Excerpt and Photo from caribois.org
Did you know that small-scale, illegal gold-mining activities are plaguing various Wayana Indigenous villages in the deep south of Suriname?
Located in Suriname’s Lawa area, these Indigenous villages have seen nearly every aspect of their livelihoods being affected by gold-mining.
Over time, rivers in these villages have been contaminated by the waste generated from these activities and the Indigenous stewards of these lands have been displaced by land grabs.
These illegal gold-mining operations have also disrupted traditional hunting grounds and holy ancestral locations.
In an interview with Cari-Bois, Indigenous environmental activist, Jupta Itoewaki, recounted how she witnessed her village – Kawemhakan – slowly being transformed from paradise to a casualty of gold-mining.
Also the Chairperson of the Mulokot Foundation, Itoewaki also constantly speaks out about the shear destruction occurring in other villages including Lensidede and Kumakhapan.