Rewa is an Amerindian village in the

Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo Upper Takutu-Upper Esequibo (Region 9) is a Regions of Guyana, region of Guyana. It borders the region of Potaro-Siparuni to the north, the region of East Berbice-Corentyne to the east and Brazil to the south and west. It contains the town of Let ...

region of

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

Overview

Rewa is a satellite village to Massara and received its land title in 2008. It is situated on the left bank of the Rupununi River at the confluence of the Rewa River. It is also in proximity to Awarmie Mountain and near the western border of Brazil. Languages spoken in the village include Macushi and Wapishana. Economic activities of the village include subsistence farming, fishing, small grocery shops, and an eco lodge which opened in 2005. Public services include a primary school and health post. In 2014, Rewa applied for an extension to their land grant to prevent damage to the surrounding environment due to commercial logging. Annai Village is the next closest town and the regional center.

History

The name “Rewa” comes from the Wapichan word for a tree called the iliwa tree. Between the 1940s and '50s, the Booker Brothers, McConnell and Company came to the area and introduced bleeding batata from the bullet wood tree, attracting people to work in the area through the 1970s until the industry dried up. Two men were involved in this operation: George William and Nicolas Edwards. Edwards and his family moved to the area in 1975, becoming the first family of the village. As the main village of Massara expanded, many residents moved to Rewa. In the dry season of 2015, assisted efforts of the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development to rescue and relocate 27

arapaima The arapaima, pirarucu, or paiche is any large species of bonytongue in the genus ''Arapaima'' native to the Amazon Basin, Amazon and Essequibo River, Essequibo basins of South America. ''Arapaima'' is the type genus of the subfamily Arapaiminae ...

, a highly endangered species that has been subject to extreme overfishing. Stephanu Honorio from the Rewa Village Council, is a trained specialist in arapaima relocation. Rewa Eco-Lodge was awarded Most Outstanding Community-led and Owned Tourism Enterprise by the Guyana Tourism Authority in 2018. In 2020, Rovin Alvin, a Rewa native, was a guide for

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, List of restaurants owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has ...

in an episode of Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, which features cuisines of remote and indigenous communities around the world. The episode featured traditional Amerindian foods made with

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

, Spectacled caiman, black

piranha A piranha (, or ; ) is any of a number of freshwater fish species in the subfamily Serrasalminae, of the family Serrasalmidae, in the order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Although ...

arowana Arowanas are freshwater bony fish of the subfamily Osteoglossinae, also known as bony tongues (the latter name is now often reserved for Arapaiminae). In this family of fish, the head is bony and the elongated body is covered by large, heavy sca ...

, and

goliath birdeater The Goliath birdeater (''Theraphosa blondi'') belongs to the tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" ...

as well as Ramsey recreating

Guyanese pepperpot Pepperpot is an Amerindian-derived dish popular in Guyana. It is traditionally served at Christmas and other special events. Along with chicken curry, and cook-up rice, pepperpot is one of Guyana's national dishes. This dish is usually reserved f ...

References

{{Settlements in Guyana Populated places in Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo Indigenous villages in Guyana