The protection of traditional culture is vital in the continued development of The Bahamas and the understanding of the country’s “historical truth”, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr. the Hon. Danny Johnson said, at a Traditional Knowledge Consultation, on June 24, 2013, at the British Colonial Hilton.

“These things evolved as a survival mechanism, as a form of communication, as a form of historical record, as a form of whatever it is and it adapts our culture to make it better,” Minister Johnson said.  “When you look at all of our art forms, all of our expressions, all of the ways we interact with each other (during) the one hundred, two hundred, three hundred years in this place we call The Bahamas, we have to admit that life is better.”

The Ministry of Financial Services, along with the Office of the Attorney General, invited historians, artisans, culturalists, bush medicine practitioners, researchers, folklorists and other interested persons to a public consultation on the protection of Bahamian Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expressions and Genetic Resources.

Also speaking at the event were Minister of Financial Services the Hon. Ryan Pinder, Deputy Registrar Ron Pinder and Regional Coordinator and Consultant World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Ms. Mary-Ann Richards.

Minister Johnson warned that there is a risk of losing the reverence for traditional Bahamian culture, as a move is made away from it in society, leaving behind that historical foundation and putting some of its aspects under the threat of being lost.

“We have to make economic sense of our traditions, of our culture, to preserve it; but in the pursuit of that model – as it stands – you could lose even more ground,” Minister Johnson said.

“These things that you are speaking about today – in our planning and in our speaking – it is really important that we be very honest with ourselves and fair to the future, as we continue on our theme for independence, which is building ‘The Bridge to the Future’: joining the past, present and future of The Bahamas”.

“It is a continuous journey and not just a ‘one-stop shop’,” Minister Johnson added.

He noted that the process is more like “a conversation along the way” and that many of the audience members present that day participated in that conversation for many years.

“I respect the way that you have done and we just want you to know that we are here to join hand-in-hand with you – partner with you – as to do what has to be done,” Minister Johnson said.  “You have the full support of the State behind you and maybe at this 40th-anniversary juncture, it is now time for us to act on what we had thought about all these years.”

He made a commitment on behalf of the Government of The Bahamas, through his Ministry, to act upon recommendations from the consultation that could be carried forward – even to the extent of the formation of a White Paper to present to Cabinet and the House of Assembly, in the pursuance of the possible creation of a preservation law to protect the traditional art, culture and folklore of The Bahamas.

“We are the only country in this world that has what we have,” Minister Johnson said.  “We have some things that no one else in the world has and I think it is the right time to preserve it, protect it and promote it – and that is why I am here to join with you this morning.”

http://www.bahamas.gov.bs/wps/portal/public/gov/government/news/protection%20of%20traditional%20culture%20is%20vital%20says%20minister%20johnson/!ut/p/b1/vZbJrptKGISf5TwAcTM2LDFmpplHb5CNzeBjbMxsnj72vU