Every year, during the Indigenous Heritage Month celebrations, a “heritage village” is identified, where many would converge to celebrate indigenous culture. This year we celebrate St Cuthbert’s Mission, also known as Pakuri Village, located on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.
St Cuthbert’s Mission is one of the most easily accessible indigenous villages along the East Bank. The site of this quaint village emerges after about a half-hour travel through a scenic sandy trail.
On entering the village, one will quickly notice how serene it is. No noise nuisance or traffic, just village life at its best.
One interesting feature that brings many tourists to the village is the pitch black waters of the Mahaica River, which flows through the village. It is a serene site where the famous “wash down” happens during Heritage Day celebrations.
At this year’s heritage celebrations, which will be held on September 9, visitors to St Cuthbert’s will get to enjoy ‘bush’ meat, traditional culinary dishes, indigenous arts and crafts and sports.
The village has a health centre, nursery, primary and secondary schools, a youth centre, a huge benab, a community playfield, a church and several shops.
Sunday Times Magazine had interviewed St Cuthbert’s Toshao, Lennox Shuman, back in 2015, the same time the village was celebrating 127 years of recognition as an indigenous community. However, Schuman pointed out that St Cuthbert’s existed centuries before that.
Shuman has been St Cuthbert’s Toshao since July 2015, and hails from a long line of chiefs. One of the founders of St Cuthbert’s was his great, great grandfather Johnson Bernard.
The current Toshao migrated from the village when he was almost 17 years old to Canada, where he lived for 25 years.
Shuman said his inspiration to return to his village stemmed from his dislike of the “governance structure that exists in indigenous community”.
In Canada, Shuman served as a commercial pilot. He graduated from a college there with a business diploma and a commercial pilot’s license. Since 1999 he has been flying.
He has been a pilot for various airline companies, including Fly Jamaica. He was then re-employed with Sunwing Airlines, which flies out of Toronto, and managed to get a three-year leave of absence to serve as Toshao of St Cuthbert’s. He, his wife and three children live in a very traditional Arawak home.
Asked how he and his family have adapted to a more simplified life, the Toshao expressed: “I enjoyed a really nice life as a pilot, but this is better. I believe one can never fulfil their soul with materials.”
In addition to being Toshao, Shuman is the vice chairman of the National Toshaos Council. His focus is to amend and revise the Amerindian Act so that it falls in line with international law. He said although he is not a lawyer he has studied the Act and, along with colleagues from the Council, aims to effect change in laws and other Acts concerning indigenous communities.
