By Shaniya Harding

‘PAKURI’ has been spelt several ways and translated in many forms over the years. But the word’s meaning has never changed, nor was its significance ever lost to the people of St. Cuthbert’s Mission. The word Pakuri, sometimes Pacuri or Pacourie, is the name of a tree; and its fruit was once vital to the survival of many indigenous people. It was so important, in fact, that there are villages and people named after it. St. Cuthbert’s mission itself is referred to as Pakuri by most of its villagers.

The village of St Cuthbert’s Mission is a well-known community. Its popularity is perhaps owed to the welcoming nature of its people, its immense cultural presence or the fact that as a village, they have managed to retain their heritage. St. Cuthbert’s mission is unique in its ability to be authentic in preserving its culture while seeing advancements and developments just like any other community in Guyana.

One of the striking characteristics of St. Cuthbert’s Mission is the beauty and diversity of the community. The village is the only Amerindian settlement located in the Mahaica River and is considered by many to be the cultural capital of Region 4. The village has and proudly holds the title of one of Guyana’s most popular villages.

Today, St Cuthbert’s is home to around 2,000 people spread out among the village’s different areas. St Cuthbert’s is divided into the North, South East, West and the community’s waterfront area. The community has a wide variety of homes, health centres, and several small businesses. But before the concrete houses and being as well as it was today, St Cuthbert’s Mission was home to just a few families.

Today, the village’s population has grown from a few Arawak families, but many of their cultural practices remain the same. Most of the culture preserved and still practised are those of a creative nature. One such thing that is still practised is the weaving of the tibisiri straw.

The Ite palm leaves are harvested, stripped, and woven all by hand. Charlotte Oselma is one of the few people who still practise making things like the tibisiri mats and placements. She is 87 years old and has lived at her St Cuthbert’s home all her life.

She believes that as much as St Cuthbert’s has tried to maintain its old feel, ways and traditions, there are some things today in the village that she has never seen before. Charlotte explained that homes, population and very people have changed over the years. “There were only a few houses. But then you started to see different houses and different people.”
St Cuthbert’s Mission is a village made up of many different areas that all branch off and return to the community’s centre, where the village’s benab is housed. Charlotte explained how there were just a few benabs, like the one that remains today. But over time, more people came into the village, many of whom stayed.

Charlotte, even today, still practises the craft work of many of those first people, as she stated, “If you watch around, you would see the Ite tree. That is the palm tree that grows tall and it is from that we get the straw. They cut if for me and we take out the white straw. And when that’s finished, we boil it and wash it and put it in the sun to dry,” she explained.
The tibisiri is dyed and meticulously hand woven to make the captivating craft pieces. As she spoke of her past experience of craft works, it seems as though Charlotte is creatively inclined as she learnt how to spin cotton and straw and has tried her hand at many other areas of craft.

Charlotte explained that perhaps one of the reasons why a lot of history is lost is due to the relationship between adults and children. The little that Charlotte knows about her village’s history and craft was learnt by watching and listening to adults when she could. “In those times parents didn’t tell you some things. We didn’t know different things. But now children know a lot more,” she said.

On the topic of preservation of culture, Charlotte firmly believes that her people’s culture needs greater effort for preservation. As an elder in the community, Charlotte thinks it is the younger people’s responsibility to keep their heritage alive.
But the opinion varies greatly from person to person, especially those of the younger generation. Some of them believe that their sense of culture is strong, while others believe that more could be done to get closer to their cultural roots.

Charlotte’s childhood took place in an entirely different time. As she remembers it, there were very few houses, very few people and plenty of moving from place to place. She explains that although they had very little of most things, they had plenty of culture.