I was born on 11th September 1966 at Aratack Mission on Kamuni Creek, Demerara River, one mile from Santa Mission and the only Amerindian community in Region 3. I was the tenth in a huge family of 13 children: eight girls and five boys. Aratack is a very small community, originally Amerindian, but it became mixed. In fact, my paternal grandfather was pure Chinese, from a small settlement at the head of the Kamuni Creek, and my mother’s family is mixed as well. The main economic activity is subsistence farming, while generally males go out of community to work in forestry or mining, and return periodically. As a child I thought woodcutting work was too hard – I hated the idea. As I saw it, the only alternative was teaching, so I told myself I would be a teacher. In 1978 I wrote the Common Entrance and secured a place at the McKenzie High School. While my father was arranging for me to go there, we got a letter saying I had been awarded a government scholarship, with all living expenses, to North Georgetown Secondary School. I boarded at Station St, Kitty, with two other boys.
That first week – doing nothing before school started – was traumatic. We found ourselves now the guests of strangers who were not genuinely caring, who called us names, who looked at us and saw $75 a month. It was a radical change that shook my thinking and my whole mental state. I had visited the city before, but coming to live in Georgetown was a shock. I was torn away from my community, society, family, even customs and play.
I did CXC/GCE in 1983 then went back home. There was no teaching vacancy, so I helped my father out on his nut farm, and got involved in the Pentecostal Church. After two years I came back to Georgetown and studied theology. From 1985 I worked at Guyana Telecommunications Corporation for five years, then at the Inland Revenue Dept for five years, then at the National Frequency Management Unit for another five years. In 1995 I did a course at the Institute of Distance and Continuing Education, then a Diploma in Marketing at UG during 1996-1998.
I became interested in the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) after I saw a television interview with its President, David James. The objectives and goals impressed me because this NGO was trying to represent the social and economic rights of indigenous peoples. I met David shortly afterward, and indicated my interest to him. I accepted the organisation’s invitation to be a Trustee – a voluntary post – in 1997. In 2000 the APA formed the Centre for Amerindian Rights and Environmental Law, which was incorporated as a department of the APA in 2001 and renamed the Amerindian Legal Services Centre. I was appointed its Head, with the general responsibility of addressing all the legal issues that affect Amerindians in Guyana: the rights of Amerindian communities, which tended to be land issues, among other things. We also conducted capacity-building activities such as planning and facilitating workshops in various Amerindian communities, training in basic administration, and discussing rights under the various laws that deal with Amerindians, and the forestry and mining sectors; and more recently the Amerindian Protection Act. Through the APA, I trained in conflict resolution, negotiation and human rights.
Because of the APA’s association with other international organisations, I have been to conferences in different parts of South and Central America and the Caribbean. On behalf of South and Latin America, I made a presentation on Land and Conflict at the ECOSOC forum in 2005, and also made a presentation on the Amerindian situation in Guyana to the Commonwealth, in Geneva. In 2006, myself and David James went on a Caribbean lecture tour sponsored by Oxfam, to sensitise indigenous peoples in the region to our experiences in Guyana regarding the then recently passed Amerindian Act.
I was part of the group of representatives of the APA, The Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana (TAAMOG) and the Guyana Organisation of Indigenous Peoples (GOIP) which, after consultation with communities, worked on the draft new Amerindian Act; and I also made presentations to the Parliamentary Select Committee individually and on behalf of the APA. I was also involved in the establishment of the Shell Beach Protected Area, worked with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the establishment of protected areas in Guyana, and I’ve also worked with the Forestry Commission on issues related to Amerindian lands and lifestyle.
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