I was taught the importance, hidden meanings, and spiritual significance of every shape and design of our tattoos so that I can pass the knowledge down to my children and grandchildren. I also earned the right to receive ancient spiritual blessings and abilities, as well as the rights to learn esoteric knowledge and wisdom on all important aspects of our culture, including the preservation and intergenerational transmission of tangible and intangible essential components of Lokono-Arawak culture and heritage.ĭuring my ritual, my body was adorned every hour of the nine days with our traditional temporary face and body tattoos. Through the completion of this ritual, I earned the rights to learn and be involved in all traditional, cultural, and spiritual ceremonies and rituals. To earn the praise and respect of all elders and traditionalists in my Tribe, I had to go through our Lokono puberty right of passage, which consists of a nine-day ritual where a list of protocols, instructions, and taboos must be observed obediently through this sacred time in order to be become “a lady of high morals and standards” in the eyes of my people. Photo: Sabantho Aderi sifts strained cassava pulp granules before they are baked into a flat, unleavened bread.Īt 12 years old, I became a woman in my Tribe, which required a demonstration of strength, both mentally and physically, to prove my desire and worthiness to achieve this honor. Everytime I returned, I felt at home and as if I was never separated from my people. Living outside of my community has never made me feel like an outsider or displaced, especially since I had the privilege of returning to my Tribal lands at least once every year for summer vacation. My mother was born and raised in her Tribal community and grew up living and breathing all things Lokono, and was also raised by two very traditionalist Lokono-Arawak parents. Maintaining my Indigenous identity, culture, and practices is not difficult because I am lucky enough to have pro-traditionalist Lokono-Arawaks for parents. My Barbados-born father is a descendent of our last hereditary traditional clan chief in Guyana, and he is a well versed historian on all aspects of our traditional culture and cosmovision. I live in Barbados, another island nation altogether, in the Eastern Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. My name is Sabantho Aderi, which in the Lokono-Arawak language means, “Beautiful Little Ground Dove.” I am a 22-year-old Indigenous woman living in an urban society outside of my ancestral community: a 240-square mile, 1,700- person ancestral Pakuri Lokono-Arawak territory in Region 4, Guyana, Northeast South America.
0 kommentar(er)
