Heritage Month 2019 launched

…“Look for markets, partnerships” at Heritage – Minister

Minister within and Ministry of Amerindian Peoples’ Affairs, Valerie Garrido-Lowe, unveils the theme of Amerindian Heritage Month 2019

The Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Minister, Sydney Allicock, believes that Heritage month activities provide the perfect space for persons to market their products and secure partnerships. As such, the Minister has urged locals to take advantage of this during this year’s Indigenous Month events.
Allicock made this appeal at the media launch of Heritage Month, hosted on Friday at the Indigenous Village in the Sophia Exhibition Centre, Greater Georgetown.
“We’d hope that in this celebration it’s not only about having a nice time in consuming the alcoholic beverages but it’s to meet and greet. Look for markets, look for new partnership and most of all, I am hoping that this celebration this year will allow us to have that interaction whereby we would be able to begin the process of proper documentation of our history…,” he said.
Against this backdrop, Allicock spoke briefly on the significance and objective behind Heritage Month, which is formally called Amerindian Heritage Month. The month of activities to honour Amerindians in Guyana was launched on September 10, 1995, by the then President Cheddi Jagan.
Meanwhile, Allicock on Friday said that the vision is to promote traditional culture and customs of the Indigenous peoples for cultural pride and identity. Further the mission, he said, is to support the preservation and safeguarding of Indigenous historic practices.
This year, Heritage Month is being celebrated under the theme “Maintaining traditional practices while promoting a green economy”. The launch was specially set for Friday given that it has been designated International Day of Indigenous Peoples.
Meanwhile, Minister within the Indigenous Peoples’ Ministry, Valerie Garrido-Lowe urged Guyanese to celebrate the month of activities.

Patamona dictionary
This year, as part of the celebrations, a Patamona dictionary will be launched on September 10. Patamona is one of the nine tribes of Indigenous people that live in Guyana. They speak their own language. The dictionary will play a vital role in bridging the language barrier and helping persons on the coastlands to better understand this special group of people.
September 10 was chosen to do the launching as it also marks the day that Guyana’s first Indigenous Member of Parliament, Stephen Campbell, was appointed.
Heritage Month will officially kick off with a religious ceremony on August 31 at the Umana Yana. On September 1, Heritage exhibition and activities will be ushered in with a ceremonial launch at the Indigenous Village in Sophia, Greater Georgetown. This activity will show off cultural dances, songs and most importantly, Amerindian delicacies. A host of other activities are lined up for this special event.

A section of the gathering