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How and why, we came
Dear Editor,
Kaieteur News – During the month of May, we remember the people who arrived in Guyana hundreds of years ago. Many of them, dark-skinned in complexion, originated from the western region of East Africa, specifically for Tanzania, known as first home to humankind. From there, they spread across the world and became the forefathers of all races, including those who eventually came to Guiana.
They used their own forms of transportation, mostly walking, and over time became more intelligent, skillful and adaptable. Their adaptability was test by dramatic climate changes about a million years ago. These changes, including a series of ice ages followed by warmer weather, required them to use their brains and resourcefulness to survive.
Migration became more necessary as they searched for more favorable climates. Thousands of years ago, changing land and sea patterns made migration easier. However, this movement was sometimes halted by rising seas.
In rare cases, bridges of ice allowed early humans to migrate from one continent to another, helping to populate the world. Some moved to Asia, walked to North-to-North America, and further south through Mexico and Panama into South America, they traveled east and settled in now known as Mabaruma/Waimi. It was a high land so they cut down a patch and there they cultivated cassava while others hunted and they shared the legendary story of El Dorado with other Indian elders.
In the Southern regions, early settlers had to hunt, fish, and plant to survive. What was once mangrove swamp stretched for miles, filled with slushy water, as far as the eye can see. Looking South as far as Grove or Friendship and East, somewhere is Crabwood Creek. From North of the land of many waters, to South, about 7 miles further South, the whole coast was mangrove and swamp lands for miles. No one could inhabit this place.
The Amerindians were the first people to name the land – “the land of many waters” because of the wide rivers flowing through Guyana. The very north, around the Corentyne River, was uninhabitable at first, home to dangerous animals and friendly ones too. That is what the Indians found when they arrived.
Sincerely,
Frank DeAbreu
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