The Umana Yana is a national monument in Georgetown, Guyana, built in 1972 in just 80 days by about 60 Wai-Wai artisans. This circular building, carved from wood and palm fronds, hosted the first conference of non-aligned nations held in the Western Hemisphere. Destroyed by a fire in 2014, the Umana Yana was rebuilt and remains today an exhibition space in the heart of the Guyanese capital.
The Umana Yana, an 80-day project led by the Wai-Wai
In 1972, in Georgetown, Guyana, about sixty Wai-Wai artisans arrived from the interior of the country for an unusual project. The Wai-Wai people normally live in the far south of the Rupununi savanna, hundreds of kilometers from the capital, far from the narrow coastal strip where the majority of Guyana’s population is concentrated. These artisans climbed smooth poles with an agility that witnesses at the time considered remarkable.
The project was led by a Wai-Wai chief named Elka, with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Internal Development. In 80 days, this team built the Umana Yana, a circular building approximately 26.8 meters in diameter, which was inaugurated on August 8, 1972, in Georgetown.
Georgetown, 1972: A Monument to Non-Aligned Diplomacy
The Umana Yana was built in the Kingston neighborhood of Georgetown to host the conference of foreign ministers from non-aligned nations. Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, lies largely below sea level and is protected by a seawall dating back to the colonial era, in a city known for its wooden houses. The Umana Yana, built without solid walls or foundations, stands in stark contrast to this colonial urban landscape.
The conference it hosted was the first-ever meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement held in the Western Hemisphere—a movement that, at the height of the Cold War, brought together states that refused to choose sides between the Western bloc and the Soviet bloc. The choice of a traditional Amerindian building to host the world’s foreign ministers was by no means insignificant in 1972, six years after Guyana’s independence, proclaimed on May 26, 1966. The Umana Yana thus became a showcase for Guyanese indigenous craftsmanship at a time when the young nation was seeking to assert its identity on the international stage. More recently, Guyana has also distinguished itself internationally by becoming the first country in the world to achieve food self-sufficiency.
Architecture with Almost No Nails
The Umana Yana is constructed from poles, young round logs, vines, and the leaves of the troolie, a local palm tree. This construction technique is the one traditionally used by the Wai-Wai for their own dwellings in the Rupununi savanna, adapted here on the scale of a national monument. Nails were ultimately added to secure the roof against the wind, a choice that deviates from the traditional nail-free method used for the rest of the structure. The name Umana Yana is said to derive from a Wai-Wai word meaning “meeting place of the people,” a translation cited by several sources but not yet confirmed by any official institution.
A people renowned for their expertise
The Wai-Wai people are not only known for building the Umana Yana. They are also renowned for their weaving and beading, with cotton garments and beaded ornaments passed down from generation to generation in the Rupununi savanna. Guyana currently recognizes nine distinct Amerindian nations, located across the country’s ten administrative regions. The Wai-Wai are one of the most geographically isolated of these nations, and one of the few whose craftsmanship is honored with a national monument in Georgetown itself.
The 2014 Fire and the Rebirth of Umana Yana
On September 9, 2014, between 3:25 p.m. and 3:29 p.m., a fire destroyed the Umana Yana. The cause was likely an electrical fault. Although the building is considered a significant heritage site by Guyanese authorities, its reconstruction has been slow to begin, held up by budgetary and political decisions. Work finally began in late 2015 and was completed in 2016. Wai-wai artisans have expressed their willingness to participate in the reconstruction themselves, staying true to the techniques of their elders, so that Georgetown can regain its landmark.
Guyana's Indigenous Heritage in 2026
On September 1, 2026, Guyana kicked off its Amerindian Heritage Month, with the official theme marking its Diamond Jubilee—sixty years after independence on May 26, 1966. President Irfaan Ali inaugurated the 2026 event at the Sophia Exhibition Complex in Georgetown. Although the Umana Yana is not mentioned in this official announcement, this monument alone epitomizes what Amerindian Heritage Month celebrates: indigenous craftsmanship that has become a national symbol, situated right in the heart of the capital rather than relegated to the interior of the country.
A transmission yet to be written
Today, the Umana Yana serves as an exhibition and conference venue in Georgetown, right next to a major hotel in the capital. The building has weathered a fire, a reconstruction, and six decades of Guyanese history, without ever leaving its neighborhood in Kingston.
Amid the wooden houses of the old colonial town stands one of Georgetown’s few monuments that tells the story of inland Guyana rather than that of the coast. What remains uncertain is what will happen next. Are the Wai-Wai artisans who participated in the 2015–2016 reconstruction still passing on this building technique to younger generations in their community, in the Rupununi savanna? The question remains open, much like a monument that continues, without a word, to bear the memory of a people.
The Umana Yana is a national monument located in Georgetown, Guyana, built in 1972 by Wai-Wai artisans. This circular building now serves as an exhibition and conference venue.
The Umana Yana was built by about 60 Wai-Wai Indigenous artisans from the Rupununi savanna in southern Guyana. The project was led by a Wai-Wai chief named Elka.
The Umana Yana was built to host the first conference of foreign ministers from non-aligned countries held in the Western Hemisphere in 1972.
Yes, a fire destroyed the Umana Yana on September 9, 2014. The monument was rebuilt between late 2015 and 2016.
