Our Story

The Wapishana people, who have inhabited the savannas and rain forests of northeast South America since time out of mind, have a long tradition of spinning and weaving cotton into hammocks, baby slings and other items of household use.  Wapishanas still reside in the remote corners of the countries now known as Guyana, Brazil and Suriname, having been pushed out of more prosperous areas of these countries due to their gentle, non-aggressive temperament.  Their isolation has allowed them to preserve their language and culture, where other First Nations peoples have lost these traditions.

Alma O’Connell pursued quite a different life than many Wapishanas, most of whom stayed in the village and led a life of subsistence hunting, farming and fishing.  Alma spent time in the Guyanese capital, Georgetown, pursuing her education and rubbing elbows with the other ethnic groups which inhabit the more settled coastal areas of the country.  She then returned home and founded Rupununi Weavers, a women’s NGO which helped preserve the traditional art of weaving, while allowing women to generate income from their craft. 

Once Rupununi Weavers was well established, Alma moved on to help other indigenous peoples in Guyana to advance toward their community development goals.  In the pursuit of this work, she acquired a co-worker and husband, Canadian Participatory Researcher, Mike Shook.  The couple settled for six years in Alma’s home village, Maruranau, in the remote South Rupununi District and continued their work in the surrounding Wapishana villages.

In time, Alma and Mike decided to spend a few years in Canada to give their children access to a Canadian education and to be near Mike’s adult children.  The transition, begun in May, 2003, has not been an easy one, and her struggles with immigration and a new culture led Alma to compose her poem, Weaving My Life in Canada. As the poem indicates, the soothing art of weaving kept Alma in touch with her roots while she explored her creativity through the variety of new colors and yarns available in Canada.