Ethnoecology, Resource Use, Conservation And Development In A ...

to this day (Baldwin 1946: 38-9). It appears that Melville's genuinely beneficent
relationships with the savannah peoples were maintained by the RDC, with which they
established labour and trading links vital to the functioning of the company (Turner
1972: 32). Melville and Ogilvie were also instrumental in the establishment of the
balata trade in the South Rupununi (Turner 1972: 19).
To the present day, the ranching industry remains a key feature of life in the
Rupununi. Dadanawa ranch still occupies a huge area of land, despite having given up
some of its grazing lease to neighbouring Wapishana villages (Colchester 1997: 48-
9), and the ranch headquarters are a major focal point for travellers to the deep
south villages. As well as being one of the major employers in the region (although its
permanent staff is no more than a few dozen people), the ranch provides essential
infrastructure services in terms of transportation - its pontoon across the Rupununi is
the only means by which vehicles can cross the river during the rainy seasons -
communication and trade. There are several other, smaller ranches in the South
Rupununi, which along with the indigenous settlements form the major landmarks in
the region. Perhaps the most profound impact of the livestock industry has been the
adoption by the Rupununi's indigenous inhabitants of the practise of animal
husbandry (see chapter 4.6), processes of change resulting from which are still
evident today.
Although there are inevitably conflicts between the native populations and the
ranching community — most dramatically illustrated by the Wapishana fence, which
separates, or separated, the RDC lease from reservation lands, and which some
people considered an offensive intrusion (Peberdy 1948: 18, 31) — the relationship
on the whole seems to have been beneficent. Baldwin observed that aside from the
changes inevitably caused by people's access to the cash economy, non-Amerindian
presence in the South Rupununi seemed to have caused little disruption of the
traditional way of life (Baldwin 1946: 54). This appears in part to have been due to
the small number and size of ranching settlements and their distance from indigenous
settlements. The personalities of those involved in the ranching industry have also
contributed. Melville and Ogilvie appear to have interacted with local populations in a
culturally sensitive and respectful manner, and their successors to have continued in
a similar vein (Peberdy 1948: 9, 31; Brock 1972).
Nowadays, connections between the livestock industry and the Wapishana people
are increasingly strong as ties with and dependence upon the outside world increases
and their involvement in the industry, as employees and ranchers, increases. The
Rupununi Livestock Producers Association, originally founded by the manager of