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

presence felt in the South Rupununi. In Maruranau, for example, one sub-settlement is
made up of an extended family who are all members of the Christian Brethren Church,
and who have their own small church in their hamlet in the southern part of the
village, and one other family belongs to a US-based Sabbitarian church. It is probably
fair to say, however, that the typical modern-day Wapishana person considers herself
or himself a Roman Catholic.
3.2.3 Modern patterns of settlement
A survey conducted in 1993 found there to be a total of 6,780 Wapishana people
resident in the South Rupununi, reflecting a steady increase in numbers over the
course of the century (Forte and Pierre 1994: 11-12). Table 3.1 summarises data on
population sizes in South Rupununi villages as collected in various censuses over the
past twenty years. Much of the variation in the figures is methodological, arising from
differences in the sources of data and the definitions of village boundaries employed.
Probably the most reliable data is based on the results of surveys conducted in 1998,
and kindly provided to me by the Office of the Regional Democratic Council of Region
9. However, continuous migration of people between villages and into and out of the
region means that these figures are at best approximate. Figure 3.2 is based upon
the same data, and breaks down population figures for the villages into age and
gender classes.
Table 3.1. Changes in populations of South Rupununi Villages
Year of survey: 1986 (1) 1989 (2) 1993 (3) 1998 (4)
Shea 452 345 367 312
Maruranau 455 726 675 645
Awarewaunau 498 650 535 578
Aishalton 1144 1500 1142 1040
Karaudanawa 890 489 965 995
Achiwuib 412 255 544 518
Sand Creek 829 728 771 1158
Parikwarawaunau 119 nd 152 172
Potarinau 504 304 676 386
Rupunau nd nd 244 223
Shulinab 457 nd 494 504
Katoonarib 238 nd 296 308
Sawariwau 174 nd 525 774
Shiriri nd nd nd 78
Baitoon nd nd nd 227
Small Sand Creek nd nd nd 190
(1) Data collected by ARU
during 1986 and 1987, in
collaboration with various
village representatives
and workers in villages,
and reported in Forte
1990a.
(2) Data from records of
Ministry of Regional
Development or some
other, unspecified source,
from Forte 1990a.
(3) Data from ARU
survey, reported in Forte
and Pierre 1994.
(4) Data provided by the
Office of the Regional
Democratic Council,
Region no. 9.
Beyond the borders of Guyana, a substantial Wapishana population remains in rural
areas of the Brazilian state of Roraima. The total population of Makushi and