Damon's life in photographs

Four Points of note:

2. I am the inheritor of the Hereditary Chieftaincy of the Eagle Clan - who still live in the cultural context in Guyana (240 sq. mile territory that IS recognized by the Guyana government as our reservation) - I was annointed by our Elder and last surviving faitrthkeeper David Arnold De-Wever in 1995 on his deathbed.

3. The 200 other descendants of our last Guyana living Hereditary Chief living abroad (100 in Barbados and 100 in the United Kingdom) are NOT listed by me or the Guyana government as being Eagle Clan Arawaks - only the ones who live on the reservations - or were born on them - are officially listed - 3 of my 4 children and wife ARE officially listed).

I cannot deny my 200 closest maternal blood relatives the fact that they are descendants of Eagle Clan Princess Marian like myself, but I cannot deny either that they only have sympathy for their ancestral people nowadays - and they consider themselves 'part Arawak assimilated members of Western Society' - UNLIKE myself, that is why I married back into the Clan - not perpetually out of it - and made sure my children were born on tribal land - something none of my 200 descendants of our last Hereditary ruler have ever done since the Princess and her children (my maternal grandmother being one of them) emigrated into exile in 1925 to Barbados.

I love all my blood relatives both near and far in the family tree - but I am the spear head, they are the shaft supporting the head, my destiny is to lead, fight and win, their role is to support me during the struggle and them contribute their skills after the peace has been won. They do not have the stomach for the trials and tribulations I must face - but their support and love is always there for me.

4. Any money I raise (in my capacity as Hereditary Chief of the Eagle Clan Arawaks) in the form of donations is for the 1,300 (2005 census figures) Eagle Clansmen who still live in poverty on our reservation in Guyana, not for myself or my 200 closest blood relatives who live in Barbados and the United Kingdom - for none of us live in poverty and have no need of charity though as Hereditary Chief I am personally forbidded to accumulate wealth or material possessions beyond inherited regalia and what is absolutely necessary for me to conduct my duties on behalf of the clan & tribe, a Hereditary Chief's status and influence grows in direct proportion to how much he can give away to his people; not how much he can accrue for himself.