It is becoming increasingly apparent that skilled indigenous craftsmen and women are seeking to extend their ambitions beyond simply parading their talents to provide coastal admirers with access to their work through seasonal bazaars at absurdly ‘knocked down’ prices. Twenty-eight-year-old Moruca resident, Naressa Abrams, Proprietrix of Abrams Authentic Products is one of a growing number of Amerindian craftsmen and women (mostly women) who appear to be determined that when their culture and their skills are invested in their creations, the physical and emotional effort must count for something.
Heritage Month, over the years, has come to be seen by Amerindian craftsmen and women as a ‘season’ during which to ‘catch their hands.’ The period prior to September, therefore, is spent by many investing time and talent, along with their own indigenous raw materials, in ‘turning out’ the numerous varieties of their craft, cuisine and clothing and travelling to Georgetown to put in appearances at the various events in the capital.
The Main Street Avenue Product Display has become a kind of a ‘cash cow’ for Guyana’s creative Indigenous People. The event may not realize earth-shattering business breakthroughs. That will only occur when those entities with official responsibility for what we loosely call ‘Amerindian development’ come to understand that the concept of development implies, among other things, material growth. That will only happen when the equalization and, by extension, the growth of our indigenous peoples, become etched in our development plans beyond what, historically, has counted for little beyond tokenism. Only then, one feels, will the concept of Amerindian integration acquire real meaning.
Naressa Abrams’ passion for ‘bigging up’ indigenous craft beyond the tokenism that has come to be linked to one-off public display surges. She wants to ensure, she told the Stabroek Business last weekend, that ‘indigenous ways’ are kept alive. These days, the University of Guyana-trained Medical Technologist appears to be more animated by her passion for preserving her peoples’ “culture”. Abrams Authentics was created in July last year and has, virtually overnight, become Moruca’s key outlet for what, in terms of Amerindian creations, the community has to offer. Some of ‘the regulars’ include Cassava Casareep, Crabwood Oil, Hammocks and Assorted Craft Works. Here, she says, she is driven by a determination to ‘roll back’ an urban entrepreneurial culture that exposes indigenous creations to a buy-cheap-and-sell-dear propensity, a circumstance which she says undervalues Amerindian craftsmen and women as much as it does their creations. “It hurts,” she says.
Locating the origins of Abrams Authentic Products in her own passionate desire to ‘turn things around’ in this pursuit, she is continuously challenged to get money for value in order to make the creators’ investments worth the while whilst recouping her company’s marketing costs. Marissa runs a ‘tight’ entrepreneurial ship. She invests in the acquisition of creators’ products in Moruca and uses Facebook and Instagram to market her acquisitions. That apart, she treats the various Exhibitions, Expos and Heritage Events as potentially lucrative add-ons. Heritage events, she says, can be pleasing windfalls. Last year’s Heritage event, she says, was a pleasing ‘sellout.’
Naressa considers herself to be, in large measure, a self-made woman. She lost her mother at the tender age of seven (7) and in the absence of the maternal attention afforded girls of her age she had lived in the Dormitory during her secondary school years. She had been taught by her Aunt, Margaret Adams, to cook indigenous foods and last year she successfully brought her culinary skills to the Amerindian Heritage Exhibition. When we spoke earlier this week, she disclosed that she intended to attend the Amerindian Heritage Sports Event at Everest Cricket Ground which commenced last Wednesday and concludes on Sunday. The offerings at her Everest Sports Club ‘putting’ will include Potato Wine and Tuma Pot, that latter of which will be ‘spiced up’ with Chicken, Labba, Fish and Bush Cow and will be served with Cassava Bread.
Naressa’s ‘calling’ has been realized following a number of years of being detached from her culture. These days, she is preoccupied with ‘turning things around.’ Her entry into marketing indigenous foods had begun with packaging and marketing of Casareep. Afterwards, she added Cassava Bread to her ‘offerings’ to consumers. Crabwood oil and craft came later. Her application to the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department for the food safety credentials that will allow her to supply the Supermarkets is ‘in the works.’
