These observances and celebrations help to re-affirm the solid historical beginnings of Guyanese society, and re-assure every citizen of the cherished place he or she has in this nation. With the exception of the Amerindian peoples, every other ethnic group came to this country as explorers or colonisers, or was brought as captive labourers or indentured servants. History tells us that the ancestors of present-day Amerindians came to this country several millennia before the birth of Christ by crossing the Bering Straits and then migrating through North America. The late brilliant Archaeologist and Anthropologist Dr Denis Williams, whose Barabina, North West finds are on display at the Walter Roth Museum, was given confirmation by the Smithsonian that the human skeletons excavated in this country were at least seven thousand years old.

Aboriginals conceptualised the very landscape of this country when they named it Guyana - which means, Land of Many Waters. They were the first to discover and name the rivers, creeks, and waterfalls that characterise the landscape and provide nourishment for the agricultural soils of the coastland while enriching the tropical foliage of the hinterland. Guyana’s unique dish -- pepperpot - originated with the Amerindians, who ingeniously, divined a way of extracting the juice of the highly toxic bitter cassava, and after boiling it into a thick condiment called casareep, and used it successfully to preserve cooked meat, fish or poultry for days. That pot of meat would be eaten communally with fragments of thick cassava bread, also developed from the bitter cassava. Today, pepperpot is one of the most important dishes for the celebration of a Guyanese Christmas. Guyanese overseas make sure they have some casareep come December so that they could prepare a pot of pepperpot to enjoy a taste of home.

Guyana is one of the few countries in which the Amerindian population is on the increase instead of shrinking. Over the last four decades, more and more Amerindians have opted to participate in mainstream Guyanese society, and have distinguished themselves as nurses, midwives, Medexes, formally trained artists, sculptors and ceramists. We cannot speak of the Amerindian contribution to Guyanese life without genuflecting to the memory of late Parliamentarian Mr Stephen Campbell, who was the first Amerindian to sit in the British Guiana Legislative Assembly. His talented offspring include international artiste David Campbell, whose songs including ‘Kabakaburi Children’ have delighted his fellow nationals and audiences in North America. The late Mrs Stephanie Correia, brilliant Guyanese artist and ceramist, was another progeny of Stephen Campbell. Several of Mrs Correia’s mixed media productions reflected continental traditions as well as unique local themes.