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Hansib Publications - Rahman Ali Khalil

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163 pages

English

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Daughter of the Great River is a story based on the struggles of INDIGENOUS PEOPLES in the fictional country of Kayana, 'Land of Many Waters'. Onida is the eponymous Daughter of the Great River who emerged more than five hundred years after HER ANCESTORS WERE BRUTALLY SUPPRESSED by invading Europeans and were forced to flee to the safety of the rainforests of Kayana. Her tribe of Kayanese is made up of several Indigenous Peoples who prefer to live in the hinterland of Kayana's vast rainforests. She is the 'chosen one' to lead her peoples out of their challenging circumstances where the natural resources of GOLD AND TIMBER ARE BEING EXPLOITED by local and foreign interests. Within the world s current population of 7.8 billion people, there are an estimated 370 TO 500 MILLION OF INDIGENOUS ORIGIN. They are defined as having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and precolonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves as distinct from other sectors of the so

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Publié par	Hansib Publications
Date de parution	01 juillet 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781912662289
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0300€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

First published in Great Britain by Hansib Publications in 2020
Hansib Publications Limited
P.O. Box 226, Hertford, SG14 3WY
info@hansibpublications.com
www.hansibpublications.com
Copyright Khalil Rahman Ali, 2020
ISBN 978-1-912662-18-0
ISBN 978-1-912662-27-2 (Kindle)
ISBN 978-1-912662-28-9 (ePub)
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.
Design Production by Hansib Publications Ltd
Printed in Great Britain
To my wonderful wife Manjeet, and our marvellous daughter Sonya, for their constant and tremendous love and support .
To all Indigenous Peoples across the world, for their preservation of what is left of our rainforests and environment .
To everyone else, as well as organisations and countries, dedicated to saving our planet .
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Khalil Rahman Ali is a successful author who was born in Guyana, South America, and has lived, studied and worked in London, England, since 1970.
His first three historical fiction novels titled, Sugar s Sweet Allure (2013), The Domino Masters of Demerara (2015) and, In Pursuit of Betterment (2017), are based on the experiences of the Indians who were indentured to work on sugar plantations between 1835 and 1920, in several countries around the world, including Guyana, Trinidad, Jamaica, Mauritius, Fiji, Reunion, Surinam, and South Africa, and, their descendants who are part of the Indian Diaspora.
Khalil has a keen interest in the environment, climate change and the sustainability of the planet. He believes that the Indigenous Peoples of the world are best suited to helping to sustain and save the planet. This latest novel offers an insight into the problems and threats facing Indigenous People living in the rainforests.
He is a keen traveller, loves sports and is an accomplished Indian singer and musician. Khalil hopes that Daughter of the Great River will help to inspire individuals, communities and governments around the world to work harder to save the planet.
PREFACE
W ithin the world s current population of 7.8 billion people, there are an estimated 370 to 500 million of Indigenous origin. They live in all the geographic regions of the world, and are of thousands of cultures. They are defined as, having a historical continuity with preinvasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves as distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing in those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society, and are determined to preserve, develop, and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions, and legal systems. (United Nations (UN) Working Group on Indigenous Populations, 1982).
They continue to suffer from disproportionately high rates of poverty, health problems, crime, and human rights abuses. (The UN).
Daughter of the Great River is a fictional story based on the struggles of Indigenous Peoples in a country called Kayana, Land of Many Waters . She emerged from over five hundred years after her ancestors were brutally suppressed by invading Europeans, and were forced to flee from their territories, to the safety of the rainforests of Kayana.
Her tribe of Kayanese is one of several Indigenous Peoples preferring to live in the hinterland of Kayana s vast rainforests. She is identified as Onida, the chosen one to lead her peoples out of their challenging situations where the natural resources of gold and timber were being exploited by local and foreign miners and loggers.
Onida is taught and mentored about her history, customs, values, language, and the vision that she is entrusted to achieve for her people. The odds are heavily stacked against her, her people, and the other Kayanese making up the multi-racial, multi-cultural, and multireligious country. Will she succeed?
CONTENTS
Glossary
1. Child of the Millennium
2. Joy and sorrow
3. Gold
4. The Great Spirit
5. Onca
6. Poisons to fish
7. Peace
8. One of us
9. Connecting with the outside world
10. Leaving friends behind
11. Loose logs
12. Rules
13. Go away from here
14. The New World
15. Our way of life
16. Ready to lead
17. The end of an era
18. The chosen one
19. The trek
20. Forbidden
21. Unlocking doors
22. Warm embrace
23. The trail of blood
24. Healing
25. The town of sin
26. More action than words
27. The politician
28. The model school
29. Happiness
30. Priorities
31. Painful truth
32. More to do
33. Bloody encounter
34. Custodial sentence
35. First steps to freedom
36. Criminal gangs
37. Headless snake
38. A new Kayana
39. Mother of all storms
40. The amazing dream
41. Down with the President
42. Ambush
43. The fight for peace
44. Rise and fall
45. All is well
46. A shining light
47. Reach for the stars
48. New President of Kayana
49. Champion of the environment
50. Hub and Spokes
51. Long live Kayana
GLOSSARY
Annatto
( Bixa Orellana ): Sometimes called roucou or achiote . A red colouring used by Indigenous people as a body paint.
Benab
Indigenous language for the meeting place of the people . It is normally a round shaped structure, constructed with local timber, and the branches and leaves of the ite palm. It is essentially built around a central pole made of the resilient purple heart timber.
Buck
( or Buck Man, or Buck People) : Term used to describe the Indigenous People. It is believed that the Dutch colonists who settled in the then Guianas in the 17th Century, likened the agility of the Indigenous people, who were extremely swift whilst running in the forests, to springboks. They leapt like the springboks of South Africa, and hence the term bok or buck . The term is deemed to be derogatory and is outlawed as racist.
Cacique
A term for Chief or Leader of a tribe.
Calabash
The name given to a bowl made from the dried and hardened fruit of the Calabash tree ( Crescentia cujete ).
Cassava
( Manihot Esculenta ): Also known as manioc, yucca , and mandioca . It is an edible starchy tuberous root. Cassava is a major staple food of the Indigenous People. The white flesh is used to make a flat bread, the kasiri alcoholic drink, and the cassareep sauce.
Cassareep
A brown cooking sauce made from continuously boiling the juice of the cassava . It is also used as a preservative.
Cree
One of the largest groups of Indigenous or First Nations people in North America, primarily in Canada.
Harpy Eagle
( Harpia Harpyja ): One of the largest eagles in the world. It inhabits the vast area of rainforests from Mexico to Brazil, including the Guyanas. It has been known to prey on sloths and monkeys.
Howler Monkey
( Alonatta Macconnelli ): One of the largest monkeys in the world. It inhabits the vast area of Central and northern South America.
Imaam
A Muslim priest.
Inuit
A distinctive group of Aboriginal or Indigenous Canadians. They also inhabit parts of Alaska, Greenland, and Denmark.
Janaaza
A Muslim funeral.
Kassequa
Chief or Chieftain.
Korinaka
Macaw.
Macaw
( Psittacidae ): Macaws are long-tailed, and very colourful parrots normally found in the rainforests of Central and South America. There are a number of varieties including the blue and yellow, Hyacinth or dark blue, the scarlet, and the red and green macaws .
Moccasin
A casual shoe made of soft leather, usually deerskin, and stitched together with sinew. Some designs include colourful beads.
Ourali
( Strychnos Toxifera ): Also called curare . A plant used to produce a paralytic poison, and applied to darts and arrows. Indigenous People use this to stun fish, and other game such as small monkeys.
Piwari
A mildly alcoholic drink made by fermenting burnt cassava with grated sweet potatoes.
Piaiman
Or Semechi , or Shaman : A knowledgeable Indigenous person reputed to have power over evil spirits, and also knows the cures for sickness and diseases.
Porknocker
A small time miner who digs for gold or diamonds in the rainforests, rivers, and streams. Knocking Pork is the term used by the miners to refer to pork meals in the mining towns.
Toucan
( Ramaphastos Toco ): The toucan is a short bird with an extremely large and colourful beak. It normally inhabits the rainforests of Southern Mexico, Central America, and South America.
ONE
CHILD OF THE MILLENNIUM
T he world stood still as the midnight hour of a new millennium approached. Preparations had been completed by billions of people in every corner of the planet as the first second of the new year of 2000 was awaited with bated breath. Elaborate and costly plans were in place to manage the uncertainty of computer and other systems moving from the end of the year 1999, to the beginning of 2000.
Deep in the rainforest that made up of most of the land of Kayana, in the North of South America, all the members of a small settlement of the Kayanese tribe of Indigenous Peoples also sat silently and patiently around the outside of the benab , or big house. They were awaiting the arrival of a special baby whom they believed to be the chosen one to save them, the rainforest, Kayana, and the world. This was far more important to the residents than the anxieties of a changeover of computer systems from 1999 to 2000.
The settlement, situated deep into the lush green rainforest of Kayana, known as The Land of Many Waters , was not easily accessible to others, except for the members o