First Peoples celebrate heritage week

The Santa Rosa First Peoples Community will celebrate the 24th year of First Peoples Heritage Week from October 12-19.

This year's theme is Advancing the Cultural Continuity of the Indigenous First Peoples, a media release said.

"Santa Rosa First Peoples Community continues to promote and support the recovery and preservation of its heritage, including the cultural goods and services and traditional expressions of First Nation Peoples," the release said.

The week of events will provide an opportunity to appreciate and recognise the contributions made by ancestral people, as many aspects of First Peoples are not known or understood, the release said. The activities are geared to young and mature audiences.

The organisers say their aim is to preserve, share, showcase and immortalise the culture of the First Peoples in Trinidad and Tobago, across the Caribbean, and North and South America.

"The cultural heritage of the First Peoples is based on a spiritual world view that all animate and inanimate things on this and all other worlds have a common root and origin. Life is a continuous interplay of matter and spirit and everything has a spiritual dimension, which is the fundamental aspect of the existence of all creatures," the release said.

Also expected to take part in the celebrations are First Peoples' delegates from Guyana, Suriname, Belize, Venezuela, Dominica, and St Vincent and the Grenadines, who have been invited to participate.

One of the major events will be the observance of the Day of Recognition of Indigenous Heritage which will begin with the traditional Smoke Ceremony at the Hyarima statue in Arima.

Explaining the significance of Hyarima, the release said, "Our history speaks of Hyarima, the War Chief of the Nepuyo Nation who, with the help of the Dutch settlers in Tobago, completely burnt the Spanish capital of St Joseph to the ground, on October 14, 1637, thus chasing the Spaniards out of Trinidad for a short time. "

Representatives of various First Peoples of TT, who trace their ancestry to pre-Columbian times, are expected to attend.

On October 14, there will be a lecture on the theme, Advancing the Cultural Continuity of the Indigenous First Peoples, by Dr Claudius Fergus at the Arima Community Centre on Anglican Street.

Other activities include a film screening by the US Embassy Public Affairs Division, a water ritual, a pan fiesta, and a tribute to the ancestors at the Red House, Port of Spain.

The Santa Rosa community will also take part in celebrations of other Indigenous/First Peoples in San Fernando.

The release said the activities will also serve as a reminder that according to the guiding principles of the First Peoples, "The planet Earth or Mother Earth is given to human beings to live and occupy as caretakers with an eternal duty to protect and nurture its sacredness. Human beings are allowed to live and produce on Mother Earth only through sustainable means. The indigenous world view prohibits human beings from engaging in anything which destroys Mother Earth.”

List of events:

October 12

6 pm – Evening of Astronomy, Calvary Hill Community Centre

October 13

6.30 am – Water ritual, Arima River, Blanchisseuse Road

October 14

6.30 am – Hyarima Day of Recognition, Hyarima Monument, Arima Velodrome

5 pm – Lecture by Dr Claudius Fergus, Arima Community Centre, Anglican Street

October 15

1.30 pm ­– Film screening of Native Ball, mayor's temporary office, Arima

October 16

8.30 am – Remembering the Ancestors, Red House, Port of Spain

October 18

Cultural and social mixer, Heritage Village Site, Blanchisseuse Road, Arima