The campaign to elect a chief to run the affairs of Dominica’s indigenous people is beginning to heat up.
On Tuesday four men were nominated to enter the race to be Kalinago Chief for the next five years.
They include: two former chiefs, Charles Williams and Irvince Auguiste, present chief Garnette Joseph and newcomer, Jumadine Frederick.
Dominica News Online will do a brief profile of each candidate in order to get an idea of what they have in store of the Kalinago people.
We begin with Irvince Auguiste and Jumadine Frederick. Charles Williams and Garnette Joseph will follow.
Irvince Auguiste served as a Kalinago Chief from 1984 to 1994 and has been a member of the Kalinago Council since 2004.
He is the coordinator and a founder of the Caribbean Association of Indigenous people and has served with the National Development Foundation of Dominica, Dominica Social and Investment Fund, among others.
Auguiste is also a founding member the Karifuna Cultural Group and at present is a tour operator.
He told DNO that he is vying for the position of Kalinago Chief again because he is not satisfied with the stewardship in the Territory.
“My interest for contesting the elections again is because I am not satisfied with the stewardship and I believe that a number of opportunities have come to the Kalinago nation that have not been properly utilized,” he said.
He noted that among his plans, if elected, is to restore a level of dignity to the office of Chief and council, making use of the recognition that the Kalinago people have attained over the years.
He is keen on harnessing fresh and educated Kalinago minds coming home from studies at institutions of higher learning.
“We need to be able to harness that and get them involved in the governance of the Territory,” he noted.
According to him these young educated Kalinagos must be given a chance to be involved in the development process of the Kalinago Territory.
“I believe that is absent,” he pointed out.
Other areas he intends to work on include networking globally with other indigenous people and learning from their successes and to better position the Kalinagos to improve their economy.
“I believe our economy can be improved,” he stated.
Auguiste suggested setting up micro development plans for agriculture and tourism since the Territory is already heavily into these, a workable system to access loans and a Kalinago diaspora network.
“We have a number of Kalinago people living in the diaspora and these people need to be connected in a way that they can make their own contributions from wherever they are,” he noted. “So this is my vision, this is what I would like to do.”
Jumadine Federick, 37, is a former Prison Officer in Antigua and Barbuda and now Tour Guide and Security Officer.
He describes himself as a youth enthusiast and sports lover who wants to set up a cricket academy for boys 13 and under in the Kalinago Territory.
He told DNO that he decided to contest the poll because he has a vision for his people.
“I have a vision for my people to develop them socially and mentally,” he said.
Frederick stated that the Kalinago people have been voting ‘experienced leaders’ for a very long time, yet there is little or no development in the Territory.
“Too long we have been voting the so-called experienced leaders and really and truly the question is begged, what is stopping our development?” he noted. “Is it that our leaders do not have vision? Or is it something in the government that is stopping our development? I intend to find out what is the roadblock to our development.”
He noted that there is a lack of accountability and transparency in the running of the affairs of the Kalinago people and there is a “lack of motivation to try new things.”
He said his campaign includes the old saying, “where there is no vision, the people perish.”
Frederick said he is the president the Labor Youth Organization in the Kalinago Territory and is a relative of former Carib Chief, Hillary Frederick, who introduced him to politics.
He said he is “quite confident” that he will top the polls and said he has been active on the campaign trail. As a matter fact when he spoke to DNO he was doing house to house visits and spreading his ideas among the electorate.
Polling date for a new chief is July 7, 2014.
Dominica news online. Your information of the current Kalinago Chief as Garnet Joseph is not correct. Charles Williams is the current Chief.
ADMIN: Look at the date of the article.
Jumadine everyone else fail the indigenous people.give the new candidate a chance. I wish you best if luck jumadine
Putting all partisan politics aside, I would vote for Irvince Augiuste for Chief, he is very experienced and knowledgeable I think he will do a good job. Irvice for Chief.
Kalinago has always been throwing away what is good and replacing it with what is bad let us see what they are going to do this time around.
D N O I believe positive comments are for the benefit of educating our people these comments are real hard facts and when you disallow them you are not allowing balance and reflection in the material we read, perhaps it is time to consider opening up anothr avenue for news and comments on line.
When will you people see that all the eastern Caribbean islands originally belonged to the kalinago people for more than 5000 years? when will you all realize that is in the last 500 years our actual struggle began? when will you realize that the Europeans have to take back the baggage they brought down in our region? Can’t you all see that black people have re-colonize the regions indigenous people and knowing humanity they are not willing to give back i single inch to us, when will you people realize hat there is never going to be harmony between blacks and kalinago until all the kalinago throw in the towel,
what can one or two people do when they are surrounded by 20 black representatives and 8 other senator and more so if the speaker is black in the Dominican parliament.
time to know your place kalinago.
Here we have a group of men vying to be the Next Kalinago Chief. As far as I can see only one man stands Head and shoulder above the rest and that is Mr. Charles Williams. He is the only one who will stand and speak out when he have to. He will bow to no one. On the other hand the other three are like sheep who can easily be led by those in higher authority. We all know why Mr. Joseph has shut up because this present government have him wrapped around their little finger. Jumadine is simply a no no. He have no track record in the community, and further more he’ll just be a puppet of the labour party. Mr. Augiuste have been there before and what have he done? He was one of those who brought about division during the reign of Mr. Williams. As far as I can see he want to be there for his own personal game. The Kalinago people needs a voice, they need someone who can stand on his own two feet. Mr. Williams is by far the best choice.
all the way with jumadine.jumadine for chirf and cadiud 4 palrep
Calinago please keep Jumadine out of the council.
What happened to the Icecream project?
Your action prevented other Kalinnago youth from benifitting from the experiment with you.
Mette veye who ever you are His action is not preventing any Kalinago youth from benefiting.some of the Kalinago youth just want to sit and expect things to come to them.you want something you go after what you want.bread don’t fall from the sky.so get your facts straight.we need young men to be leaders all so to much recycling.young people need to take a stand right now .jumadine Frederick for chief .if you not a supporter keep your comments to yourself.Jesus did nothing but yet he was crucify.who are you to judge.
People I believe a Kalinago Chief should look and act the part. We read in the history books that the Kalinago people had long hair and all of the others except for Irvince baldhead. We hear constantly that kalinago should remember their culture and history except for the unmentionable the only person there who may have that covered is Irvince as a former(present) tourguide he has that locked down. In my opinion (mwe ca neg) Irvince Auguiste is the man to lead the indigenous people of Dominica into the awakening with the help of Claudius for ALL of Us.
I recommend voting for Irvince Auguiste for Chief and Claudius Sandford in Parliament; then and only then will the people of the territory truly see progress and be liberated into excellence.
I am Jean Bwa and I approve this message!
jean bwa stay out of kalingo business
Is that why you stoop so low, well the next time you will put on your plaits yourself.
Voting based on appearance is truly idiotic. Kalinago people were mixed as early as the 1500s. And if you really want to follow tradition, Kalinago society did not have political chiefs, only war chiefs, who were responsible for defense of the community. But we live in the modern world now. What Kalinago people need is a leader that will listen to all aspects of Kalinago society and foster connections with other indigenous people.
Here is what i would like to see. (1) The kalinago territory have more autonomy over their affairs.(2) All ancient laws inherited from the British regarding the territory be scrapped and new laws reflecting our times and developmental needs be implemented. and (3) The appointment of a senator from the territory to kind of supplement the work of the Kalinago affairs minister. Comments solicited.
maybe the chief should consider having representative/diplomats/consulates in other countries to negotiate on behalf of…. so when something go wrong like the chief not having a diplomatic passport and cant go to represent we can still have representation.
Irvince Auguiste all the way!!! At the age of 21 he did what he could with very little human resource now his old and more of an experienced leader y would you say no REALLY Think about it.
Good luck Jum i’ll vote for you.
In my opinion, you should seriously consider the statements made by UWP Team Dominica. The next Kalinago Chief will be automatically elected as Minister of Kalinago Affairs when they become the next Government. Therefore, as soon as you get into office you know what you must do.
ummm if the carib chief elect automatically becomes the minister of carib affairs what happens to the member of parliament elect of that constituency?isnt the MP the one that automatically becomes minister of carib affairs?carib chief minister of carib affairs and MP…..what??what nonsense that!
lets see…. if jumadine frederick president of the labour youth organization in the kalinago territory becomes carib chief and team dominica (uwp) wins the general elections team dominica is telling me they would make this guy minister of carib affairs over claudius sandford (if he wins) of team dominica (uwp)???? yeah right!!!!!!!!!! this is the only ministry that uwp will and can fit mr sandford why would they fit mr frederick there?stop the madness
Foolishness this is a foolish question. For your information, when UWP Team Dominica gets into office, Mr. Sanford could be either Minister of Education or Minister of Sports.
The so-called Miinistry of Carib Affairs is not an actual ministry. Do you research. And why should a Kalinago never rise to an actual ministry? We have the capacity to be a minister in any ministry, why should be tied down to the sham of an office called MoCA? Let the resources of that department be channeled to the chief and council while the parl rep becomes a minister of finance or education or health. MoCA is only duplicating the role of the Kalinago council
What you see as nonsense is actually a very beautiful scenario that would test the commitment of UWP Team Dominica. The new logo of Team Dominica is made up of the colors red, green and blue. This is a sign that the UWP Team Dominica recognizes that we need all Dominicans to be part of the development process. A DLP Carib affairs minister in a UWP Government would gaurantee the kalinago people the best opportunity to get their fair share of the national pie without compromising. Once the Chief as a minster of government recognizes that his role is not about undermining the Cabinet, but rather working harmoniously with the other ministers of cabinet in the interest of the Kalinago people and the country in general. Supporters of the UWP, DFP, and DLP must work together to build Dominica, that is why CHANGE IS A MUST.
No. The Kalinago Territory is part and parcel of Dominica/ Waitukubuli and therefore, when it comes to National General Elections they MUST follow the same rules. The territory is not a “state within a state”. In regards to the local elections , may the best candidate win and work with his people for the benefit of the whole territory and NOT for his personal gains.
May the best man win. Kallinago people arise!! Strive for excellence and nothing less!! Dominica needs excellence!!
The truth is the MOCA is not even requested to submit any proposals for consideration in the planning stages of the national budget.
The MOCA therefore is simple a joke!!! Its more of a partisan outpost!