Pelelu Tepu is a small Amerindian village in the interior of Suriname

Suriname

Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...

. Also known as "Pe'reru Tepu", the village is typically referred to simply as "Tepu," which mean "high" in the Indian Tiriyó language

Tiriyó language

The Tiriyó language , is spoken by approximately 2,000 people living in several villages on both sides of the Brazil-Suriname border in Northern Amazonia. It is a relatively healthy language, learned by all children as their mother tongue and actively used in all areas of life by its speakers...

. The village is located on Tepu hill, on the Tapanahoni River. Though inhabited by Amerindian tribes indigenous to the area, the village was created by Christian missionaries and (primarily) Tiriyó

Tiriyó

The Tiriyó usually call themselves tarëno, etymologically 'people from here, local people'. They are approximately 2,000 and live in several major villages and a number of minor villages in the border zone between Brazil and Suriname...

 Indians, though it now also includes small numbers of Wayana

Wayana

The Wayana are a Carib-speaking people located in the south-eastern part of the Guiana highlands, a region divided between Brazil, Surinam, and French Guiana...

 and Akuriyo Indians. The village has a tribal organization, led by a Trio Captain.

External links

• UNITED NATIONS Working Paper, GROUP OF EXPERTS ON No. 35, GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES, Twenty-fifth session, Nairobi, 5–12 May 2009.