New book launched on Belize folk tales
For many Belizeans books are something you turn to when the cable company cuts you off for non-payment. That’s a pity because Belizean writers and publishers, particularly Benque Viejo’s Cubola Productions, have been turning out high quality literature for several decades. The latest, entitled “If Di Pin Neva Ben: Folktales and Legends of Belize” was launched this morning at the House of Culture. The launching was part of a one day workshop for teachers on how to use folklore in the classroom.
Stewart Krohn, Reporting
Officially it was the launching of a new book, a collection of folklore accumulated over the years and finally put on paper. But like most oral traditions these were best expressed by word of mouth, not to mention physical expression.
Ramclam Bailey, recites Creole story of Warimassa
“….Dah why you wa do this to my animal deh. And ih use the whip and ih start to tear ah and ih tear ah and seh a wah learn you wah lesson you wah neva do this again. And ih beat ah, ih beat ah. Well you know deh time deh, deh man deh clear deh path. Deh tek all the coconut leaf and deh pile them up….”
And the stories in the collection also seemed to come from every where, covering such familiar favorites as Ixtabay, Tataduende, Sisimite, Old Heg and of course Anancy. While many of the stories were collected by the scholarly trio of Dr. Timothy Hagerty, Mary Parham and Ervin Beck the volume also includes stories by Leo Bradley Sr., Jessie Castillo, Elizabeth Cardinas, David Ruiz and Inez Sanchez. The idea for the collection seems to have been around for been around for as long as some of the folk tales.
Dr. Timothy Hagerty, Editor
“Well I’ve always had a really deep interest in folklore, it’s something that’s really excited me and it’s something that I’ve had on the back burner for years and years and I’ve finally just came to the point where I said I’m either going to do this but I’m not. So I did.”
For Mary Parham, the involvement was more personal. Growing up in the USA with Belizean parents, the language and stories of her ancestral homeland where at the same time frighteningly foreign and fascinatingly familiar.
Dr. Mary Gomez Parham, Editor
“We would go to Belize a lot in the summers and so and see all the cousins and aunts and uncles, so we never really lost each other, there were four of us, we never lost contact with Belize, with actual Belize. And then, however at home, my parents spoke…when they wanted to, they could speak the Queen’s English, or sometimes they would speak Creole or modified Creole or whatever so I always felt I was sort of in two cultures really, it was an interesting experience.”
Parham’s other inspiration came from her husband, who also doubles as her co-editor Dr. Timothy Hagerty. Hagerty believes that the stories have meaning well beyond entertainment.
Dr. Timothy Hagerty
“The main value, I think is that it preserves a very important part of the culture. We are now entering a different phase in history…most of these stories and legends have to do with the history of Belize, things in the past, that and the bush and collecting chicle, collecting rubber and things like that. Those things don’t have so much relevance for people now a days and as a result they tend to die out.”
Dr. Mary Parham
“I think these stories, people are carrying them in their memories, all the people, all the teachers in this group were laughing and really enjoying these stories, because there is something in their past that they recall, old people maybe or old times, old places. And of course in any culture, it’s most important for people to give their values and these stories communicate values. So we as parents and these men and women as teachers are passing these values down to the next generation and values that we think in a particular culture are important and that’s often done through folk stories, folk tales.”
And if the spontaneous performance by the editor’s father George Parham, is any indication, there is plenty of material for several more volumes.
George Parham, recites Creole story about hunting
“Just after I get out I hear crack, crack, crack, crack. I look over deh and a big wari deh stand over deh undah wah cohune tree. Boy I pick up mi shot gun and check mi wind gauge and gravity, dah suh he do it…..”
Folktales and Legends is the fourth in Cubola’s Belizean Writers Series. It is now available in bookstores and gift shops for around $16 dollars.
