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Culture Ministry launches indigenous languages music festival

Nov 05, 2014 News

At a press conference this past Monday, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport announced plans to conduct the first ever Indigenous Song Festival. The festival will be held on November 30 at the National Cultural Centre. The concert will feature seven of the nine Indigenous languages found in Guyana.
Andrew Tindel, Administrator at the National School of Music, announced that the festival was initiated as a way to further educate citizens on the Indigenous languages that are uniquely found within the country. The objective of the concert, as stated by Tindel, will be to “record and disseminate” the linguistic heritage of Guyana’s first peoples.
According to an organizer of the event, Ovid Williams, his team managed to make contact with tribes across the region, with the exception of the Carib and Wai Wai.
“These two tribes live in very remote areas of the country and we have had difficulty in reaching their locations,” said Williams, “the journey to the Wai Wai tribe would take two weeks… the group would need more time to prepare.”
Set to perform at the festival are the Arawak, Arecuna, Akawaio, Macuchi, Patomona, Wapishana, and Warrau tribes. Patrons can expect to hear music that span genres and can even look forward to rap performances.
In addressing the media, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony expressed that his ministry is dedicated to advancing the linguistic education of Guyanese Indigenous languages. According to him, the Culture Ministry has helped to publish dictionaries for at least seven of the indigenous languages in the region.
Dr. Anthony said that these standardized books are vital to the survival of the languages.
“There are so many different languages that Guyanese do not know about,” explained the Minister, “the language speakers are dwindling and we need to save our linguistic heritage.”
In launching the Indigenous Song Festival, Dr. Anthony is hoping that it will help popularize the language of Guyana’s first peoples, to the point where we can have the songs become a common staple of the country’s airwaves.

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