Culture and the future

Sep 11, 2016 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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(An address by His Excellency Brigadier David Granger, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, at the launching of Indigenous Heritage Month on September 1st, 2016)
Indigenous Heritage Month is a celebration of the breadth, depth and wealth of Guyana’s indigenous cultures. It is a time to savour our diversity. It is a time to take concerted action to preserve, protect and promote the rich customs and traditions of the Indigenous peoples – the Akawaio, Arawak, Arecuna, Carib, Makushi, Patamona, Wai-Wai, Wapishana and Warrau.
The Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana mandates (at Article 149G):
Indigenous peoples shall have the right to the protection, preservation and promulgation of their languages, cultural heritage and way of life.
Indigenous communities are the repositories of the cultural heritage of our first peoples. The protection preservation and propagation of values and traditions and way of life of Guyana’s indigenous peoples therefore must take place within the indigenous villages and communities.
The cultural heritage of our indigenous communities, unfortunately, is under threat. Slow pace of growth threatens communities’ cultural heritage. Limited economic opportunities over the past two decades caused social distress. Communities have lost some of their human capital by the migration of persons to neighbouring countries in search of employment.
Social problems have increased. Educational standards in hinterland communities lag behind those of the coastland. Vector diseases take a toll on human health. Environmental degradation caused by mining and logging affects the hinterland more than anywhere else. Rivers have been polluted. The infrastructure – aerodromes, bridges, roads and stellings – is inadequate.
Alcoholism, abuse of girls, trafficking in persons have affected the quality of life in many places in the hinterland.
Indigenous peoples are custodians of the patrimony of our hinterland. They protect our natural assets through their intimate relationship with nature and through sustainable agriculture, fishing, forestry, hunting and mining. The customs of our indigenous peoples, passed down through the decades, can be preserved and protected only if we have cohesive communities, free from the threat of social decay or economic decline.
The indigenous cultural landscape is complex. Indigenous culture is not monolithic. The indigenous community of Guyana consists of nine nations speaking nine different languages.
Indigenous peoples constitute 10.5 per cent of our population and own and control 14 per cent or about 30,000 square kilometres of Guyana’s territory.
Indigenous communities are often remote and distant from the main development centres of the country. They consist mainly of small settlements, many of which are scattered, isolated and accessible only by air transport, on foot or by river. The management of scores of such varied communities is compounded by the complexity of development issues.
Indigenous communities’ governance structures are ill-equipped to respond adequately to the widespread and varied threats posed to numerous small communities. The threats, if left unchecked, could hasten disintegration and hinder the ability of indigenous communities to propagate their values, traditions and way of life.
The three principal indigenous governing structures concerned with indigenous affairs are the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, the National Toshaos’ Council and the Village councils.
The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs is tasked with the administration of the Indigenous Peoples’ Act, formerly the Amerindian Peoples’ Act. The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, in concert with other Ministries, is responsible for hinterland development, including hinterland electrification and water resource management.
Education, health, physical infrastructure and security responses have to be coordinated with the respective line ministries responsible for those sectors. This produces a more fractured and time-consuming governance process than the more densely settled coastland. Difficulties of transportation and communication lead to unwanted delays.
The National Toshaos’ Council was established under Section 38 the Indigenous Peoples’ Act, formerly the Amerindian Peoples Act of 2006. The functions of the National Toshaos’ Council (NTC), as prescribed by Article 41 of the Act, include the promotion of good governance in indigenous villages; preparing strategies for poverty reduction and improved access to health care and the provision of sustainable management of village lands and natural resources.
The NTC meets once a year but, possibly, some of its decisions could remain unimplemented if there is no executive agency to implement them. The NTC is now in the process of establishing a permanent secretariat. A single annual conference, however, might not have the capacity to effectively execute the day-to-day management needed to address the myriad problems facing indigenous communities.
The village council is the third governance mechanism. Its functions, as outlined in Section 13 of the Indigenous Peoples’ Act, include providing for the planning and development of the village, managing the occupation and use of village lands, promoting the sustainable use, protection and conservation of village lands and the resources in those lands and levying of taxes on residents.
Village Councils might not possess the organizational structures, the managerial expertise and the financial resources to effectively discharge their functions. Their budgets are small and they have become dependent on Central Government grants and other forms of assistance.
The three principal governance structures – the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs; the National Toshaos Council and the Village Councils – cannot effectively address the myriad and intense problems sweeping indigenous communities.
No administrative apparatus or organizational architecture exists to assist the three principal governance structures concerned with indigenous affairs. This is quite unlike the coastland where a village could look for support from the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC). The NDC, in turn, can lean on the Regional Democratic Council (RDC). The RDC, in turn, can seek support from the Ministry of Communities or the Central Government
An administrative agency is necessary to support the implementation of policies made by the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, decisions made by the National Toshaos Council and the plans of the village councils. An administrative agency, with a national reach, that fills the gap between the village and the Ministry is needed.
Implementation is the muscle of progress. Intentions remain mere words without implementation. Governance structures to address indigenous peoples concerns need to be complemented with greater implementation capability.
It is for this reason that I proposed the establishment of a National Indigenous Peoples’ Authority – NIPA – which will possess the financial resources, the managerial acumen and organizational structures to support the implementation of decisions made at the levels of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs or the National Toshaos’ Council.
The three principal governance structures for indigenous affairs are all vested with the protection, preservation and propagation of the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples. The inability, however, of indigenous communities to address their social and economic concerns will detract from their efforts to protect, preserve and propagate their cultural traditions and values.
A strong implementation mechanism supporting the work of the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs and the National Toshaos Council will, on the other hand, yield a cultural dividend. It will provide an environment that is conducive to protecting, preserving and promulgating the cultural heritage of Guyana’s indigenous peoples.
The proposed NIPA is intended to strengthen the MIPA, the NTC and the village councils. It is intended to support implementation. The proposed NIPA is intended to be a five-person agency to ensure the implementation of decisions made by government and to make the work of both the MIPA and the NTC more effective.
The month of September, each year is designated as Indigenous Heritage Month. It is a month devoted to highlighting and celebrating the cultural values, traditions and way of life of Guyana’s indigenous peoples.
Indigenous peoples’ cultural heritage is under threat because the repositories of this heritage – the villages and communities – need assistance.

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