Indigenous peoples in Honduras have always had tremendous difficulty reclaiming their culture. Their hard work and perserverence in this battle is no more apparent than in the fight for educational rights. The power over education equals the power to teach a language and a culture to the youth of the community. Although there have been many barriers in this process, some from the government and some within the culture itself, several of the communities in Honduras have found limited success in this area. A few of the tribes have begun to build the foundations for a strong educational system for the future.
One of the first attempts at indigenous education in la Mosquita was a Honduran mission sent to Sumal about 1919. Many of the first educational programs sponsored by the state were run by the Church. (Wearne, 139) However, in order to educate every child, they decided to relocate all of the Tawahkas together. The next year, an epidemic wiped out all of the families except four. In the end, there were not enough people alive to bury all of corpses. The Tawanhkas would rightfully be skeptical of any later attempts at external reform after such an incident.
There was a renewed attempt in the 1950's to educate the native peoples. Stories are still told by the natives today about the Spanish-speaking teachers who came with the mission. The teacher came into the classroom, lecturing the children in Spanish, which of course they could not understand. Nor did any of the native families understand anything, seeing as none of them spoke Spanish either. The saying by the Miskitos and the Garifunas is that they learned Spanish "a pura sangre," by bleeding. Although many of the children eventually began to learn Spanish and receive a formal education, many of the parents remained illiterate. (Griffen, "Mosquita Popular Stories") This divide between children and parents fostered a divide concerning how education should be viewed. Many saw it as an attempt to acculturate the indigenous peoples, trying to make their culture and language obsolete, particularly because of the eurocentric curriculum. Others saw this as an opportunity to gain power, to use language to achieve goals of greater justice. As Rigoberta Menchu' noted, "They've always said that poor Indians can't speak Spanish, so many people speak for them. That's why I decided to learn Spanish." (Wearne, 141)
Recently, this thinking has led to renewed efforts by indigenous peoples to begin to open bilingual schools. Although this seems relatively simple, one author relates the story of someone approaching her asking if she would assist in the development of a Pech bilingual program:
"Does Pech have a grammar book?" I asked.
"No," he responded.
"Does Pech have a dictionary?"
"No."
"Does Pech have an alphabet?"
"No."
Clearly, establishing these programs assumes that there is one standard language that will be taught. In order to establish the Pech program, linguists were brought in to sort out the language, including Dr. Dennis Holt, a linguist who had been researching there for UCLA, but had not been to the region in ten years. Another valuable find was linguist Stephen Echerd, who had already made some preliminary notes and analyses on language structure. The alphabet was rewritten several times, differing when written by English or Spanish speakers. The first two books in Pech appeared in 1996. Teachers then began to come up with educational tools for the classrooms. Another Honduran linguist, Prudencia Garcia, has drafted a Pech-Spanish dictionary which should be available in the near future. Now they must wait for authorization to begin to teach Pech in the classroom by the government. (Griffen, "Learning To Write")
The Garifuna have also had difficulty spelling out an alphabet because of translations made by English speakers versus Spanish speakers. Two experts went from village to village asking people how they thought the language should be spelt. The New Testament has already been translated, but this too has two different versions. The Garifuna Bible Translation Project held a seminar for teachers in Limon, however controversy over the alphabet led to very little accomplishments there. Therefore, this disagreement has become a major barrier to educational programs, since no materials can be approved until an alphabet is decided upon. In this case, there has been little progress since the program was first authorized in 1993. (Griffen, "Regional differences")
The Tawahkas have also begun the struggle for bilingual education. They too have developed an alphabet, and are currently working on rules of grammar. In 1997, 18 teachers were trained by a French program. They will hopefully teach in six new primary schools and a kindergarten, which are going to be built with the help of the Honduran Social Investment Fund. This has been complicated by the static response from the Ministry of Education in Honduras, which has not yet paid teacher salaries. The program became operational in 1993 anyways. The Tawankas now have several students who have completed high school, and one who is the first to begin university level studies. (Griffen, "Tawahka Educational Programs") In this case, as Wearne points out, these challenges often bring communities together as they attempt to solve these problems. (142)
There have been other ways of educating the youth outside of the classroom. There is a Garifuna dance group called Liyumondon, or "Mouth of the River." The group includes 11-16 year olds who perform native dances. Unfortunately, children are often needed to sell crops or work in the home instead. Support does not come from the national government for these programs, therefore community investment becomes a key factor. (Griffen, "Artist Helps Garifuna") Another important way for communities to learn without many resources are radio schools. This provides the chance for adult evening classes, as well as morning classes. (Wearne, 142) The program in Honduras was created in 1989 by a group of Catholic nuns. "Teacher in the House" hopes to cut adult illiteracy by twenty four percent by the year 2000, by broadcasting shows on popular radio stations mainly to peasant farmers who don't usually recieve a strong education. Enrollment costs are less than a dollar and the only other costs are for books. (Mejia, 10)
With greater activism
comes greater awareness, and outside groups have also begun to take an active
role in assisting these communities. "Libraries for Indigenous People"
set up four in Honduras and Guatemala in 1996-97. The Tawakhas, Lenca, and
Garifunas each have set up libraries in this past year, just like the Biblioteca
Wulunugu in Batalla, pictured here. This library is run on solar power,
since most of the coastal villages do not have electricity. "Libraries
for Indigenous People" (formerly entitled Global Neighbors) have also
driven bookmobiles down to Honduras, and hope to assist in the formation
of literacy programs in each of the new libraries. You can make donations
or learn about them at http://bookseed.org/ or at their old site, http://www.mcn.org/a/globohd/default.html.
Other libraries are also being created. One Garifuna library, the Garifuna Library of Barranco, currently has books, articles and videos collected and filed on a computer system. The library is able to initiate cultural projects including documenting family histories, holding computer classes for local children, gathering map information, collecting oral histories, and lists of traditional craftspeople. Hopefully this library will become a model for many others in the future. (Tuttle, "Garifuna Library")
Also, a seminar on the Conservation of Endangered Languages was held on April 21, 1995 to explore the topic of language extinction and the possible implications for indigenous cultures. This problem is being addressed by UNESCO and CIPSH (Conseil International de la Philosophie et des Sciences Humaines). They have compiled a "Red Book" of endangered languages. Although this is being addressed on the international level, languages are continually dying out after centuries of acculturation and the disappearances of various communities. (Conservation of Endangered Languages)
However, these communities have made great strides since the 1920's. These bilingual education programs are not simply to educate their children so that they can succeed in a Spanish-speaking society. By controlling their children's education they are able to pass on many of the ideas and traditions that have been carried on orally for centuries. Along with the seeds for the dissemination of cultural ideas, it provides the opportunity for a people to preserve their culture as well as better communicate with the institutions that still control them. In this way they are beginning to take back their cultural rights and provide the roots for the future. As Eddie Box, a native American, noted, "The battle for Indian children will be won in the classroom, not on the streets or on horses. The students of today are our warriors of tomorrow." (Wearne, 142)
Works Cited
"Conservation of Endangered Languages" The Center For Theories of Language and Learning, University of Bristol, Department of Philosophy. http://www.garifuna-world.com/lareport.htm. (March 27, 1998)
Griffen, Wendy. "Artist Helps Garifuna Youth Through Dance." Honduras This Week, 3/2/98. http://www.marrder.com/htw/cultural.htm. (March 7, 1998)
---. "Learning to Write Honduras' Unwritten Languages." Honduras This Week, 2/23/98. http://www.marrder.com/htw/feb98/cultural.htm. (March 7, 1998)
---. "Mosquitia Educational Situation Reflected in Popular Stories." Honduras This Week, 12/16/97. http://www.marrder.com/htw/dec97/cultural.htm. (March 3, 1998)
---. "Regional Differences Hold Up Creation of Garifuna Alphabet." Honduras This Week, 2/23/98. http://www.marrder.com/htw/cultural.htm. (March 7, 1998)
---. "Tawahka Educational Programs Bring Results." Honduras This Week, 2/16/98. http://www.marrder.com/htw/feb98/national.htm. (March 7, 1998)
Mejia, Thelma. "Radio Brings 'Teacher In The House'" Central America Newspak (1997) 4:12.
Tuttle, Carlson. "The Garifuna Library of Barranco" Garifuna World. http://www.garifuna-world.com/barancol.htm. (March 27, 1998)
Wearne, Philip. Return of the Indian. Philadelphia: Temple University, 1996.
Please send questions or comments about this page to:
Chrissy Rose crose00@sequent1.providence.edu
Kathy Michienzi michik99@sequent1.providence.edu
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This website was a project for Political Science 416, "Race and Politics in the Americas" at Providence College, Spring '98
Prof. Tony Affigne
