Dear Editor,

I wish to salute my fellow Amerindian brothers and sisters on the occasion of Amerindian Heritage Month. The PPP/C government in 1994, as I recalled, introduced this tradition.

I am proud for a number of reasons:

* Amerindians are finally treated as any other group. We are no more second-class citizens with our women being seen as the sexual delight of coastlanders. In former times, there seemed to be a policy by the former government to ensure that we remained in poverty, and always dependent on handouts from the
coastlanders.
* Today, in many of our communities there are schools, health huts and other facilities. Also, there are many opportunities for our development.
* The culture of our people is regarded as equal to that of the major races in our country.
* We are now sure of our long-term survival as lands are being demarcated and titles will be issued. We fear no more from persons coming and taking away our land for forestry and mining activities.
I believe that we still have not arrived. However, the past several years have been the best for Amerindian development in a long time. I call on my fellow Amerindians to reflect on the journey we have travelled and see our progress today as compared with the sufferings of the past years.