January 1st, 1999

Dear Damon,

Greetings to you and your family; I hope that you are all in the
best of health. I have received your letter and I was so moved
with the Pan-Tribal Confederacy you have revived.

I know that this would be a further realisation of what the
future intentions of all Amerindians are, I only wish that the
Confederacy could have started to function at the beginning of
the United Nations designated decade of the indigenous peoples
of the world. I agree with the type of initiatives you are
taking, and certainly the governmental system of the Confederacy
would work to foster the livelihoods of Amerindians in Guyana -
more than the neo-colonial system that we are still not
benifiting from - except for those who control and dispense the
funding obtained from the various funding agencies. Very little
is ever seen from the millions of dollars that donors have
granted to those corrupt so-called representatives of the 'cause
of the Amerindians in Guyana'.

I conclude by saying that funding from the Grand Council,
whenever received, will be used to the best interest of the
community as decided by our village council.

Best regards, your brother in the struggle;

Chief William Andries
Toka Village
Makushi Territory
North Rupununi