People looking to connect with Bermuda?s Native American heritage will get the perfect opportunity at the end of June during the third biannual Native Bermuda Festival in St. David?s.

?I didn?t know much about our background growing up, because our parents didn?t talk about it,? said St. David?s Islander Ronnie Chameau who is well known for making banana leaf dolls. ?We just knew that we were of Indian descent, because we would always ask ?how come we all look alike???

Her parent?s answer was that it was because people in St. David?s were of Native American ancestry. ?A lot of our traits, fishing nets and way of life are so much like the Native Americans,? she said. Mrs. Chameau is a member of the St. David?s Island Indian Committee that organises the event. It is an offshoot of the St. David?s Island Historical Society operating out of Carter House in St. David?s.

?Christine Lugo was one of our original organisers,? said Mrs. Chameau. ?She has now passed away. And then Jean Foggo Simon really brought it all together. Jean Simon continued on doing the genealogy and found that we are connected to the Native Americans.?

The Native Bermuda Festival will be held on June 25 and 26 on the St. David?s Cricket Club grounds. Festivities will start on a solemn note with a libation ceremony.

?In the libation ceremony we have a large wreath made,? she said. ?We buy carnations. Each person can come up and put the carnation in the wreath in memory of their loved ones.

?It is honouring the ancestors who have passed. Then we march it to the waters edge and let it go. There are no photographs taken. It is a sacred ceremony.?

Cherri DeSilva, who is charge of public relations for the event, said there will also be arts and crafts workshops as well as a number of performances by Bermudian and Native American dancers and musicians including the Mystic River Drum Troupe, and a group of Fancy Dancers.

Other visitors will include the Wampanoag Sachem (the highest ranking member of the tribe), Annawon Weeden of the Wampanoag who is a regular visitor to Bermuda, his father Tall Oak and Ramona Peters, a highly esteemed historian and spiritualist. One of the most moving moments will come when the Warwick Gombey Troupe dances with the Fancy Dancers.

?It is amazing how many similarities there are between the two types of dancers,? said Mrs. Chameau.

The two dancing together will symbolise the coming together of the two cultures. Tickets will be bought at the gate for $5 for adults and $2 for children and seniors.