Haiti, Guyane, and Amerindians

We are not avid followers of Haiti Inter, but they occasionally produce fascinating interviews with different figures from Haiti or its Diaspora. This video, which is probably misleading since at least half of it is really about Haitians and people of Haitian descent in La Guyane, caught our attention for its alleged focus on the Amerindian heritage of Haiti. Unfortunately, the guest does not truly explore that intriguing question of Haiti's Indian legacy. Instead, we are given what has become repeated narratives offered without any evidence. Thus, the veve of Haitian Vodou is said to be of Amerindian origin (no evidence provided for this), while words of Taino origin used in Haitian Creole are given as further examples without nuance or explanation. It's a shame Haitians (and people of Haitian descent) have not yet truly explored this interesting question of Taino legacies in Haiti. Moreover, I am not sure I would assume any close connection between the word Jaragua or Xaragua in Indigenous Haiti and the use of the toponym Jaragua in Tupi-Guarani languages of Brazil. There might be a connection, but we once thought it more likely that Xaragua in Haiti might be connected to Aragua in Venezuela (based on the way Aragua was spelled in one source from the 16th century).

Atipa Comic Book

Atipa, the first novel in a Creole language, has recently been adapted into a bilingual comic. I would rather read the original novel first, but this is an interesting development that is suggestive of the importance of Atipa in French Guiana's Creole literature and heritage. This is so despite the fact that the novel was ignored for several decades after its initial publication in 1885. From what I have read of the work, most of the novel consists of the eponymous character walking through the streets of Cayenne, engaging his friends and acquaintances in long conversations about a plethora of topics germane to life in the late 19th century in the colony. For anyone interested in the structure of Guianese Creole during this time or the social and cultural world in which Atipa lived would find something valuable in it.