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New compendium on Yanomami language
By Humberto Márquez
Caracas, Venezuela, Nov 23 (IPS) — When a Yanomami Indian
dies, his or her name is not to be pronounced for some time, so as not
to soil the memory of the deceased.
This may be a problem if, for example, someone is called Shoco, which
is also the term for Tamanduá, an anteater that is common in
the jungles of southern Venezuela and northern Brazil, where the Yanomami
live.
However, the difficulty can easily be resolved thanks to the linguistic
wealth of this indigenous group that has existed for over 25,000 years,
a living testimony to the Neolithic era, the most recent period of the
Stone Age.
There are several synonyms for the names of animals, and also of some
plants. Therefore, “aroto” means exactly the same as “shoco,”
and the community can use that word without violating the tradition
that protects the deceased.
This explanation is provided by one of the 10,000 entries in the Compendio
ilustrado de lengua y cultura yanomami (Illustrated Compendium
of the Yanomami Language and Culture), a book by French anthropologist
and linguist Marie-Claude Mattéi that has just gone to print.
It is more than a mere dictionary, instead serving as an encyclopedic
manual that can be used in Yanomami schools and for outsiders studying
the Yanomami language and culture.
After 15 years of research, “we have concentrated our efforts on
producing something more useful and rich in information than a simple
dictionary — a book that can support the didactic measures that
the Venezuelan society and state have the obligation to undertake with
respect to the indigenous communities,” Mattéi told IPS.
Venezuela’s new constitution, which was approved by voters in 1999,
dedicates an entire chapter to the rights of indigenous peoples, including
“the right to an intercultural and bilingual educational system
that takes into account their special social and cultural characteristics,
values and traditions.”
The Yanomami or “children of the moon,” who number around
15,000 in Venezuela and 12,000 in Brazil, are among the 34 indigenous
peoples who mainly live along Venezuela’s borders with Colombia,
Brazil and Guyana.
According to the 2001 census, 300,000 of Venezuela’s 25 million
people belong to indigenous groups.
The Yanomami comprise a majority of the population in the municipality
of Alto Orinoco, which nevertheless tends to be governed by members
of two smaller ethnic groups, the Ye’kuana and Piaroa.
Like their other indigenous neighbors, the Yanomami sometimes incorporate
the ways of mainstream society “in an anarchistic manner”
said Mattéi.
Yanomami and Sanima are the most widely spoken languages among the indigenous
people of Venezuela, according to another anthropologist, María
Eugenia Villalón.
“At least seven languages — Mapoyo, Añú, Baré,
Sáliva, Yabarana, Uruak, and Sape — are in a critical state,”
Villalón, who has dedicated herself to collecting and preserving
what remains of the Mapoyo tongue, told IPS.
A language, Villalón warns, “is not threatened nor does
it become extinct because fewer individuals speak it, but because people
stop using it and stop passing it on from parents to children. The extent
to which it is at risk can be measured by the number of children who
speak it.” In the case of Mapoyo, that means almost none, as even
adults hardly ever use the language.
Without an effort to support indigenous peoples, “their languages,
which have survived more than 500 years since the arrival of the Spanish
and Portuguese in the Americas, will slowly disappear; they just won’t
survive,” warned another expert, Lyll Barceló, who has compiled
the myths of the Guahibo ethnic group.
Having similar concerns, Mattéi divided her Compendium into five
parts, the first of which is a history and description of the Yanomami
people, followed by a guide to comprehend and use the dictionary.
A glossary of the flora and fauna follows, which is a compendium on
its own, as well as a bilingual Spanish-Yanomami mini-dictionary.
“There are definitely threats to their language, just as there
are threats anywhere,” she pointed out. “But let’s stop
thinking that indigenous people will remain in a bubble. Changes are
inevitable and they are not the problem.
“The problem is that they are being denied opportunities, rights
regarding health care and the preservation of their beliefs, and the
rights they have over their own territories.
“A high-speed globalization process is taking place in the world,
but at the same time there is a revival of interest in minority groups
and a vindication of traditional ways, to keep ethnic groups from being
lost,” said Mattéi.
All Jamaicans are threatened by a culture
of homophobia
By Rebecca Schleifer
“Boom bye bye in batty boy head.
Rude boy no promote no nasty man, dem haffi dead.”
Nov. 21 — I first heard the lyrics of Boom Bye Bye, a popular
Jamaican dancehall song about killing gay men, in Kingston on June 9,
outside the home of Brian Williamson, the country’s leading gay
rights activist. He had just been knifed to death in his apartment in
the Jamaican capital and a crowd gathered outside, laughing and singing
and celebrating his murder.
Two weeks later, I met with several men who alleged — as has been
quite widely reported in the media — that Buju Banton, the musician
who composed and recorded “Boom Bye Bye,” had participated
in an armed attack against them. The men were been beaten with machetes
and metal rods while being denouncing as homosexuals.
A banning order in Britain against the dancehall artist Sizzla received
widespread headlines this month, not least because it coincided with
the murder of David Morley in a suspected anti-gay attack.
But in Jamaica violent attacks against men who have sex with men are
commonplace. Verbal and physical harassment, ranging from death threats
to brutal assault and murder, are widespread. For many, there is no
sanctuary from abuse. Gay men and lesbians are routinely driven from
their homes and out of town by neighbors. Forced to abandon their possessions,
many end up homeless. Not only do police rarely investigate such complaints,
they often arrest lesbians and gay men for no reason and join in violent
attacks against them.
Jamaican dancehall music, a form of reggae that is a powerful cultural
force in Jamaican society, reflects and reinforces popular prejudices.
Many dancehall musicians perform songs that glorify brutal violence
and killing of men and women who do not conform to stereotypical gender
roles, and celebrate their eradication from Jamaica.
Jamaican and international activists have waged a campaign against antigay
dancehall music, and there have been local efforts to protect the rights
of gays and lesbians. But the Jamaican government’s own promotion
of homophobic violence and discrimination is undermining these courageous
efforts. State-sponsored homophobia is also fueling Jamaica’s HIV/AIDS
epidemic and sabotaging prevention and treatment efforts. The sorry
consequences affect all Jamaicans.
In Jamaica, as in many Caribbean nations, HIV/AIDS is spreading in the
general population and is continuing to grow. Currently around 1.5 per
cent of the island’s adult population live with the disease.
As elsewhere in the region, the vast majority of cases in Jamaica result
from heterosexual transmission. However, many Jamaicans believe that
HIV/AIDS only affects homosexuals and sex workers, whose “moral
impurity” makes them vulnerable. Many believe that the virus is
transmitted by casual contact with groups like gay men — which
only helps further fuel the violent homophobia evident in songs like
Boom Bye Bye.
The Jamaican government condones the popularly accepted links between
HIV/AIDS and homosexuality. Jamaica’s Victorian-era sodomy laws,
which criminalize consensual sex between men, are used to harass and
detain those who provide HIV/AIDS information and condoms to other gay
men. Police extort sex and money from gay men as well as sex workers,
sometimes using the mere possession of condoms -- a key tool in HIV
prevention -- as an excuse to harass or arrest both them and the AIDS
educators who work with them.
The government’s failure to take strong measures to protect gay
men has made life hell for many in Jamaica. Its failure to educate the
broader public has endangered many lives. Many gay men and people living
with HIV/AIDS are denied health care; some cannot even seek health services
because they are refused public transportation. Many don’t seek
health services at all because they fear healthcare workers will disclose
their HIV status or sexual orientation, which could put them at risk
of violence.
In June, Jamaica launched an ambitious project to provide antiretroviral
drug treatment to people living with HIV/AIDS and to address human rights
violations driving the epidemic. For these initiatives to succeed, the
government must act promptly and forcefully to renounce discriminatory
laws and abusive practices that undermine AIDS programs. Jamaica’s
prime minister and other government leaders need to speak out strongly
against the abusive treatment of gay men and sex workers.
If the Jamaican government chooses instead to let popular prejudices
continue to undermine its attempts to establish HIV/AIDS policies grounded
in human rights, the consequences for all Jamaicans will be dire. If
the voice of hatred that defines antigay dancehall music continues to
define the local understanding of HIV/AIDS, tens of thousands of Jamaicans
will be consigned to lives of horrific abuse. Thousands will face premature
and preventable death.
Source: Observer (UK)
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