By far and away the most commonly found root crop in Honduras markets is yuca. Ethnic groups like the Pech and the Tawahkas grow around 14 varieties, notes ethnobotanist Paul House, including yuca dulce and the poisonous yuca amarga or bitter manioc. The only things made with bitter yuca are breads like sasal among the Tawahkas, Pech and Miskitos, and cassava bread with all of its derivations among the Garifunas. The Bay Islanders make a thicker bread, called bamy in Bay Islands English, somewhat similar to marrote of the Garifunas.

After squeezing the liquid out of the yuca to make bread, a fine layer of pure starch settles to the bottom. This starch is used to make a porridge, atol de yuca, among the Miskitos. This starch is what Americans use to make tapioca pudding. In Honduras, yuca starch, when mixed with lemon, is considered good medicine against diarrhea, notes the book "Common Medicinal Plants of Honduras." Feeding starch to babies is supposed to help them get fat and sleep through the night.

Grated yuca is also used to make the sweet pot cake pan de yuca by the Garifunas and Bay Islanders. It is mixed with a little flour, coconut cream, rapadura or raw cane sugar, and cinnamon, then cooked. Bay Islanders used to cook pot cakes by digging a hole in the ground, preparing hot coals, and then burying the cakes, a style of oven known as fire hearth, says Arnold Auld of Roatan. This custom is no longer practices, but pan de yuca is sold by Garifunas on the beach.

Camotes are also easily obtained in markets. There are two kinds -- a red skinned one and a longer yellowish yam. These sweet potatoes and yams are used to make porridge with coconut milk (atol de camote), pot cakes (pan de camote), fries, eaten boiled, in soups, and in tamales (tamalitos de camote). Candied yams (camote en miel) are known in Honduras, but the most popular way to eat these and other root crops is in a Garifuna, Bay Islander, or Miskito stew known as tapado.

Yams, green bananas, and malanga (white coco in Bay Islands English) are cooked in a coconut cream broth with natural spices, garlic and onions. As the coconut cream boils, a layer of coconut oil rises to the top. This is skimmed off and used to cook the fried fish that is served with this dish. Tapado is available at Garifuna and Bay Island food restaurants. It is considered a "strong" food by the Bay Islanders, says Roatan native James Thomas.

Name and badu are large root crops that can weigh up to 25 pounds each. They are mostly prepared like mashed potatoes. Garifunas also make dumplings (bondiga) of the names to put in coconut soup. Migo is a Garifuna dish where mashed name, nam pan, malanga are mixed with coconut cream and nutmeg, notes Garifuna Sebastian Marin.

Nam pan is called red grow or nigger yams in the Bay Islands. While name is probably of New World origins, nam pan is probably from Africa. Garifunas and Bay Islanders cook nam pan is soups. Bay Islanders also eat them just boiled. Neither names nor nam pan are available in Honduran markets, so it was surprising to see them is U.S. markets in Atlanta.

Nam pan is hard to find anywhere. Along with Bay Islands red arrowroot, maybe it should go on the list of endangered domesticated crops.

Arrowroot is called yuquilla. Arrow root porridge used to be traditional in the Bay Islands, but the plant has either become locally extinct or endangered on the Islands since most Islanders have lost their farm land. The porridge is made from the starch of the plant, which is considered very good for children. The white arrowroot is medicinal and its starch is sometimes sold in Honduran pharmacies.

Malanga or coco was used in Bay Islands soup like conch coup, says Auld. Malanga can be eaten just peeled and boiled. There is a pot cake made of malanga, pan de malanga. In spite of its importance, if we wanted to have a Bay Islands food festival, we would wipe out the existence of the plant on the Islands, since Ladinos do not usually plant it. It is amazing that Honduras is exporting malanga to U.S. markets, but it is not shipped to the Bay Islands, even though boats travel frequently between the Mosquitia and the Islands. Lack of access to ingredients is one reason why Bay Islands traditional food are more endangered than black coral.