On the use of ‘Amerindian’ instead of ‘Indigenous’

Aug 12, 2020 Letters

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Dear Editor,

In recent days, just after the swearing in of this new government, some members of local Amerindian organisations and some candidates and affiliates of opposition parties have expressed strong disagreement about the renaming the ‘Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs’ back to its original name ‘Ministry of Amerindian Affairs’.
I am very disturbed at some of the sentiments expressed in the news and on social media, and even an online petition has started in support of the word ‘Indigenous’. On one of my two attendances at the United Nations in 2016 and 2017, I sought advice from my professors there on this same issue in terms of its significance and how it applies to us here in Guyana.
I am fully in support of ‘Amerindian’ instead of ‘Indigenous’ and here is why: ‘Amerindian’ and ‘Indigenous” are both valid names that can be used, BUT… ‘AMERINDIAN’ is actually more relevant in the Guyanese context. According to the Oxford Dictionary ‘Amerindian’ as a noun means: ”A member of one of the indigenous peoples of the Americas”, and when used as an adjective the word ‘Amerindian’ means: ”Of or relating to the indigenous peoples of the Americas”. This same Oxford Dictionary says online that the word Amerindian has been in use since the late 1800s. Anyone is likewise free to do online research and they will discover that the word ‘Indigenous’ has only been in use by the United Nations since 1982. So it is a complete red-herring to state that the word ‘Amerindian’ originated with the European villain known as Columbus – only the Latin word ‘Indio’ is attributed to him – as that is the word he used to describe the first Amerindian he met in the Caribbean. It is blatant emotional manipulation, seeking to convince us without any factual proof, in order to get us to adopt a position that others are promoting based on a false argument. The fact remains that the word ‘Indigenous’ is also of European origin, as the word ‘indigenous’ derives from the late Latin word ‘Indigenus’ and Indigena’ (native). Another important actual fact that we should consider is that while every Amerindian IS an Indigenous person, not every Indigenous person is an Amerindian. This is because ‘Amerindian’ is specific to our race of indigenous peoples who inhabited the entire Western Hemisphere before any other race arrived in the Americas, but the word ‘Indigenous’ is a very broad and non-racially specific social definition.
If we look at our neighbour Suriname, we can see that they have two races of Indigenous peoples – so therefore, it would be more appropriate for them to adopt the official use of the word ‘Indigenous’ over there, as Suriname has various Amerindian tribes of their first indigenous peoples, but since the early 1700s when African slaves escaped from the brutal plantations and restored their African tribal culture and community structure in the jungles – they became known to the world as ‘Maroons’ or ‘Bush Negroes’. Because of this continued authentic and unbroken non-assimilated African tribal culture, they too are considered to be ‘Indigenous people’ today, but they are not ‘Amerindian’. Hopefully, this helps in understanding a little better the difference between who is an ‘Amerindian’ and who can be ‘Indigenous’.
In my opinion since we only have one race of ‘indigenous peoples’ in Guyana, it is completely legal and appropriate to continue to use the name ‘Amerindians’ – as we have been doing for over 200 years. While I do concede that the word ‘Indigenous’ is gaining more popularity in most countries of the Americas, and it is the terminology used at the United Nations and other International Instruments (which is logical, because they have to cater to the entire world, not just one country), it is by no means the only word used officially to describe Amerindian peoples even in this Hemisphere. Here are just a few examples that you may or may not know about: In the USA, the most widely used words are ‘American Indians’ and ‘Native Americans’, and in the state of Alaska – the words ‘Alaska Natives’ is used instead. In Canada, Amerindians are called ‘Aboriginal Peoples’ officially, and they have a Ministry of ‘Aboriginal Affairs’, but Canadian Amerindians themselves prefer to be called ‘First Nations’ and this term even includes the ‘Metis’ who are mainly Amerindian and European mixed persons. However, in the French part of Canada called Quebec, they still use the official word ‘Amerindian’, and in Suriname, French Guiana and the English speaking states that comprise CARICOM, of which Guyana is a founder member, the word ‘Amerindian’ is still widely used.
The term ‘Indigenous’ also leaves the door open for Afrocentrists like Eric Phillips to claim that Africans were Indigenous to the ‘Americas’ in a concocted effort to steal our rights and identity as the first Peoples. Being an Amerindian is more specific in defining us as one of the six races with a platform advocating for equal rights and opportunities. My fellow Amerindians, let us just simply face the facts of the matter – Guyana is not like Suriname; we only have one race of Indigenous Peoples, the Amerindians. Why all of a sudden are some people trying to make it seem as though, the government in restoring the Ministry’s name back to ‘The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs’, is some kind of denial or diminishing of our rights?
This is not a life and death issue for us like the COVID-19 pandemic is right now, so why launch into attack mode against the new government before it was even one day old, instead of trying to promote unity and pledging your support to actually saving Amerindian lives?
Yours truly,
Pierre Andrews
Former Toshao
St. Cuthbert’s/Pakuri Village

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