Address
by
Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez,
President of the Santa Rosa Carib Community, 2004, on the occasion of a
symposium held at the Arima Town Hall on "First Peoples of Our Nation."
The President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, His Excellency
Professor Maxwell Richards attended the symposium.
I view
this occasion as one which is significantly historic and symbolic. It is
historic because, this is the first outreach to the descendants of the
original people by a Head of State since our Independence, and in the
500 years of newcomers’ presence in our homeland.
This
symbolic affirmation and acknowledgement of our contemporary existence
is heartening and meaningful to us and we are truly grateful for this
opportunity. In this short presentation, I will attempt to give an
outline of our sense of identity as well as some highlights of our hopes
and aspirations as the Aboriginal peoples of Trinidad called Amerindians
or Caribs. His-story or history and science have given their accounts of
us. Today I wish to tell a little of our–story.
Our
history tells us that Arima started as a mission town by the Capuchin
Missionaries with the Amerindians from their established villages of
Tacarigua, Caura and Arouca. I will focus on three very important
aspects that are of great interest and concern to our present day
community.
A
displaced people
The first
aspect is the issue of our displacement as a people. Our ancestors were
literally scooped from their traditional lands and placed under the
jurisdiction of the Catholic Mission on lands reserved for their use,
but not under their control.
We the
members of the Santa Rosa Carib Community, and even those who are not
members but can identify their Amerindian ancestry, are the descendants
of those displaced from their original homes.
We have
persisted and survived as a voiceless and invisible people in the midst
of the arrivals from Europe, Africa and India. Our ties with the mission
placed us in the records of history, but there are many of our fellow
Amerindians who are not organised, but live in other parts of the
country, such as Lopinot, Moruga, Siparia, Tabaquite and other areas.
There are also many who are not conscious of their Amerindian roots and
assume other identities such as mixed, “cocoa-panyol” and “douglas”.
These
marginal conditions and circumstances are the consequence of centuries
of policies which reflected Eurocentric perspectives. Indigenous peoples
were viewed as part of the flora and fauna of the land and not as the
true owners of the land. We were seen as being too primitive to own
land, or to be incapable of governing ourselves.
On the
same issue of land rights for the First Peoples there is substantial
documented evidence to justify the settlement of land for the
descendants of the First Peoples, as compensation for their loss.
A people
to be recognised
The second
issue we face as a people is the fact that among us there are many
well-intentioned, informed and respected academics, politicians and
ordinary citizens who are still doubtful about our existence. Many
assumed that the “mixing of blood” and the process of assimilation all
but wiped out our distinctive identities and valid claims to Aboriginal
or Indigenous status in this land.
A few of
some of those who concede that we exist see us as leftover or unfinished
business of the process of civilization and assimilating of the
primitive people. We affirm that we are not a people of the past. We are
a people
with
a past.
Our
invisibility is understandable because we have been buried in the mounds
of his-story. With the dedication of some sensitive community elders and
academics such as Dr Peter Harris, Patricia Elie, Professor Nahum Kanhai
and others, our credibility and our story are being restored and a voice
is being given to our community in Arima.
The term
Carib has become a generic term and is still widely used to refer to
Amerindians of the region. We are in fact members of several First
Nations of the region including Nepuyo, Lokono, Garina, Waraus and
others.
Today
because of the marginal conditions under which many of our people live,
we are viewed or labelled as problems to be solved. We are not problems
to be solved. We are a people to be recognised. We are not ethnic
minorities. We are distinct societies with the status of the original
inhabitants of the land. We are pleased and gratified by the gesture of
naming October 14 as Amerindian Day of Recognition.
This is an
important step which must now be followed with specific initiatives to
reflect contemporary views of the status and place of Indigenous people
in the world and in their relations with nation states.
The third
issue is our relationship with the Church. A prominent theologian in
revising the role of the Church with Aboriginal peoples once said, “We
came to save them but I am afraid we have destroyed them in the
process.” He was referring to the negative effects of the assimilation
programmes and attempts at the cultural destruction of the people.
In Canada
and other countries Churches and Governments have been addressing these
damages and have apologised to the First Nations. The loss of language,
cultural identities and positive self-image are some of the damages done
to Aboriginal people.
Today we
are witnessing a new relationship and partnership between Church and
Aboriginal people. In North America and other areas Churches have become
allies of First Nations in pursuit of justice and the recovery of land
from which they were displaced. In our country and especially here in
Arima our ties with the Church have been a special one.
From the
establishment with the Mission, our ancestors saw the priest as a leader
and main figure in the community. Although the relationship in the past
had been strained at times, at present the situation has improved
tremendously. The present parish priest has a different approach.
His policy
of inclusion and consultation in planning activities is a very important
and positive ingredient towards a harmonious relationship and we are
confident that if this trend continues then it can only redound to a
community that feels respected and satisfied. This will alternately
contribute to a better society.
Pope John
Paul II recently made a public apology for the injustices of the past. I
believe that the apology was accepted by most indigenous communities
around the world.
However,
it is our hope that our local Church will do something tangible to
support the verbal apology of the Holy Father by giving moral support to
our call for land to re-establish an indigenous village for the
retention and preservation of our indigenous culture.
Signs of
hope around the world
The plight
of indigenous peoples is not unique to Trinidad. Major court decisions
in other countries on Aboriginal issues as well as political initiatives
have resulted in significant recognition of the collective rights and
status of aboriginal people.
In 1823
and 1832 the supreme court of the US recognised the distinctiveness of
Aboriginal people as “Domestic Nations”. In 1982 the Canadian Government
recognised and affirmed the collective rights or sovereignty of the
Aboriginal people in the Constitution Act of Canada.
In smaller
jurisdictions in our own regions we see initiatives in Dominica, Guyana,
Surinam and Venezuela. In 1975 the World Council of Indigenous Peoples
was founded in Canada to give voice to the Indigenous at the
international level.
In 1977 a
Hemispheric Conference on Discrimination against Indigenous People in
the Americas was held in Geneva. This initiative inspired the United
Nations to take action with the creation of a Working Group on
Indigenous Populations which monitors human rights of Indigenous
Peoples.
In 1994
the United Nations' General Assembly proclaimed 1994-2004 the Decade of
World’s Indigenous Peoples. Within this Decade the United Nations'
General Assembly established a Permanent Forum on Indigenous Populations
which reports directly to the Social and Economic Council.
The
International Labour Organization (ILO) one of the United Nations’
oldest specialised agencies adopted the Indigenous Tribal Populations
Convention in 1957. This was revised in 1989. This convention provides
for protection of standards of treatment of people and their collective
rights.
My point
is that we are not simply another culture group or member of the
multi-cultural mosaic. We have a distinct and unique status in the
world. There are about 300 million of us representing approximately 4%
of the world’s population. Based on all that I have said, you may ask
the question: Is there hope for the contemporary Community? And I say to
you yes there is hope.
Developed
countries lead in the struggles for First Peoples. I see my own country
Trinidad and Tobago striving for developed nation status with “Vision
2020”. I know that this cannot be achieved unless serious consideration
is given to the development and preservation of the rights and pursuits
of the descendants of the First Peoples of Trinidad.
Dominica
has land set aside for their First Peoples. Australia recognises the
rights of their Aboriginal Peoples, in most cases only on the basis of
oral tradition. What then is required to ensure the restoration and
preservation of the culture of the First Peoples of Trinidad?
Meaningful recognition
We believe
the answer is in
meaningful recognition.
In 1990 the Government of the day gave recognition to the Santa Rosa
Carib Community through an act of Cabinet recognising the Santa Rosa
Carib Community as representatives of the indigenous Amerindians of
Trinidad and Tobago.
With that
recognition came some financial assistance to assist the community with
the upkeep of the Santa Rosa Festival and other areas of concern. At
that time a cabinet appointed committee was established to look at the
overall development of the community.
Unfortunately that committee did not function. From that time to now we
have had some assistance from successive Governments in terms of helping
to retain and preserve aspects of the culture.
The
process of getting this assistance is tedious. That is not good enough.
The Carib Community is not just another cultural group in the society.
We are descendants of the First Nations of this land with very specific
needs, with certain rights as established through international law and
must be treated in a special way, as opposed to just a cultural group.
We are
calling for the re-establishment of the Cabinet Appointed Committee to
treat with the issues of our Indigenous Community. We believe that such
a committee will look at the overall development of the community and
make meaningful recommendations to Government as apposed to requesting
assistance for periodic projects.
In a
speech at the Santa Rosa Carib Community on August 28, 2002, on the
occasion of the launch of the First Nations Resource Centre, Senator the
Honourable Joan Yuillle Williams, Minister of Community Development
expressed the desire to make reparation for all that this Carib
Community has lost.
We now
call on the Honourable Minister and the Government to recognise and
honour the end of the Decade of Indigenous Peoples by doing something
meaningful to start the process through the establishment of the Cabinet
appointed Committee to address our concerns.
Acts of
courtesy and love
We
continue to have hope because as Indigenous People we believe in the
prophecies and vision of our ancestors and elders, and one such vision
and prophecy is that of our last great chief and hero Hyarima.
It is one
which gives me the spirit and determination to continue this struggle.
It is taken from the work of a former Mayor of Arima the late F.E.M.
Hosein of whom it is said although an East Indian by descent took he a
fatherly interest in the Amerindians in his charge. The writing is
entitled “Hyarima and the Saints”.
Hyarima’s
vision I quote:
“I see the remnants of my people scattered far, in numbers few, in
strength diminished, living on the grace and bounty of their conquerors,
remote, unfriended save by those whose duty is to show the glory of the
flaming cross to all mankind. I see the now oppressor of my race In turn
themselves subdued and driven forth
From blessed Cairi and from
all other lands which they did first behold and seize as prey. All for
the wrong which they have ever done by murder, pillage, violence and
greed. I see their places taken by race ’mongst whom the light
proceeding from the flaming cross shines forth in greater brilliance.
And two
such men I clearly see. The one shall gather what remains of all my
people under his protecting arms here in this place where I was the
chief, and through His love and pity and by favours shown shall gently
lead them on to reconcilement and assuage the pain of being conquered.
The other coming next shall rescue all my people from a dark oblivion.
And He by gracious acts of courtesy and love and sympathy for the
fallen. And a broken race shall then create an interest in my unhappy
people. Not felt before, a people who were always here, and met Columbus
when he landed on their hospitable and kindly shores. Hail potent,
glorious chiefs from foreign climes! The radiant rays of love which flow
unmeasured from the Flaming Cross shall guide you both; and you shall
live forever in the hearts of all my meek and humble people for all your
acts of kindness to them. Hail shining ones, all hail!”
I see
these chiefs not as two separate individuals but as all those in
authority with power to right the wrongs of the past. Your Excellency
distinguished ladies and gentlemen may the Great Spirit, the Creator God
continue to bless, protect and guide us all to fulfill his Mission.
I thank
you all.
