Occupying spaces of belonging : indigeneity in diasporic Guyana

This report focuses on the intersections between diaspora and indigeneity in the nation-state of Guyana. To illustrate this conflicting, yet overlapping relationship, I examine the nature of state indigenous governing policies by tracing the colonial genealogy of the current 2006 Amerindian Act. I draw on the analytics of settler-colonialism, specifically the “logic of elimination,” to analyze dominant representations of indigeneity in the legislation, which grants recognition of collective rights and ancestral lands while constructing a narrative of national unity and belonging. Ultimately, this report seeks to sheds new light on an indigenous identification as a rights-bearing subject and ultimately rethinks indigenous/non-indigenous social and political relations.