The En-compass project hosted a workshop aimed at safeguarding the cultural heritage of the Makushi people at the Bina Hill Institute at Annai, North Rupununi, in December.
According to a press release, participants in the workshop, held between December 6 and December 15, identified the need for urgent documentation of threatened cultural heritage and expressed concern about the decline of speakers of the Makushi language. Other threatened tangible cultural items were identified as arrows, bows and hammocks while threatened intangible cultural heritage includes knowledge about medicinal plants, myths, stories and spirituality.
The international project, which is in partnership with institutions in Guyana, the UK, China and Kenya and is funded by the European Commission, has been working with indigenous people and heritage practitioners in these countries to identify tangible and intangible cultural heritage under threat and find ways to ensure their survival.
Representatives from the North Rupununi District Development Board, Iwokrama, the Makushi Research Unit, the Surama Culture Group, Rupertee Culture Group, Amerindian Affairs Ministry, Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology and the Wild Life Clubs of North Rupununi, attended the seminar.
Iwokrama is the En-compass partner in Guyana and the session was facilitated by George Simon of the Amerindian Research Unit of the University of Guyana and Aron Mazel of the International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies from Newcastle University.
