The Indigenous World 2022: Guyana
Indigenous Peoples – or Amerindians as they are identified both collectively and in legislation – number some 78,500 in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, or approximately 10.5% of the total population of 746,955 (2012 census).[i] They are the fourth largest ethnic group, East Indians being the largest (40%), followed by African Guyanese (29%) and self-identified “Mixed” (20%). The Chinese, Portuguese and Whites constitute tiny minorities. Amerindians refer to these non-Indigenous people as “coastlanders” since most of them are settled on the coast.
The Amerindians are grouped into nine Indigenous Nations, based on language. The Warao, the Arawak and the Carib (Karinya) live on the coast. The Wapichan, the Arekuna, the Makushi, the Wai Wai, the Patamona and the Akawaio live in villages scattered throughout the interior. Amerindians constitute the majority of the population of the interior, in some regions constituting as much as 86% of the population. The forest resources/timber on government-titled Indigenous lands (Amerindian Village Lands) are fully under the managerial authority of the Amerindian title holders, while minerals under the same lands remain under ultimate national government authority. The poorly regulated exploitation of these resources by multinationals, illegal miners and loggers is one of the challenges faced by Indigenous Peoples. Their primary concern is therefore to achieve full recognition of Indigenous land rights so they can defend their ancestral territories from this exploitation.
The Independence Agreement from the United Kingdom (1965) included a land titling process. Recommendations regarding this process from the Amerindian Lands Commission (1967-1969) have never been fully taken up by successive governments. Requests made for collective district titles have been dismissed, resulting in the fragmentation of traditional territories into small areas under individual village titles. The Constitution of Guyana in its Preamble recognises “the special place in our nation of the indigenous peoples” and recognises “their right as citizens to land and security and to their promulgation of policies for their communities”.[ii] Guyana endorsed the UNDRIP in 2007. The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs reverted to its previous name of “Amerindian Affairs” (MoAA) following the change in ruling party in August 2020.
The increasingly visible role of Indigenous women in community decision-making
Indigenous women can and do lead and participate increasingly at all levels of village and community government, in spite of the problems of poor electricity supply, low bandwidth, and intermittent Internet service. Where Internet connections are available in the hinterland, Indigenous women have been quick to adopt social media (WhatsApp, Zoom and Facebook) for intra-family and inter-village communication. The government restrictions on travel and physical meetings, imposed to combat the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, have accidentally empowered Indigenous (Amerindian) women as they are reported to be more comfortable with the information technology (which they can use at home) than are the men. The technology helps Indigenous women to exercise their constitutional rights, which include provisions against discrimination.[iii]
To give examples of their success in representation, Indigenous women were more prominent in elections for Village Councils in 2021 than in previous years. In elections held in 159 villages in April/May 2021, nine female Toshaos and 11 female Senior Councillors (together with 103 male Toshaos and 36 male Senior Councillors) were elected; a Toshao is the elected head of an Amerindian Village Council while a Senior Councillor is the head of a satellite village or smaller community that is not large enough or has not existed for long enough to be recognised under the Amerindian Act 2006 as an Amerindian village.
Nationally, two Lokono Arawak women were returned to the National Assembly (parliament), one for her second term as Minister of Amerindian Affairs (MoAA, Pauline Sukhai), the other Yvonne Fredericks-Pearson. Both are appointees by the President from the applicants’ list of the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C). The two other female Indigenous parliamentarians are Juretha Fernandes and Dawn Hastings-Williams of the APNU+AFC Coalition. The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly is Lenox Shuman, an Indigenous male.
Violence within and around mining areas
Traditionally, Indigenous Amerindian families have a matrilocal residency rule,[iv] which means that married males are always under the watchful eyes of their wives’ relatives.
However, away from Indigenous communities, violence is frequently reported in the gold and diamond mining camps, fuelled by raw alcohol and opiates. This affects both men and women, some of whom are Indigenous. The violence also often stems from disputes over the physical ownership of the gold and diamonds. People-trafficking is also present and affects both sexes.[v] Indigenous Amerindians, who work in the mines and associated services such as shops and brothels often witness, are affected by, or fall victim to this violence.
There is very limited spatial and intermittent temporal presence of government agencies in these areas –due to only some 11 mines officers (inspectors) being in the field at any one time to monitor over 12,000 small-scale and medium-scale mining blocks in over 1,000 concessions[vi]– and both legal and illegal mining operations occur alongside each other. Even when a murder occurs, the police response is often late and superficial and, in the occasional police reports that do get filed, the presence of Amerindians is often absent, which does not mean that no Indigenous Amerindians were affected or victimised.
Government action is essentially cosmetic, a reflection of the general neglect of hinterland areas except every five years for national elections.
The perennial struggle for Indigenous control over customary land resources
Customary land tenure is communal so the continuing struggle to obtain legal recognition of Native Title involves both men and women. The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA), supported by Rainforest Foundation US and Forest Peoples Programme UK, continues to be the most organised of the Amerindian NGOs. The APA’s perennial campaign for recognition of resource rights and its alliance with the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) gained much press coverage in November-December 2021, as noted in the Marudi Mountain section below.
The current political administration took office in August 2020 with a one-seat majority in the National Assembly after a prolonged constitutional crisis caused by attempted vote-rigging by the outgoing coalition government. The PPP/C’s traditional preference for a paternalistic, almost feudal, style of government is especially marked in the Indigenous hinterlands. Anti-COVID restrictions have made usual inter-community contacts less physical and government communications and outright propaganda more obvious. Miners and traders in gold and diamonds are conspicuous supporters of the PPP/C and are benefitting financially through contracts awarded for construction projects, including hinterland schools and roads.
Artisanal mining at Marudi Mountain
Marudi Mountain (known as Marutu Taawa in the Wapichan language) is locally sacred but has been subject to artisanal mining by Amerindians, by other Guyanese and by Brazilians since the early 1940s.[vii] It was also covered by a formal mining prospecting licence issued to Canadian-owned Romanex over the 1990-1999 period and sporadically operated. The government agency Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) does not have a monitoring post in the area. Wapichan communities have expressed concerns about sedimentation and water pollution from the mining, and about the use of metallic mercury to form amalgam and help recover gold flakes and particles from hydraulic mining. Heating of the amalgam vaporises the mercury, which then methylates and contaminates the environment, causing dangerously high levels of mercury to be detectable in human hair in the downstream Indigenous communities.[viii] The Government of Guyana ratified the Minamata Convention in September 2014 aimed at phasing out the use of mercury in mining but has done very little to promote other methods for recovering gold particles or to explain the implications on human health to the affected communities.[ix] The Ministry of Health has no laboratory to test for mercury poisoning; one commercial laboratory has the capability but tests are expensive and thus little used.
The Wapichan community of Aishalton has had a pending claim for title to its customary lands, which include the Marudi Mountains, since the Amerindian Lands Commission inquiry in 1967, a claim which has been completely ignored by successive governments. The continued destruction of the sacred mountain by miners led to a brokered agreement in late 2016 involving the SRDC, Romanex, GGMC and the association of artisanal miners (Rupununi Mines Association Cooperative Society Ltd.). The agreement included a ban on mercury in the mines. The government finally cancelled the Romanex holding on 01 November 2021. The Ministry of Natural Resources announced a new agreement between the current holder of the prospecting licence (Canadian company Aurous Mining Inc.), GGMC and the artisanal association on its Facebook page on 17 November (not via the Official Gazette or the government Department of Public Information).[x] No evaluation has been conducted of the 2016 agreement. In spite of the government’s claim to apply the UNDRIP principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent, the SRDC was not consulted about or informed of the new agreement, and had been unable to obtain a copy by the end of 2021, or a copy of the Special Mining Permit issued for artisanal mining covering 405 hectares for use by 40 miners.
Mounting a series of protests, the SRDC also called on human rights lawyer Malene Alleyne (Freedom Imaginaries, Jamaica) to draw on the December 2018 report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN-CERD) and compile an international protest.[xi] In a counter-move, three government ministers (Home Affairs – Robeson Benn, Natural Resources – Vickram Bharrat, and Amerindian Affairs – Pauline Sukhai) flew to Aishalton on 29 November and convened meetings in Wapichan villages. Following the usual party practice, the ministers gave an hour-long presentation but did not allow enough time for the villagers’ questions.[xii] Bussed-in PPP/C staff and supporters employed at the Region 9 Regional Democratic Council went from house to house at night persuading villagers to sign a government-drafted petition in support of the undisclosed agreement and to say that they wanted artisanal mining to continue as a main source of local income (Figure 1). The SRDC was not informed or of the village meetings and canvassing before this visit. Protesters calling for the suspension of the agreement pending proper application of FPIC included influential Chief Kokoi[xiii] and the APA’s Governance and Rights Coordinator Laura George,[xiv] Wapichan elder Chief Tony James[xv] as well as SRDC’s Communications Officer Immaculata Casimero. Minister Vickram Bharrat alleged that opposition to the destructive mining was by a “handful of people who have political objectives and a political agenda”[xvi] although he did not explain what these objectives or agenda were. Minister Bharrat also claimed that he had personally visited the area five times to speak with Marudi miners, shopkeepers and miners in the Wapichan villages who had requested that the artisanal mining re-start. However, no records of such meetings are in the public domain.[xvii]
Replacement of the Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS) programme, return of the CSOs
The two political parties have sponsored various programmes to aid the development of the Indigenous communities in the hinterland, including Community Service Officers (CSOs) and the Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS) as noted in IWGIA’s Yearbooks for 2019,[xviii] 2020,[xix] and 2021.[xx] On re-taking office in August 2020, the PPP/C government immediately closed the HEYS scheme along with all other coalition initiatives. Minister Pauline Sukhai of MoAA claimed in March 2021 that the HEYS scheme had run out of money in 2019 and that it had not been re-financed. Moreover, Minister Sukhai said that she was not able to locate any of the new businesses.[xxi] Instead, the PPP/C government has re-instated its scheme for CSOs but has now allocated budgets for training components alongside capital investments. In expectation of future investments in hinterland Internet connections, 174 Indigenous youth have received training in information and communications technology. If they are willing to migrate out of the hinterland they may be able to pick up jobs in the more developed coastland area. Eighty youths were trained to install solar panels for household-level electrical power.[xxii]
Mismatched government support to Amerindian communities
There is a gift-based, patron-client relationship between the government and Amerindians that is unhelpful to sustainable development and fails to take into account the agency and needs of the Amerindians themselves. Rather than asking Amerindians how the government can help, they simply ask if they would like a specific good or piece of equipment, such as a tractor. Once that product is promised, actual delivery is often delayed, or the full promise goes unfulfilled. The government also does very little to ensure spare parts are available or provide training in non-destructive use, maintenance or repairs. Further, this top-down, non-consultative relationship fuels corruption through illegal, single-source government procurement with costs far above market prices. Examples of this were rife in 2021.
The previous coalition government preferred to hand out bicycles, boats and (mini-)buses to hinterland communities while the PPP/C government has reverted to outboard engines, agricultural tractors and sewing machines. Fifteen of these outboard engines were purchased by MoAA but six months after delivery the engines were still in their boxes at the MoAA office. Furthermore, 3,000 agricultural tools were purchased at a cost of USD 135,000 but only 59 were distributed.[xxiii] A tender notice was issued for 112 4-WD agricultural tractor sets, seven bids were received, none was accepted, and a single-source purchase agreement was signed with a supplier in India (contrary to government procurement law). Subsequently, 103 tractors were delivered to the MoAA by September, of which 49 were supposed to have been sent on to Amerindian villages. However, the Auditor General could find only 20 receipts and 30 registered with the Revenue Authority, while certificates for a further 11 tractors and 39 trailers were left with the authority. Some of this apparent wastage was caused by prolonged heavy rainfall in 2021, which made access trails to the hinterland villages effectively impassable for many weeks. However, the Auditor General notes repeated poor administration and accounting practices at the MoAA in his annual reports, regardless of which political party is in government.[xxiv] Fifty-four tractors remain unused in a government warehouse.[xxv]
There is good news, however. Sixty Indigenous youths active in the revived Community Service Officers programme have been trained in tractor driving and routine maintenance. The bad news, however, is that yet again the government has failed to purchase spare parts or to ensure that there is training in or facilities for repair of agricultural equipment, or to teach communities about business planning for efficient and effective use of these tools and equipment for the benefit of the community rather than simply the families of the Toshaos or Senior Councillors.
National coordination between Amerindian communities
The widely dispersed hinterland Indigenous communities (an ecological consequence of low natural soil fertility) naturally have more difficulty in communicating and coordinating than do the relatively close-packed coastal communities. All Toshaos of legally-titled Amerindian villages and Senior Councillors of satellite communities are members of the National Toshaos Council (NTC), some 114 people in total, with an elected Executive Committee of 20. COVID-19 has prevented meetings of the NTC and its Executive over the past year. The more natural groupings of villages into districts are not part of the legal structure and are opposed by the coastlander government. A meeting in September 2021 of 34 Toshaos and Senior Councillors for Administrative Region 9, convened by the government, resulted in three Toshaos elected to the next Executive Committee.[xxvi] The government then abandoned these Regional Meetings ostensibly because of COVID-19 infections.
Why is this politically important? The national electoral system has currently delivered a one-seat majority in the unicameral National Assembly to the ruling party, which is either the African-Guyanese-supported PNC or the East-Indian-supported PPP/C. Both PNC/R and PPP/C try to buy off the Amerindian votes because far fewer votes deliver each geographical parliamentary seat in hinterland areas than in the urbanised coastland. Coordination among the Amerindian communities, to form a swing vote, is strongly opposed by the coastlander governments.[xxvii]
After years of complaints, Toshaos have at last received an increase in their stipends from USD 1,800/year to USD 3,000/year. This meagre reward for an often onerous and thankless task is in stark contrast with ministerial annual salaries of USD 55,800 and the presidential salary of USD 108,000, plus a raft of allowances and supplements.[xxviii]
Outlook for 2022/3
Materially, Indigenous communities may expect to receive more “gifts” in the patronising style from the ruling PPP/C Party, funded by revenues from offshore oil fields. Through 2021 and into January 2022, the PPP/C has shown an increasing desire to be the sole decision-making body in the country, and to disparage civil society comments and queries. There has been a rapid increase in the cost of living, induced by the effect of the pandemic on global trade (Guyana traditionally has a high propensity to import basic goods) and by the inflationary effects of the petroleum sector. There is a scramble for jobs in this sector, even at the lowest levels, as a source of relatively secure incomes and a way of escaping the partisan dominance of ordinary Guyanese life. Indigenous communities may benefit from small-scale ecotourism for oilfield workers, and the new training programme in ICT for Indigenous youths offers a ladder out of poverty.
Janette Bulkan is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Canada. She was previously Coordinator of the Amerindian Research Unit, University of Guyana (1985 to 2000) and Senior Social Scientist at the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development, Guyana (2000 to 2003). Janette carries out long-term collaborative research with Indigenous Peoples and local communities in Guyana. Her research interests are forest governance, Indigenous natural resource management systems, forest concession systems and third-party forest certification systems.
John Palmer is a senior associate in tropical and international forestry with the Forest Management Trust, an ENGO based in Montana, USA. His experience of Guyana dates back to 1974, including UK-funded consultancies on forest finance and Iwokrama in the 1990s, and studies from 2006 onwards on the history and many illegalities in the forest and mining sectors. Guyana also figures in his current work on certification standards for quality of forest management.
This article is part of the 36th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. Find The Indigenous World 2022 in full here
Notes and references
[i] Bureau of Statistics, Guyana. 2012 Census, Compendium 2 on population composition. July 2016: https://statisticsguyana.gov.gy/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Final_2012_Census_Compendium2.pdf
[ii] Parliament of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. The Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, chapter 001:01, Preamble, p.30. https://parliament.gov.gy/Constitution%20of%20the%20Cooperatiive%20Republic%20of%20Guyana.pdf
[iii] The National Constitution (1980/2003, https://www.oas.org/juridico/spanish/mesicic2_guy_constitution.pdf) in Guyana prohibits discrimination against women:
149F. (1) Every woman is entitled to equal rights and status with men in all spheres of political, economic and social life. All forms of discrimination against women on the basis of gender or sex are illegal.
(2) Every woman is entitled to equal access with men to academic, vocational and professional training, equal opportunities in employment, remuneration and promotion and in social, political and cultural activity.
The main Article 149 includes clauses against discrimination by race. Thus, in legal principle, Indigenous (Amerindian) women face no barriers and can take on any role. In practice, Indigenous women often do face obstacles by virtue of family obligations and level of education. In the lower levels of coastlander society, the numerically dominant African and East Indian Guyanese may raise barriers through traditional racial slurs, not understanding the enormous skills of the Amerindians in their hinterland communities and in the national economy. The Ethnic Relations and the Women & Gender Equality Commissions were created by the National Constitution and likewise provide some measure of legal defence against discrimination. However, the political parties are slow to appoint people to these Commissions, their Secretariats are under-resourced, and court cases may be bogged down for trivial reasons for years.
[iv] Rivière, Peter. Individual and Society in Guiana: A Comparative Study of Amerindian Social Organisation. Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology, no. 51. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984).
[v] Ebus, Bram. “Tracing Tainted Gold.” Infoamazonia, September 14, 2020. https://mercurio.infoamazonia.org/en/gold/.
[vi] Walrond, G. W., L.J.I. Heesterman and J. Goolsarran. Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Management and Systems Review. Inception Report. Mines Division, Land Management Division, Geological Services Division, 2015.
[vii] Kaieteur News. “Govt says mining permits for Marudi Mountains is not new.” Kaieteur News, December 2, 2021. https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/12/02/govt-says-mining-permits-for-marudi-mountains-is-not-new/.
[viii] South Rupununi District Council. “Wapichan Environmental Monitoring Report.” September 2012. http://wapichanao.communitylands.org/1548691773093-wapichan-environmental-monitoring-report-2018-v2.pdf.
[ix] Papannah, David and Laurel Sutherland. “Parabara still in the dark on high mercury exposure -after no follow up to alarming findings of study.” Stabroek News, May 30, 2021. https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/05/30/news/guyana/parabara-still-in-the-dark-on-high-mercury-exposure/
[x] Kaieteur News. “Govt says mining permits for Marudi Mountains is not new.” Kaieteur News, December 2, 2021. https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/12/02/govt-says-mining-permits-for-marudi-mountains-is-not-new/.
[xi] Kaieteur News. “Marudi residents’ protest…Rescind mining agreement and apologise to Indigenous People – Caribbean Human Rights lawyer.” Kaieteur News,November 30, 2021. https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/11/30/rescind-mining-agreement-and-apologise-to-indigenous-people-caribbean-human-rights-lawyer/.
[xii] Kaieteur News. “‘PPP has no respect for Amerindians’ – Lenox Shuman.” Kaieteur News, December 6, 2021. https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/12/06/ppp-has-no-respect-for-amerindians-lenox-shuman/
[xiii] Stabroek News. “James fires back at Bharrat’s assertion of ‘political agenda’ in Marudi mining row.” Stabroek News, December 13, 2021. https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/12/13/news/guyana/james-fires-back-at-bharrats-assertion-of-political-agenda-in-marudi-mining-row/.
Kaieteur News. “Wapichan elder says Indigenous communities still awaiting details on new agreement.” Kaieteur News, December 19, 2021. https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/12/19/wapichan-elder-says-indigenous-communities-still-awaiting-details-on-new-agreement/.
[xiv] Papannah, David. “Activists urge proper consultations on Marudi mining after exclusion of indigenous communities.” Stabroek News, December 9, 2021. https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/12/09/news/guyana/activists-urge-proper-consultations-on-marudi-mining-after-exclusion-of-indigenous-communities/.
[xv] James, Tony. “The main issue is the Marudi agreement was signed without effective Indigenous participation.” Stabroek News, December 4, 2021. https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/12/04/opinion/letters/the-main-issue-is-the-marudi-agreement-was-signed-without-effective-indigenous-participation/.
[xvi] Stabroek News. “Bharrat says residents called for resumption of Marudi mining -maintains consultations were held.” Stabroek News, December 10, 2021. https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/12/10/news/guyana/bharrat-says-residents-called-for-resumption-of-marudi-mining/.
[xvii] Sutherland, Laurel.“Secrecy shrouds new gold mining deal in Guyana’s Marudi mountains.” Mongabay, December 22, 2021. https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/secrecy-shrouds-new-gold-mining-deal-in-guyanas-marudi-mountains/?fbclid=IwAR3a10d5_Ej8xwtGn-Wxsm-21OXwhS6IfhfS1aVeZpFUDK1Rj5nJMcy3RUg.
[xviii] IWGIA. The Indigenous World 2019. Copenhagen: IWGIA, 2019. Online edition. https://www.iwgia.org/images/documents/indigenous-world/IndigenousWorld2019_UK.pdf
[xix] IWGIA. The Indigenous World 2020. Copenhagen: IWGIA, 2020. Online edition. https://iwgia.org/images/yearbook/2020/IWGIA_The_Indigenous_World_2020.pdf
[xx] IWGIA. The Indigenous World 2021. Copenhagen: IWGIA, 2021. Online edition.
https://iwgia.org/doclink/iwgia-book-the-indigenous-world-2021-eng/eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJpd2dpYS1ib29rLXRoZS1pbmRpZ2Vub3VzLXdvcmxkLTIwMjEtZW5nIiwiaWF0IjoxNjI4ODM5NjM2LCJleHAiOjE2Mjg5MjYwMzZ9.z1CuM7PcT5CPkV0evx8ve88y6v0vmwDu_51JQ_lwAkM
[xxi] Department of Public Information (DPI). “G$820M for Amerindian Youth Training.” Hinterland Highlights, March 1, 2021. https://dpi.gov.gy/hinterland-highlights-march-2021-edition/.
[xxii] Ministry of Amerindian Affairs. “Second Batch of Community Service Officers graduate from ICT training in 2021.” Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, September 6, 2021. https://moaa.gov.gy/second-batch-of-community-service-officers-graduate-from-ict-training-in-2021/.
[xxiii] Kaieteur News. “Ministry buys 3,000 pieces of Agri-tools, hands over 59.” Kaieteur News, December 21, 2021. https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/12/21/ministry-buys-3000-pieces-of-agri-tools-hands-over-59/.
[xxiv] Kaieteur News. “Financial violations.” Kaieteur News, December 23, 2021. https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/12/23/financial-violations-there-are-not-innocents/.
[xxv] Stabroek News. “Ministry single-sourced 112 Mahindra tractors on market research -Auditor General’s report.” Stabroek News, December 15, 2021. https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/12/15/news/guyana/ministry-single-sourced-112-mahindra-tractors-on-market-research/.
[xxvi] Ministry of Amerindian Affairs. “Regional Toshaos Meetings 2021 Commences.” Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, September 7, 2021. https://moaa.gov.gy/regional-toshaos-meetings-2021-commences/. Williams, Mervyin. “There is no functioning National Toshaos Council executive.” Stabroek News, January 17, 2022.
https://www.stabroeknews.com/2022/01/17/opinion/letters/there-is-no-functioning-national-toshaos-council-executive/. Williams, Mervyn. “Are Gov’t’s so-called ‘developments’ a substitute for a functional toshaos council?” Stabroek News, January 20, 2022. https://www.stabroeknews.com/2022/01/20/opinion/letters/are-govts-so-called-developments-a-substitute-for-a-functional-toshaos-council/. Stabroek News. “NTC executive.” Stabroek News, January 23, 2022. https://www.stabroeknews.com/2022/01/23/opinion/editorial/ntc-executive/
[xxvii] Bulkan, Janette. “The Struggle for Recognition of the Indigenous Voice: Amerindians in Guyanese Politics.” The Round Table. The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs 102 (2013): 367-380. https://doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2013.795009.
[xxviii] Kaieteur News. “Toshaos stipend to increase from $30k to $50k monthly.” Kaieteur News, December 10, 2021. https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/12/10/toshaos-stipend-to-increase-from-30k-to-50k-monthly/.
