Barama River Carib - Settlements

In the 1930s the Barama River Carib were divided into two more or less autonomous groups of about equal size. One group lived in the upper reaches of the Barama River and its tributary, the Baramita, and a second group lived in the middle range of the river around Toakaima Falls. Each group had five to eight settlements. Within the same settlement, households were widely dispersed. Each household was set up in one or more open-sided, thatched houses in the midst of a cassava field of about 0.4 hectares in size. Households and, eventually, settlements would be relocated as farms lost their productivity. Baird's mining activities had the effect of centralizing the Carib population around Baramita Air Strip. By 1970 all but a small kin group lived permanently around the air strip or in two nearby settlements. The small kin group, which continued to maintain farms further in the forest, made lengthy visits to Baramita Air Strip.