A first for First Peoples

All the races that came to Trinidad and Tobago, whether as indentured labourers, slaves, or migrants have claimed this space as belonging to them. Yet, we ignore the fact that before all of that, this island was settled by various tribes and communities who were entitled to a moral claim on the land they called home.

According to historian Gerard Besson, when Columbus discovered Trinidad in 1498, he encountered several tribes, who spoke a variety of languages, some known today as Arawak and Cariban. Records show that at that time, 40,000 Amerindians inhabited Trinidad. On the south coast Shebaio and Aruac (Lokono) had settled. The Nepoio lived on the south east and east coast of Trinidad. The Yao settled along the south west coast, and the Carinepagoto occupied the north west of Trinidad. In central Trinidad, the Tamanaque must have had their villages. The Quaqua, the Salive, the Chaguane, the Pariagoto and the Chaima complete the number of eleven tribes of which the names survived.

Several other tribes must have lived in Trinidad, but their names are not preserved.

But though some names are forgotten, much has been left behind.

The legacy of the First Peoples includes middens, mounds containing shards of broken pottery, shells, bones and clay figurines, and of course many place names. Erin, Piarco, Mayaro, Cumana, Moruga, Ortoire, Oropouche, Guayaguayare, Ariapita, Couva: many of these names represent Amerindian names of plants, trees and animals.

Mucurapo means ‘place of the silk cotton tree’, Chaguaramas is the name for the palmiste palm, and Tunapuna means ‘on the river’. Many streets in Trinidad are built on Amerindian paths, such as the Eastern Main Road, the Mayaro-Rio Claro Road, and even the road to Maracas Arima remains one of the most organised Carib communities in the region, its name after an outstanding Chief, Hyarima.

The bestowing of a holiday is an acknowledgement that history is all around us. Our past dictates our present and our future. The Amerindians has a more communal society that focused on spirits in nature, as opposed to gods. They saw the world very differently and reportedly practices ritual cannibalism.

When Spanish conquistadors arrived in the 15th century, a combination of forces destroyed the culture of the First Peoples: ideology and disease. Catholic missionaries of the Cisterciensan and Capuchin orders, who set up missions along the east and south coasts of Trinidad, suppressed what was viewed as a backward people and a brutal European civilisation also brought many diseases that decimated the natives.

Instead of learning from one another and integrating and enriching lives, power was supreme.

The fallout is that an entire culture is now largely lost to us.

Today we would do well to remember the moral and cultural legacy of the indigenous tribes.

We should also acknowledge the tremendous wrong inflicted on an entire race of peoples without any consequences. If reparation is no longer possible, the least that can be done is an open acknowledgement of the history of so many.

The holiday should not be oneoff, but with so many holidays on our calendar already, it is not surprising that this is the outcome of the Cabinet’s deliberations. But whether one day or every year, we need to remember the people who stood on this land long before the rest of us. While this is a first, let it not be the last.