Cultural
By WENDY GRIFFIN Special to Honduras This Week | 
Fishing has long history but faces short future in Honduras
In contrast, the people living on Honduras' northern and southern coasts have enjoyed fish and other seafood as a key part of their diet since pre-Columbian times. In his excavations near Trujillo, Canadian archaeologist Paul Healy has uncovered round weights used by ancient fishermen on their nets. Although the relics date back to between 600 and 900 A.D., they are much like the weights North Coast fishermen continue to use today.
Early Hondurans used more than nets to catch their fish. Tawahka and Miskito Indians even today occasionally use bows and arrows to fish. Spear fishing is also common in the Bay Islands and La Mosquitia. In the Bay Islands, especially, where crystal clear waters are shallow over reefs, Indians had a clear view of the fish they speared. Bay Islands Indians offered fish to explorer Hernan Cortes after he helped rescue them from a slave raid from Santo Domingo. TRADE SECRETS Metal harpoon tips and fish hooks were introduced by English traders in the colonial period. Archaeological digs in the Caribbean, however, indicate that the Garifuna may have used bone fishhooks even before Europeans came. The Indians of Olancho and La Mosquitia were blessed with an abundance of rivers. Often, rather than fishing with a spear or net, they would build small dams with sticks, then pour special a fish poison extracted from local plants, into the water. Then all they had to do was collect the stunned fish, who were stopped from floating downstream by the dam.
Bay Island and Garifuna fishermen also carried on the African tradition of using basket-like traps to catch fish, lobster and crab. Woven of stiff fibers, these traps allow fish to swim in the get the bait inside, but prevent them from swimming back out. Although Bay Islands fishermen rarely make traps anymore, lobster and crab pots can still be seen on boats and in the National Museum. MERMAID GODS The Pech Indians believe the Sirena is the mother of all fish. The Sirena is not a regular mermaid because she has nine eyes. It was the Pech hero Patakako who verified that there were, in fact, sirenas living in each river. The Pech used to have special ceremonies before fishing to ask the sirena for permission to take some of her fish. They offered guacales, or gourd bowls, full of cacao and sacred wine to thank her for giving the Pech fish to eat. Pre-Columbian pottery that has been found in streams, like at Peroles Calientes, Olancho, probably once contained food gifts for the spirits who controlled the fish.
To take fish without permission could lead to illness or even death. Most Miskito children wear amulets to protect them from drowning because a liwa (mermaid or merman) might drag them into the river or lagoon. The spirit who controlled the fish could give a man many fish or no fish. One Miskito shaman reportedly performed a ceremony to make sure a merman would not drown a fisherman and his family because he had taken too many fish. The merman went away, but he also took all the fish. The Garifunas believe in similar spirits in the open sea and in estuaries. OVERFISHING Although some might say the river spirits are hiding fish today, there are other more mundane reasons for the decline of fish populations in Olancho and La Mosquitia. Overfishing is one cause. Destructive methods like poisoning and dynamite have also caused the loss of river fish. Gold mining La Miskito, which uses dredges, stirs up the water and is killing the "cuyamel" fish, which can survive only in clear water. It is also killing the nutria, a kind of river otter. In Olancho, agricultural contamination is another reason why many streams no longer support fish. Farm runoff is so severe around Trujillo that some streams leave a white powder on the skin of swimmers and have caused sea lice populations to explode in the Bay. With this loss of resources, Pech ceremonies that required fish or seafoods are no longer performed. Likewise, many seafood recipes are being forgotten. Having lost fish in their area, Indians must either invade the Rio Platano Biosphere to get fish from there (something that is not legal, but is done) or learn to raise tilapia fish in fish ponds. Although in Honduras fish in non-protected streams is under the authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources and fish in protected areas is under the Honduran Forest Development Corporation (COHDEFOR), there is no program to restock fish except tilapia and fish ponds. |
By SUYAPA CARIAS |
Moscow Music School brings music to new heights
The Moscow Music School showcased the talents of students and teachers of all ages and nationalities on May 25 in Tegucigalpa. Created in February 1994 to provide a high level alternative for Hondurans interested in studying music, "the school's curriculum is based on more than two centuries of teaching and music in Russia," says director Igor Goloubiatnikov. A graduate of Moscow's Gnesinij Conservatory, Goloubiatnikov has a master's degree in guitar and has been a teacher for 15 years. Supporting his efforts at the Tegucigalpa school are professional musicians Lila Goloubiatnikov, Miguel Angel Handal, Chitose Shirashi de Aguilar and Hernán Teruel. As is tradition at the Moscow School, last week's concert opened with a performance by its youngest student. Not even 10 years old, Ravi Popoff Shankar performed works by Bach, Handel and Hayden on the piano. She was followed by the equally young Thomas Fisher, who not only plays the flute exquisitely, but is also a promising composer, as he showed in his performance of two original pieces titled Canon #1 and Melody. The concert continued with other brilliant performances by guitarist Carlos Marin, flautist Federick Blas and pianists Elena and Guillem Catlla, who were presented with certificates of excellence. Guillem impressed the public with Sonatina and Für Elise by Beethoven and Los Payasos by Kabalevsky. Guillermo Molina Chocano, representative of the Organization of American States in Honduras, parent and promoter of culture, talked about the importance of providing children with artistic education. "To invest in culture is to invest in the security of our personality," he says. He also presented a new plan to finance a headquarters for the school and continue increasing its academic level. Classes are currently held at the Tegucigalpa French Alliance. "We want our students to have a degree that will be accepted at any conservatory in any country of the world," said teacher, adding that administrators are currently discussing the school's growth and importance with the Ministry of Culture. The Moscow School offers two plans of study. The preparatory program provides seven- and eight-year-olds with a basic background in the fundamentals of music and allows them to discover their musical aptitudes. The individual plan includes private instruction in guitar, violin, cello, piano and flute. Classes begin Sept. 1 and end June 31. For more information call 30-4641. |
By SUYAPA CARIAS |
Honduran writer wins Mistral literary award
Honduran writer Eduardo Bahr was one of 50 Latin American writers chosen by the government of Chile on June 20 to receive this year's Gabriela Mistral literary award. The Mistral, named after the acclaimed Chilean author who won the Nobel Prize 50 years ago, was also given to Mexico's Octavio Paz, Spain's Rafael Alberti and Nicaragua's Ernesto Cardenal this year. Bahr's win was announced during Gabriela Mistral Week at the National Teaching University in Tegucigalpa. Co-sponsored by the Chilean Embassy, the event featured videos, poetry readings and lectures on the life and work of the famous writer. It also included an exhibit of photography by Chilean photographer Luis Poirot, who captured the fascinating and intimate details of another Chilean literary great, Pablo Neruda. Titled Retratando la Ausencia del Poeta, the exhibit featured 41 black and white prints taken at Neruda's home on Isla Negra on Chile's Pacific coast. Poirot himself has won a sizeable collection of national and international awards. His exhibit has already appeared in Mexico and Guatemala and will continue on to El Salvador and other countries soon. Bahr, who calls himself a fervent admirer of both Mistral and Neruda, is currently the Director for Central America at the Honduran Neruda Foundation. The Foundation, which has been especially active in organizing literary workshops for children and teens, plans soon to hold a sale of works by Neruda to raise funds for future activities. "For four decades in this century, Neruda had an indisputable influence on all Hispanic poets," says Bahr, who says what he admired most in the poet are his universality and his fight for the underdog. During Mistral week, there was a special ceremony to lay the first stone for a new statue of Gabriela Mistral at the Teaching University. Gustavo González from the Chilean Embassy says there will be a festival to celebrate Neruda's birthday from July 10-12. It will include theater presentations, poetry readings and more and will take place at the National Autonomous University of Honduras in Tegucigalpa |
By SHARON MONCADA Special to Honduras This Week Online |
La Esquina Americana
When I first thought about writing for HTW, I wondered what could I cover that wasn't already included in every issue (food, tourism, environment, etc.) After careful thought, I decided to just tell my own experiences (extranjeras) to familiarize other gringo/gringas with Honduras, yet from an American point of view. I truly believe that if you can survive the airplane descent through the clouds (with mountains all around) to land in Tegucigalpa without a prescription of antianxiety medication, you just might be a good candidate for semi- or permanent residency in Honduras. A little kidding aside, my first encounter in Honduras was in 1992. I did the tourist thing -- Bay Islands, Tshirts, coffee, etc. I tend to be a careful observer of people and while I was in Honduras I took the opportunity to observe. I was exposed to both upper and lower classes and I liked both. I didn't speak any Spanish then, yet all were patient. I looked different, yet no one seemed to prejudge the foreigner. I might have complained about the airport being hot or the lack of a/c in some places, yet the natives offered me a cold drink or anything to accommodate. I do not believe their actions were phony or done with the purpose of repayment. They were genuine actions by genuine people no matter how much or little they had to begin with. All these actions were not forgotten, yet the sincerity of them did not sink in until something else happened I returned from my trip to the U.S. What a contrast it all started at the Houston airport where I arrived back home. Citizens of my homeland who are blessed with a job so they are able to travel with their families to exotic lands were right there complaining about such important matters as: slow custom's agents and slow baggage claims. Ask a question to almost any airport employee and you will get that "I can't believe you are bugging me again" expression on their face. That's their job -- to answer questions! In the U.S., people -- myself at times included -- tend to judge others by their color, accent, religion, etc, yet that person may have more education and understanding than any of us "blancos." We in the United States are greatly blessed in this land of ours; we take it for granted at times until we are fortunate enough to meet someone in a grand land like Honduras, who has meager means to live on but will give the shirt off his or her back or the last glass of agua potable if you need it. I didn't realize how rude we Norte Americanos can be at times. Possibly it is in our social/cultural makeup but that doesn't make it right. Now, I am not including every American citizen in this group. But I want to emphasize that the one thing you will learn about most Hondureños is that they are genuine, sincere people. Of course, there are rotten apples in every batch, but that is par for the nature of things. Also, like every human society, there are problems I will discuss those, too, in an enjoyable yet informing manner. So, welcome to the Esquina Americana, I hope you find what you are looking for. So, sit and enlighten yourself about the Honduran culture from an American point of view. Luego! |
By JUDITH C. SHAFFER If you never liked traffic rules, Honduran roads are for you. |
Hondureñismos
I, not being a Honduran native, have had one experience that very few Hondurans share: driver's ed. Now, this isn't about me feeling superior because I come from a country where people are expected to learn how to drive before they drive. On the contrary, I feel a certain relief when I'm on the road in Honduras. Gone is the fear that I might inadvertently commit a traffic violation and be chastised by a ticket-happy cop. You see, traffic violations don't really exist in Honduras. In order to have violations you need enforcement. But before you have enforcement you need laws. And before you have laws someone has to care. And that's the beauty of driving in Honduras: no one really cares. Before the transit police start sending letters of opposition to the HTW editor, I suppose I'd better clarify that Honduran law does, in fact, cover traffic. But traffic laws in Honduras carry about the same weight as the prohibition in a Chicago speakeasy. For someone who got through driver's ed by the skin of her teeth and failed her first driving test after knocking over two orange pylons and running a red light, Honduran roads are a kind of paradise on radial tires. Those of you used to driving by the rules, however, or at least having rules to drive by, might want to take a look at the following pointers. Think of them as a crash course on how to drive like a Honduran. Oops. Did someone say crash? Speed Limits: To calculate the maximum speed limit in Honduras, take the average mph of a 16-year-old boy driving his father's BMW on a Saturday night and multiply it by the speed of sound. The minimum limit is anything faster than parked. Passing: The best places for passing on Honduran highways are sharp mountain curves. For best results, tail the vehicle in front of you at a distance no greater than two feet and swerve into oncoming traffic a few times to get the feel of the pass before actually completing the manoeuver. Seasoned passers accentuate their performance by flashing their brights and honking their horns. Traffic lights: Green means go. Yellow means go. Red means at least three more cars can squeeze through before the drivers waiting on the perpendicular road throw their vehicles into gear and accelerate. Merging traffic: If you think you can merge without being hit by approaching traffic, merge. If you think you might be hit by an approaching vehicle, but its driver looks alert enough to be able to brake in time, merge. If there's room for an oncoming car to move over, creating space for three vehicles across instead of just two, merge. While you're weighing these options, keep your foot off the brake and allow your vehicle to inch forward slowly. Right of way: Whichever vehicle is moving faster has the right of way. If two vehicles are moving at the same speed, the larger has the right of way. If one of the vehicles has CD (cuerpo diplomatico) plates, that vehicle has the right of way. Honking: Your horn and your brakes serve the same purpose. They can be used interchangeably. Potholes: You have three choices when approaching a pothole: you can drive right over it as if you didn't notice it was there, you can swerve to avoid it, or you can brake and drive over it slowly. In the latter two cases, all movements must be made suddenly and sharply. Do nothing to alert the vehicle behind you of your intent to swerve or stop until the last possible minute. Turning left: Your blinkers are for decorative purposes only. If you want to turn left, stick your arm out the window, aim it toward the ground at a 45-degree angle with your palm facing backward and cock your hand back several times at the wrist. The faster you cock, the faster the vehicle behind you will brake. Turning right: See "Turning Left". Stopping suddenly: See "Turning Left". Changing lanes: See "Turning Left". Warning fellow drivers of oncoming danger: See "Turning Left". Letting fellow drivers know that you're aware of the fact that they want to pass you, but aren't the least bit interested in letting them: See "Turning Left". Waiting in line: There is no need to wait in line on Honduran roads. If you find yourself in a general traffic jam, take advantage of all available means to advance your vehicle, including oncoming lanes, soft shoulders, sidewalks and landscaped medians. If you approach a vehicle from behind and it's waiting to turn left, don't stop at its rear; pull up alongside the vehicle and ease ahead of it, making sure to fully block its view of oncoming traffic. Pedestrians: If you think pedestrians have the right of way, I hope you're in a car and not on foot. |
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BY SUYAPA CARIAS |
Two artists, two generations, one exhibit
Two of Honduras' most dynamic painters have joined canvases for an exhibit that packs a double wallop: Encuentro de Dos Artistas by Efraín Portillo and Enrique Escher. The show opened Tuesday (June 11) at the Banco Atlántida Cultural Room in Tegucigalpa. Inaugurating the exhibit, Minister of Government Efraín Moncada Silva told art lovers, "tonight we're seeing two generations of painters, the generation of the '60s and the generation of the '80s." With different ages, backgrounds and ideas, Portillo and Escher have developed their talents in very different ways. Born in Choluteca in 1941, Portillo began his studies at the National School of Fine Arts. In 1966 he won a scholarship from the Ministry of Education to continue his education at the School of Fine Arts in Rome, where he studied under masters like Renato Guttuso and Alberto Ziveri. Later, the Italian government granted Portillo a scholarship to study sculpture at the American-Italian Institute. Portillo soon created a style all his own, and has become known for it internationally. "I call it graphic cubism," he says. In 1991, Honduran art critic Longino Becerra described the artist's work this way: "Portillo does not decompose the figure on uniform geometric planes; he decomposes it with lines." At the exhibit opening, Banco Atlántida president Paul Vinelli applauded Portillo's use of color and light and his ability to adapt traditional Honduran themes to his canvases. Enrique Escher is a self-taught artist with a flair for realism that some have compared to photography. "He picks up his paintbrush and the miracle is there," the late Honduran poet Clementina Suarez once said of him. "Escher's paintings point to a world of beauty with impeccable clarity," said Vinelli. "When you look at one of his paintings it's like entering a double dimension. It's like virtual reality." Escher, who is also famous for his black and white pastel nudes, was born in Tegucigalpa in 1955 and has participated in several individual and collective exhibits around the world. After a two-day stint in Tegucigalpa, the Encuentro exhibit has been moved to San Pedro Sula. |
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Orfeon Sampedrano brings San Pedro voices together in song
SAN PEDRO SULA -- Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, the Orfeón Sampedrano has come back to life after 30 years of silence. The word orfeón comes from the Catalan region of Spain. It means chorale. In 15th and 16th century Europe, chorale groups were prolific. The Roman liturgy was sung in Latin, patronage was given to church musicians and madrigals and antiphons produced sacred music. There was no chorale tradition in Honduras when Juan Tutto Diffent arrived here in the 1950s. An avid musician from Catalán, he founded the original and only Orfeón Sampedrano. In 1958, the group gave its first of many highly acclaimed concerts. But Tutto's unexpected death in 1964 literally knocked the breath out of to chorus. The Orfeón fell silent. One of the group's original members, Dr. Leonardo Landa, was only 16 back in 1958. Today he's the president of the Philharmonic Foundation. He and choirmaster Issa Antonio Jaar have gotten the Orfeón back together and the group is preparing to give its first performance on June 30. Jaar directs the choir at the Private University of San Pedro Sula and has had wide experience with mass choirs. The idea behind the new Orfeón was to create a large choir made up of Sampedranos from all walks of life with the desire and the talent to sing. Auditions were called for the first three Saturdays in May and the response was excellent: former students of the Victoriano López Music School, a mechanic, a barber, several housewives and a number of professionals bring the number of choir voices to 51, and counting. With many hours of rehearsal already behind them, the members of the new Orfeón are preparing a varied program that includes works by Bach and several Spanish composers. Beyond this month's concert, the Orfeón hopes to join the International Choral Music Association and to encourage patrons to come forward so the group can participate in international competitions. |
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Wasps, ants and scorpions put a sting in Honduran folklore
The Pech Indians say the stinging insects of Honduras were created by evil beings like Takaskro, a spirit who wreaks havok in Pech folklore. But even the humble insect has its own stories and uses. In the Pech story of the Morning Star and the Evening Star, collected by Honduran anthropologist Lazaro Flores, twin brothers are asked by their grandfather to bring him some wax so he can make a flute from the bones of a jaguar. The two boys go to a nearby beehive. Although one brother begins collecting beeswax, the other begins eating the sweet honeycomb, instead. When the first boy noticed that his brother wasn't doing his share of the work, he sent a wasp to sting him on his testicles. That got the second brother's attention and he quickly finished his task. After the grandfather made his flute, the boys went to the sky, where the became the morning star and the evening star. The Tawahka Indians also use beeswax to make musical instruments. They use the sticky black substance to fashion bamboos flutes and crab shell whistles.
As early as the 1700's, Indians were selling beeswax and honey to European traders. Today honey remains an important product in rural Honduras. In some areas like Culmí in eastern Honduras, however, many farmers have stopped producing honey due to problems with Africanized, or "killer" bees.
WASPS Although wasps produce no honey, agronomists at the Pan-American Agricultural School in Zamorano have found another important use for them. Through the Integrated Pest Control Project, anthropologists and agronomists are studying the use of wasps as an alternative to some pesticides. Wasps eat many insects that can be destructive to crops. During the course of the project, anthropologists noticed that Indians and other rural Hondurans identify insects differently than scientists. To recognize different varieties of wasps, for example, a scientist would have to look at them under a magnifying glass, which usually means killing them. Tawahka Indians, however, recognize the different wasps by their fight patterns, where they live, their sounds and the plants or animals that attract them.
Because what scientists and rural Hondurans know about insects is different, anthropologist Jeff Bently believes each can benefit from sharing their information.
ANTS When discussing stinging insects, most Hondurans would include ants in the conversation. The Lenca Indians believe it was the ant that brought corn to the people. According to legend, originally only the underground world had corn. It was the ant that burrowed below the earth to bring corn back to the people on the surface. Ants are particularly helpful in controlling plant-eating pests. If you have a plant that is infested with unwanted insects, try sprinkling some sugar water on it. This will attract ants, which will do away with many leaf-eating bugs. To control leaf-cutting ants (zompopos), sprinkle your plants with sand from the nest of a different group of zompopos. Leaf-cutting ants are territorial and will go away if they think the area belongs to another group.
MOSQUITOS As spreaders of dengue and malaria, mosquitos are among the most bothersome of the stinging animals. Almost every visitor to the Honduran North Coast has wasted time trying to sleep while some mosquito buzzes in his or her ear. The Garifuna Indians have a story to explain why. Long ago Wax was very poor. He needed money and asked his friend the mosquito to lend it to him. The mosquito gave him the loan, but it took Wax a long time to pay him back. Finally the mosquito grew impatient and began bothering Wax, asking him incessantly "When are you going to pay me back? When are you going to pay me back?" The mosquito drove Wax so crazy with his pestering that Wax finally jumped into an ear to hide. Ever since then, whenever a mosquito buzzes around a person's ear, it's looking for Wax to ask him when he's going to pay him back. This legend was collected by Jessie Castillo and published in a book of Garifuna Folk Tales by City University of New York's Caribbean Research Center.
Mosquitos can be pesky, but they are also useful. Male mosquitos help pollinate certain plants and wiggly red mosquito larvae are a favorite food for Honduran sea creatures like shrimp.
SCORPIONS When thinking of stinging animals, most people also include the scorpion. The Tawahkas tell the story of a scorpion who wanted to cross a river, so he convinced a jaguar to carry him across. At first the jaguar refused, but the scorpion reassured him. "Why would I sting you? If I did, I'd drown, too," he told the jaguar. So the jaguar agreed to take the scorpion across. But before they reached the mid-point of the river, the scorpion stung the jaguar. "Why did you sting me if you'll drown, too?" the jaguar asked the scorpion before he died. "That's just what scorpions do. We sting people," said the scorpion. The scorpion that remained true to itself is part of the scorpion and sun symbol that is the insignia of the Tawahka Indian Federation. As for spiders, another biting animal in Honduras, there are so many stories we'll have to save them for another day. |
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Who else can you blame but the bean counters?
SAN PEDRO SULA We've bean robbed. This is Sr. Sabor's meateating sidekick, Carne Vor, asking that newage question to end all questions: Where's the bean? Sr. Sabor first noticed something was up when the fragile balance in his daily lunch, which is delivered to him by a nice woman who caters to a group of laborers here in the city of heat, began to tip in favor of rice. Sr. Sabor is a big fan of tipica Honduran food, but when the beans or the rice starts to get the short shrift, he's not his usual self. That wasn't the end of it. For several days now, the quantity of beans has been slowly shrinking and the amount of rice slowly growing, something Sr. Sabor was comparing to the old Communist domino theory that now seems like such a ridiculous joke some bored old bureaucrats played on us for 40 years so they could siphon off money to buy massive amounts of toys that kill. Today, though, was the last straw. First, the refriedbean filled baleadas in the little caseta where Sr. Sabor sometimes eats breakfast when he forgets to load bananas into his backpack soared 17 percent, going from Lps. 3 to Lps. 3.50 (from 28 cents on the dollar to 33 cents now). Then at lunch, the beans on Sr. Sabor's plate finally ran dry. There was none. Just rice and a mixture of other "vegetables" that were mostly cutup steamed bananas. He was so beside himself that he asked me to write this week's Buen Provecho. So: Where is the bean? It seems Honduras is suffering a bean shortage. Prices were down last year, someone said, so no one planted any beans for this year. Now prices are so high that everyone appears to have lost his appetite for beans, which is a good thing because there aren't any to buy. This is totally unacceptable in Honduras, where the culture relies on having beans and rice. I mean, what is Honduras without beans as one of the two main courses on the breakfast, lunch and dinner plates? Now the government is scrambling to import beans. All this comes less than a year after the Catholic archbishop, followed a day later by President Reina, screamed that the United States government had no right telling Honduran women how many babies to bring into this world. USAID had issued a report saying that if the women continued having an average of five babies each, the nation's population would nearly triple in 30 years, by 2025. Despite the fact that Honduras, with 5.5 million people, cannot now educate all its children, cannot now provide all its children with a decent pair of shoes (or an indecent pair for that matter), cannot now treat all the nation's sick children, and will not today put enough beans on the nation's tables, Honduras' leaders still don't see a need to stifle the outofcontrol birth rate that, if it remains unchecked, will make this the next Somalia. We'll take all the foreign aid those guys up north can give us, but they certainly will never tell our women how many babies are enough.
Or should that read our men?
Great injustices in Honduran history * The Spanish conquistadors' murder of Indian Chief Lempira. * The looting of the nation's gold and silver by the Spanish. (Yes, those churches in Spain are beautiful. You're quite welcome.) * The gringo banana lords selecting Honduran presidents on North Coast golf greens. * The disappearances of 186 "leftists" at the hands of the Honduran military during the "dirty war" of the 1980s. * The "see no evil" attitude of the Church and the government as the country overpopulates itself into oblivion. * The great missingbean caper of 1996. Whodunit? |
For people who live in Tegucigalpa, a central Honduran city that is far from either coast, fresh fish is a rarity and dried, salted fish is primarily a Holy Week food. This lack of fish affects not only Central Honduran diets, but government planning, as well. In its efforts to teach ecology, for example, the Ministry of Education covers farms and forests in detail, but has little to say about beaches, lagoons and seas.
