Trinidad's Caribs and Canadian First Nations

Maximilian C. Forte, 1999, 2001, 2006

The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, and the Caribs of Trinidad:

The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, as surprising as it may seem to some, has actually been a significant actor among Caribbean Amerindian communities, especially in the years prior and leading to the 1992 Columbian Quincentenary. In the late 1980s, according to Joseph Palacio (the first Chair of the Caribbean Organization of Indigenous People), the FSIN played a leading part in organizing Caribbean Amerindian communities for a regional gathering held in 1987. Two members of the FSIN's executive had been traveling through the Caribbean in an attempt to establish ties with surviving Amerindian communities. At that early stage, Trinidad's Caribs were still not involved, and joined COIP after it had already been formed.

In 1992, the Youth Representative of the Carib Community, Suzan Campo, received information of a scholarship being offered by the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, attached to the FSIN. She was granted a scholarship and this was featured in the Trinidadian press--indeed, this is the very point in which I personally became consciously aware of the existence of a Carib Community in Trinidad, where I had been studying and residing for two years up to that time. Suzan Campo was in the company, as far as she recalls, of at least six other Caribbean Amerindian students. Most of the class consisted of Canadian First Nations students, with the next largest group being Amerindian students from the rest of the Americas. The campus of the SIFC is located on the campus of the University of Regina, and has since become First Nations University. As far as Suzan is aware, this scholarship was a rare opportunity for foreign Amerindian students insofar as the SIFC faced financial constraints. It seems that the increased funding was made available due to the fact that 1992 was the Quincentenary year, followed by 1993 which was declared the United Nations' International Year for the World's Indigenous People. The program of Amerindian studies, a one-year diploma course, focused on the "Administration and Management of Amerindian Communities," with courses in computer science, marketing, and history, among other subjects. Suzan feels that she has benefited from these studies. She recalls that courses in marketing dealt not only with the cases of aboriginal communities but also with how large transnational corporations such as Coca-Cola organize their marketing efforts. Suzan Campo owned and operated her own small business in the Trinidadian capital of Port of Spain. She would like to establish a business involving members of the Carib Community, but land and start-up funds are non-existent. Suzan stresses that is only when the Carib Community can establish its own business ventures that it will be able to attract youths, a persistent problem for the Carib Community.

Suzan Campo was also able to forge friendships with her Caribbean colleagues. In fact, she recalls how they banded together and formed their own study group so as to ensure they succeeded as a group.

Suzan Campo's receipt of the diploma from the SIFC was also featured in the Trinidadian press. Following that, working ties and contacts between Trinidad's Caribs and the FSIN seem to have gone completely dormant.

The Assembly of First Nations of Canada and the Carib Community of Arima, Trinidad:

In November of 1991, Carib President Ricardo Bharath and the Youth Representative, Suzan Campo, traveled to Ottawa, Canada, for a hemispheric conference of Indigenous representatives hosted by the Assembly of First Nations. This was the primary connection between the Carib Community and the AFN. In terms of tangible results, the impact of this connection was limited. However, it seems to have served as one of those key moments of inspiration and encouragement that keep individuals such as Bharath going, and, indeed, he stresses in interviews that this occasion in particular helped to motivate him further in his efforts to revive and promote Trinidad's Carib heritage. In some respects, Bharath also found that he could place his own Carib Community within a wider perspective, noting that "many Indigenous Peoples around the Americas face many of the same problems that we do: the loss of language and religion, the passing of traditions, the lack of interest of youths, and the lack of lands".

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs:

The relationship between the Santa Rosa Carib Community and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs is different from the connections established with the above groups, and seems to have emerged from a variety of motivations beyond fraternal links between Canadian and Trinidadian First Nations. The relationship dates only to November of 1999, when the High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago in Ottawa, Canada, Mr. Robert Sabga, organized an investment mission comprising a delegation of Chiefs from Manitoba. Moreover, Grand Chief Rod Bushie indicated that Trinidad was chosen as a destination given the historic links between Canada and Trinidad, his own exposure to Trinidadian teachers in Catholic-run residential schools, and not specifically because of the presence of the Carib Community in Trinidad. Indeed, the primary aims of the Manitoba Chiefs' visit to Trinidad during 19-26 November, 1999, seem to have been political and economic, i.e.: establishing ties with "Third World" states, and seeking investment opportunities. The Trinidadian press reported that the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs was interested in investing in steel mills, petrochemicals, the oil industry, soft drinks, hotels, and casinos. The ties established with the Santa Rosa Carib Community seem to have been relatively incidental. However, there was a major reception for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs delegation in Arima, at the Cleaver Woods Amerindian museum, the town hall, and at the Carib Centre, held on 24 November, 1999, attended by a large press contingent and political leaders. Grand Chief Rod Bushie also claimed that the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs wished to establish a World Indigenous headquarters in Trinidad, but did not indicate when this would be constructed, who would fund the construction, and which groups supported the establishment of such an institution. However, once again, the meetings between the Manitoba chiefs and the Arima Caribs served to provide some excitement within the community and a further impetus for organization and promotion of Carib traditions in Trinidad, heightening local attention to and respect for the Carib Community, and encouraging if not galvanizing members of the Carib Community in their revival efforts.
 

THE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA CHIEFS IN TRINIDAD
TOP LEFT: Carib President Ricardo Bharath ushers Grand Chief Rod Bushie toward the reception at awaiting him at the Arima Carib Centre. TOP CENTRE: President Bharath receiving the delegation of Manitoba Chiefs at their first stop in Arima, the Cleaver Woods Amerindian museum. TOP RIGHT: Members of the Carib Community perform a "Smoke Ceremony" in conjunction with Grand Chief Rod Bushie as a means of welcoming him to their Community Centre and as a symbolic means of inculcating a fraternal spirit between the two groups. BOTTOM LEFT: From left to right, the Mayor of Arima, Elvin Edwards, the leader of the Peoples National Movement, Patrick Manning, and the Trinidadian High Commissioner to Canada, Robert Sabga. BOTTOM RIGHT: Members of the Manitoba delegation arrive at the Arima Town Hall for an official reception by the Arima Borough Council. (Photos © 1999, Maximilian C. Forte)