Wakapau | |
|---|---|
Village | |
  Wakapau Location in Guyana | |
| Coordinates: 07°31′N 58°48′W / 7.517°N 58.800°W | |
| Country |
Guyana |
| Region | Pomeroon-Supenaam |
| Population (2012)
[1] | |
| • Total | 1,807 |
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
- ^ "2012 Population by Village". Statistics Guyana. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
- ^ GTIMES (2020-09-27). ""We are losing ourselves" in process of trying to fit in modern world". Guyana Times. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
- ^ "Wakapoa revisited – Part 1". Stabroek News. 2020-10-11. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
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^ 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) - ^ "Protecting, Propagating and Reviving Caribbean Indigenous Languages". Unesco via University of the West Indies. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Wakapoa revisited – Part 2". Stabroek News. 2020-10-18. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
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