Guyanese Culture and Customs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pepperpot

Guyanese pepperpot is an Amerindian dish. It can be made with meats of your choice, e.g., beef, pork and mutton. The characteristic color comes from the cassava cassareep. Pepperpot is a tasty dish which can be rewarmed and served for several days after it's made. It's usually served with home-made bread or cooked rice.
Guyanese curry is a green East Indian spicy dish. Apart from chicken, other meats such as fish, mutton, beef, crab and shrimp can also be curried. In fact, Guyanese can make curry with almost anything.
Methem is another Amerindian dish comprising "ground provision" (root vegetables) such as cassava, eddoes and sweet potatoes cooked in coconut milk.
Cook-up rice is comprised of rice, meats and peas or vegetables all cooked in one pot with coconut milk.

Answer: Anti man

A Guyanese male with dubious sexuality is called an "anti man". In the Guyanese accent, the term is pronounced "auntie man".
The "sweet man" is similar to the North American "player" or "ladies man".
East Indian men are referred to as "coolie men". A "buck" is a pejorative term which refers to Amerindians, therefore, a "buck man" is an Amerindian man.

Answer: A backoo (Baku)

According to Guyanese folklore, the backoo is a short, evil spirit with long limbs without knee caps. It has very large eyes. The term "baku" means "short man" or "little brother", while "bacucu" means "banana" in certain West African languages. Like the genie, the Baku is said to grant its master's wishes...usually for wealth.

The master of a baku is usually a wealthy person. In return for these riches, the owner is expected to meet the needs of the baku, usually for milk and banana. If for some reason the master is unable to give the baku what it wants, the baku becomes his/her "worst nightmare".

The disgruntled baku pelts stones at its master's house and destroys things until its master becomes the poorest person in the "hood". The baku continues this assault until a person trained to capture it lures it back into a bottle. If you happen to see this bottle anywhere, do not open it! :)

Answer: Feasting on the blood of people, particularly infants

According to folklore, the "ole higue" takes the form of an old woman during the daytime. At night, she transforms into a ball of fire and flies to the home of her predetermined victim. She lands on the rooftop and then sneaks into the home through a key hole. Once inside, she feasts on the blood of the unsuspecting victim. In the morning a blueish mark can be seen on the victim's skin as evidence.
The "ole higue" has certain weaknesses. For example, she's spellbound to count rice and if she drops a grain while counting, she has to start all over again. If daylight breaks and catches her counting, occupants of the home will descend upon her and beat her 'within an inch of her life' with a cabbage broom. The "ole higue" is also afraid of the color blue and can not tolerate the smell of asafoetida.
To deter an "ole higue", residents who believe the folklore dress their babies in blue sleeping clothes, employ liberal use of asafoetida and scatter raw rice around their infant's crib at nights. A cabbage broom is kept over the door.
If you make heavy chalk lines across the path of an old wrinkled woman and she's unable to cross the line, this is proof that she's an "ole higue".

Answer: True

The prenuptial queh queh provides an opportunity for the two families to meet and hand down instructions about life to the proposed young couple. The dancing is characteristically done on a wooden floor for the sound effect. African drums are sometimes used. Various folk songs about marriage life and other pertinent experiences are sung in a call and response fashion. People throw caution to the wind and dance without restraint, usually becoming very immodest.

A song continues until someone shouts "bato".

Answer: Cricket

For many decades, Guyana has produced and continues to produce cricketers of great renown. Some of these cricketers include Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd, Roy Fredericks, Alvin Kallicharan, Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Answer: "Bad eye" or "evil eye"

The onset of symptoms is usually acute and begins after someone visits your home or pays a compliment to you about your baby. It's believed to be some sort of evil associated with envious feelings towards the infant.
To safeguard infants from bad eye, those who believe in its existence place a black dot on the center of the baby's forehead or use a red ribbon bow when styling the girl's hair. The child is taken to a pandit or other person experienced in handling such matters for treatment.
From a medical perspective, these infants are found to be suffering from a form of malnutrition called marasmus or from gastroenteritis. The belief in "bad eye" often delays treatment as the child is taken to the hospital as a last resort - which may be too late.
Nara is a condition associated with abdominal pain. The abdomen is 'cupped' and anointed by a person skilled in these matters - every neighborhood has such a person. For those who have been in fact suffering from a case of appendicitis, this cupping and anointing can lead to rupture of the inflamed appendix and a surgical emergency develops. Malaria and Filariasis are diseases transmitted by mosquitoes and more common in adults.

Answer: Disrespect

"Eye-pass" in Guyanese terms means disrespect. Check out the following examples:
1. "Look lil bai, nah tek yuh eyes pass meh!" In English, this is interpreted as "Look little boy, stop being disrespectful."
2. "Dis eye-pass gat to done now!" means "I'm putting an end to this disrespect at once."
When a Guyanese says the latter, one should take cover. Something drastic or even dangerous is about to happen.

"Not a blade of grass" is a song by Dave Martins and the Tradewinds which reflect Guyanese position on the border issue.

Here's the first stanza and chorus:

"We are a peaceful people, strugglin' we struggle
And we don't look for trouble, just ask around.
But when outside faces, from foreign places talk about taking over
We ent backin' down.

We ent givin' up no mountain
We ent givin' up no tree
We ent givin' up no river
That belong to we.
Nat one blue sackie
Nat one rice grain
Nat one curass
Nat a blade of grass."

Answer: Mashramani

Many nations have some sort of celebration that's done in honor of their national life. Guyanese are no different. Guyana became a republic on February 23rd 1970 and ever since, its anniversary is celebrated yearly in the month of February. This celebration is called Mashramani, which is an Amerindian word meaning "celebration after work" or "celebration of a job well done." The celebration entails a series of events which culminate on February 23rd with parades, street dancing, Calypso finals, fashion shows and many other activities.
Ed-Ul-Adha is a Muslim holy day during which they celebrate the willingness of the prophet Abraham to sacrifice his son.
Phagwah is celebrated in March. It's a Hindu religious holiday enjoyed by many Guyanese. People dress in white and drench each other with a red colored liquid called abeer. Powder or water is sometimes used as a substitute for abeer.
Diwali is a beautiful Indian festival of lights.

Answer: Wake

The wake or vigil provides support for the bereaved who in turn provide food and drinks. Members of the community sometimes volunteer in sponsoring this feast. People play cards, drink alcohol, sing and talk about life. They use the time also to reflect upon the life of the deceased.