Piaiman Cures 
Shake rattle
Smoke cigar
Drink tobacco juice
Tie a hammock
For the sick one
Bring green boughs to hand.
Empty house
Lock door
Put the fire out
Total darkness, all is still, nothing moves
about.
Shake rattle
Chant song
Hear the distant roars
Coming closer
Here they come
Now blood-curdling howls
Piai calls
Kenaima hears
Evil ones come in
Shout, whisper, roar, growl-terrifying din.
Winged things
All shapes
Coming through the roof
Question, answer
Different voices
Piai must know the one
Come, go
All kinds
Creatures-even human
Wax, wane-bump, thump, held by piaimen.
Circle rattle
Ever faster
Crystal fire
Sparks fly
Fight fire with fire
Blow smoke
Suck poison
Pull out spirit darts
Long night, piai cures, Kenaima now
departs.
-Stephanie Correia
Chant to Earth Mother-1
Spirit fighter, sacred rattle-
Fashioned by me from a perfect calabash-
Four mouths to face in all directions,
A crown of brilliant feathers, carrier of crystal fire
To fight the evil ones. I, only, hold the power
To shake the rattle, chant the song
To use the instruments ancestors left me
To guard, protect and heal the people of my tribe.
Ages ago it seems since first I learnt this lore
Understanding secrets, spirit growing ever stronger,
Bitter years of fasting, self-denial-a child when I
began
To walk this testing road, for I am piaiman.
And now true testing time has come
Feathered, fierce-eyed, painted warriors await
My word for a successful hunt.
For first I must go down to underworld
To parley with Earth Mother for the souls of animals
Now gather round, my people help me,
Bear me up with song and dance and ritual
As I embark upon my perilous journey.
Drink the ‘karl, beat the drum, move in sinuous
rhythms
Rattle shaking ever faster, tobacco juice, my long
cigar;
Ancient incantations rising, falling, chanting
endlessly.
Earth shackles break, as I rise up my spirit now set
free.
I ride weightlessly upon enchanted bird.
Come guardian helpers lead me through,
Come hawk and eagle, snake and lizard,
Jaguar, alligator, shield me round.
Up steep mountains, through deep lakes,
Down long rivers winding dangerously.
Through treacherous swamps and fetid forests
The demon ones are kept at bay
Until at last deep in the underworld
I face Earth Mother with my plea.
Majestic, threatening, there she stands
Her animals enfolded in her outstretched hands.
-Stephanie Correia
In September, Guyana celebrated Amerindian heritage month. The University of Guyana, through its Amerindian Research Unit, marked the observance with a programme highlighting research, study and ancient history. Georgetown experienced the return of its annual week of exhibitions, stage performances, food and revelry for which people brought their products from several Amerindian communities in interior locations.
This week, we visit the poetry of Stephanie Correia, legendary painter, potter, ceramist, sculptress and poet. She is an outstanding representative of Guyanese Amerindian literature, painting and ceramics, especially because of her declared interest in ancient knowledge, which consistently informs her work. Her visual art is unique and distinguished for its depth in the treatment of culture, traditions, spiritual beliefs, myths and personal life.
The poems “Piaiman Cures” and “Chant to Mother Earth” were published in her collection of poetry Arrows from the Bow (1988) by Red Thread, but may also be found in Kyk-Over-Al 40, December, 1989. These poems are linked to paintings, drawings and pieces of sculpture done by Correia articulating the traditions from which they were taken. Some of them were shown in the exhibition “60 Years of Women Artists in Guyana, 1928 – 1988”. The links and the meaning of Correia’s works were explained in a public lecture at Moray House by her daughter, artist Anna Correia in 2018.
Some of these are Amerindian stories, interestingly known in both Jamaica and Guyana, such as the myth of origin or creation “Rainstorm” and “The Kumaka Tree”. These are both paintings by Correia. “Rainstorm” tells how people came to inhabit the earth. Everyone lived in the sky until a hunter discovered a hole that led to the earth. Climbing down through it he discovered trees with abundant fruit, a variety of animals and food. He went back and informed his people, who all came down to earth since they never had such bounty at home. But after a while one woman, Rainstorm, became discontented and longed to return to her former home. However, she had grown fat and could no longer pass through the hole. She remained stuck there and whenever rain falls from the sky it is said that Rainstorm is crying.
In “The Kumaka Tree” all the animals were suffering a shortage of food, except the Rat who began to grow fat. The other animals were mystified and wondered how that was happening and where it was that he went off to each day. One day one of the other animals secretly followed him and found out his selfish treachery. Rat had discovered a tree with abundant food of all varieties, but in his greed, kept it all to himself. All the animals thereafter reaped the benefits of the kumaka tree.
Like her artwork, Correia’s poetry is a fortified store of mythology and traditions. They surround the Piaiman – the medicine man of ancient standing – and “Piaiman Cures” also makes reference to Kanaima, a man trained in super-human powers and feared by all. But the Piaiman is a traditional healer who performs in his healing rituals with a rattle. There is a rich suite of
paintings, drawings and sculpted pieces depicting him at work. His performances are described in good-natured scholarly publications by Audrey Butt Colson, but denounced disparagingly by chroniclers of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The poems allude to related myths such as the shaman’s journey (also referenced by artist George Simon). There are references to “the souls of animals” which is in keeping with animism among the Amerindians whose spiritual beliefs include animal spirits and animals with souls. Correia articulates a preoccupation shared by other artists such as Oswald Hussain and Linus Klenkian. She is, however, unique in her style and distinguished by the way she incorporates these in ceramics, paintings and poems alike.
The sum total of Correia’s work is an intricate and complex celebration of both her personal life and an exceedingly rich Amerindian heritage. Exhibition and study of her output are very rewarding and may be adequate representation of the culture and presence of the people.
