The Present administration has always fought for the rights of the Amerindian  people

Everyone and I do mean everyone with the exception of some of the other stupid ones here such as yourself for instance, know what you have posted is a blatant lie.

 Straight up bull crap. They did everything in their power to limit Amerindian rights up to redefining who can be called an amerindian. For 20 years they have not been able to demarcate native people lands. They even refused money, some 250K us from the WB to demarcate lands. The rainforest network together with a dozen other international orgs have been after them for their neglect of the people, their culture and even the complaints of the women and children being at the mercy of outsiders.

Meanwhile, the PPP celebrates its ability to apportion lands in form of houelots to thousands, demarcate large tracks to its croneys, even Lumumba made a profit here but most of our people wait. From 25 thousand sq miles we are reduced to six and there is little hope we will get much more. Then there are those families who lived as nomads. They still cannot get their lands. The PPP does not care to listen.

BTW, are our women and children still sleeping under the tree by the Hostel? Is an Amerindian running the hostel? When will we get to build our own infrastructure etc rather than PPP cronies coming in to do it?

The present administration established the Ministry of Amerindian affairs and had passed several bills in Parliament that will be of most benefit to the Amerindian People.

 It should have established a system where the people put up one of their own as the minister rather than have the PPP select one for them.

That is a bench warming position for a PPP ideologue not a representative or advocate for the people. Bills in parliament are crafted to harmonize with the PPP's view of who we are.

The act of 2006 did not even give us the right to call ourselves indigenous because the corrupt PPP saw that as a political statement. We are still not able to say as an Indian person of mixed heritage can that we are Amerindians because of our cultural allegiance as with all peoples the world over. The PPP reserve the right to define up in accordance to its terms.

The narrow minded PPP did not give the wapishanas contiguous titles to their land despite the advantages of it. Instead it created bantustans of the people. This is party has actively sought to diminish us at every turn. I hope you are reminded of the corrupt way in which they facilitated the implantation of Vanessa in the south.

You are a bunch of crooks no playing the same games the colonials played. It is not surprising since you are colonials yourselves and merely doing as they did, planting flags on our physical and emotional territories.

Legislation

Amerindian Act 2005

The Amerindian Act, 2005 provides for, inter alia:

Grants to communal land. Unlike the old Act, the new Act includes a process for the granting of land. For instance, a community can apply for land once they can prove that they have been living there for at least 25 years and the Minister must commence an investigation and make a decision within 6 months.

Leases. The Minister is not required to approve leasing of titled Amerindian land, as opposed to the 1st Act where the Minister is required to approve it. In the new Act, the communities are only required to seek the advice of the Minister.

Intellectual Property Rights. With respect to the use of scientific research, the Researcher will, among other things, have to submit to the Village Council a copy of any publication containing material derived from the research.

Environmental Protection. The Amerindian Act supports the need for the communities to use their natural resources in a way that lends support to the concept of sustainability: Impact Assessments will have to be completed in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act.

Mining and Forestry. Amerindians will have a legal right to traditional mining with the consent of the Village Council and they must comply with the relevant legislation. With regard to forestry, the Village Council plays an integral role in determining who is allowed to use their land and on what terms.

Governance. The Village Council is empowered to establish rules for their communities and set fines within the legal confines of the law. Notably, the money received due to the non- adherence of the rules, goes into the Village Council's account, not the Government's.

Consultations. More than half of the recommendations are reflected in the Act. These inclusions were as a result of recommendations from the communities and other stakeholders. The process lasted two years and is an unprecedented one in this part of the hemisphere.

CON one of my Amerindians brothers should shoot a arrow up your ass THEN YOU WILL STOP POST SHIT ON THIS SITE

Lands & Environmental Affairs

Present Status

There exist one sixty nine (169) Amerindian Communities inclusive of Satellites, Settlements and Villages. Ninety six (96) communities have legal recognition to the lands they use and occupy. It should be noted, however, that within the ninety six (96) titled communities there are several sub-communities that may share a single titled land space and Village Council but are sometimes counted as separate communities. In addition, there are several “mixed” settlements (a settlement comprising people of various ethnicities) where Amerindians reside.

Historical Overview

Amerindians, Guyana's first inhabitants, have long requested that their rights to land be recognized. In fact, on the eve of Guyana's Independence an Amerindian, Stephen Campbell, who was also the first Amerindian Member of Parliament, traveled to London to ask the Queen for Amerindian lands to be secured. This resulted in the establishment of the Amerindian Lands Commission shortly after Independence.

Following the Amerindian Lands Commission Report of 1969, an amendment to the 1951 Amerindian Act was made in 1976 which provided for the granting of lands to Amerindian communities. In the same year sixty-four (64) Amerindian communities received legal recognition to the lands they use and occupy. In 1991, these very lands, and lands for an additional ten (10) communities, were granted under the State Lands Act through the issuance of Absolute Grants. This brought the total percentage of lands owned by Amerindians to just about 6% of the country's territory. However, the provisions were later criticized since the Minister and the Chief Officer had excessive powers, which included the power to not only increase Amerindian lands but more significantly to reduce and confiscate these lands.

Due mainly to the lack of consultations with the Amerindian communities before the descriptions of the areas were finalised, many considered the areas legally recognised via the Absolute Grants to be inadequate, and in some cases the communities were located outside of these areas. Additional problems were caused due to the absence of physical surveys, since many communities disagreed with the descriptions in the Amerindian Act as being unrelated to the reality on the ground. This resulted in many communities requesting demarcation, and in some cases, extension to their communities' legally recognized boundaries. In addition, there were over twenty five (25) untitled communities requesting legal recognition of the lands they use and occupy. Communities with and without titled lands complained about intrusions by miners, loggers and other settlers in their legally recognized areas and areas they considered to belong to them.

Policy to Address Amerindian Land Claims

In 1995 the Government of Guyana, in an attempt to address Amerindian land claims formulated a Policy after consultation with Amerindian Toshaos (elected leaders) at a Meeting held at Paramakatoi, Region 8. A two-phased approach was designed as follows:

(1) Demarcation of the existing seventy four (74) legally recognized (titled) Amerindian communities.
(2) Addressing extensions of titled communities and the request for titles by those communities without legally recognized lands.

Demarcation (surveys) will provide the communities with maps of their lands and physically marked boundaries. This will enable them to adequately address encroachment issues. In addition, demarcation will aid in identifying the anomalies between the description in the Amerindian Act and the realities on the ground; thereafter the necessary corrections can be made.

Demarcation of Amerindian Lands

In 1996 the demarcation process commenced. However, the process encountered some difficulties as communities started to renege on their decision to demarcate. Several inaccuracies were peddled resulting in communities agreeing and then later disagreeing. For example, some communities were told that once demarcated, the Government would not address their request for extension of their lands. In some communities, the surveyors arrived without prior notice resulting in the communities being unprepared to partake in the surveys.

In cases where communities reneged on their decisions to demarcate, there was wastage of scarce financial resources as the surveys had to be aborted. But more importantly the process was halted, as Government required all titled communities to be demarcated before moving to the next phase.

Of the seventy-four (74) titled communities, thirty-nine (39) were demarcated with Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 fully completed.

Alteration Of The Policy In 2002

Recognising that some administrative regions had completed the demarcation exercise, in 2002 the Government altered the Policy to move to Phase 2. In this way regions that had completed demarcation did not have to wait until other regions were finished in order to begin phase 2. Regions 2 and 10 were the first to move to phase 2. This prompted additional communities to request demarcations.

Provisions in the Amerindian Act 2006

In 2006, as part of the process for enacting a new Amerindian Act, the Government decided to include a comprehensive procedure and criteria to address Amerindian land claims. These are outlined in Part VI of the new Amerindian Act. This decision is seen as progressive since unlike policy, laws cannot be changed easily.

Unlike many other countries that require Indigenous people to show their ancestral connection with the particular piece of land being claimed, the Government of Guyana decided that there needed to be less complicated criteria. As such communities requesting titled lands are only required to show their use and occupation of the land being requested for at least 25 years and secondly the population must be at least one hundred and fifty (150) persons for the five (5) years preceding the application.

Progress To Date

As at July 2007, seventy-one (71) of the ninety one (91) communities had completed or are in the process of demarcation of their titled lands, with the State bearing the cost of demarcation. More importantly, Guyana has made significant progress in addressing Amerindian land claims by providing titles to those communities that were previously without titled lands.

Within the last three years (2004 – 2007) seventeen (17) communities have received titles while six (6) have secured extensions of their titled lands, increasing the total number of communities with legally recognized lands from seventy four (74) to ninety one (91) and the percentage of Guyana's territory owned by Amerindian communities from approximately 6.5% to about 14%. In all of these cases, communities were requested to submit a description of the area requested and in-depth consultations were held before titles were granted. The communities that have received titles and extensions in the last three years are:

Titles

1. Konashen, Region 9
2. Baramita, Region 1
3. Weruni, Region 10
4. Malali, Region 10
5. Great Falls, Region 10
6. Muritaro, Region 10
7. Kaburi (72 Miles), Region 7
8. Micobie, Region 8
9. Campbelltown, Region 8
10. Arukamai, Region 1
11. Fairview, Region 8
12. Karrau, Region 7
13. Apoteri, Region 9
14. Rewa, Region 9
15. Crashwater, Region 9
16. Three Brothers (Waini), Region 1
17. Isseneru, Region 7

Extensions

1. Kamwatta, Region 1
2. Tapakuma, Region 2
3. Kabakaburi, Region 2
4. Orealla, Region 6
5. Annai, Region 9
6. Warapoka, Region 1

There remain several communities without legally recognized lands and many of them have already requested titled land. See Amerindian Communities. The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs continues to actively pursue the process of addressing these claims.