This conical palm thatched structure erected for the Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference in August 1972 as a V.I.P. Lounge and recreation center, is now a permanent and much admired part of Georgetown's scenery. The structure is 55 feet high and was erected by a team of Wai Wai Amerindians, one of the nine indigenous tribes of Guyana. Fashioned like the Wai Wai benabs or shelters which are found deep in Guyana's interior, it occupies an area of 460 square meters. Umana Yana is an Amerindian word meaning "Meeting place of the people".