In his Historical Sketches of Trinidad and Tobago, K.S. Wise noted in 1934:
Wise also wrote:
The Amerindian thus bestows on the nation a sense of antiquity and a sense of occupation of the territory that is Trinidad. – Maximilian Forte, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Concordia University. Author, Ruins of Absence, Presence of Caribs
Dutch archeologist Arie Boomert wrote in a 1982 article in the Trinidad Naturalist, entitled “Our Amerindian Heritage” that due to Trinidad being “one of the world’s most cosmopolitan populations” as a result “it is often forgotten that a few of the people now living in Trinidad are descended or partly descended from the original inhabitants of the island, the Amerindians.”
Bridget Brereton’s An introduction to the History of Trinidad and Tobago (1996) makes specific references to the contemporary Santa Rosa Carib Community. Her chapter entitled “The first Trinidadians and Tobagonians” following Dr Eric Williams’ (1962) designation of “Our Amerindian Ancestors”. She repeatedly uses phrases such as “the first people” and “the first Trinidadians” throughout her chapter.
“Only a few people in Trinidad and Tobago today have Amerindian blood, but we should all be proud of our first people. Their legacy is all around us. We can see it in many words and place names, reminding us that these people made the islands their own by settling down and naming places, rivers, bays, districts and things. We can see it in roads which date back to their paths. We see it in ways of cooking, especially dishes made with cassava. We also have a community in Arima, who call themselves ‘Caribs’ and are very proud of their culture. They are working hard to make us all more aware of the heritage of our first people.”
Identity
I have observed the Independence celebrations and noted that no invitation was sent to members of the First Nation People of Trinidad and Tobago to speak or offer any blessings to the nation.
We have also not been invited to participate in the recent discussions regarding the decision on what the nation’s highest award/honour is to become.
In sending greetings to the First Nation People of Trinidad and Tobago on the occasion of the recently held Santa Rosa Festival, which seems to be the only First Nation celebration of interest to the media and the Government, I have noticed that corporate citizens chose to use the statue of Hyarima … some people would be proud of that but we have live people as well.
We are grateful but this helps cement the view that the only real First Nations people in this country are dead.
The real honour for Hyarima lies in the smoke ceremony homage we pay to our ancestors.
I respect other peoples being granted their holidays, our people have been granted a day of recognition and we did not ask for a public holiday as we have so many of those.
When it is our day of recognition hardly anything is mentioned in the media. In fact, the media only recognises the existence of First Nations Peoples on specific days of the year for the rest of the year we do not exist.
But in our own country, in the country of our ancestors we continue to await the Promised Land.
Not the Promised Land promised to us by those who converted our ancestors to Catholicism but the land promised to us by the Government as a move toward reparation.
It is my belief that our people should be included in all discussions pertaining to the environment and the well being of our country. This is a land we understand. We understand the rivers, the sea, the mountains, the trees, the plants and the animals.
The story of the First Nation People of Trinidad and Tobago is one of survival.
Cristo Adonis
ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY 
Mervyn
This letter is so highly stylized and scholarly, I would highly question whether any of this letter actually came from Mr. Adonis at all. It sounds like all the rest of the indigenous “rhetoric” that Mr. Forte has styled for himself, and NOTHING like the writings of a man from his own personal experience. If this is was a highly stylized paraphrase of Adonis, you should be explicit and cite the “letter” as such.
Shame on you, Mr. Forte, for using Adonis for your own selfish interests! Not only do you create a bad name for anthropologists in the field, but you also set a bad example as a scholar working for indigenous rights!
Maximilian Forte
Well you are actually completely wrong in fact. Why you would presume, with such arrogance, to arrive at such firm conclusions based on such complete ignorance is quite beyond me. I can even retrace the steps for you. The part before the section headed “Identity” was written by Tracy Assing using quotes from my work. The actual words by Cristo were written for Tracy and posted by her initially when she was still part of the blog of The CAC Review (I copied the post to this blog). I also speak with Cristo regularly by phone, and have seen him since that letter was written, so I know for a fact it came from him.
I know Cristo far better than you do, obviously. Why you would be so foolish as to challenge me on this is rather perplexing, especially as you choose to hide your identity and not stand behind what you allege.
Try not to post here again unless you have an apology.
Guanaguanare
Max, I fully agree. In fact, TWO apologies are due, one to you for the wholly unfounded, dishonest allegations and perhaps more importantly, one to Cristo Adonis. I myself, have been in the company of Mister Adonis on a few occasions and I have heard him speak. I found him to be an engaging, intelligent, well read and articulate person. I have no doubt that he is quite capable of expressing his own ideas using his own words and without having to rely on what this “Mervyn” describes as “indigenous ‘rhetoric’.” “Mervyn” I hope that you will be as eager, as you were with your accusations, to direct Mister Adonis’ attention to your comments on this post and to reveal to him that you find him to be incapable of writing something that is stylized and scholarly. You have betrayed your own private assessment of Mister Adonis’ intellect and the fact that you feel threatened by his display of the intelligence and scholastic acuity that you associate so correctly with Max.
Maximilian Forte
Thanks very much Guanaguanare, you are right on target as usual.
“Mervyn” (who I very much doubt is called that, and indeed I have in mind a disgruntled female American PhD student likely wrote the comment, shame on her), has in fact insulted Cristo as being some illiterate boob. The Cristo I know is an avid reader, and has been for many years. One of his most constant requests to me is that I bring or send books for him, including many books on topics of indigenous political philosophy. He knows his situation, condition, and indigenous perspectives on national politics better than I do, because I learned them from him and people like him to begin with.
Mervyn, once you can own up to your real identity instead of being a coward, feel free to show us how you fight for indigenous rights, how you exemplify good anthropological practice, and how your own motivations are not selfish ones. By posting untrue allegations behind a fake identity, from your safe seat in New York, you certainly have failed the most basic test of fairness.
In the meantime we can only conclude that Mervyn is an idiot.