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The sometimes controversial - 26 year old Barbadian born Hereditary
Paramount Chief of the 875 member Eagle Clan Arawaks of Guyana ' Damon
Gerard Corrie', recently attended an historic conference on the topic
"Museums, Heritage and Cultural Tourism - which was jointly held in the
Andean nations of Peru (May 21 - 23) and Bolivia (May 24 - 27).
Corrie was one of two Barbadians attending the 50 delegate conference, the
other being Mrs. Penelope Hynam Roach - Executive Director of the Barbados
National Trust; as it turned out the two Barbadians were the only
representatives of the English speaking Caribbean at the event .
The only other CARICOM country represented being Haiti - by Mr. Joseph
Gaspard of that country's Ministry of Culture.
Invitations were extended to 50 persons in the Latin America & Caribbean
region by Mr. Manus Brinkman - Secretary General of ICOM (the
International Council of Museums) which is part of UNESCO.
Corrie, who was elected on December 31st 1999 to be the Sovereign Chief of
the Pan-Tribal Confederacy of Amerindian Tribal Nations of Amazonia (which
is not officially recognised by the Guyana government but represents 13,125
Makushi & Wapishana Amerindians in that country), gives full credit to his
invitation to participate to Mrs. Alissandra Cummins - Director of the
Barbados Museum & Historical Society; who reccommended him to the Conference
co-ordinators in Paris, France.
When asked to comment on the conference Corrie had this to say :
"When I arrived in Peru I fully expected to meet many other Amerindian
leaders who entirely owned, operated & marketed (on the internet) - their
own Cultural Tourism enterprises as we do in the Confederacy, but I quickly
realized that in all of Latin America and the Caribbean - we are the first
and currently only example of Indigenous peoples as multi-national operators
filling the criteria of being full owners, operators and marketers of a
Cultural Tourism product.
The discussion was slated to have been theoretical on the topic
"Indigenous peoples as tourism operators", but my presence there quickly
altered the discussion to one of a practical nature - with our operation
being the sole example. But beyond that, during my discourses to the
gathering I believe I impressed on them the reality that we Amerindian
peoples are not marginal curiosities on the periphery of Western
Civilisation - ultimately without progeny, but rather, we are living
cultures - defining and defending places in a contemporary world . Lastly, I
would have to mention the work myself and my Amerindian brothers, Mr.
Fabricano, and Dr. Huanca did in drafting
legislation concerning our rights as regards Cultural Tourism in the face of
Political interference; which has been submitted to UNESCO - which will
further submit it to the General Assembly for final ratification in two
years time; as being one of the high points of my short life thus far."
Since Corrie's return from the conference the Confederacy has moved to
it's own domain on the internet at GuidedCulturalTours.com, and the
operation which currently serves Barbados, Dominica & Guyana - will be
expanding into Bolivia, Peru & Paraguay within the coming weeks.
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A snapshot of the commencement of the Conference on Museums, Heritage, & Cultural Tourism, in the 450 year old city of Trujillo, Peru
Delegate Damon G Corrie of Barbados - the only english speaking country represented at the conference, and also the only voice of Caribbean Amerindians present at the historic event
Damon and Mr. Manus Brinkman - Secretary General of ICOM as they depart the Island of the Sun
Damon is seen at left, an Aymara Amerindian Llama handler at center, in the background in the Lake Titikaka - the highest
navigable lake in the world, situated 12 thousand feet up into the Andes mountains.
Damon is at center embracing the president and vice-president of the Confederacy of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia, which represents over one-million Amerindians.
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