Wakapau
Village
Wakapau is located in Guyana
Wakapau
Wakapau
Location in Guyana
Coordinates: 07°31′N 58°48′W / 7.517°N 58.800°W / 7.517; -58.800
Country Guyana
RegionPomeroon-Supenaam
Population
 (2012)[1]
 • Total1,807

The Arawak village of Wakapau (or Wakapoa) is located in the Pomeroon-Supenaam Region of Guyana, on the Wakapau River, a tributary on the west bank of the Pomeroon River, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from its mouth. The name originates from the Lokono word ‘Wakokwãn’, which means pigeon.[2] The village is composed of twenty inhabited islands. Some of the islands only contain a single family.[3]

Wakapau was one of the ten original "Indian reservations" of British Guiana.[4] The village is an example of an Amerindian community that has not only preserved the traditional Arawak culture, but also retained its tribal language.[5] The community consists of island settlements in the swamps surrounded by forests. The economy is based on logging, subsistence farming and boat services.[6]

It has three primary and one secondary school.[7]

References

  1. ^ "2012 Population by Village". Statistics Guyana. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  2. ^ GTIMES (2020-09-27). ""We are losing ourselves" in process of trying to fit in modern world". Guyana Times. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  3. ^ "Wakapoa revisited – Part 1". Stabroek News. 2020-10-11. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  4. ^ British Empire Exhibition (1924-1925) (1924). British Guiana British Empire exhibition. Wembley: Sanders Phillips & Co. p. 19. Retrieved 1 December 2021.((cite book)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "Protecting, Propagating and Reviving Caribbean Indigenous Languages". Unesco via University of the West Indies. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  6. ^ Atkinson, Sharon (2016). "OUR LAND, OUR LIFE" (PDF). Forest Peoples. Amerindian Peoples Association and Forest Peoples Programme. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-9935190-7-9.
  7. ^ "Wakapoa revisited – Part 2". Stabroek News. 2020-10-18. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
Categories