Brian MacFarlane

This is in reply to the letter headed “Indian culture left out of opening ceremony” Tuesday: That is so untrue. Brian MacFarlane did justice to every culture in this country and if the writer of that letter wants to think different, that is their opinion. First of all, people fail to realise that this country originally belonged to the indigenous people and I am talking about the Amerindians—the Caribs and Arawaks. We must not forget that!

A people who came to this land are talking about being left out. How unfair to the people whose culture has been ignored, who this land belongs to. They have been left out for far to long, their culture was pushed to the background. The Amerindian culture is not parang alone; there is more to their culture. For years they have been fighting to be remembered but how many have heard their cries? You don’t hear them making statements about being left out. My great grandparents are Amerindians, not mixed but pure.

I was proud to see the opening prayer and blessing of the Summit done by the indigenous people of this land. If anyone has to talk about being left out, forgotten and pushed aside it is the indigenous people of this land. So before anyone starts whining about their culture, think about all the others, including the Chinese and Syrians, who have contributed to our culture as well. Before people start making selfish, self-centred statements, think about what you are saying.

If people were paying attention to the whole story of MacFarlane’s presentation, they would have recognised that it was telling the history of Trinidad from the indigenous people to the present day. And they would have seen the indentured workers and the Indian dancers. They even spent a longer time on stage than the parang group. Did you see a portray of the Chinese culture? Like Obama said, we don’t want to “live in the past.” We all know what happened in the past. MacFarlane’s presentation told us where we came from and where we are today. He took us through the different periods of our history.

Imagine what some people make an issue of! What they failed to see was the mixture of people in the presentation, people of all races, creeds and class working together for a purpose—to tell the world this is who we are and what we are made off. Thank you, Brian MacFarlane, for showing the world our history in such a glorious and artful way. You brought tears to my eyes. Hats off to you! PS: Don’t boycott Carnival for trivial things. Boycott Carnival because of crime. If you want to make a statement, make it for the betterment of all people living on this land.