First Peoples Chief: Education not from text books

President of the Santa Rosa First People's Community Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez.
President of the Santa Rosa First People's Community Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez.

Students from both primary and secondary schools across the country were told education is not only gained through what is written in text books, but also from the wisdom and knowledge from their elders about heritage and culture. The statement was made by First Peoples Chief Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez.

Speaking at a school rally hosted by the First Peoples entitled, “Strengthening National and Regional Indigenous Identity,” at the National Racquet Centre, Tacarigua, Bharath-Hernandez said knowledge and wisdom from elders will play a great part in making them well-rounded people.

He said while the curriculum and history books give much information on the culture of other ethnic groups, very little is known about the contribution of the First Peoples.

“As students, you need to know your history, as that knowledge will inform your present life and help you shape the future. Our ancestors therefore lived in Trinidad, more than 10,000 years ago. To them, Trinidad was Kairi, meaning simply the island, as distinct from the mainland to which they freely travelled.

“By the time Columbus is said to have come to these shores, it has been recorded there were more than 40,000 First Peoples living here. These belonged to the distinct groups, the Arauca, Garini, Nepuyo, Shebaio, Lokono, Chaguanese, Chaime and Yaio.”

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