Dear Editor,
I extend warm greetings and heartiest congratulations to all my Indigenous brothers and sisters across Guyana. As we all join in celebration for yet another month of planned activities of our rich cultural heritage. I wish also to express heartfelt appreciation to the past administration for dedicating this month of September in recongnition of the Indigenous peoples of this country. Also sincere gratitude to the present administration for their commitment and contineous support towards the betterment of this occasion.
At this juncture we must not forget to pay homage to the late Cheddi Jagan, Stephen Campbell and others who were instrumental in laying the foundation for us the Indigenous peoples to construct a base for educating, promoting and preserving our rich cultural heritage.
Special mention must also be made of LFS Burnham who officially named our first international airport with an indigenous name, Timerhi; initiating the construction for the historic Wai Wai Benab, (Umana Yana) in Kingston Georgetown, and still under his watch provided scholarships for the first batch of Indigenous students to attend the prestigious Queen’s College in Georgetown ‒ all of which are a testimony to his genuine concern for educating the Indigenous people of Guyana.
Editor, my letter is in no way an attempt to castigate or romantize those of the past or present administration, or to downplay any form of success we may have witnessed from both sides of the coin, during the staging of our Indigenous heritage programme of activities; its purpose is to let it be known that the core organizers of these events must come to grips with the reality of the rich legacy which our foreparents left when they graced this beautiful land of many waters.
For years they have been putting on stage our young people to overplay certain roles which could have led to more stereotyping of our Indigenous people as a whole. While it is good that we the Indigenous people have kept possession of most of the skills we inherited from our foreparents and are allowed to showcase them when the opportunties arise, the brighter side of our history is dyed in wool.
But despite that, I wish to advise that our Indigenous foreparents were not only players of music and dancing to the Mari-mari and indulging in the excessive drinking of strong Piwari or Pakarai beverages.They were involved in multiple roles which contributed significantely to the foundation of this country in its initial stage.
Therefore, we the original peoples of this country deserve a more relevant programme so as to celebrate in respect and dignity in this blessed homeland,where we all now live and enjoy all its resources as a Guyanese people.
I now implore my Indigenous brothers and sisters to revolutionize our thoughts and reflect on the positive things which our forefathers did for our country, so there can be a spiritual rebirth which can cause great things to happen for our young Indigenous generation. Hence, we must make a start somewhere to defend the incontrovertible record of our rich history and avoid falling into the pit of despair that neither we nor the great leaders of our country will ever be able to help us to climb out of again.
Yours faithfully,
Mark Anthony Rodrigues
Voice of the Rupununi