INDIGENOUS Peoples throughout Guyana will this month join hands in celebration of Indigenous Heritage Month 2017, an occasion to reflect on the gains made and to chart a brighter future going forward.

The struggle by indigenous peoples for recognition has been a long and arduous journey, even though they are the country’s first peoples, but with great determination in their pursuits, they have managed to come a long way while still holding on to their traditional ways of life.

Today, Indigenous peoples occupy a more prominent place in society compared to about 30 years ago. Ever since Stephen Campbell became the first indigenous Member of Parliament, several others have followed in his footsteps and from both sides of the political divide.

Notable among them are: Fourth Vice-President and Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Sydney Allicock; junior Indigenous People’s Affairs Minister, Valerie Garrido-Lowe; Social Cohesion Minister, Dr George Norton and soon-to-be-appointed Minister of Public Affairs, Dawn Hastings-Williams of the current administration. For the former administration, we had the late junior Education Minister, Dr Desire Fox; former Foreign Affairs Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett; former Amerindian Affairs Minister, Pauline Campbell-Sukhai; and Yvonne Pearson Fredericks, of the former government; and politicians aside, today, there are indigenous nurses, doctors, community health workers, teachers, law enforcement officers, journalists, athletes, administrators, attorneys-at-law, religious leaders, and businessmen and women to name a few.

They occupy practically every sphere of national life and by virtue of this, they make valuable contributions to the growth and development of Guyana. Respective governments have over the years recognised the value of this segment of the population and have been working to improve their lives and livelihoods. This has seen this group of people benefitting from a number of state-funded programmes, including the Hinterland Employment and Youth Service (HEYS) geared at equipping indigenous youths with employable skills, the Community Development Project (CDP) and the Amerindian Land Titling Project.

Significant efforts have also been made to preserve the indigenous languages and cultures and to create an environment where indigenous youths can have access to quality education. These initiatives are fashioned at not only enhancing the lives and preserving the cultures of the indigenous population, but to ensure that they enjoy a secure future.

A lot has been done for the first peoples, but there is still a lot more to be done. Generally in Guyana, not much or due attention is paid to the arts and culture and this by extension, will include indigenous arts and culture. In the case of the latter, it is too obvious to go unnoticed. Only during Heritage Month radio stations, including the national radio station, play indigenous songs and host programmes featuring the indigenous cultures.

This is something which should not happen. These programmes should be regular features on the various radio stations, since it will go a far way in helping to build understanding and appreciation of the indigenous ways of life, especially to coastlanders who have never visited the vast and beautiful interior regions of Guyana.

A more vibrant effort should also be made to promote and market indigenous craft in a bid to create viable and sustainable cottage industries in indigenous communities and to make some indigenous communities major tourist attractions.
Unlike other countries, Guyana is blessed with natural sceneries and it is time it invests in making much out of what it has. The Capoey, Mashabo and Tapacuma lakes, situated in an area known as the tri-lake area on the Essequibo Coast, can be developed into a major tourism destination, but it would require proper marketing and adequate infrastructural investments.

These would include building better roads, guesthouses and other tourism-related facilities. The tri-lake area is an ideal environment for swimming, boating, kayaking, hiking and fishing, to just name a few leisurely pursuits which European tourists travel the world to enjoy. These can be done without disrupting the indigenous ways of life by placing emphasis on learning about the indigenous cultures and the ways of its peoples in preserving the environment.