First People’s Celebration

Every year on the 14th of October, Trinidad and Tobago remembers the First People's Community. Although the Santa Rosa First Peoples Community is well-known, it is not Trinidad's sole First Peoples community. Other groups exist, such as the Warao nation. The Santa Rosa First Peoples chose to commemorate their ancestors as descendants of Trinidad's indigenous Nepoyo and possibly Carinepogoto communities through a series of spiritual rites as well as a week of public cultural activities and exhibits. We have the genuine deal: both the government and our indigenous people have acknowledged this group as their official representatives. This designates them as the community's official cultural ambassadors, which is critical if we are to guarantee that their culture is passed down to future generations and the general public.

Why is this important to Trinidad and Tobago as a nation? Prior to the arrival of conquerors, the First Peoples lived in Trinidad for thousands of years. Today's celebrations are more than just a continuation of a cultural rebirth that began in the 1990s. This is a unique chance for all of us to reconnect with a part of our history that has been pushed to the margins of knowledge by Eurocentric history books and school curricula. Their open exhibits (and invites) provide the rest of T&T the opportunity to see, participate in, and learn about new facets of their heritage.