Welcome to Itabac where you are surrounded by the mighty Pakaraimas. Itabac is located in the Sub-Region 1 of Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and has a population of approximately 280 people from the Makushi and Patamona indigenous tribes.
Kanapang and Kurukabaru borders the village. The exact foundation date of the settlement where Itabac is located today is not entirely clear. The Community Development Plan document states that it was founded in the 1930s, however residents claim that Moses David’s father and father-in-law were the first to settle in the current location in 1958 (the Amerindian Lands Commission Report says that the Village was established in 1960). After this, when the Village had established health and education services, many families came from Brazil and
Venezuela as these services were not available in the communities across the border at that time. However, during the time of the Rupununi uprising, 1968-69, many of these families moved back over the border again.
The present residents of Itabac claim that people have been living in the area for a very long time – since the tribal wars. They were living in Pacau, Shuea, Sharang and Twede Mountains long before the foundation of the current Village. Clay pots can be found on Shuea Mountain and around Nopo, a small hill close to Timenawai. Knowledge has been passed down for generations about how Akawaio, Arekuna and Caribs used to pass through the area and they were called slegung, meaning bad people in Makushi.
The village has a rich history for adventurers to explore and engage in the local cuisine native to the village. (Photos by Micheal McGarell) (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
