Amerindian Heritage Village 2022 is Mainstay/Whyaka

Mainstay/ Whyaka, Region Two, has been selected as the Amerindian Heritage Village to host this year’s celebrations on September 10, 2022.

It was revealed that Heritage Day is one of the main activities on the calendar for Amerindian Heritage Month observed in September.

On Tuesday, Minister, Pauline Sukhai made the announcement at the Umana Yana on as she revealed this year’s theme, ‘Celebrating our traditional culture while building one Guyana’.

“September month will bring a whole package of what the Amerindian traditional knowledge is about. What indigenous culture is about and what our tradition and custom is like. We will be able to introduce to this country again our unique dances, our music, our food and of course the treasure of the way we work, the way we live as one,” Sukhai said.

It was disclosed that the celebrations will commence with an Amerindian religious service on August 31.

It was revealed that this will be followed by the Amerindian Heritage Cultural Extravaganza on September 1 at the National Stadium, Art Craft, Cuisine and Cultural Extravaganza at the Amerindian Village, at Sophia exhibition site, a fitness walk, and the Amerindian Heritage Beauty pageant, among other activities.

Further, the celebrations will conclude with the highly anticipated Amerindian Heritage Games on October 7- 9 at Everest Ground.

The minister encouraged Amerindians to embrace their culture.

“We should never be ashamed of being champions for ourselves. We should never be ashamed of our identity; we should never be ashamed of where we come from or where we have been and where we are today. We are as equal in this country as in anyone… we truly have to stand up for ourselves there is no one who is going to do it for us,” she said.

It was disclosed that September was declared Amerindian Heritage Month, in 1995 by former President Dr Cheddi Jagan, in honour of Guyana’s first Amerindian Parliamentarian Stephen Campbell who became a member of parliament on September 10, 1957, and to honour the contributions of the country’s first people.