Orealla

Orealla
Orealla Location in Guyana
Coordinates: 5°17′50″N 57°20′50″W / 5.29722°N 57.34722°W / 5.29722; -57.34722Coordinates: 5°17′50″N 57°20′50″W / 5.29722°N 57.34722°W / 5.29722; -57.34722
Country	Guyana
Region	East Berbice-Corentyne
Elevation	36 ft (11 m)

Orealla (or Orealla Mission) is an American Indian community in the East Berbice-Corentyne Region of Guyana, on the Courantyne River, approximately 33 miles (53 km) south of Crabwood Creek and 11 miles (18 km) north of Epira, located at 5°17′50″N 57°20′50″W / 5.29722°N 57.34722°W / 5.29722; -57.34722, altitude 11 metres. 15 miles (24 km) south-east on the other side of the Courantyne River lies the Surinamese village of Apoera.

Orealla is the only American Indian community that has had the boundaries of its reservation demarcated, with a total area of 266 sq mi (690 km²).

The recent involvement of Orealla with the Barama company, the product of which has been a local ecological and economic disaster,^{[citation needed]} demonstrates a major weakness of the reservation system, which while providing a large degree of autonomy to Amerindian communities may also cut them off somewhat from central sources of advice and assistance, exposing them to such predatory incursions from outside parties.

Small ocean-going vessels are able to navigate the Courantyne River for about 70 km, to the first rapids at Orealla.

Novelist Roy Heath has written about Orealla.

External links

• Map
• Barama's experience in Guyana (1996)
• www.forestsmonitor.org