Honouring water as a source of life and promoting greater environmental responsibility, the Santa Rosa First Peoples Community held its annual Water Ritual as part of Heritage Week celebrations, with spiritual leaders using the occasion to highlight the shared values that unite different religious communities.
Chief Ricardo Bharath Hernandez explained the significance of the ritual.
“We’ve come to pay homage to the water, just as we have veins running through our bodies and carries blood to sustain us, the rivers are the veins of the earth, and they fertilise the earth, they refresh the earth, they cause the vegetation in the trees in the plants to sustain us.”
Chief Hernandez also stressed that environmental protection requires action not only from Government, but from citizens.
“People, just as I said, do things, and they expect governments to be responsible for that. Yes, Governments have a role to play, but people also have a duty not to litter, not to clog drains, and to be conscious of that, and if they fail to do that, it will forever be what it is.”
The Chair of the Ile Isokan – Ifá/Òrìṣà spiritual and cultural organisation, Efundeji Olaosebikan, highlighted the importance of preserving the natural environment and strengthening ties among spiritual communities.
“It is extremely important to us that we maintain and preserve the natural environment and repair it where it has been damaged. We see the elemental forces of wind and water and air and fire and that energy and that spirit as being mutual grounds between the indigenous community and the First Peoples. And I dare to say and dare to include the Hindu community.”
He noted that the similarities among these traditions should inspire greater unity, mutual respect and collaboration among their respective communities and places of worship.
The water ritual served as a reminder of the need to protect the environment while celebrating the cultural and spiritual connections that continue to unite communities across Trinidad and Tobago.