Paruima | |
|---|---|
Village | |
  Paruima Location in Guyana | |
| Coordinates: 5°48′23″N61°03′48″W / 5.8065°N 61.0632°W Coordinates: 5°48′23″N61°03′48″W / 5.8065°N 61.0632°W | |
| Country |  Guyana |
| Region | Cuyuni-Mazaruni |
| Government | |
| • Toshao | Lee Williams [1] |
| Population (2012) [2] | |
| • Total | 207 |
Paruima is an indigenous village of Pemon Amerindians in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni Region of Guyana. The village was founded as a mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is the only Pemon speaking community in Guyana. [3]
Reverend A.W. Cott of the Seventh-day Adventist Church was a missionary among the Pemon people in Venezuela. In 1930, Cott was expelled from Venezuela, and decided to settle in Paruima in Guyana together with his fellow missionaries, and Amerindian converts. [4]
Paruima has a primary school, and a health centre. [1] In 2017, the school was destroyed when the river flooded. It has been rebuilt in 2019. [3] It is also home to the Paruima Mission Academy, a college for missionaries. [5] The main access is by air via the Paruima Airport. [6]
The toshao (village chief) as of 2018 is Lee Williams. Williams first ran for toshao in 1997 at the age of 19. Twenty one years later, he was elected as the toshao and remained in office until 2021 when a new toshao was elected. Every three years new elections are held, Lennox Percy, who was the vice under Lee Williams is currently serving his second term in office as the toshao of Paruima, new elections are set for May, 2024. In 2020, Williams was also elected to the National Assembly. [1]
The Oshi Falls are located near the village. [6] The Oshi Falls are one of the tallest waterfalls of Guyana. A permit from the Office of Indigenous Affairs is required to visit the falls. [7]
In January 2021, a new species of orchid from the tepuis in the Guiana Highlands [8] was identified and described by Eric Hágsater, a Mexican botanist, and Mateusz Wrazidlo, a Silesian explorer. Wrazidlo asked the family of Calio Elliman, his guide from Paruima, to name the plant. Elliman opted for "katarun yariku" (Pemon for "high flower"). The orchid has been officially named Epidendrum katarun-yariku . [9]
A tepui, or tepuy, is a table-top mountain or mesa found in South America, especially in Venezuela and western Guyana. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran Sabana.
Auyán Tepui, also spelt Ayan, is a tepui in Bolívar state, Venezuela. It is the most visited and one of the largest tepuis in the Guiana Highlands, with a summit area of 666.9 km2 (257.5 sq mi) and an estimated slope area of 715 km2 (276 sq mi). The unevenly heart-shaped summit plateau of Auyán-tepui is heavily inclined, rising from around 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) in the northwest to a maximum of 2,450 m (8,040 ft) in the southeast. It is incised from the north by a vast valley, the Cañón del Diablo, formed by the Churún River. The larger western portion of the plateau is partially forested, whereas the eastern part comprises mostly bare rock with only patchy vegetation cover. The mountain hosts a number of extensive cave systems.
The Pemon or Pemón (Pemong) are indigenous people living in areas of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana. They are also known as Arecuna, Aricuna Jaricuna, Kamarakoto, and Taurepang.
Canaima National Park is a 30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi) park in south-eastern Venezuela that roughly occupies the same area as the Gran Sabana region. It is located in Bolívar State, reaching the borders with Brazil and Guyana. The park was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
La Gran Sabana is a region in southeastern Venezuela, part of the Guianan savanna ecoregion.
The Pacaraima or Pakaraima Mountains are a mountain range primarily in southwestern Guyana, and into northern Brazil and eastern Venezuela.
The Macushi are an indigenous people living in the borderlands of southern Guyana, northern Brazil in the state of Roraima, and in an eastern part of Venezuela.
Kabakaburi is an Amerindian village in the Pomeroon-Supenaam Region of Guyana on the Pomeroon River, 56 km (35 mi) from its mouth. The village was founded in 1845 by William Henry Brett on the location where Fort Durban used to be.
Heliamphora heterodoxa is a species of marsh pitcher plant native to Venezuela and adjacent Guyana. It was first discovered in 1944 on the slopes interlinking Ptari-tepui and Sororopan-tepui and formally described in 1951.
Guyana, officially the Co‑operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Brazil to the south and southwest, Venezuela to the west, and Suriname to the east. With 215,000 km2 (83,000 sq mi), Guyana is the third-smallest sovereign state by area in mainland South America after Uruguay and Suriname, and is the second-least populous sovereign state in South America after Suriname; it is also one of the least densely populated countries on Earth. It has a wide variety of natural habitats and a very high biodiversity.
St. Cuthbert's Mission is an Amerindian village on the Mahaica River in the Demerara-Mahaica region of Guyana. It comprises approximately 200 households. St. Cuthbert's is regarded by many people in Guyana as the "cultural capital" for Amerindians.
Indigenous peoples in Guyana, Native Guyanese, or Amerindian Guyanese are Guyanese people who are of indigenous ancestry. They comprise approximately 9.16% of Guyana's population. Amerindians are credited with the invention of the canoe, as well as Cassava-based dishes and Guyanese pepperpot, the national dish of Guyana. Amerindian languages have also been incorporated in the lexicon of Guyanese Creole.
Audrey Joan Butt Colson, is a social anthropologist with a particular interest in the Amerindian peoples of Guyana, Brazil and Venezuela. She was, together with Peter Rivière, one of the pioneers of Amazonian anthropology at the University of Oxford.
Waukauyengtipu is a mountain in South America situated in most part within the boundaries of the Paruima territory in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni Region of Guyana. The major part of its area is approx. 1,520 metres (4,990 ft) with some areas elevated up to approx. 1800m a.s.l., although its actual elevation has never been accurately measured and as for now can only be estimated from satellite imagery. The plateau belongs to the westernmost area in Guyana and is also one of the highest mountains in the country.
Isseneru is an Amerindian settlement in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region of Guyana, approximately 15–20 miles west of Kurupung.
St. Ignatius is an Amerindian village in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region of Guyana, near the regional capital Lethem and the border of Brazil. It was originally a mission founded by Jesuit priests to serve the Amerindians in the Rupununi savannah.
Epidendrum katarun-yariku is a species of orchid in the genus Epidendrum found in the Guiana Highlands in Venezuela and Brazil. It grows on tepuis.
Yvonne Fredericks-Pearson is a Guyanese politician. She has been a member of the National Assembly since 2015. She served as Toshao of Mainstay/Whyaka from 1994 to 2012.
Santa Mission is a village in the Essequibo Islands-West Demerara Region of Guyana. Santa Mission is mainly inhabited by Lokono Amerindians. The village is located on the Kamuni Creek, a tributary of the Demerara River. The village of Hopetown, an early Chinese settlement, is located about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Santa Mission.
