After functioning for some years even though it was not
formally recognized, the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) was officially
Gazetted on March 25th 2017. It was done by
Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Sydney Allicock under Section 35 of the
Amerindian Act of 2006 and came after the villages in question submitted
requests approved by village general meetings for the setting up of the
council.
The
South Rupununi District Council is comprised of a toshao and one councillor
from the following fourteen villages: Aishalton, Awarewaunau, Achawib,
Karaudaranau, Katoonarib, Maruranau, Parabara, Parikwarinau, Potarinau,
Rupunau, Sand Creek, Sawariwau, Shea and Shulinab.
The first SRDC meeting for this year was held
in March in Rupunau, a village about 90 miles from Aishalton.
From Thursday June 14th Friday to Saturday
16th members of the above District Council gathered in Aishalton for a meeting.
At the event there were representatives of the villages chosen by their newly
elected toshaos and their senior councillors. In all there were about 120
persons gathered for the meeting.
During the three days of activities and discussion
different topics were dealt with such as: mining and its impact on the environment; the
use of Mercury which is polluting the rivers that pass through most of the
villages in the south Rupununi and affecting the local residents; trafficking in
persons and other social issues which residents experience as offshoots of the
mining which is taking place in proximity to indigenous communities. The issue
of land titling for indigenous communities along with the Wapichans ongoing
discussion for their ancestral land claim with the government were among other
challenges faced in the villages in the South Rupununi which were included in
the matters raised.
Through attending these meetings one learns
about and experiences the struggles of Guyana´s indigenous peoples who are also
confronted with the challenge of timber exploitation which can cause serious
damage to the environment and have socio-cultural impacts on the population who
predominantly inhabit the interior.
These
and other challenges are also of particular concern for the Church in the
Rupununi in terms of addressing them and assisting the indigenous people who
are considered more connected to these vulnerable environments. These affected
areas are considered the home of the Indigenous population which include the
forests, scared sites, rivers, creeks, savannahs, and mountains where minerals,
vegetables and animals are, as indicated by Pope Francis in Laudato Si.
The Wapichan indigenous District Council
faces challenges and limitations in executing its mandates and plans
effectively.
Nevertheless, they are going
ahead trying to pool together to achieve their goals, with the cooperation of
the government and other Non governmental Organizations (NGOs) who are
embracing their cause and contributing for the betterment of the South Rupununi
peoples´ culture and way of life in this part of the country.
Its admirable to see that most of indigenous
people who are Catholics, along with other small christian groups are proactive
in planning,
producing scientific studies, coordinating internal decisions in their
indigenous communities that comprise the South Rupununi area and putting into
practice what they feel will be best for future generations.
Other
areas of interest are collective farming, preservation of scared sites and
indigenous myths, languages, hunting, fishing, and harvesting.
All
this is also being done in a joint effort to strengthen jurisdiction as part of their responsibilities.
The
Wapichans are also in constructive dialogue with the government on land tenure
and want to ensure that all the above activities serve as evidence of proper
use of the land.
All
this is being done in accordance with the indigenous view of development and use
of natural resources including the pristine rainforest our common home, in a
sustainable way as mentioned in Pope Francis´ Laudato Si.
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