Bishop Alleyne and Elders of the Santa Rosa community prepare to be the first to enter their newly refurbished church.

Santa Rosa celebrates 195 years of the arrival of the Spanish Arawaks

June 28, 2012 | By KNews | 

On June 24, last, the small village of Santa Rosa celebrated in a unique way the 195th year since the arrival of the Arawaks to their village.
Among their distinguished guests were the Roman Catholic Bishop of Guyana His Lordship Francis Alleyne and priests, and visitors from New York, Paraguay, Ecuador, Cuba, Peru and Argentina.
Another source of joy for the Santa Rosa community was their church, St. Rose of Lima or Santa Rosa Del Lima, which recently underwent rehabilitation works.
The celebration took the form of the re-enactment of the arrival of the first priest to Moruca in 1823, Fr. William Hynes, who travelled to Moruca River via Georgetown from Trinidad. This was in response to the Arawaks’ plea for a priest to minister to their spiritual needs.
When Fr. Hynes arrived in Moruca River he was met by the Arawaks at Hobo Island (further south along the River from Santa Rosa) and then escorted by the community, at night he made his way to Mariaba (which was the name then of Santa Rosa).
As word went out that the priest had finally arrived, villagers along the river’s bank greeted him with the booming sounds from their bamboo guns. The villagers lived in tiny villages such as Cart Market, Koko, Paloma, Tokopeter and Aquero. After immediately ministering to the people there was a consultation and the community requested permission to build a church.
Permission was granted, and they built a church which became duly consecrated in 1830 by Fr. Hynes who was now Bishop Hynes.
On Saturday June 23, 2012 Bishop Alleyne played the role of Fr. Hynes. He and his group of priests and members of the Catholic community gathered at Aquero to give prayers and thanks. They then sailed from Aquero to Santa Rosa (in corials and boats outfitted with outboard engines) where they were met by another group of parishioners.
After being greeted in Spanish by a parishioner, the Bishop and the group then walked along the pathway lit by flambeaux from the river to the newly rehabilitated church. As they marched they were greeted by the bamboo guns booming away.
A Mass was said, followed by a cultural activity. Members of the church’s choir sang Tribute to Region One, an entry in this year’s Salute to Guyana School’s Mashramani Programme.
On Sunday, Mass was held to celebrate the Feast of St. John, patron saint of the Santa Rosa Community. After Mass the parishioners were fed and treated to another round of cultural activities, this time featuring the Mariabo Players performing their repertoire of Banchikilli Music.

Roman Catholic Bishop His Lordship Francis Alleyne, left in picture, performing the role of Fr. William Hynes is transported along the Moruca River from Aquero to Santa Rosa.

According to the oral traditions of the Spanish Arawaks their foreparents fled Venezuela in 1817 after the Capuchin Monks lost to Simon Bolivar in the Bolivarian War of Independence. The Arawaks who fought on the side of the Capuchin Monks became hunted.
Villages were burnt and their people murdered. The leader of the Arawaks, Toushaou Juan Aguilera, brought together a group which was willing to leave Venezuela, and in 1817 set sail from Angostura, now Cuidad Bolivar.
After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, they sailed into the Barima River where a group settled in now Mabaruma; the others continued into the Waini, Baramanni and Biara Rivers before finally entering the Moruca River.
They settled along the river but the main body landed on the site where the church is now located – this place they called Mariabo, Arawak for guava because of the numerous plants they found. In 1830 when the Church was consecrated St. Rose del Lima the village, was also renamed Santa Rosa.