The Siparuni River is a river in the
Potaro-Siparuni
Potaro-Siparuni (Region 8) is a region of Guyana. Venezuela claims the majority of the Region located west of the Essequibo River as part of Guayana Esequiba.
It borders the region of Cuyuni-Mazaruni to the north, the regions of Upper Demerara- ...
Region of
Guyana. It is a tributary of the
Essequibo River
The Essequibo River ( Spanish: ''Río Esequibo'' originally called by Alonso de Ojeda ''Río Dulce'') is the largest river in Guyana, and the largest river between the Orinoco and Amazon. Rising in the Acarai Mountains near the Brazil–Guyana b ...
. Tributaries of the Siparuni River include the
Takutu River,
Burro-Burro River
The Burro-Burro River is a river of Guyana.
It flows directly through the Iwokrama Forest, and is an important water source for the Macushi as well as used for ecotourism. It is protected for limited use of subsistence fishing, and the river is ...
,
Tipuru River and
Levai Creek.
Archaic petroglyphs have been recorded in a number of locations on the Siparuni River, including Big "S" Falls, as well as artificial stone depressions and sharpening grooves are located at Electric Eel Rock, and Tapir Rock. These sites are between 3,500 and 7,000 years old, also known as the Archaic Period.
Like many of Guyana's waterways, the Siparuni is used for gold mining, and illegal dredging operations are a problem in the protected areas. It is the northern border of the protected Iwokrama forest.
It is an important water source for
Macushi
The Macushi ( pt, Macuxi) are an indigenous people living in the borderlands of southern Guyana, northern Brazil in the state of Roraima, and in an eastern part of Venezuela.
Identification
The Macushi are also known as the Macusi, Macussi, ...
people of the
Surama
Surama is an Amerindian village in the North Rupununi area and the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo Region of Guyana, with a population of 274 people as of 2012.
The village is primarily inhabited by Macushi, Makushi people.
History
The area of lan ...
village, who undertake periodic, extended fishing trips at the river. Fish are then smoked or salted for short-term preservation. Mining has been viewed as having a negative impact on this practice, by decreasing the abundance of fish and threatening this food source.
References
{{Guyana-river-stub