THERE was a time when mention of Amerindians meant, for most Guyanese, a group of people who were residing in the interior, commonly called ‘the bush’. It was not that this ethnic group  was not recognised as Guyanese, but that they were perceived as far removed from the mainstream of national life, since their numbers even as residents in the city, were negligible.
As employees in the public service, they were definitely absent – a negligible presence. Was this noticeable absence due to the fact of their small numbers, as well as their being domiciled within their traditional communities?
None of the above is the answer.
Instead, our Amerindians were the victims of a decided policy of gross neglect that perpetuated itself all through this nation’s colonial history, and continuing very surprisingly, into the post-independence period under the former PNC regime.
Then, there was some movement, but not the kind that could have been described as qualitative or significantly impacting.
So abysmal were social conditions, that there were very high numbers of school absenteeism coupled with school dropouts, compliments of the long distances that Amerindian children were made to travel for classes at the few schools existing at the time.
Of course, a functional crisis developed. There were other serious socio-development deficiencies, such as a high infant mortality rate, high rates of infectious diseases, scarce medical infrastructure and allied services, non-existent supply of potable water, and improper roads.
This would have been the sum total scenario throughout Amerindian communities about 20 years ago: criminal, in every respect.
But since those un-progressive times, there have been exemplary changes in the socio-economic well-being of the nation’s first peoples, due to the multi-billion-dollar Hinterland Development Programme, that has resulted in the gradual, on-going transformation of so many aspects of Amerindian daily lives that within a few years the landscape of many hinterland communities will be unrecognisable.
Today, the nation’s first people can be found in virtually every field of endeavour, exuding every bit of pride of finally being a part of the great Guyanese nation family. They enjoy rights that are entrenched in the nation’s constitution, a fact highlighted by Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai, during her address at the United Nations Eleventh Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
And if she did sound any bit triumphalist, one ought to understand, even applaud, as she has been overseeing Amerindian development for over six years, and is very enthusiastic about the advancement of her peoples.
The Government of Guyana must be commended for ensuring that there is a new Amerindian Act that underpins indigenous rights already inscribed in the Constitution. The Act, promulgated in 2006, has ensured that every facet of the nation’s Amerindians’ political, social and economic rights, in addition to being fulfilled, is also practically executed via the many structures of governance established.
One hopes that the perennial critics recall the active participation of every Amerindian community in the formulating of this very important document, contradicting their well known mantra of diktat to the Amerindian.
Let it be repeated as a source of reminder, that the history of indigenous peoples everywhere has been one of shameful brutality, dispossession, and denial of their basic rights. Efforts to redress this abysmal degradation of human rights have been more a response of tokenism, rather than any genuine intervention to correct the many atrocities committed against these peaceful people.
In this very hemisphere, for example, there are states in which this category are plainly forced off their ancestral lands and systematically murdered in the process. But thanks to the PPP/C government that has determined from the onset to right the historical wrongs suffered, no such instance has occurred in Guyana.
The Amerindian Act, with all its safeguards designed for protecting and promoting the rights of Guyana’s first people, is aiding in the role of integrating the Amerindians within the national mainstream, while positioning them to play their part in theirs and the country’s growth and development.
Guyana, as a sovereign nation, can truly be proud of being a trailblazer that has enacted legislation for the welfare of its indigenous peoples.