CFI PON DE RIGHT TRACK: ST. KITTS TAXI/TOUR OPERATORS PARTICIPATING IN KALINAGO (CARIB) HERITAGE SURVEY WED. APRIL 15TH www2015

By Marlene Phillips April 12th 2015 3:30 pm

ST. KITTS DEPARTMENT OF CULTURES RESEARCH & DOCUMENTATION UNIT IS TRYING TO PRESERVE HERITAGE THROUGH COMMUNITY BASED PARTNERING.

The Survey will be conducted on Wednesday April 15th 2015 at Lucinda Phillip's Shop located at "Bloody Point" Challengers Village St.Kitts (across from Challengers Community Centre) 9:00 am - 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm and will involve students/young adults briefly engaging the Taxi/Tour Operators and their Passengers/Visitors when they stop at Bloody Point in Challengers during their tour. Michael Raheem Thatcher, Assistant to the RDU, will be managing the Survey activity making sure that the goal of conducting a total of 100 surveys is met.

The “Bloody Point Kalinago Heritage Survey” will help to discover if Taxi/Tour Operators and their Passengers/Visitors want more information about this Heritage Site to learn about the legacy of the Kalinago (Carib) People, the first inhabitants on St. Kitts and Nevis. Currently, there is only a sign with minimal information at the road leading to the entrance of the Heritage Site.

St. Kitts Department of Culture RDU, through its "St. Kitts-Nevis Creative & Cultural Industry (CCI) Development - Out Reach Program is working with Lucinda Phillip, Owner of a shop on the main road in Challengers Village to develop it into “Kalinago Karbay” - Bloody Point Heritage Centre to preserve the Kalinago Legacy by sharing information about their culture, while fostering Lucinda's natural interest in craft and heritage. The information that is collected will be used to inform future development of this area. Ultimately, this initiative will preserve and honour the existence of the first inhabitants of St. Kitts-Nevis and share their legacy with Nationals and Visitors now and in the future. Visit the following link to see Lucinda Phillps interview for the "Heritage Perspectives Project" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqm28M-sQhI

www.facebook.com/stkittsculturebeat

ACTIVITY BACKGROUND

The RDU is networking with many agencies (Tourism, Education, Youth, Trade, Heritage Organizations, etc....) to contribute to the sustainable development of St. Kitts-Nevis Community preserving, Culture, Heritage, Traditions, and impacting Livelihoods through partnerships in a positive way.

St. Kitts Department of Culture is also collaborating with Dr. Corinne L Hoffman who is interested in assisting Lucinda Phillip with the developing the Kalinago Heritage Center in St. Kitts. Dr. Hoffman has been conducting archaeological research in St. Kitts as the Principal Investigator on the NEXUS 1492 Project. #1 Transformations Of Indigenous Caribbean Cultures And Societies Across The Historical Divide. Project 1 forms the archaeological backbone of NEXUS1492 and aims to examine transformations of indigenous cultures and societies across the historical divide, bridging the pre-colonial and colonial era (AD 1000-1800). Ref. http://nexus1492.eu/ Dr. Hoffman was in St. Kitts for the Hera-Carib Workshop to present findings from research conducted under the the Nexus 1492 Project.

WORKSHOP BACKGROUND:

HERA-CARIB WORKSHOP MARCH 18TH - 20TH 2015

The St. Kitts Workshop has been organized by St. Christopher National Trust in collaboration with Brimstone Hill Society.

"To allow researchers of the participating institutes to share results of their research to date and while learning from previous and current Kittitian Archaeology and Heritage Experts, both Kittitian and non-Kittitian. To encourage discussions about archaeology practices and collective brainstorming on the future of archaeology as part of Kittitian Heritage".

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS:

- St. Christopher National Trust, St. Kitts
- Brimstone Hill Society, St. Kitts
- St. Kitts Department of Culture
- University of Leiden, The Netherlands
- University of Konstanz, Germany
- University of Leuven, Belgium

The project CARIB, which is financially supported by the HERA Joint Research Programme (www.heranet.info) which is con-funded by AHRC, AKA, BMBF, via PTDLR, DASTI, ETAG, FCT, FNR, FNRS, FWF, FWO, HAZU, IRC, LMT, MHEST, NWO,NCN, RANNIS,

RCN, VR, and the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological developments and demonstration under grant agreement no. 1133 and The NEXUS 1492 project financially supported by the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) ERC Grant Agreement no. 319209.