The San­ta Rosa First Peo­ples host­ed this year’s Amerindi­an Her­itage Fes­ti­val last Thurs­day at the Ari­ma Riv­er, along the Ari­ma-Blan­chisseuse Road.

The theme for 2025 was “Cel­e­brat­ing the Re­silience of the In­dige­nous/First Peo­ples of the Caribbean: Ad­vo­cat­ing for Repa­ra­tions for Na­tive Geno­cide and En­slave­ment.” The pro­ceed­ings were presided over by Chief Ri­car­do Bharat Her­nan­dez in the nat­ur­al set­ting of the Ari­ma Riv­er. The event al­so wel­comed del­e­gates from Suri­name, high­light­ing the Caribbean’s shared in­dige­nous her­itage.

This year’s fes­ti­val marks the 25th an­niver­sary of the First Peo­ples Her­itage Week, which be­gan on Oc­to­ber 6 and will con­clude on Tues­day with a Smoke Cer­e­mo­ny and Day of Recog­ni­tion.