Be proud of Indigenous culture, heritage – Dan James fighting for preservation

By Lakhram Bhagirat

“Indigenous Heritage Month is supposed to be a celebration of our rich heritage. It is supposed to reflect and revive whatever dying culture we have. That is the time to place emphasis on those kinds of things. I would love if somebody would video themselves practising their dance or saying a poem in their language for the Heritage Month rather than just taking a picture. I love you taking pictures to celebrate your heritage, but what I want is for everyone to reflect and know why and to celebrate our rich heritage and culture… do not ever forget that we are Indigenous and you should be proud of that,” Dan James tells the Sunday Times Magazine.

James, a 22-year-old Wapichan from Aishalton in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo Region, has been actively pushing for the preservation of the rich Indigenous culture not only of his tribe but all the tribes in Guyana.
Though the young man has been living in the capital city for almost a decade now, his culture is still deeply rooted in him. This, he credits, to the kind of foundation that was laid during his early days in the village of Aishalton.
His mother was a teacher and very strict, and him being the eldest child for his parents meant that he had to shoulder some responsibilities. These responsibilities are what led to James becoming more in tune with the Indigenous way of life.

His father was self-employed which meant that sometimes jobs were scarce and with his mother as the only one with a stable income, James had to pitch in at times. During the times of unemployment for his father, James would accompany him to the rivers and they would fish. Sometimes, the trips would be a few hours or overnight. He would, at times, accompany his grandparents to their farms and help them out there, since his parents did not have a farm.
“I had a lot of fun going fishing and farming. As the years progressed, my father got more stable and I didn’t have to go fishing any more to put food on the table, but I would still go because that is what I enjoyed,” he remembers.
For James, some of his best experiences in life are the ones with the vast savannahs and mountains as their backdrop. The first 12 years of his life in Aishalton were spent with a sense of freedom: freedom to explore the natural beauty of the Rupununi, freedom to cool down in one of the many creeks, freedom to climb trees, freedom to race with his bicycle and freedom to do so much more.
After he wrote the National Grade Six Assessment, he was awarded a place at Queen’s College in Georgetown and that meant that he would have to move away from Aishalton to further his education. There was no question about whether he would attend school in the city and as he puts it: “I was sent away to Georgetown.”
However, he had issues adjusting since he missed his life back in the Rupununi. The young James was not performing well in school and was somewhat reclusive. After the move, he started to concentrate more and would eventually finish his secondary education.
Now James works part time with the Amerindian People’s Association (APA); South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) and the Upper Mazaruni District Council (UMDC) in the area of environmental monitoring.
He first started volunteering with the APA after which there was an opening for a Data Manager. He took up that post and had the responsibility of managing data for the different projects and creating reports to account for funding. Initially, he was just responsible for the data management at the APA, but, after some time, he was trained in various fields including one of the most important – Mapping of Indigenous Lands.

Though his job description at the APA is still somewhat in the area of data management, he is also involved in the mapping projects by supporting the other two Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technicians.
“I had to do a lot of GIS-related activities. I had to learn to use the programmes, had to go in the field, had to interact and basically do a lot of mapping, technical stuff and from there – I have been given more responsibilities, basically like the other two GIS technicians,” he says.
During the interview, James detailed his work with both the SRDC and UMDC as advisor to the environmental monitoring initiatives.
“We try to create monitoring systems to decide how do we monitor and what specifically we monitor. For example, in Region Seven (Upper Mazaruni area), there is a lot of mining so that is what we focus on in there – on the mining. We also take the views of the people there and they would tell us what they want us to monitor. In the Upper Mazaruni, the issue is mining so we could do that for them. They want to know what is going on in the mining areas and analyse how it would affect their community and what things are happening that they can police or do mining in a better way,” James explains.
He says that while they are monitoring the environmental impacts of the activities, they also map the village lands. Mapping is especially important to the Indigenous people since it clearly outlines the boundaries of the land which allow outsiders to know the purpose the land is being used for.
“We would like other people to know where exactly we use certain things and what exactly we do in these areas because a lot of people would think that we do not occupy these areas, but we use it for different other activities probably fish, hunt, farm, to find medicine…that is why it is important to get the data, so that everyone outside of the people there can know what do,” he informed.
“It is the different way of life, for out there (in Indigenous villages), because out here (on the coast) you can basically go to a supermarket for different things, and while in there you would have to go into the forest to look for several things. Because as much as there might be jobs, public servant openings, it is probably like 10-15 per cent of the population in the village would have a stable job and the rest would have to do small other things to survive,” James added.
For Indigenous people, it is not just about the land, rather it is about what they use that land for. James notes that the misconception out there is that Indigenous people are constantly asking for more lands but one would understand if they are educated about the reason for claiming certain territories.
“It have so many parts of the land that are sacred to us. They have so many stories to them; they have the different rivers and creeks and that I think is very important. – it has its own history and origin that would be good for other Guyanese to have knowledge of,” he says.
Though he no longer lives in the Rupununi, James’s culture is still deeply rooted in him. He is especially proud of the Wapichan language. He explains that the language is one that honours the environment and the connection to it and it is something that is not easily translated to those who cannot understand the language.
James has been actively using the knowledge he has gained to inform his fellow Indigenous youth whenever he has interactions with them. Whenever his work takes him into the Indigenous villages, he uses that time to learn from them as well as share his point of view on issues with them.
“I have learned a lot and they have given me more understanding of how it is important for us to be proud and showcase our heritage and culture. Whatever little I do, I try to talk; I don’t talk to like bigger groups, but the few I have interacted with while going into the communities I have tried to see what are their thoughts on these issues or what does it mean to be Indigenous for them and what do they know of traditional culture. When they tell me, I try to explain my point of view to them and some are well-received and some won’t understand because of the different way or life, different lifestyle. So, there is a lot of work to be done to bring back these things…, because they are losing it,” he says.
James urges his fellow Indigenous youth to be proud of their heritage and who they are.
“Surround yourself with people who would propel you to move forward and not hold you down for being Indigenous. To be always proud of who you are, because you are different. Our way of life and our culture is not as it is here in town. We there live a free, friendly, open life. Keep your spirituality, because a lot of people do not know that our spirituality is linked to the environment. Our things that we look for, they are in the environment itself. There is probably the god of the fishes, the water, the river and the mountain, everywhere around us; and that is how our spirituality lives on and I advise them to keep that spirituality and stay connected to the environment and do not ever forget that we are Indigenous and you should be proud of that.”