The Tribal Relationship of
the Akawoias
By A. Hyatt
Verrill.
Timehri, June 1917. Researched by Alan Schenker, digitized by
Doug Frizzle, May 2012.
 Of all the
tribes of British Guiana the most numerous, the
most widely distributed and the
richest in sub-tribes are the
Akawoias or, as they call themselves, Kapohn (The People).
There is scarcely any portion
of the colony where Akawoias are not
found, with the exception of a
narrow strip along the coast, and their benabs are scattered through the forests from
the Courantyne
to the Venezuelan border and
southward to the savannas of the Rupununi. But though so widely distributed
throughout this colony they do not
occur in Dutch Guiana, Brazil or Venezuela, unless the
Akurias of Dutch Guiana and the
Arekunas of Venezuela are related tribes,—and they
may be considered as strictly British Guiana Indians, the
only tribe in fact which is indigenous and confined to the
colony.
For this reason alone they are of particular interest, and moreover, it is
not at all improbable that they
represent the original aborigines of
British Guiana, a race distinct from all the
neighbouring tribes and neither of
Carib nor of Arowak stock.
To be sure, many ethnologists
and others have classed the Akawoias as belonging to the
Carib race; but I see no valid reason for so doing and in every case, if we
examine the evidence put forth in
support of this classification, we will find it lamentably inadequate and not
borne out by facts.
Schomburgk,
im Thurn, Brett and Brinton all class the
Akawoias as Carib stock; but Schomburgk
was hardly an authority on tribal relationships; im Thurn jumped at conclusions
and accepted hearsay superficial resemblances as proofs; Brett, though a
careful observer in some matters had
little knowledge of ethnology and was far more interested in saving Indians'
souls than in preserving scientific data, while Brinton had never visited the Guiana Indians and possessed no first hand
knowledge; but culled his information from
earlier authors. Moreover, all of these
writers depended entirely upon linguistic resemblances for their determinations of relationship between the tribes, a most inadequate and misleading method
unless supported by other evidence
and carried out with an intimate knowledge of local conditions and familiarity
with the people themselves.
During my investigations
among the British Guiana Indians I
have spent much time among the
Akawoias and their sub-tribes and
have made a very careful and detailed study of the
Kapohn nation. Moreover, I have been so fortunate as to find several isolated
villages never before visited by white men and in which the
Indians were living absolutely primitive lives. It was also my privilege to
live among the Carib Indians of Dominica some
thirty years ago when the insular
Carib dialect was still in use and there
was a large number of pure-blooded survivors of the
tribe, while, during my stay in British Guiana, I have visited and studied
nearly all the uncivilized Caribs of
the North West District. From my intimate acquaintance with the two races I am convinced that they are in no way related and that the Akawoias are a distinct and separate race,
probably the oldest of the tribes of Northeastern
South America, and it is my purpose, in the
present paper, to explain my reasons for this assumption and to point out the evidence in support of my theory.
In the
first place the Kapohn or Akawoia
nation is divided into numerous sub-tribes, each more or less distinct in
habits, customs, arts, industries,
handiwork and dialects, although all consider themselves
as belonging to the Kapohn nation.
Moreover the Akawoias consider themselves
absolutely distinct from the Carinya or Carib race; but claim relationship
with the Arekunas, Makushis,
Atoradis and others and state that these tribes are mixtures of Carib and Kapohn stock,
the offspring of Carib women captured by the
Akawoias in the days of constant
warfare between the two tribes.
Although we can place very
little credence on Indian tradition or legends, yet this particular belief
seems borne out by investigations and it is, moreover, a perfectly natural and
plausible explanation of the tribal
relationships.
But leaving these other
tribes and their connection with the Kapohn aside, the
number of recognized sub-tribes of the
Akawoia race prove the antiquity of the tribe, for distinct sub-tribes are not quickly
formed and require many centuries of separation from
the parent tribe before they acquire distinctive names and fixed
characteristics.
 It is also a noteworthy fact
that such sub-tribes do not exist to any extent among either
the Caribs, Arowaks or other British Guiana
tribes.
Unquestionably there were once more of the
Akawoia sub-tribes than exist to-day for Brett mentions the
following:
Karatimkoa, Passonkos, Yaramoonas,
Guaicas (Waikis), Komorahnis, Skamanas,
Kamarokotas, True Akawoias, Patamonas, Etooekos
Of these,
the true Akawoias, the Patamonas, the
Guaicas and the Kamarokotas are the only tribes existing in any numbers to-day
although, as before mentioned, it is questionable if the
Arekunas and Akurias are not offshoots of the
Kapohn, or, at least, a mixture of Akawoia and Carib stock. Very probably too some of the
sub-tribes mentioned by Brett and others
were synonymous, for the
pronunciation of an Indian word is difficult to convey in print, and besides, the Indians frequently have two or more words with
one meaning.
From
a linguistic standpoint a superficial comparison
might easily lead one to assume that the
Akawoias are of Carib stock, and, if we depend upon the
comparative vocabularies given by
Brett or Brinton, the relationship
of the two tribes seems established.
For example, in the following table there
is a striking similarity of Carib and Akawoia words:
Table No. 1.
Words similar
in Various Dialects. *
But it is just as easy to select an equal
number of words totally distinct as shown by the
following:
Table No. 2.
Dissimilar
Words.
* The
spelling used in these tables is
that adopted by the various Scientific
societies. The letters have the
Spanish or Italian sound, "U" is always like "oo";
"Ai" like "eye"; "A" like "Ah"; "E"
as in "tell”; "I" as in "pig"; "O" as in
"globe".
In each table Akuria words
have been given for comparison and
in every case there is a marked
similarity between these and the Akawoia, in fact the
very limited Guaica vocabulary which I have secured is so similar to the Akuria that the
differences are impossible to reproduce, while the
Patamona dialect differs only from the true Akawoia in pronunciation and a few minor
details.
So too, the Arowak equivalents have been given in Table No.
1 where they even remotely resemble the Akawoia or Carib words whereas in Table 2 and in
the following table, 3, Arowak and
Warrau words are given to illustrate their
absolute variance and to prove at once the
impossibility of any relationship between these
two tribes and the Akawoias.
Table No. 3.
Comparison of Akawoia. Carib. Arowak. and Warrau
words.
From
the foregoing it will be seen that there is no more resemblance between the equivalent words in Akawoia and Carib in Table
No. 2 than between the Carib and
Arowak or Warrau and hence, by language alone, we might just as well consider the Arowak, Warrau and Carib races as one as to
consider the Akawoias and Caribs of
common stock. At any rate the linguistic evidence is just as strong against as
for the assumption that the Caribs and Akawoias are related.
It is not at all surprising
that a certain number of Akawoia words should resemble, or even be identical
with those in the Carib tongue for the Caribs, as is well known, overran the country in the
past and the races they conquered might readily have adopted words from their
conquerors’ tongue, exactly as the
Britons adopted many Latin words, or, on the
other hand, the
Caribs may have incorporated Akawoia words in their
dialect just as the inhabitants of the Southwestern United States and California use
many Spanish words in every day conversation and which, by long usage, are now
recognized as United States English and are to be found in Webster's
dictionary.
Still another matter which should not be overlooked is the fact that the
Caribs were not always the victors
and that, whether they won or not, a certain number of men must have
been made prisoners, to remain with the
conquering tribe and by ultimate intermarriage and amalgamation add portions of
their tribal tongue to that of their adopted tribe.
The very fact that the languages are similar in certain respect helps
to prove my contention that the
Akawoias were the original
aborigines of the interior and were
in no ways connected with the
Caribs, for it is natural that the
tribe with whom the Caribs most frequently fought would adopt the greatest number of Carib words or vice versa.
So too, the Akawoias must have been
a numerous powerful and long established nation to have met the
Caribs and still exist through centuries of warfare upon the
same territory as that occupied by their
ancestors. That they were such is
admitted by the Carib legends and the number and power of the
tribe can be still better appreciated if we bear in mind that they were the
nearest neighbours of the Caribs
inland, and must have been exposed to their
attack more frequently than any other
people of the interior. Indeed, the Kapohn formed a sort of human barricade between the coastwise Caribs and the
savannah tribes and through which the
Caribs were obliged to force a bloody way to reach the
hinterland Indians.
Had they
been of Carib stock, or had their
language been very similar to the
Caribs; a peace or an alliance would have been formed between the two tribes and yet, as far as known, the Kapohn and the
Carinya were always deadly enemies and no mention is made of any peace between them, either
in the Carib or Akawoia legends.
But the
most important factor bearing on the
similarity of words in the two
dialects is that the Akawoias have
always been noted as traders and nomads,
gypsy-like in their wanderings
throughout the length and breadth of
the land. Moreover they were not always peaceful barterers, but forced their presence and their
dealings upon other tribes by dint
of arms, evidently believing that might made right and compelling
weaker races to do business, willy-nilly.
Whenever we find a tribe or a
race with such bartering tendencies we find some
common medium of speech in use, for the success of a trader among strangers depends
largely upon his ability to converse with them.
Hence there is nothing more natural
than that the bartering, nomadic Kapohn should have developed a language which
could be understood by the tribes
with whom they
dealt and that the other tribes should likewise have become accustomed
to certain essential words and expressions in Akawoia. There is almost
conclusive evidence that such is the
case, for to-day, the Akawoias
dialect is the lingua-franca of the forest Indians
and is understood by practically every tribe in the interior of British Guiana.
But while Arekunas, Akawoias,
Akurias, Myangongs, Makushis and others
can converse readily, yet the true
Caribs cannot understand pure Akawoia nor can a member of the Kapohn understand the
Carib tongue, and yet many authorities would have us believe they are of the
same race and that their dialects
are much alike.
As I have already mentioned,
linguistic resemblances or distinctions are often misleading, if taken by themselves; but if such points are supported by other evidence in the
shape of customs, life, tradition,
handiwork, religious ceremonies etc., it is quite a different matter.
Let us then
compare the
similarities or differences of the
Carib and Akawoia races as regards such matters.
Unfortunately many of the primitive customs,
arts and other important
peculiarities of the Indians have been
lost through contact with civilization and Christianity and it is questionable how
much we can depend upon the
descriptions or illustrations of early writers in forming an opinion as to the Indians’ ways in the
past.
Many of these old authors were apparently keen observers and
took a great interest in
the aboriginies; but the area of their
investigations was limited and their
judgment and assumptions were superficial while their
illustrations, even if accurately drawn, were often so altered by the engravers as to render them
valueless as evidence. Moreover customs
and fashions have their vogue among
savage tribes, as well as among civilised races, and hence we can only judge of
the accuracy of such matters by the facts as we find them
to-day.
But before taking up the life, customs
and handiwork of the tribes it may
be well to compare their physical characteristics.
To be sure, little reliance
can be placed upon physical development or peculiarities as a means of
establishing tribal or racial relationships, for local conditions and
environment have a tremendous influence upon the
colour, form, proportions and physiognomy
of the human race; but distinct
changes, due to such causes, require countless centuries before they become
fixed characteristics and, even then,
closely related tribes usually possess certain physical resemblances.
The Akawoias and Caribs
however are totally different, save that both tribes have straight black hair
and dark eyes, traits common to
nearly every American aboriginal race, and are far more distinct, in physical
characters, than are the Caribs and
Arowaks. In order that the
differences may be more readily appreciated I have tabulated them as follows:
Physical
Characters of Akawoias and Caribs.*
* Brinton says: "The physical
features of the Caribs assimilate
closely to those of the Arowaks.
They ere taller and more vigorous but are beardless and have the same variability in colour of skin.” This is far
from correct. Both the insular and mainland Caribs have well-developed
beards and many of the Arowaks have
quite luxuriant mustaches. Even a casual observer can readily distinguish a Carib
from an Arowak.
In a word the Akawoias are of an ancient type, of low stature,
short lower limbs, broad faces, small eyes, prominent
brows and low foreheads whereas the
Caribs are a more highly developed type with well developed limbs, broad
foreheads, oval faces and medium stature. It is however a very difficult matter
to convey an intelligent idea of the
physical peculiarities
or appearance of a man or woman by
words but by a comparison of
photographs of the two races the vast difference can be at once distinguished.
But it is in the handiwork, customs
and architecture of the Caribs and
Kapohn that we find the most
striking contrasts.
Whereas the Caribs build neatly thatched or wattled houses
with walls, the Akawoias use open
shed-like benabs of crude, or at least very primitive, construction. The dances
of the two tribes are distinct, the Parasara and Bimiti of the
Akawoias being unknown to the Caribs
while the Wahnoo dance is peculiar
to the latter.
Both tribes use bows and
arrows, as do all the Guiana Indians,
but the Caribs also employ lances or
javelins and harpoons which are unknown to the
Akawoias. Both tribes use drums; but they
are distinct in form and method of manufacture and the
Caribs' fiddles, or their
counterparts, are never seen among the
Akawoias, save where they have been
borrowed from neighbouring Caribs.
(Here it may be of interest to call attention to Brinton's statement that,
"no Indian tribe uses stringed instruments," an erroneous assumption
as Italian harps, fiddles and other
stringed instruments were in use by various tribes when first visited by
Europeans.)
In common
with the Makushis, Wapisianas,
Arekunas and nearly all the interior
tribes the Akawoias wear feather crowns and feather
capes or mantles and employ feathers
extensively for decorative purposes. The Caribs on the
other hand do not wear feather crowns, but have distinct head-dresses of
upright feathers. They never use feather mantles and seldom
use feathers to any extent for
decorations. Some of the old prints show Caribs decked in feather crowns and capes but I have never been able to
find any trace of either among the Caribs, save where Akawoias had married into or
lived with the tribe, and old Caribs
with whom I have conversed state
that feather crowns of the Akawoia type, or feather
capes, have never been used by the
true Caribs.*
The Carib tribal mark, a tuft
or patch of the white down of the King Vulture on the
forehead, is never used by any of the
Kapohn people and the Carib
headdress of braided and tasselled cotton is not in use by any Akawoia tribe or
sub-tribe.
The bead apron or queyu of the
Akowoia women, and worn by the females of nearly every British
Guiana tribe, is never worn by the
Caribs, the women
of this tribe wearing a cloth lap supported by a bead belt. The lap of the Carib men is fringed and ornamented, supported
by woven cotton belts, and is very distinct from
the lap of any other tribe.
* Brett figures and decription Caribs,
Arowaks, Akawoias, Arekunas and other
tribes as wearing feather crowns.
His illustrations depict the Indians
with various forms of crowns, some
with feathers standing upright
instead of horizontally; others with
two or more long feathers in front
and others with a few upright feathers on the
forehead. Some of these forms are now unknown while the upright feathers
are confined to the Akurias and
Caribs in British Guiana and the
Trios in Surinam.
The halo-like crowns with long feathers
in front are peculiar to the
hinterland tribes. Possibly the
bunches of feathers on the forehead are supposed to represent the Carib tribal mark of white vulture down. Brett
also speaks of nose ornaments worn by the
Arekunas, but I have never found an Arekuna with such decorations and the Arekunas insist they
are never worn by members of the
tribe. They are in use among the
Wapisianas and some other tribes, however.
Tattooing, almost universal
among the Akawoias is never seen
among the Caribs and the painted decorations of the
latter are purely ornamental and have no significance, as far as can be
ascertained.
Practically all the Carib women,
and many of the Carib men have the lower lip pierced and wear pins or labrets in the aperture and while this custom is said to be followed by some
of the true Akawoias I have never
seen it and members of the tribe
state positively that pure-blooded Akawoias never wear labrets.
Immensely heavy necklaces,
formed of numerous strings of beads held together
by rings carved from palm nuts, are
universally worn by Carib women but
are entirely lacking among the
Akawoias, while the Carib women's method of dressing the
hair, in a flat coif on the back of the head, and decorating it with bright ribbons or
cotton strings is confined entirely to this tribe.
Many of the customs
and arts, as well as weapons and handiwork of the
Caribs and Akawoias are common to
all the British Guiana Indians; but
in every case they are distinctive
of the tribe and the most casual observer could note the difference between the
Carib and Akawoia objects.
Among such articles are the clubs, bows, baskets, hammocks, rattles,
pottery, cotton fringes to necklaces of teeth, calabashes, wooden stools, etc.;
but the distinctions, although
obvious upon examination, are impossible to describe.
Of much more interest and
importance is the fact that Wurali
poison and blow guns, used extensively by the
Akawoias and other tribes, are not
employed by the Caribs who openly
express contempt for the Akawoias as
poisoners. For the sake of comparison the
following table will prove of interest.
* Many of the
Patamonas wear pins in the lower lip
but the true Akawoias consider the Patamonas an inferior and mongrel race. It is
very probable that the Patamonas have acquired the
habit through contact with the Makushis
for it is far commoner among those
inhabiting the borders of the Makushi country than among the Patamonas elsewhere. I consider the Patamonas a mixture of Akawoia and some other
tribe, perhaps Arowak, while the Guaicas
or Waikis are undoubtedly a mixture of Akawoia and Carib.
To sum up, the evidence in support of the
assumption that the Akawoias are a
distinct race from the Caribs is as follows.—
1. A dialect in which the majority of words are distinct.
2. Marked differences in
physical characteristics.
3. Ancient enmity and
irreconcilable hatred between the
tribes.
4. Totally different dances,
religious and ceremonial rites and traditions.
5. The use of Wurali poison
by one tribe and not by the other.
6. Symbolical and significant
tatooing by one and not by the other.
7. Distinctive types of
permanent houses.
8. The unique use of laps by the Carib women
and the use of queyus by the Akawoias.
9. The universal use of feather crowns and mantles by the
Akawoias and not by the Caribs and the headdresses of upright feathers
of the latter.
10. The tribal mark of white
vulture down employed by the Caribs
and not by the Akawoias.
11. The cotton coronets used
only by the Caribs.
12. The nomadic, trading propensities of the Akawoias.
13. The use of stringed
instruments by Caribs and not by Akawoias.
14. Harpoons and javelins
used only by the Caribs.
15. Distinct forms of
ornaments, weapons, ceremonial clubs, etc.
In contradiction of this theory, and in support of the
claim that the Caribs and Akawoias
are of common stock, we have the following:—
1. Certain words identical or
similar.
2. Physical characteristics common to all South American tribes.
3. Statements and
illustrations by early writers of questionable accuracy.
4. The use of certain
weapons, implements, utensils, etc., such as metapees, baskets, bows and
arrows, hammocks, etc., which are common
to all British Guiana and most South American
tribes.
5. The theory
that the Caribs originated in South
America, probably near the Orinoco delta, which is not borne out by investigation.
Certainly it must be admitted
that the preponderance of evidence
is in favour of my claim that the
two tribes are of distinct origin and once we accept this as a fact great light
is thrown upon the relationships of the other
British Guiana tribes. For, instead of being compelled to class them
as of Arowak or Carib stock, we can explain all puzzling features by an
intermingling of Arowaks, Caribs and Akawoias, or by offshoots of these tribes which have developed certain features
which are distinctive. Thus, the
true feather crown is typically
Akawoian; but was once used by the
Arowaks and is still in use by the
various interior tribes; but is not and never was used by the Caribs. On the
other hand the
head-dress of upright feathers is
peculiar to the Carib and Akuria
tribes and while the latter
linguistically are almost identical with the
Akawoias yet in physical characters, colour, many customs
and arts and in handiwork they are
strikingly Carib. In still other
matters they are distinctly Arowak
and there is no doubt in my mind
that they are descended from some
marauding horde of Caribs who became cut off from
their fellow tribesmen and,
surrounded by Akawoias and Arowaks, gradually acquired some
of the characteristics of their neighbours. Likewise the
Makushis, although linguistically Carib, have many features strikingly Akawoian.
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