Espérance (

Kalina Kalina may refer to: People * Kalina people, or Caribs, an indigenous people of the northern coastal areas of South America * Kalina language, or Carib, the language of the Kalina people * Kalina (given name) * Kalina (surname) * Noah Kalina, ...

: ''Wilamila'') is a village of

Amerindians The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

in the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni (; gcr, Senloran di Maronni) is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is one of the three sub-prefectures of French Guiana and the seat ...

. The village is located about 12 kilometres south of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni on the road to

Saint-Jean-du-Maroni Saint-Jean-du-Maroni is a village in French Guiana, in the commune of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni on the river Maroni. The village is mainly inhabited by Ndyuka Maroons. History Saint-Jean-du-Maroni was established in 1857 as a sub camp of the penal ...

Overview

About 200 Kalinas used to live on Île Portal, an island in the

Maroni River The Maroni or Marowijne (french: link=no, Maroni, nl, Marowijne, Sranan Tongo: ''Marwina-Liba'') is a river in South America that forms the border between French Guiana and Suriname. Course The Maroni runs through the Guianan moist fores ...

. The island on which they lived was bought by SCI de Provence. In 1981, they were removed from the island and resettled in Espérance. Espérance has a school. The village can be accessed by an unpaved road. Two companies are located near the village, and their heavy trucks make the road impassable. In 2006, the main road to Saint-Jean-du-Maroni was blocked by the villagers. In 2020, Claire-Suzanne Poulin was elected Yopoto (village chief). Poulin aims to open a heritage school in the village where the

Kalina language Carib or Kari'nja is a Cariban language spoken by the Kalina people (Caribs) of South America. It is spoken by around 7,400 mostly in Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Brazil. The language is currently classified as highly endan ...

and traditions are taught.

References

Indigenous villages in French Guiana Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni Villages in French Guiana {{FrenchGuiana-geo-stub