Guyana

The flag of Guyana, known as The Golden Arrowhead, has been the national flag of Guyana since May 1966 when the country became independent from the United Kingdom. It was designed by Whitney Smith, an American vexillologist.

Incase your wondering, what in the world is Vexillology.

Vexillology is the study of the history, symbolism and usage of flags or, by extension, any interest in flags in general.

The word is a synthesis of the Latin word vexillum and the Greek suffix -logia or “study”. Cool!

The Golden Arrowhead, Guyana's National Flag has FIVE symbolic colors -- GREEN represents the agricultural and forested nature of Guyana,

WHITE symbolizes the rivers and water potential of the country,

a GOLDEN arrow represents Guyana's mineral wealth, BLACK portrays the endurance that will sustain the forward thrust of the Guyanese people and RED represents the zeal and dynamic nature of nation-building which lies before the young and independent Guyana.

According to my most recent study, there still exist nine indigenous tribes living scattered all over the Country.

These are the Akawaio Arekuna, Arawak, Macushi or Braz. Macuxi, Wapishanas, Patamuna, Waiwai, Warrau and Carib.

They belong to three different linguistic groups: the Arawakan, the Cariban and the Warrauan.

There are also a few members of other tribes in Guyana (Trio, Atorad, Taruma).

In most cases, these people immigrated from neighboring countries and settled in Guyana, as in the case of the Trio at Cashew Island in the vicinity of the Rio Novo.

The Wai Wai is one of nine indigenous Amerindian tribes in Guyana and is now endangered.

Wai Wai means “tapioca people” and they were given that name because of the enormous amount of the tapioca (cassava) they eat.

The Wai Wai people and its tribal territory were discovered by the famous explorer R. Schomburgk during his exploration of the province of Essequibo in 1837.

Moritz Richard Schomburgk

U.S. Protestant Missionaries established a permanent Christian Mission near the Wai Wai tribal area in the 1950s.

The Paramount Chief of the Wai Wai and his tribe converted to Christianity by the end of the 1950s.

The Wai Wai live in small remote villages in the southernmost tropical forest of Guyana.

They migrated from Brazil in the early 19th century and their population increased to some 1,250.

As the tribe expanded , so too did trade and marriage contracts.

When the Protestant Mission was established, nearly all the Wai Wai relocated near to it.

In the 1970s, due to the uprising in the Rupununi area and events that followed, there was massive re-migration of the Wai Wai back to Brazil.

By 1989, there was only one major tribal area remaining.

Founder of the Guyana Foundation

Supriya Singh-Bodden, CCH

The Wai-Wai people have a culture that places a high value on female labor and productivity.

It is this that determines success.

The political clout and riches of a certain family or village is reliant on the abilities of the women of the family or community.

The Wai-Wai tribe has a culture rich in artistic artifacts, and they are especially well-known for their woven baskets and hammocks.

They also create pottery, woven combs, bone flutes, bows and arrows, blowguns, graters, beaded aprons, necklaces, and other crafts.

They are very good working with feathers and usually decorate whatever they produce with small tufts of feathers.

https://www.facebook.com/HandmadeWithLoveCayman/

Wai Wai Combs

for the strands of your hair.

Used to comb out evil spirits or negative energy

The remoteness and traditional way of life of the Wai-Wai does not mean that they are outside of Western influence.

Western influence is severely corrupting the traditional tribal culture.

They have converted to Christianity with their own native pastors.

During the 1940s, a large portion of the Wai-Wai tribe migrated to Brazil following the path of the Christian missionaries who were forced to leave the area.

Now most of the tribe is situated in Brazil, with a small number of tribal members still residing in Guyana.

The religion of the Wai-Wai people, however, still contains traditional tribal elements, with medicine men or shamans who are believed to possess special spiritual abilities.