Cake and Cutlasses

ONE way a Yupukari child celebrates their birthday.

It was my goddaughter, DeAnna's first birthday on Sunday (Sept. 19th). This was one of the first things I was made aware of when I became her godmother (one of those bits of information that came right after learning her name, too.) Months ago, Zaruti, DeAnna's mother, had mentioned her first birthday, and how we'd celebrate it.

Here, it's custom that the godparents will help with the celebrating of their godchild's birthday, whether it be hosting it, providing supplies for a meal and drinks or simply assisting. It's the godparent's role to go inviting people to the party, to call the party to a start, by welcoming everyone, saying a prayer and calling for any presents to be given to the child. Now, these roles are loose, it could just be the parents who sponsor everything, or grandparents or neighbors, though the godparents are the second most noted people for the ordeal. They definitely get preference on the kari, if anything.

Now, I don't know if maybe Zaruti thought I'd have godmother powers superior to local godmothers or not, but I found myself struggling with this little task. First of all, I've been out of country, secondly, they've been out of village, so no real planning took place. DeAnna was on my mind, a bit, - I brought her back some things from the States - but other than that, I bordered on falling into Inattentive Godmother status. Back in the States, you'd go to the store, buy a card, buy or make a gift and if you couldn't make it to the party, send a check in the mail. If you were to help with the party, you'd go to the store, buy some balloons, order/bake a cake and maybe find some other thing to make the day special for the person. Something like that.

I was happy to let the Yupukarian godmother, Georgina, take the lead, and since she said she'd come early on Saturday morning to get some chicken and help strain cari, I told her to come to my house and pick me up so I could help, as well. No one had slaughtered lately, otherwise they would have gotten half a cow, but I offered to get some chicken, and help cook, if Georgina could lead it all. But Georgie never came, and then CH had a crisis in the morning that I had to be involved in, then there was a PTFA meeting, whew!

DeAnna's birthday was on Sunday, but they wanted to keep it on Saturday, as to maximize the party hours (parties - for children or adults - can be a day long, night long event) of the weekend, but we discussed pushing it to Sunday. Godfather Cecil didn't agree; there was kari to be consumed, what more could you need? Nothing, according to Cecil. Okay..... so there was no chicken was to be found, and Georgina and I had to break it to Zaruti. No meal. I offered to make a cake, instead....

Much more my forte, anyway. I had also brought back a couple little gifts for DeAnna and the family from the States and shared those with them that morning. Anyway, they waited for me to finish baking the cake, and by 6 p.m., the 'party' was ready to begin. I took the cake to Zaruti and began helping to strain kari with Flora, Zaruti wanted pictures taken so I got that ready, too. I think it was both a help and a hindrance that I didn't know quite what to do or how to help. A help in that it made me attentive to anything Zaruti might need to host this party and that I could add my own different celebratory ways, but a hindrance that I couldn't have made this party well-oiled and typical party down here.

Zaruti suggested I cut the cake, so I asked for a knife, and was given a 1.5 foot long cutlass to do the job with. We took it outside and put it on the main table, and Zaruti said it was time to welcome everyone, so Georgina started, speaking in Makushi, making the customary apologies for no food, mentioning the shortage of chicken in the village, saying we didn't have much, etc. She mentioned the kari, as well. Nope, I'm not fluent in Makushi, I can just pick out main words and read body language. Then it came my turn to talk, and so I did what I do best and remark upon the momentous day and the cute birthday girl, etc. I mention the proccli (Makushi for kari) and get a laugh, then motion to start a customary prayer.

Then, we sing the Birthday Song, a customary 5 or 6 verse funeral-march rhythm tune. We (try to) take a couple pics of the birthday girl with her parents and godparents - of course the batteries were dying and there's no Walgreen's around the corner to pick up real quick. Then we call for any gifts for the birthday girl, and this is when people will file up, putting bills into the girl's hands or handing off other small gifts. It was the godparent's role to then go and assess the booty. Some sweet biscuits, some sweeties, a bath towel, a bar of soap wrapped in newspaper, a little outfit, and $1220 total, which we then report back to the crowd.

And THEN, it was kari and forro time. Georgina and I went out to the crowds with a first 5-gallon bucket of kari with two cups for dipping and serving. Each adult got a cupful; some shared with their kids, some shared a bit back with Georgina and I. Once one round was done, it was time to start another one, apparently. So we went out again. They asked if I was ready to go around sharing on my own, giving to the new arrivals, but I couldn't tell who was new or not, or even if some were adultish or not. So I clung to Georgie, we both dancing as we waited for the person to finish their cup. It was a good excuse to not have to dance with anyone I didn't want to, too. "Oh, sorry, I can't, I'm sharing kari."

DeAnna was put to bed soon after the songs, and both Zaruti and Albert watched the festivities from the doorway of their house. Albert let us know he wasn't drinking at all, so he could keep an eye on things. (I was quite impressed). He was always there to help with any buckets/cups needed or anything else.

I got to talk with a bunch of people, dance, drink a little kari, and have an overall good time, it was a nice first party to go back to in the village. As always, I was mindful to exert control over dancing duration and kari consumption. Oh, the pains of responsibility... The party went on until past 3 a.m. and I left my co-godmother and godfather there at 10 p.m., to continue celebrating without me - which they most definitely did. We saw Georgina and Cecil walking from Zaruti's house the next afternoon in the same clothes as the day before.

And it was with this modest, traditional, yet random way that DeAnna Agatha Elijah celebrated her first birthday.