1 How the Land Tenure Assessment Was Done
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WOW-RORAH, WA-KAKOH NA’NA NONORI, NA’NA OUR LAND OUR LIFE EMAMIRI CA HOTA, MA TAHO / WOW-RORAH, WA-KAKOH / NA’NA NONORI, NA’NA EMAMIRI / CA HOTA, MA TAHO TAHO MA / CA EMAMIRI HOTA, NONORI, NA’NA / NA’NA WA-KAKOH WOW-RORAH, / OUR LAND, OUR LIFE A Participatory Assessment of the Land Tenure Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Guyana Report for Region 1 and Region 2 Amerindian Peoples Association and Forest Peoples Programme Our Land, Our Life: A Participatory Assessment of the Land Tenure Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Guyana Report for Region 1 and Region 2 Authors: Sharon Atkinson, David Wilson, Andrew Da Silva, Paul Benjamin, Charles Peters, Ignatius Williams, Roger Alfred and Devroy Thomas. With contributions from: Tom Griffiths, Conrad Feather and Oda Almås Editors: Tom Griffiths and Dorothy Jackson Maps: Tom Rowley Design and layout: Daan van Beek Photos for the cover and in Part II of the document: Amerindian Peoples Association/Forest Peoples Programme The contents of this report may be reproduced and distributed for non-commercial purposes if prior notice is given to the copyright holders and the source and authors are duly acknowledged. Disclaimer: Map figures contained in this report are for indicative and illustrative purposes only and do not purport to have accurate geo-referenced information of Amerindian title or other boundaries and locations. Please note that the map information may become out of date over time. While all efforts have been made by the land tenure assessment teams and authors to verify and validate the tenure analyses contained in this report, the information provided is not exhaustive and some elements may be out of date. Land tenure information (including details on land title extension requests) in the village summaries in Part II therefore may not be construed to be the final and definitive record of the land tenure situation of indigenous peoples in Region 1 and 2 of Guyana. Likewise, this report should not be considered to be a full account of indigenous peoples’ traditional occupation, use and settlement of their lands and territories. Initial fieldwork for this tenure assessment carried out in Guyana in 2012-13 was supported by the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) CSO programme under a NORAD (Norwegian Agency for International Development) grant to Forest Peoples Programme and the Amerindian Peoples Association. Field activities and processing of field data in 2014-16 were funded by UKaid via the Forest Governance, Markets and Climate Programme of the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The views and analysis contained in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the donor organisations that have funded this work. ISBN Number: 978-0-9935190-6-2 © Amerindian Peoples Association and Forest Peoples Programme, 2016 AMERINDIAN PEOPLES ASSOCIATION APA Forest Peoples Programme 200 Charlotte Street, Bourda, Georgetown, 1c Fosseway Business Centre, Stratford Road, Guyana Moreton-in-Marsh, UK Tel: +592 2238150 Tel: +44 1608 653893. Fax +44 1608 652878 www.apaguyana.com www.forestpeoples.org 2 CONTENTS Foreword 5 Acknowledgements 6 AcronYms 9 EXECUTIVE SummarY 10 1 How THE land TENURE ASSESSMENT was done 16 2 HistorY OF how INDIGENOUS PEOPLES USED AND occupied THEIR lands 21 2.1 Prehistory 21 2.2 Historical records of land occupation and use 23 3 HistorY OF how GUYANESE law AND POLICY dealt WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ land rights 28 3.1 Law and land policy in the twentieth century 28 3.2 Pre-independence indigenous peoples’ land movement 31 3.3 Independence and the Amerindian Lands Commission (1966-76) 32 3.4 Land titles issued under the 1976 Amerindian Act 34 3.5 Land titles issued in 1991 36 4 RECENT LAND POLICY AND THE CURRENT SITUATION OF AMERINDIAN LAND TENURE 37 4.1 Land title demarcation 37 4.2 Amerindian Act (2006) 39 4.3 Protected Areas Act (2011) 41 4.4 Land conflicts and overlapping land claims 43 4.5 Land claims and joint land titles 44 4.7 Amerindian Land Titling (ALT) Project 47 4.8 New land policies and new promises 49 5 SummarY ASSESSMENT BY Village/settlement 53 5.1 Region 1 53 5.2 Region 2 167 6 Results, ANALYSIS, conclusions AND recommendations 201 6.1 Main findings 201 6.2 Analysis of tenure insecurity and land conflicts 207 6.3 Concluding observations 211 6.4 Proposals for action 212 ANNEX I: TESTIMONIES 215 ANNEX II: SummarY FINDINGS OF LTA SURVEY IN REGION 1 AND REGION 2 (2012-2015) 224 3 Graphs LTA Results at a glance Region 1 and 2, 2012-2015 12 MAPS Map 1: Indigenous peoples’ settlements and titled Villages in Regions 1 and 2, Guyana 20 Map 2: Indigenous peoples’ settlements, titled Villages, timber concessions and protected areas in Regions 1 and 2, Guyana 40 Map 3: Indigenous peoples’ settlements, titled Villages and mining blocks in Regions 1 and 2, Guyana 46 FIGURES Figure 1: Ceramic phases and some shell mounds investigated by Evans and Meggers (1960) 22 Figure 2: A sketch map compiled by Santa Rosa villagers (2015) during the land tenure assessment 38 Figure 3: Outline digital boundary map compiled by Santa Rosa villagers (March 2016) 38 Figure 4: A section of the 2002 Moruca Land Council community map showing traditional patterns of land use and occupation 45 TABLES Table 1: ALC recommendations for villages and settlements in Region 1 and Region 2 35 Table 2: Villages included in the ALT work programme (2013-16) 47 BOXES Box 1: The Amerindian Act 2006 208 4 FOREWORD The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) was established in 1991 to promote and defend the rights of indigenous peoples in Guyana. Since the start of its work, APA projects and activities have highlighted the need for better protections for the land, territorial and resource rights of our peoples. However, over the years and in the face of these claims, many government officials, including those working with the former Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, have said that there were no land conflicts affecting our villages and communities. Even in high level meetings including at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, former officials of the Guyanese government have reported that land tenure rights were not a matter for concern. The same was told to some donors including the World Bank. While consistently maintaining that there were indeed problems, the APA was publicly accused of misleading the nation and the international community. Given this state of affairs, our members present at the APA General Assembly in 2011 mandated the organisation to conduct an assessment of indigenous peoples’ land tenure security across the country in order to provide detailed information on the land rights situation. After several years and much fieldwork, this report contains the results of the first part of this important task given to us by our members. It contains the findings of the work in 42* villages and communities in Region 1 and Region 2. This information gives solid evidence on a case by case basis. The assessment highlights how many villages and communities in Region 1 and Region 2 continue to suffer land and resource conflicts with miners and loggers and are not happy about insecure land rights. Problems with the current national arrangements for titling and demarcation of indigenous peoples’ lands and territories are also brought out clearly in this land tenure survey. It is intended that this assessment and its results will be useful in village and community struggles for security of their lands. We are also hopeful that it will inform and provide baseline information for national projects and programmes such as the Amerindian Land Titling Project (ALT) funded by the Kingdom of Norway and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme. The time is now ripe for positive change. Our peoples in Guyana have waited since independence from Britain to obtain full justice and secure legal rights and recognition for their lands. In this regard, APA welcomes recent positive statements and commitments made by the President of Guyana on the administration’s plans to work towards resolving land tenure issues. We especially welcome commitments to amend the Amerindian Act of 2006 so it is fully in line with our land rights as protected in international law. We hope the findings and specific recommendations on changes needed in law and practice can also help with the upcoming legal reform process. Meanwhile, APA has completed its land tenure assessment fieldwork in Region 8 and we hope to publish the results as soon as we are able, as part of our deep commitment to promoting secure land rights for indigenous peoples in this beautiful land of Guyana. Mario Hastings, President – APA November 2016 * White Water in Region 1 was also visited by the LTA team. Unfortunately, the input form information for this settlement has not been recoverable from the APA database. Efforts are being made to retrieve the information. If it can be recovered, the information will be compiled and published in due course. 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Moruca Sub-region, Region 1 In Santa Rosa Village the LTA team wishes to thank the Village Council and Toshao Richard Cornelius, Councillor Ronald Benjamin of Kamwatta satellite and the residents of Santa Rosa and Kamwatta who provided interviews: Stephanie and Aloysius Torres, Margaret Abraham, Elini La Rose, William and Antonia Atkinson, Hilda Phillips, Eugene and Flora La Rose, William Henry, Theodore Edwards, Bonifacio and Gabriella Torres, Emmanuel Torres, Michael Cornelius, Lyton Williams, Yvette Edwards, Simone Fredericks, Timothy Mendonca, Ephania Atkinson, Valentine Benjamin, Phyllis Cornelius (deceased), Michael Cornelius, Mavis Thornhill, Evelyn Thornhill, Magdalene Henry, Denis John, Doris and George Romascindo, Leonard Hosay, Gabriel and Ana Edmonson, Compton Edmonson; James Henry, Rachael Domingo, Tyron Henry, John Benjamin, Aquinas Henry, Hillary Bumbury, Philomena Bumbury, Emelda Alphonso, William Henry, Hillary Benjamin, Everard Benjamin, John Domingo and Lewis Domingo.