Dear Editor,
Congratulations to the tribal First Nations communities of Guyana who will be the beneficiaries of great wealth in US dollars. Presumably they will also benefit from the wealth of the oil and gas economy which Guyana has become. The tribes are set to become persons of financial stature.
So how do they manage this wealth given the geographical spread of communities, the language and cultural/tribal differences and the quite natural internal impulse by some to control, and the very real danger of external forces wishing to control? The latter will aim at achieving mental dependence of the tribes and when this happens power is lost. Decision making devolves into the hands of a few, some of whom may have very personal plans of financial grandeur for themselves. If the tribes have diminished confidence in their ability to transform their existence someone else calls the shots. Spending becomes war. Spending becomes stupid and conspicuous: Saturday Night Powder, and cheap perfume.
The money must be developmental spending. To do this a knowledge base is needed which First Nations leaders, including tribal teachers, can compile and organize. A suitable education programme has to be devised at the level of the village and even of small communities utilizing the critical thinking powers of the potential beneficiaries themselves. Everyone, as much as possible, has to be on the same page when terms are used defining money management behaviour. Everyone needs to be assured that there is careful planning, opinions even of the least are sought, and there is steady compilation describing the varying realities of the communities. Change management is needed and to achieve change the present reality has to be well known.
You cannot manage what you do not know. Who knows money in the volume in which it is promised? If no one knows, not even the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, then educators are needed to bring knowledge to the First Nations. Some of that knowledge will already exist. Where it does not then it has to be identified and accessed. Persons have to be employed whose aim is to produce financial literacy. I am suggesting:
● An education programme which
awards certificates of achieve-
ment as the programme of
financial literacy unfolds.
● The establishment of staffed
community offices which are the
centres of data collection and
sorting, where every person is
welcome and listened to.
● Outreach to communities which
cannot come in that there be a
series of educational visits so that
even old Mama can understand
what is happening.
The first spending therefore has to be for the creation of enabling infrastructure which produces management of the spending and a First Nations base of efficiencies needed for continuing approved spending. Create the office building, furnish with the communication equipment which facilitates creation of records, furnish as any financial office would be furnished. Further, affirm success as the education process unfolds. Create records which can be audited to establish absence of corruption. Monitor the activities.
Is this possible? Certainly. However, there is a lot of effort needed to get to the point of community spending of the huge sum that belongs to the First Nations. The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs if it has the commitment and creativity can establish a model office to train community leaders. Lists of equipment and furnishings of community offices can be suggested and justified. From the huge fund cohorts of trainees should be housed and transported and given a per diem allowance. On return to communities, links with the Ministry can be preserved and strengthened. Training must be ongoing and, for transparency, periods of office defined, with outgoing members forming a consultative body.
Yes, there will be some bad spending. And yes there will be some thiefin’. Yes, there will be some bad name and lies. And some neglect. And so what? Keep the bow pointed forward. How do you spend the money and protect it at the same time? A trust fund? Project presentation which describes the spending plan and start and end dates of the projects so that spending is controlled? Credit Union philosophy by which the members can own the money and borrow against it? Financial experts can suggest safe ways to make the money work. I suspect that a number of communities will choose co-operative spending.
Overarching all of the financial planning must be clear awareness and dissemination of First Nations value for the environment, respect for tribal lands, nurturing of forthright expression of First Nations views and celebration of community life and culture. There must be a census to know First Nations numbers so that plans cover all. It is all possible and necessary as the enabling environment is created.
I think each community needs to decide what it wants to be, how it wants to look physically, what standards of health have to be achieved, what expertise needs to be developed for the benefit of the community. For example, does the community need its own lawyers and doctors? Many already have their teachers. If they need more expertise within their ranks, now is the time. The money makes all possible. Dental work of the best kind, proper eye care, corrective surgeries: all this has to be counted in so that value is achieved and satisfaction.
I believe that there may already exist a cadre of First Nations persons with the skills necessary to provide financial leadership. This group can form a stimulus group to perpetuate safe and productive spending. I read a story of a little black girl, Sarah Rector, in the USA who inherited worthless land which was eventually found to be oil rich. It was inconceivable for a black person to be wealthy at the time so a white was appointed to oversee her wealth. He used it for his benefit and she remained poor until she was able to break out of such control. She used her wealth wisely and lived a very rich and comfortable life. A lesson for First Nations peoples, perhaps?
Stephen Campbell would have liked the possibilities of this fund. Congratulations!
Sincerely,
Gabriella Rodriguez
