Message from the Executive Director
May 5, 2010
The Jamaica National Heritage Trust is pleased to be observing another Taino Day. The fact that this year the day is being celebrated on the same day as Teacher's Day is of great importance to us. As an organization mandated to protect, preserve and promote our nation's heritage, we are largely dependent on others to get the message of our past history in the public domain. Our teachers play an integral role in this process as they are largely responsible for shaping the minds of our youngsters.
The Jamaica National Heritage Trust is hugely appreciative of their continued support over the years for our heritage education programmes. We must also acknowledge the supportive role of the Ministry of Education in getting the story of our early inhabitants integrated into the school curriculum and in most recent times, including the observance of the day on the school calendar.
Taino Day presents an opportunity for us increase our knowledge about the first Jamaicans. It is also a time of reflection. In today's Jamaica we are encouraged to "eat what we grow and grow what we eat", but very few of us recognize that that was the modus operandi of the first Jamaicans and that was a sustainable way of living.
In looking at the lives of our first inhabitants, there are many valuable lessons to learn. One major lesson is that of self identity and the need for peaceful community relations. In light of the kind of social disorder being experienced in Jamaica today, lessons from the Tainos, the first Jamaicans are ripe for reflection.
Laleta Davis-Mattis
Executive Director
