The Santa Rosa Carib Festival takes place in August during the week leading up to Independence Day (August 31) and is intended to pay tribute to the First Peoples of the New World, and to expose the culture to the nation. The ceremonies include the crowning of the Carib Queen, a church procession and performance of some of the traditional and ritual activities, smoke ceremonies, prayers and the preparation and purchase of cassava bread.
Legend has it that Santa Rosa de Lima appeared to a group of Carib men at a time when they were resisting conversion to Catholicism. Rosa, the priests claimed, had been born in Arima and taken by her parents to Peru where she dedicated her life to helping the poor. She was the first canonized saint of the Americas, and her manifestation in Trinidad led to the construction of a church in 1759 dedicated to Santa Rosa de Arima.
The Santa Rosa Caribs have retained traditional survival systems and practices including the cultivation of cassava, its processing methods and implements. Cassava was first cultivated and processed in the Americas over 9,000 years ago and is the fourth most important crop in the world. For more information, visit www.visitTNT.com.
