Has Guyana forgotten its cultural heritage?

The People's Perception

Guyana, located on the continent of South America is known for her rich history, cultural heritage, language and ethnic makeup which together forms a unified culture. This unique cultural belief and custom is now absent as Guyana’s becomes a multi-cultural economy. This was identified through a survey conducted among forty- two Guyanese online.

According to the survey 52.4% of participants believe that Guyanese Myths and Legends have been forgotten, while 33.3% say it’s still a part of cultural practice and 14.3% states they don’t know whether it’s a part of Guyanese culture due to various reasons.

As a result, 14.6% of Participants believe that Guyanese Myths and Legends have been forgotten due religion. While 48.7% strongly believe that technological Advancements is responsible, 19.5% says education, 12.2% death of elderly, and 4.9% suggests other reasons.

Death of elderly people hinders the cultural transmission practise of storytelling, which is a vital way of passing on culture from generation to generation. Religion helps to remove those spiritual believes of Ol’Higue, Bacoo, Massacura Man, Jumbee & Water Mummah while other unknown reasons were suggested.  Moreover as people becomes more educated they tend to move away from a culturally inclined lifestyle to a more technological era which is represented by the largest percentage on the graph.

This survey concludes that a lot more cultural awareness and preservation should be done to make sure Guyanese appreciate their cultural heritage.