First Peoples’ holiday now official

The Office of the President, in a statement issued yesterday afternoon, said the holiday recognises the “fundamental contribution of the First Peoples to the distinctive culture of TT.” The holiday was first announced in October 2016 by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley during a Divali function hosted by the People’s National Movement in Macoya. “We must not ignore those who claim the status of First Peoples in this country,” Rowley said.

“As owners of this land before we came, they ask and say to us, very humbly - as we acknowledge those who came as Hindus, Muslims (and) Christians, as we acknowledge them every year with a holiday - to put aside one day, not every year, but just one day as the day of recognition of our First Peoples.” Speaking with Newsday in October last year, chief of the Santa Rosa First Peoples Community, Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez said the holiday “brings us closer to the recognition we have been seeking for so long.” He first made a request for the holiday in May 2014, with the call being repeated several times since. The most recent of which was in early October 2016, when Bharath-Hernandez spoke at First Peoples Heritage Week.