The Second People aka Group 6 consists of nine (9) members in total. At present the membership consist of the following persons:
Adrian Best - 816040766
Debra Paponette-Rochford - 808010984
Jevon Francois - 813004473
Chriselle Benjamin ‐ 816040761
Jared Blackmann - 816041792
Lytrell Pujadas - 816016031
Aaqil Felix - 816041791
Anastazia Andrews - 816042719
Mishak Peters - 816023343
Group Presentation on the First Peoples
Friday 17th November 2023 was “D’ Day” … We; The Second Peoples went with the intent to make a statement and a statement indeed we made! Our presentation was an eloquent sequence of moving parts that when put together produces a very high-quality presentation.
Presentation Overview
It begins with a brief group introduction, then flows into an intro trailer produced by Adrian.
Immediately after the trailer ends, we moved into a spoken word piece produced by Debra, her presentation was highlighted with special effects lighting and fog for dramatic effect, this was controlled by Jevon. The spoken word piece was complimented by a slideshow created by Mishak, that depicted the ideas expressed in the spoken word piece, which was underlaid with background music for dramatic effect. Along side the delivery of the spoken word our three Visual Arts members produced stunning pieces of art, telling the story of the first peoples. Lytrell produced a portrait of the present Queen in all her regalia, Chriselle produced two stunningly beautiful artist renditions of a Taino woman, the attention to detail was awesome and Jared produced a model of the housing compound/village. Each of these were presented at the end of the spoken word piece by the artists who explained their concepts. Following this we closed off the presentation with some audience participation in the form of a game show styled question and answer segment. The class was split in two, the Tainos and the Kalinagos. It was a burst of fun getting the full class involved. The winning team was gifted their prize – a cassava pone, a fitting reward!
Group members Presentation Feedback
Anastazia’s view -
Our presentation went well. We had a trailer, a slideshow, spoken word, and our artists each did a piece of work and spoke on it. It was interactive towards the end with a competitive Q and A session. Due to the different forms of sharing information, such as videos, pictures, poetry and art, the class was more likely to pay attention and absorb information. We had a few hiccups with the projector, but we recovered quickly and silently.
Aaqil’s view;
After our ‘mock presentation’, I was very excited and confident about the spectacle we were about to deliver. Our presentation really expressed our “Call to Action” and showed that once you put in the work and really come together, we can achieve great things. The package included every facet of who are the First People, their history and how important it is to know where we came from in order to determine where we’re going as a people. We managed to fit various entities relating to the First People, from their foods, their religious beliefs, their craftsmanship and gifts. It was truly a pleasure being a part of this awesome collaborative research project.
Jevon’s View
It has been a wonderful yet nerve-racking experience, especially learning that after we had the mocked presentation Miss Tarfer indicated that we were going to be the first group to present. I could not wait for it to be done and over with, we had tried to meet up to have a test run of the presentation but persons were unavailable. I started to get worried because we hardly heard from some people. But on the day of presentation everyone came together with all of their information and ideas on the first people and how we should go about presenting. It is so interesting how we partake in the food, dance and religious belief of the first people and never knew where it originated. I must say it was a great pleasure working along these wonderful groups of persons from different disciplines to put together this awesome presentation.
Lytrell's view -
The Carib Queen
Nona Lopez Cal-de-ron Ga-le-ra Moreno Aquan is the 7th Carib Queen to date. I choose to create a portrait of her because I was drawn to her beauty and lively spirit. From the reference image I used there was this sense of regalia and vibrancy that I wanted to capture. So I choose to emphasise the beautiful colours that were already present in the reference.
Chriselle’s view
I'm usually very intimidated by group assignments or presentations but despite my anxiety I trusted that there was great a sense of cohesion among us, tying in each discipline from all aspects of art together for a seamless portrayal of our topic and further findings on the first people.
My work portrays portraits of Taino women along with their religious symbolism with influences from Puerto Rican indigenous culture. From their folklore of the golden flower to the symbols of their gods and goddesses. I was inspired by the sun god, a god that provides great strength and longevity to both crops and people and átabey the goddess of moon fertility and freshwater. These symbols are shown on her right and left arm which influenced the environment both subjects were placed to give a sense of cohesion between them.
Debra's View
I was extremely nervous for our presentation. I have never written poetry in my life but wanted to present something different from the obvious dance and drama. Our team worked so effortless together and integrated well. We pulled on persons strengths and trusted each other. Persons gave their word on what they can commit to and each did not disappoint. We came together and we executed. My hope is that the presentation not only entertained but educated our peers about our origin and value the building blocks of our Caribbean culture
Final Thoughts
Many of us were a bit hesitant at the beginning of the journey especially from past experiences where group work is challenging. We did have some communication issues at the beginning as we settled in and navigated but as the project progressed we were able to gather pertinent information for the presentation as well as the dialogue between us became better. We have learnt so much about the First Peoples but we also learnt about ourselves, our hidden talents, our creativity and how to work together as a team. Overall it was a good, if a bit taxing experience. We all gained a lot of knowledge, about the first people and researching as a whole, while also forming connections with one another and got to showcase our talents.
