A one-off holiday in recognition of T&T's Amerindian culture, agricultural lands for the First Peoples and support from the Roman Catholic Church in acknowledging that atrocities were committed against them were some of the recommendations made by Ricardo Bharath Hernandez, Chief of the Santa Rosa First People's Community.
He was speaking that the University of T&T (UTT) International First Peoples conference themed, "Exploring Restitution for Native Genocide and Enslavement,” which took place at the UTT's O’Meara campus, O’Meara Industrial Estate, Arima, yesterday.
Anthony Garcia, Minister of Education and Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, Minister of Community Development, Culture and Arts were expected to deliver feature addresses but both were absent as they had to attend yesterday's budget debate in Parliament.
Hernandez said, "Initially the First Peoples had 1,320 acres of land which was the inalienable property of the indigenous peoples to pass from generation to generation.
"Today the indigenous people are landless, virtually squatters. Permission still has to be sought from the Catholic church to build or to get light or water connection."
He also challenged UTT and relevant Government departments to gather teams of local researchers to produce a nationwide index on the indigenous peoples.
"We are limited because enough information on the First Peoples is not in the public view," Hernandez said.
Regarding support from the RC Church, he said, the indigenous peoples were neither asking for monetary compensation nor land from the church.
"We are asking for the church to acknowledge these atrocities took place so that with the voice of support from the Church, the authorities responsible for restitution would realise the legitimacy of our claim.
"We get the feeling at times that people in the Church would like to dilute the importance of the indigenous people, our culture and traditions. Those who feel our traditional systems are no longer relevant and create an environment of pressure towards further assimilation," Hernandez said.
Dr Fazal Ali, senior vice president and provost of the UTT, who also spoke at the function said while much has been done, there was still more that could be accomplished to truly recognise the importance and contribution of the indigenous peoples.
Ali also lauded them for being proactive in participating in international conferences in order to achieve their rights and influence the outcomes of the development processes that may affect their lives and communities.
A host of activities is also planned to celebrate Indigenous Peoples including a street parade in Port-of-Spain on Friday.