Indigenous narrative and its contribution to national literature

A mural in Venezuela depicting the tale of Amalivaca (Wikimedia photo)

     III   

 

There is a drum upon the plains of Maita

Outside the cavern where he lived – a stone

Hollowed to beat the mutter of the thunder

Moving within the deep Brazilian sky.

 

There is a season when the wind will blow

Until the branches sway like grass-skirt dancers

And the trunks tremble to a low ground music

The rush of waters swollen by the rains.

 

Often at evening when the winds are gone

And sky was once again a baby blue

They heard Amalivaca beating rhythms

First haltingly and then with surer power

To capture sound the forest had made before.

Moving its way up through the hollow stone.

This was the orchestration of the storm

When all the forest world is weeping tears

On earth from leaves, from branches and from sky,

And to the families in the neighbouring tents

Caught by the echoing, crisp and darkening air,

It seemed the tears flowed down the forest face

Again, etching the streams to random rivers,

Giant for the sea.

 

A J Seymour, from “Amalivaca”

Selected Poems (1965)

The legend of Amalivaca, told in poetry by A J Seymour, in prose narrative by Jan Carew and in a picture poem by Mark McWatt, is but one small sample of the vast store of literature that speaks to the country’s indigenous heritage. As this month, September, is set aside to celebrate that heritage, it is highly rewarding to revisit the rich literature.