A non-profit organisation run solely by women chose a Bermudian Government Minister to take part in an important slave memorial last month in the US.

Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield performed the wreath laying at the annual slave memorial celebrations at Mount Vernon ? US President George Washington?s former estate ? which was sponsored by two non-profit women?s organisations.

Described as a ?moving and uplifting experience? by Minister Butterfield, the ceremony took place on September 24 and was held at a burial ground for slaves on the estate, at the site of a memorial dedicated there in 1929. The memorial is one of only two of its kind in the US.

Intended as an act of recognition of the enslaved people that lived and died at Mount Vernon, this year?s event also sought to remember the role of the Caribbean in trafficking more than four million slaves. Bermuda was highlighted as an island that was instrumental in the African slave trade, despite slavery having been outlawed, since it was used as a smuggling point for the US.

The officiator of the ceremony, Reverend Donal Smith, said: ?Minister Butterfield represented the Premier in fine form as she brought greetings on his behalf together with the people of Bermuda, expressing sentiments on the migration of slaves particularly throughout the Caribbean and Bermuda.?