Sixty-six toshaos and treasurers from Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and 10 on Thursday received certificates in leadership, following an extensive two-day training hosted by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs. The leadership training was geared at providing village leaders with knowledge in specific areas to help them achieve their community development goals.
Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai and Permanent Secretary Mr.Ryan Toolsiram today met with Ms. Amber Andrews and her father, Mr.Collin Andrews, at the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs.
Guyana’s Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, which organizes the Amerindian Heritage Pageant, has issued a formal apology to Miss Amber Andrews and other contestants who were affected by an error in the tallying of scores on the night of the Heritage Pageant. According to the Ministry, the error in the tallying of the judges’ scores resulted in an erroneous crowning of Miss Andrews as well as erroneous placements of other contestants.
The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs this evening (18th of September) announced that there was an error in the tallying process and that Ms. Andrews was erroneously crowned. As such, it has made a statement retracting the title from Ms. Andrews and handing it over to Ms. Rembharat.
The young indigenous woman who was crowned on the evening Saturday, 17th of September, as Amerindian Heritage Queen 2022-2024 has made a Press Release via her Facebook Page stating that she will NOT reign as queen because she will be stripped of her crown. She says she was “informed” that the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs will take the crown away from her, because it was given to her error, and give it to another contestant, possibly the first runner up. However, she did not mention who informed her of this development and this publication sincerely questions the legitimacy of this proposal.
The Amerindian Heritage Pageant 2022 was concluded last evening, Saturday, 17th of September, 2022 at the National Cultural Centre with Miss Amber Andrews of Region 5 being crowned the Amerindian Heritage Queen 2022 and Miss Kristie Rembharrat at her heels as the first runner up.
Today, 9th of August, 2022, we observe The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. This is a worldwide occasion, but it is especially pronounced in our homeland of Guyana, South America where we acknowledge that life would not be just as beautiful without our indigenous counterparts.