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Pelelu Tepu

Village in Sipaliwini District, Suriname

Summary

Village in Sipaliwini District, Suriname

Field	Value
official_name	Pelelu Tepu
other_name	Peleloe Tepoe
native_name	Përëru Tëpu
settlement_type	Village
image_skyline	Pelulu Tepu (Suriname) (cropped), 2018.png
dot_x		dot_y =
pushpin_map	Suriname
pushpin_label_position	bottom
pushpin_map_caption	Location in Suriname
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	[[Image:Flag of Suriname.svg	25px]] Suriname
subdivision_type1	District
subdivision_name1	Sipaliwini District
subdivision_type2	Resort (municipality)
subdivision_name2	Tapanahony
leader_title	Head captain
leader_name	Sanaupe Moshesi
established_title
population_as_of	2020
population_total	600
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
postal_code_type

Pelelu Tepu is an Amerindian village in the hinterland of Suriname. Also known as "Pe'reru Tepu", the village is typically referred to simply as "Tepu," which means "high" in the Indian Tiriyó language. The village is located on Tepu hill, on the Tapanahoni River. Though inhabited by Amerindian tribes indigenous to the area, the village was founded by Christian missionaries and (primarily) Tiriyó Indians, although it now also includes small numbers of Wayana and Akuriyo Indians. The village has a tribal organization, led by a Trio Captain.

Pelelu Tepu has a school, and electricity, however there is often no fuel to run the diesel generators. Pelelu Tepu is home to a Medische Zending healthcare centre.

History

Around 1965, the Dutch colonial government and the American missionaries constructed the village. The village had a school, a church, and a medical clinic. The higher standard of living attracted many Amerindians who settled in Tëpu. In 1986 the Surinamese Interior War started. At first the Amerindians remained neutral, but later the captains agreed to a request by Desi Bouterse to receive weapons and militaries in order to train the Tëpu. In 1991, the Jungle Commando took revenge, and even though nobody was killed, most of the population fled to Brazil where many remain. In 1992, there was no indigenous population, and three people had died from starvation. The teachers refused to give up, and kept the school open.

Shaman Tëmeta Wetaru wanted to preserve the history of Tiriyó, and to give the population an incentive to learn Dutch. In 1981, he started to write and dictate Tamenta’s Testament. In 2001, a shaman apprentice school was founded in Tëpu to preserve indigenous medical knowledge.

Energy

Since April 2018, the village has been powered by solar power, through a project initiated by Amazon Conservation Team Suriname and funded by the Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (J-CCCP) and UNDP. For this project, two women from Tepu completed a six-month training program as solar engineer at Barefoot College in Tilonia, India.

Notes

References

"Dorpen en Dorpsbesturen".
"Trio Baseline Study 2007".
"Planning Office Suriname - Districts".
"Zorggebied".
"Van stenen naar digitale tijdperk".
"De memoires van Tamenta".
. (22 March 2018). ["Donoren bezoeken Tepu zonnenpanelenproject"](http://www.act-suriname.org/donoren-bezoeken-tepu-zonnenpanelenproject/).
. (22 March 2018). ["Solar accu's in Tepu"](http://www.act-suriname.org/solar-accus-in-tepu/).
. (28 March 2016). ["Solar women terug uit India"](http://www.act-suriname.org/solar-women-terug-uit-india/).
. (11 August 2015). ["Let There Be Light: ACT and Barefoot College partner to bring solar energy to indigenous villages in Suriname"](http://www.amazonteam.org/act-and-barefoot-college-partner-bring-solar-energy-indigenous-villages-suriname).
Menso, Fariel. (9 September 2015). "Vrouwen zullen zonne-energiesysteem Tepu beheren". [[de Ware Tijd]].

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

indigenous-villages-in-suriname populated-places-in-sipaliwini-district

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