Tuesday February 9th, 2010
- Last update:11 hours 19 min ago
Amerindians call for public holiday
Published: 20 Oct 2009
Indigenous people have called on the Government to give them a one-time public holiday as they celebrated Amerindian Day last Wednesday. After dawn, the indigenous community held a ritual ceremony at the monument area of the Arima Savannah, where they paid tribute to their ancestors who were killed by the Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century. Following the ceremony, chief/ president of the Santa Rosa Carib Community Ricardo Barat Fernandez led his people in a street procession through Arima. Spectators stopped to enquire about the celebration and many expressed interest in knowing about the history of the indigenous people.
Chief responds
In an interview, Fernandez said a public holiday should be given by the Government to honour the contribution of the Amerindians. “People are not aware of our history and that is why we need a public holiday. We can even have a one-off public holiday. People are working and busy and it’s difficult to reach them so that they could support this. The indigenous heritage needs a public holiday or a one off, so the country can stop and recognise our indigenous past,” Fernandez said. He said if a public holiday was given, the Carib community could organise a heritage day.
The Carib chief also said T&T could learn a lot from the legacy of the Amerindian people, as they practised conservation and respect for life. “We know that they practised conservation in the way they treated the forests. They did not destroy the forests. They hunted enough to feed themselves. They also had knowledge on the medicinal value of plants, as well as a strong, vibrant agricultural tradition,” Fernandez said. He explained that people could also learn from the belief systems of the Amerindians, as they honoured their ancestors and showed respect for family life.
Preservation of history
Fernandez said some indigenous instruments were still being used within the Carib community today. “Some people have lost interest in some of the traditional utensils but we still use the couleve, a long woven basket to strain the bitter cassava,” Fernandez said. Fernandez said the indigenous history was rich and needed to be preserved.
Why not pick any one of the
Why not pick any one of the many Saturdays in the year and have your Amerindian Heritage Day celebration without government involvement? Why must folks give up one more day of work? T&T already has so many public holidays.
Each ethnic/religous group
Each ethnic/religous group has a holiday in regognition of their contribution to our beloved T&T. Respect is due and should be given to the amerindians. It has nothing to do with the amount of holidays in our country, it is about recognition and respect. Ethbic groups such as the amerindians makes Trinidad and Tobago a cosmopolitan nation with such a broad heritage.
The Amerindian Day should
The Amerindian Day should take precedence over the East Indian and emancipation day, TT belongs to the Carib people, once again they Amerindian are pushed out into the back ground, Caribbean, North America, Canada, Brazil etc. are prime examples.
The African decedents get all the attention and do all the complaining about their slavery, every North American nations gives way to their complaining so as not to be categorized as racist, what about the Amerindians, they are a silent society all through the Americas you never hear of them and their rich culture, all silenced.
There is so much to learn from the Amerindians as this article points out, TT would be a paradise if the Amerindians had their country back as it once was before the onslaught of the Spaniards in the name of God, destroying the Amerindians race brining foreign races and culture as seen today through the Caribbean.
I fully agree, it's about
I fully agree, it's about time.
Is this gentleman's name
Is this gentleman's name "Fernandez" or Hernandez . Pleaase make the neccessary corrections.
However, I fully support Mr Hernandez's call for a public holiday for the purpose as he mentioned. Lets be fair folks our indegenious people have come along way. Please give your support .
It is about time . I fully
It is about time . I fully agree to. We should also have a ceremony at Toco for the souls of our First Trinidadians who jumped off the cliff. They jumped because they did not want to submit to European slavery and exploitation.