MINISTER of Indigenous People’s Affairs Sydney Allicock has announced that work on the reconstruction of the Umana Yana could begin before the year is out.He made the announcement Saturday at the opening of Heritage Day celebrations at the St Cuthberts Mission on the Mahaica River, where he used the opportunity while he had it to enlist as much help as he could for the reconstruction of the Umana Yana, which was destroyed by fire on September 9, 2014.

“We are going to look for that support for the reconstruction of the Umana Yana; the Wai-Wais would like you to join with them in re-establishing this wonderful building that was sadly destroyed, and we would like to start this year,” Minister Allicock said.

Two months after the new administration took office, Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Valerie Garrido-Lowe had said that the turning of the sod to signal the beginning of reconstruction work on the Umana Yana would have been held this month.

INDIGENOUS-NESS

She’d said at the time too that in the course of rebuilding the facility, more emphasis will be placed on its “indigenous-ness”, as it is the government’s intention to work on highlighting the diversity of the Indigenous Peoples rather than the uniqueness of any one nation.

The 55-foot high conical palm-thatched hut, or benab as it is sometimes called, was erected by the Wai-Wais, one of Guyana’s nine Indigenous nations, to be used as VIP Lounge and Recreation Centre during the hosting here of a meeting of Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers back in August 1972.
Umana Yana is a Wai-Wai word meaning “meeting place of the people”.
Situated just across the road from the Pegasus Hotel, it was a much admired Georgetown landmark, and was in constant use as an exhibition and conference centre. It was also a popular venue for Indigenous Heritage events, jazz concerts, fashion shows and horticultural displays among other cultural activities.
ST. CUTHBERT’S MODEL VILLAGE
Besides the reconstruction of the Umana Yana, Minister Allicock also announced on Saturday that the St. Cuthbert’s Mission will be used as a model village for pilot projects.
“St. Cuthbert’s is going to be used as a model village, since it is within reach of all other communities when they come to Georgetown, and is 50 miles from Georgetown,” the minister said, adding:
“Here, we can have pilot projects to showcase to others how things could be done so as to achieve economic and academic strengths.”
He also assured the Arawak-speaking village that the languages of all the various groups of Indigenous Peoples as well as their cultural practices will be pursued and supported by both the Indigenous People’s Ministry and Government. He said too that government in its quest for unity, promises to settle the indigenous land claims once and for all as time progresses.
“We look forward to working with you and developing industries, so as to create more opportunities for the young people in getting jobs, tourism being one of them, so that we could be able to showcase how village life is and to promote Guyana,” he said. “The Indigenous Peoples have so much to offer in nation-building that we cannot just sit and wait for things.”

Government is expected to launch a Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS) scheme shortly. It will be aimed at providing sustainable jobs while offering youths various skills to prepare themselves for the world of work. (Shivanie Sugrim)