The Chief's Prayers

Today is both the start of the month of Santa Rosa for the Carib Community in Arima, Trinidad & Tobago, as well as African Emancipation Day. Sometimes the two events are jointly celebrated on top of Calvary Hill in Arima, where the events begin at 6:00am with the blasting of the cannon. As that cannon is blasted, this post is scheduled to go up. Usually a smoke ceremony is held by the Caribs, and this is a collection of some of the prayers used by Chief Ricardo Bharath Hernandez. Best wishes to the Carib Community and Happy Emancipation Day!

LOKONO PRAYER

Adaiahiili Tamushi Anshika ba

O Great Spirit God give us your

Maiauhii daiba wai koma anshihi

Peace so we can love as you love us

Amarita mun sakwa daiba

Make us healthy so

Wai koma kamunka usahu kahiihii

We can have a good life

Wa chin achi waianchicha

We praise you O Lord

AMERICAN INDIAN PRAYER

Oh, Great Spirit

Whose voice I hear in the winds,

And whose breath gives life to all the world,

hear me, I am small and weak,

I need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold

the red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things you have

made and my ears sharp to hear your voice.

Make me wise so that I may understand the things

you have taught my people.

Let me learn the lessons you have

hidden in every leaf and rock.

I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,

but to fight my greatest enemy - myself.

Make me always ready to come to you

with clean hands and straight eyes.

So when life fades, as the fading sunset,

my Spirit may come to you without shame.

(translated by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark in 1887)

published in Native American Prayers - by the Episcopal Church.

http://guanaguanaresingsat.blogspot.com/2011/07/santa-rosa-carib-community-of-arima.html

LOKONO-ENGLISH PRAYER

We send our prayers to the Great Spirit

Adaiahiili Tamushi

Whose manifestation we see in the spirit of the hawk,

Whose spirit we see in the mighty wind,

Whose spirit manifests through the sacred fire,

Who gives sustenance through the waters,

Who is ever-present in the forests,

And who gives us the provisions of the earth.

And through Santa Rosa,

We ask that he may receive our prayers,

As we pray for forgiveness,

As we pray in thanksgiving,

As we pray for continued blessings

For our Community,

For our Borough,

For our nation,

And for our world.

Amen.

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Here are some more prayers in the various Indigenous languages of the Caribbean:

THE LORD’S PRAYER IN THE MAINLAND CARIB LANGUAGE

Kioumoue tetaniem oubecouyum:

santiketàla eyeti:

membouilla biouboutou malibatali:

Mingatte-catou-thoattica ayeoula tibouic monba cachi tibuic-bali oubecou.

Huere-bali im-eboue bimàle louago lica hueyou icoigne:

roya-catou-kia-banum huenocaten huiouine cachi roya-ouabàli nhìuine innocatitium ouaone.

Aca menépeton-ouahattica toróman tachaouonnê-tebouroni:

irheu chibacaiketa-baoua touaria toulibani-hanhan-catou.

THE HAIL MARY IN THE CARIB LANGUAGE

Mábuiga María

Buíntibu labu gracis

Búmañei

Abúreme biníuatibu

Jádan sun

UUríña biníuatiguiyé

Tin bágaim Jesus.

Sándu María lúguchu

Búnguiu

Ayumuraguabá uáu

Gafigontíua

Uguñetó, lídan

Ora uóuve. Ítara la.

THE LORD’S PRAYER IN THE WARAO LANGUAGE

Karima, najamutuata jakutai,

Jiwai yatomanetekunarai.

Jirujuna rujanu rijana.

Najamutuata jiaobojona eku abaya.

Raina eku monukajase jiaobojona eku abakunarai.

Kanajoro ama saba jakutai taisi kamoau.

Kaisiko asiraja nonajakutai taisi kuare barinaka kaobojona bereaoko.

Taisi monuka kaobojona asirajasi kuare barinaka bere.

Kayakara minaka jau.

Tiarone asiraja arotuma amojekumo kejeronu.

Iji are Airamo tane rujakitane ja.

Iji are jijara taeraja.

Iji are Airamowitu.

Amén.

Carib Santa Rosa Festival 2007

Photo of the Carib section of the procession for the August 26, 2007, Santa Rosa Festival in Arima. Holding the banner is Cristo Adonis, and behind him is Ricardo Bharath Hernandez.

For last year's Santa Rosa Festival, I wrote one main essay on what transpired at the event, and I can say I will not be doing an encore. I wanted only to bring attention to some aspects that were salient to me, and once again I was fortunate to have listened to the complete proceedings over the Internet on I95.5 FM.

The proceedings for this year seemed to transpire at a rapid pace, and even the radio coverage was one hour shorter than last year's, with the radio announcer seemingly in a big hurry to get to the next program. The chief celebrant was the Papal Nuncio to the Antilles, which is an interesting choice given the degree of outrage expressed by indigenous persons across the Americas over the Pope's recent remarks that criticized indigenous religious revivals, while praising the purifying role of the Catholic Church. The main theme of this year's event appeared to be "social justice." The radio narrators themselves spoken solemnly, and quoted heavily from the mid-19th century text by L.A.A. De Verteuil, where he spoke of Santa Rosa festivals he had witnessed as a youth. The radio narrators were impressed with the degree of continuity, a comment unfortunately made right after a quote from De Verteuil that on this day the Amerindians would forget their servitude.

What was also striking is the amount of resources and organization invested by the Church in this event: a medical vehicle to follow the procession, police and marshals, water stations for those on the procession, and of course the media coverage itself, the giant flat screen used to convey the mass to those outside of the church, and so forth.

Also of interest to me is that the order of the procession has been changed in recent years. The Carib Community was once third in line, behind the acolytes, and behind the priests and members of the Arima Borough Council. Now only the acolytes lead, followed by the Carib Queen, followed by the Carib Community, then followed by the rest. Why this has changed is an interesting question, and one can speculate that past discussions, and critical comments, sometimes made in the presence of those connected to the church, could have had some impact.

For those interested in hearing the English language portion of Ricardo Bharath's very interesting prayer at the mass, please click here (opens a new window).

The website of the Santa Rosa Carib Community can be accessed by clicking here (also opens a new window).

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Brazilian Indigenous Leaders Condemn Pope

Indian leaders in Brazil have reacted angrily to comments by Pope Benedict that they had been purified by the Roman Catholic church since Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492.

In a speech to bishops at the end of a visit to Brazil on Sunday, Benedict said indigenous people of the Americas had welcomed European priests after conquest. "It's arrogant and disrespectful to consider our cultural heritage secondary to theirs," said Jecinaldo Satere Mawe, chief co-ordinator of Coiab, an Amazon Indian group.

The pope had said the peoples of the Americas had a "silent longing" for Christianity and welcomed European priests' arrival. He said the church had not imposed itself on the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Read more: "Tribal Indians Condemn Pope"

Brazil's National Indian Foundation (Funa i),Brazilian historians and the Indians themselves challenged pope Benedict XVI's declarations on the Christianization of the Brazil's natives. The pope talked about the subject at the opening of the 5th General Conference of the Latin-American and Caribbean Episcopate (CELAM), in Brazil.

Read more: "Pope Called Insensitive and Arrogant for Remarks on Brazilian Indians"

See also: "Pope angers indigenous Brazilians over Christianity and colonisation remark"

And in the Reuters report in The Washington Post: "Brazil's Indians Offended by Pope Comments"

Pope Against Indigenous Religious Traditions

In an unsurprising declaration, following our previous post on the topic of the Roman Catholic Church and the cultural resrugence efforts of various indigenous peoples of the Americas, Pope Benedict XVI has pronounced himself against indigenous spiritual revivals. Speaking at the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, which runs through May 31, 2007, Catholic Online reported the following:

"A reference by the pope to pre-Columbus religions raised questions among some observers. While speaking positively of the synthesis between indigenous traditions and Christianity that led to the popular religious devotions found throughout Latin America, the pontiff warned against 'the utopia of going back to breathe life into the pre-Columbus religions, separating them from Christ and from the universal church'."

For more, see: Latin American, Caribbean bishops tackle pope’s ‘challenge to church’