Bharath says research within the Indigenous community has failed to establish that “Arima” or “Hyarima” means water in the Indigenous languages historically spoken by the First Peoples. “These were Spanish-controlled areas, and they had the Indigenous peoples as their work people, their workforce and so on,” he said. “And so all the Amerindians or First Peoples, as we refer to them today from these encomiendas, were brought to Arima,” Bharath said. Hyarima: A symbolof resistanceStanding alongside the modern development of Arima is another reminder of its Indigenous past: the monument to Hyarima. “The Nippoyos are a nation of the Indigenous peoples.”