On Monday, toshaos from around the country gathered at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal for the National Toshaos Council (NTC) Conference 2024, which ends tomorrow. The NTC, according to the Amerindian Act that gave it life, has a mandate to represent Guyana’s Indigenous peoples, and to plan and develop policies, programmes and projects aimed at sustainable development, general welfare improvement and the promotion of their human and land rights, preservation and promotion of their languages and culture, strategic planning, mitigation of climate change, protection, conservation and management of forest and natural resources, villages governance and other social and economic projects.
As reported by this newspaper on Tuesday, President Irfaan Ali, who delivered the feature address at the opening, used the forum to detail to the First Nation leaders that the PPP was their only hope. In a speech more suited to a political campaign rally, President Ali expounded on the ‘we versus them’ highlights that toshaos (and all the rest of us) have heard ad nauseam. One cannot help but wonder why a government that claims to be the best thing since sliced bread feels compelled to constantly remind people at every turn of what it has done or is doing. Surely its record should speak for itself. Furthermore, the President has to be capable of making a different type of speech and the occasion could have benefited from an uplifting oration that cemented the attendees’ right to self-determination.
Like all human beings, Indigenous people have the right to freedom of thought, opinion, and expression. Despite the enshrinement of these rights, historically, Indigenous people have been among the most excluded, marginalised and disadvantaged in society, but times have changed. At the international level, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People mandates that states consult with them through their representative institutions “to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.” Among other specific rights they are entitled to maintain or develop their own political, economic and social systems or institutions.
Interventions that attempt to control have a negative impact on people’s ability to determine the direction of their lives, including in decision-making on matters that affect their rights and interests. Making redress to Indigenous people for the decades of neglect, cannot involve any venture to mastermind, manipulate or monitor. The government claims that it is doing everything in the Amerindians’ interest, including consulting, but is that really the case? How does vilifying the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) rank with that outlook? Is it because they often disagree with the dictates of the government?
There are other questions that arise. Whose decision was it to locate the secretariat of the NTC in Georgetown? Did toshaos all vote aye on that? Why is it necessary to always have the NTC Conference in Georgetown? Did toshaos also vote in favour of this? Or was it presented to them as a fait accompli? What about if the hosting was rotated among the various regions? Rather than having to fly everyone to Georgetown and pay for their accommodation, the funds could be spent in a different region each year. Just imagine the infrastructural and economic development the host region/village would benefit from each year, both in the preparation for and during the conference. Surely that would be in the best interest of the Indigenous people?
All over the world it has been a tradition for centuries that the leaders of the villages of the First Nations people have gathered for their powwows, had their discussions and made their own decisions. In these modern times they should also be able to invite whomever they please to make opening remarks, including powerful Indigenous leaders or climate change experts from around the world. There is absolutely no reason why a politician should always fill this slot. Self-determination, not micromanagement is the way forward.
