Fifth District Representative, Honourable Delores Christopher (right) came out swinging on the topic of culture and how it is being administered in the Virgin Islands. She was at the time speaking at the Fifth Sitting of the Third Session of the Second House of Assembly on October 14, 2013. Hon. Christopher, an indigenous Virgin Islander who is also regarded as an authority on the Virgin Islands culture, lashed out at the current failure in the area of culture and things she said needed to be done. To date there has been no response from Culture Minister (both from the same political party) on if and when he will address Hon. Christopher's issues. Photo: VINO

According to the 2012 Department of Culture Report, “the biggest challenge in 2012 was the further decreased number of staff left in the Department during most of 2012. This was the result of the Director being seconded to London…with the added responsibilities and only the staff of two, there were challenges…”. The report, tabled in the House of Assembly by Culture Minister Myron V. Walwyn on November 19, 2013 also highlighted a long laundry list of things not achieved in 2012. Photo: VINO

The report outlined the many activities of the Department in 2012 under the National Democratic Party (NDP) Administration.

Not enough staff among many outstanding issues in 2012

According to the report, “the biggest challenge in 2012 was the further decreased number of staff left in the Department during most of 2012. This was the result of the Director being seconded to London…with the added responsibilities and only the staff of two, there were challenges…”. 

The report list many items in 2012 that were not achieved including;

Final draft of the National Cultural Policy,

Observance of Territory Day;

Reinstatement of the Primary Dance/ Drama Programme;

Development of a Cultural Directory;

Identity and Development of historical sites; and

Development of a Culture Village.

The report stated that “vigorous attempts will be made to achieve the aforementioned objects in 2013,” however, to date it remains unclear how much or if any of these goals were achieved with one month left in 2013.

Not pleased with how we are doing in Culture- Hon. Delores Christopher

Just last month Fifth District Representative, Honourable Delores Christopher came out swinging on the topic of culture and how it is being administered in the Virgin Islands.

She was at the time speaking at the Fifth Sitting of the Third Session of the Second House of Assembly on October 14, 2013.

The Fifth District Representative, an indigenous Virgin Islander who is also regarded as an authority on the Virgin Islands culture, lashed out at the current failure in the area of culture and things she said needed to be done.

Hon. Christopher, now in her second non-consecutive stint [2003-2007] and [2011-current] in the House of Assembly (HOA), warned that the lack of serious attention to our culture is not a good sign as it’s comes down to a matter of “our identity”.

Our Culture needs help & attention

She told the public that “we have to look at our development on the social side… as we need a well rounded development”. She added, “we need someplace where our history can be preserved on a permanent basis….” However, while acknowledging that there may be a few places where there are artifacts on display, she told the HOA “they cannot be classified as a real museum”.

Hon. Christopher, who many argued should have been given the post of Minister for Education and Culture when the National Democratic Party (NDP) regime came to power in 2011, is also one of the founders of the popular Christmas on Main Street.

The Fifth District Representative went on to say “we need our documentation to be all in one place and this is not only for us, Madam Speaker, but for our children…. The time is fast coming when it becomes an issue of identity…Who is a Virgin Islander? What does that mean?… And this is for the benefit of our children and grandchildren…This is an important question and we cannot run away from it.”

Our children, she said, “need to be clear about what the legacy is, so they can in fact cherish it”. While she said there are celebrations and different events where some of our history is read, however, “I will hasten to say, Madam Speaker, that the majority of people don’t hear or are not really paying attention to what is being said during these celebrations…we are not sure how many people are getting a clear understanding of our history…”

Hon. Christopher, who is the brainchild behind the successful Festival of Arts held earlier this year at the Sir Rupert Briercliffe Hall, lashed out at the fact that after the very colorful display everything had to be taken down as there is no place to permanently put our cultural artifacts on display. “The problem is it had to be taken down...so often we put up and we take down…we need to list as a priority a permanent place for our history…details of our people must be made known…”

The legislator, who is very passionate about education and cultural issues, said even during the annual emancipation celebration “sometimes some very outstanding pieces are on parade, but we have no place to house these pieces, we ourselves can’t visit them, family from overseas can’t visit them at a later time, the tourist can’t see them, yet we are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for a one-day parade….we should have those pieces put someplace, it can be an added attraction to our tourist product…” Hon. Christopher told Parliament.

Mrs Christopher also called for a national museum to be built in the Virgin Islands.