First Peoples getting ready for Heritage Week.

First Peoples getting ready for Heritage Week.
Trinidad Express Newspapers | Sep 22, 2013 at 10:28 PM ECT

President/Chief of the Santa Rosa First Peoples’ Community Ricardo Bharath says the community is gearing up for its annual Amerindian Heritage Week of Activities from October 11 to 19.

According to a news release from the Community, Heritage Week will feature special events, including a conference themed Exploring Heritage, Consolidating Traditions and Creating A Legacy.

The conference is being held in conjunction with the University of Trinidad and Tobago and the Ministry of National Diversity and Social Integration. It comes on the heels of the month-long celebrations for the Santa Rosa Festival de Arima. A highlight was the procession of the Santa Rosa statue through the borough on August 25.

Arima can lay claim to being home to the largest number of descendants from the Caribs, who were among Trinidad and Tobago’s first inhabitants.

The release said: “The Community has gone one step further than in the past. It has engaged technical and professional expertise to assist it in planning and implementing various aspects of the Heritage Week. It is also engaging the business community, civil society groups and academic institutions in and around Arima to partner with it in making the week of activities very successful.”

Both Bharath and Carib queen Jennifer Cassar have enlisted the help of Arima businessman Balliram Maharaj, who has been working to influence other commercial entities to help.

Citizens can visit the Community’s new office and secretariat at 7 Paul Mitchell Street, Arima; call 664-1897, 776-0210 (c); or e-mail@santarosafirstpeoples.org.