Permanent Secreatary of the Amerindian Affairs Ministry Colin Croal poses with the Queen Naomie Samuels
Newly-crowned Miss Amerindian Heritage Queen, Naomie Samuels, was never considered a front runner during the lead-up to the pageant, but on pageant night, the 25- year-old shot into the first place with an ingenious talent piece and an impassioned platform presentation.
The beauty who hails from Essequibo Islands/West Demerara left no doubt in the minds of those who attended the National Cultural Centre on Saturday that she earned a well-deserved win.
A very excited Samuels credited her victory to hard work.
The Miss Amerindian Heritage Pageant is held biennially as part of the month of activities to observe Amerindian Heritage Month.
“Amerindian Culture and Heritage pageant is not a beauty pageant, it is a pageant which we think will transfer the knowledge, the information of the rich diverse culture of our nine nations,” Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai said at the start of the nearly five-hour-long presentation.
It was clear that delegate one, Treasure James from Region One, and delegate number 10, Annece Hicks from Region 10, were the crowd favourites. From their introduction to their talent pieces, James, doing a pantomime on cassava bread-making, and Hicks singing and dancing, the crowd had nothing but love for the two.
However, it was Region Six delegate Neisha Vantrompe who impressed the judges enough to win the Best Introduction segment.
But Samuels reminded the Cultural Centre that she was in the pageant to win by demonstrating this with her clever use of props during her talent piece. Also doing a pantomime, Samuels demonstrated the use of Amerindian tools used in hunting as she danced around a very life-like fireside, cooking a piece of meat.
Her piece not only impressed the audience, it was adjudged Best Talent.
Several incorporated the One Laptop Per Family initiative into their acts, but it was Gulene Salty, the contestant from Region Nine, who had the crowd erupting in laughter with her narrative about a mountain that grants the power to make women conceive triplets.
The segments were interspersed with cultural presentations by the Akawaio Cultural Group, Sand Creek Dancers and Surama Dancers, who showcased the rich Amerindian culture.
James, from Region One, displayed her glimmering yellow gown with poise, beauty, confidence and grace (she received the Best Dress prize). Hicks received the Best Platform prize, but Samuels stole the spotlight in the question and answer segment.
Dressed in a chocolate brown body-hugging dress that tapered into a fish tail finish, Samuels looked stunning in her evening wear.
And the beauty had the brains to match her looks as she skilfully tackled her questions.
Samuels’s platform was “Cervical cancer amongst Indigenous women in Guyana”. A medical student at the University of Guyana, Samuels chose the platform because of the prevalence of this disease among Amerindians. “As a pageant delegate in the 2011 Amerindian Heritage Pageant, I take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be an advocate and educate my fellow indigenous…” Before Samuels could finish her sentence, the crowd erupted in applause, drowning out her words. She skilfully recovered after the applause and finished her answer. But it was her answer to the question whether enough was being done to sufficiently educate persons in her region on cervical cancer that cemented her win.
Her response was, “There is not sufficient education in my region. However, work has already been started at the West Demerara and Leonora hospitals, where education and testing for cervical cancer is a priority; and soon all of Region Three will be benefiting from this procedure.”
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