By Michel Outridge

In observance of Amerindian Heritage Month, this week the Pepperpot Magazine journeyed to the picturesque and hillside village of Silver Hill, located on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.

Silver Hill was originally an Indigenous Settlement but over the years people came and left but today, it is home to less than 160 residents with just about 50 houses.

The village consists of Indigenous, Afro, and Indo Guyanese, who are coal miners, woodcutters, skilled mason and carpenters, and self-employed folk.
Silver Hill is about 11 miles from Linden and is approximately 32 miles up the Soesdyke Junction.

The village runs deep into the backlands area and consists of hills and a vast forested area.
The soil is fertile and used by locals for farming pineapples, watermelons, legumes, fruits and vegetables.
The main access road is made up of sand and loam and is accessible and is about four miles long and has many trails on which a few houses are scattered.
Silver Hill has a large poultry farm and on that side of the village, people use it to access the riverine communities along the Demerara River.
The village has a nursery and primary school housed in the same building, a well where residents access potable water supply, and a health outpost.
Silver Hill is a farming community that is large but sparsely populated and most of the lands are leased and overrun by bushes and reclaimed by the forest.
Silver Hill has no electricity but residents have generators and solar power systems that provide power sully to their household appliances.
The village is without landline telephone service but the residents have cellular service from both networks.
Silver Hill has a few creeks within the village and the locals, who do not have bicycles, motorcycles or vehicles have to walk miles to get in and out of the village since taxis fares are not within their budget.

The CDC Chair

The Pepperpot Magazine met Chairperson of the Community Development Council (CDC) Patricia Williams, who operates a small roadside shop.
The 62-year-old stated that life is very simple in that village but entails challenges and hard work but she escaped from the city to have a quiet life there.
Williams is better known as “Sister Pat” by locals and although she has no children, she seemed content with life as is.
She would spend a lot of time at the shop which sits at the side of the highway and would tend to customers but her house is deep within Silver Hill, almost near the Demerara River.
She has been residing at Silver Hill for the past 30 years but got married to a local, two years prior and did not regret leaving the city.
“Here you have a lot of space, fresh air, breeze, peace and quiet and no one to bother you and I like it very much so I am not missing much in the city,” she said.

Amerindian Heritage Month 2020

In light of the global pandemic, the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs on August 31 hosted a virtual opening to usher in Indigenous Heritage Month under the theme: “Fostering Traditional Practices for a Safe Environment”.

Amerindian Heritage Month is an annual observance that is held every September in Guyana in honour of Guyana’s Indigenous Peoples.
To commemorate our first peoples, a calendar of virtual events has been planned throughout the month which kicks off with the day on which Stephen Campbell became Guyana’s first Indigenous Member of Parliament on September 10, 1957. In memory of Campbell’s achievement, September 10, is still celebrated as “Heritage Day” each year.