As part of the First Peoples Heritage Week, the chief of the Santa Rosa First Peoples, Ricardo Bharath Hernandez, hosted a remembrance event at the Red House on October 16.
The event was centered around the monument outside the Red House where 60 of the country's First Peoples were reburied in 2019 after their remains were removed during the 2013 Red House restoration.
Traditional songs and drumming echoed throughout the ceremony and participants were invited by the chief to lay a flower around the monument as an offering to their ancestors.
During his speech, Hernandez spoke on the efforts of the First Peoples community in attaining proper recognition of its culture and heritage and reparations for the community.
"As we continue our celebration of the First Peoples Heritage Week of activities, we pause to remember October 19, 2019, a truly historic day in the life of our country, an occasion when the government agreed to allow the First Peoples to rebury the indigenous, human remains with the appropriate ceremonies, embracing the indigenous tradition.
"Since then every year we continue to remember our ancestors...In 2013, in a letter to the then chairman of the Red House, historical cultural heritage team, the Santa Rosa First Peoples Community outlined certain requirements for the treatment of the archaeological finds of human remains and pottery at this Red House site.
[caption id="attachment_1114858" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Chief of the Santa Rosa First Peoples Ricardo Bharath Hernandez, right, and members of the community honour ancestors in a ceremony at the Red House on October 16. - Photo by Jeff K. Mayers[/caption]
"The extent of the findings were detailed in the report prepared by archaeologist Dr Basil Reid which clarifies and clearly identifies the significant number of remains to be that of our indigenous people's community.
"As a consequence, the Santa Rosa First Peoples Community continued to advocate that these remains should be afforded the respect of an appropriate burial according to our rituals, customs and traditions.
"The result of this advocacy was an agreement by the government to the reburial of the remains and an appropriate monument to be designed and erected on the sides of the Red House, the site where we are today.
"And we are here today to pay respect to our ancestors, according to our various indigenous traditions. We also pay respect to the government for taking another step towards the meaningful recognition, which we see. The government adhered to an important provision of the UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples.
"It is a tribute in recognition of the contribution and sacrifices of our First Peoples to build a foundation of our homeland Caeri and fought to defend it against the colonisers. In this area of reparations, all these acts are part of reparations."
Also speaking at the event was the Minister of Planning and Development Pennelope Beckles.
"I want to acknowledge the work of the chief and the Santa Rosa First Peoples in
