Paruima is an indigenous village of Pemon Amerindians in the

Cuyuni-Mazaruni Cuyuni-Mazaruni (Region 7) is a region of Guyana. Venezuela claims the territory as part of Guayana Esequiba. It borders the regions of Barima-Waini, Essequibo Islands-West Demerara and Pomeroon-Supenaam to the north, the region of Upper Demera ...

Region of

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. The village was founded as a mission of the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

. It is the only Pemon speaking community in Guyana.

Overview

Reverend A.W. Cott of the

was a missionary among the Pemon people in Venezuela. In 1930, Cott was expelled from Venezuela, and decided to settle in Paruima in Guyana together with his fellow missionaries, and Amerindian converts. Paruima has a primary school, and a health centre. In 2017, the school was destroyed when the river flooded. It has been rebuilt in 2019. It is also home to the Paruima Mission Academy, a college for missionaries. The main access is by air via the

Paruima Airport Paruima Airport is an airport serving the community of Paruima in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni Region of Guyana. See also * * * List of airports in Guyana * Transport in Guyana The transport sector comprises the physical infrastructure, docks and vehicle ...

. The ''toshao'' (village chief) as of 2017 is Lee Williams. Williams first ran for ''toshao'' in 1997 at the age of 19. Twenty years later, he was elected. In 2020, Williams was also elected to the National Assembly.

Nature

The

Oshi Falls King George VI Falls, also known as Salto Oshi or Oshi Falls, is located on the Oshi River in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region of Guyana. This waterfall is rarely visited. The exact height waterfall used to be unknown, but was measured in 2014 at Thoug ...

are located near the village. The Oshi Falls are one of the tallest waterfalls of Guyana. A permit from the Office of Indigenous Affairs is required to visit the falls. In January 2021, a new species of orchid from the tepuis in the

Guiana Highlands The Guianas, sometimes called by the Spanish loan-word ''Guayanas'' (''Las Guayanas''), is a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories: * French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France * G ...

was identified and described by Eric Hágsater, a Mexican botanist, and Mateusz Wrazidlo, a Silesian explorer. Wrazidlo asked the family of Calio Elliman, his guide from Paruima, to name the plant. Elliman opted for "katarun yariku" ( Pemon for "high flower"). The orchid has been officially named ''

Epidendrum katarun-yariku ''Epidendrum katarun-yariku'' is a species of orchid in the genus '' Epidendrum'' found in the Guiana Highlands in Venezuela and Brazil. It grows on tepuis. In the Arekuna language, ''katarun'' means high and ''yariku'' means flower. The specifi ...

''.

References

{{Settlements in Guyana Indigenous villages in Guyana Populated places in Cuyuni-Mazaruni