INFLUENCIAL GARINAGU FROM THE DIASPORA (to be continued...)
FOUNDING FATHERS
Joseph Chatoyer (Chatuye) Paramount Garifuna Chief who fought the British in Saint Vincent. Joseph was General in the army of France. He led the battle against the British for 32 years until his death on March 14, 1795.
Barauda was the courageous wife of Chief Joseph Chatoyer. She also supported freedom of her people and the fight against the invading British army to the Island.
Thomas Vincent Ramos born in Honduras and moved to Belize where he founded the Garifuna Settlement Day celebration every 19th of November. He died in Dangriga.
Marcos Sanchez Diaz led a group of Garinagu to Livingston, Izabal Guatemala and settled there on May 15, 1802. Traditionally Labugana celebrated May 15 San Isidro Labrador day as their arrival but now they celebrate the Settlement Day on the 26th day of November.
Elejo Beni, a Garifuna leader, led a group of Honduran Garinagu to the settlement in 1832 to Dangriga, Belize.
Juan Francisco Bulnes “Walumugu” He was a prominent Garifuna lieutenant in Honduras and fought along the Central American patriot Francisco Morazan.
Gulisi the granddaughter of the granddaughter of Joseph Chatoyer. The daughter, from who this descendant came, was named Gulisi. She was born in St. Vincent, survived the massacre and the exile to Roatan, and from there made her way to Belize and eventually settled in the Commerce Bight area just south of Dangriga.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Dr. Luther Castillo Harry is a Garifuna physician who graduated from Cuba’s Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina. He founded the first Garifuna hospital without government funding. This facility was built from donations secured by Dr. Luther Castillo and other Garifuna doctors, local architects and the communities themselves and it is located in the remote coastal municipality of Iriona. He is advocate for human rights in Honduras and the world.
Tomas Zuñiga. The Los Angeles City Council declared April 12 , 2003 "Garifuna Day" in the City of Los Angeles thanks to this man from Labuga. Founder and President of GEM (Garinagu Empowerment Movement).
Mario Ellington Lambe, Lawyer The first Garifuna lawyer in Guatemala. Mr. Ellington served as Vice Minister of Culture and Sports 2007. He has been in the leadership of several Garifuna organizations in Labuga and Puerto Barrios including ONEGUA (Black Guatemalan Organization).
Dr. Jorge Bernardez is a staff physician at the University Park Health Center, a team physician for USC Athletics and a professor of third- and fourth-year medical students at the Keck School of Medicine. He is also crucial in determining the eligibility of USC athletes by performing physicals on football and basketball players, among other USC athletes. He has been a leader in the Garifuna community of Los Angeles teaching other Garinagu how to speak and write Garifuna. Dr. Bernardez’s father is a proud Honduran.
MUSICIANS
Pen Cayetano, painter, singer, songwriter, percussionist, guitarist is the leading cultural reviavalist and ambassador for the Garinagu. He born in Dangriga in 1954. Pen is credited with the creation of the very popular Punta Rock style in the 1980’s.
Gadu Nuñez a hard-working musician born in Puerto Barrios, Izabal Guatemala. He first played for the Guatemalan Navy band then Black Fever Band. Gadu wrote the famous self-titled song which became the national anthem of “Puerto Barrios” to honor his hometown.
EDUCATION
Clifford Palacio was one of the many teachers that came out of the Garifuna ranks in Belize. He has written many articles in regards to the Garifuna grammatical rules and pronunciation. He was the president of the Garifuna Settlement Day Group in Los Angeles. He was one of the founding fathers of GAHFU’s Garifuna Culture & Language School in LA. He did a cameo appearance on CBS’ The Eleventh Hour: Season 1, Episode 5, “Containment”. Mr. Palacio taught the Garifuna language spoken in this episode. He is the father of NBA’s Milt Palacio and painter Greg Palacio.
Salvador Suazo is a prominent Honduran writer; “De Saint Vincent A Roatan: Un Resumen Etnohistorico Garifuna. He served as the Vice Minister of Culture. Mr. Suazo has also been involved in the development of the standardization of the Garifuna language.
Ruben Reyes is a self-taught Garifuna teacher under the guidance of Dr. Jorge Bernardez. He is the inventor of the garifunainstitute.com, the Garifuna clock, his own version of the emblem on the Garifuna flag and the translation into Garifuna of the American, Guatemalan and Honduran National Anthem. He is currently working on a trilingual dictionary: Garifuna, Spanish and English. He currently teaches at GAHFU’s Garifuna Culture & Language School in Los Angeles.
Dr. Joseph O. Palacio is an anthropologist and retired Resident Tutor of the University of the West Indies' college in Belize. Dr. Palacio was born in the Southern Village of Barangu, Toledo District. He is the author of several books on the ancient worlds of Mesoamerica and he was instrumental in the founding of the Caribbean Organization of Indigenous Peoples (COIP).
Adele Ramos a Garifuna writer from Belize. She wrote a book entitled 'Thomas Vincent Ramos: The Man and His Writings". Adele is the grand-daughter of T.V. Ramos, Founder of Garifuna Settlement Day.
REGIDORES Y ALCALDES DEL MUNICIPIO DE LIVINGSTON No. NOMBRE PERIODO CARGO - LIST OF MAYORS WHO HAVE GOVERNED IN LIVINGSTON (LABUGA), GUATEMALA
01 Valerio Izaguirre 1920-1921 Alcalde Municipal 02 Jesús Herrera 1932-1933 Alcalde Municipal 03 Turiano Sosa 1933-1934 Alcalde Municipal 04 Felipe Nery Barrientos 1937-1938 Intendente Municipal 05 Francisco Ramírez 1939-1944 Intendente Municipal 06 Bonifacio Blanco 1944-1945 Alcalde Municipal 07 Romulo Castañeda 1945-1946 Alcalde Municipal 08 Arturo Rich 1946-1947 Alcalde Municipal 09 Guillermo Quiñones Warren 1948-1949 Alcalde Municipal 10 Cesar H. Santos Pacheco 1951-1952 Alcalde Municipal 11 Antonio Sánchez 1953-1954 Alcalde Municipal 12 José Humberto Rosa 1954-1955 Alcalde Municipal 13 Anacleto Corado 1956-1957 Alcalde Municipal 14 Francisco Zurita 1958-1959 Alcalde Municipal 15 Alberto Chavarria 1961-1962 Alcalde Municipal 16 Francisco Zurita 1963-1964 Alcalde Municipal 17 Sergio Martín Warren Marroquín 1965-1966 Alcalde Municipal 18 Ludwin Ander 1967-1969 Alcalde Municipal 19 Noe Solis 1968-1970 Alcálde Municipal 20 Camilo Echeverría 1971-1972 Alcalde Municipal 21 Sergio Martín Warren Marroquín 1972 y 1974 Alcalde Municipal 22 Benito Baltazar Lorenzo 1973 Alcalde Municipal 22 Alberto Silva 1974-1976 Alcalde Municipal 23 José Paz Enamorado Fuentes 1976-1978 Alcalde Municipal 24 Julio Lee Vernon 1981-1982 Alcalde Municipal 25 Rodolfo Arana Flores 1984-1985 Alcalde Municipal 26 Ricardo Parham 1985-1987 Alcalde Municipal 27 Rene Estrada 1988-1993 Alcalde Municipal 28 Byron Juventino Chacón Ardón 1993-1998 Alcalde Municipal 29 Juan Alberto Silva Reneau 1998-2000 Alcalde Municipal 30 Byron Juventino Chacón Ardón 2000-2003 Alcalde Municipal 31 Ovidio Sosa Pineda 2003-2004 Alcalde Municipal 32 Miguel Rax Asij 2004-2008 Alcalde Municipal 33 Domingo Flores Alcalde Municipal
34 Patricio Lorenzo Alcalde Municipal 35 José Antonio Terrón Alcalde Municipal 36 Benjamin Matus Alcalde Municipal
212 AÑOS DE HISTORIA EN HONDURAS.
Señor German Reyes.
Redaccion La Prensa.
San Pedro Sula , Honduras
Acabo de leer su articulo: Garifunas de Honduras y sus 200 años de historia.
Adjunto mi articulo:LOS 212 AÑOS Y LA COMERCIALIZACION DE NUESTRA HISTORIA .Con esa información podrá hacer algunas correcciones. 1.- Se están celebrando 212 años de la llegada de los Garifuna a Honduras,y no 200 años de historia, pues nuestra historia como pueblo ,como etnia/cultura,surge desde la interacción del negro africano con los nativos de San Vicente identificados por la historia como Tainos y Siboneys. 2.-La Etnia Garifuna llegó a Honduras ,procedente de la isla de San Vicente,no de Guadalupe como lo indica su articulo.Pero,claro está,los documentos historicos disponibles nos cuentan que hay Garinagu en la Isla de Guadalupe y otras islas del Mar Caribe . 3.- Cuando llegamos a San Vicente,tocamos tierra como Hombres Libres,no como esclavos; ya nos habiamos librado de nuestros captores. Claro está, para hacer honor a la verdad historica,nos traían para ser vendidos como esclavos. 4.-Cuando arribamos a Roatan,el 12 de Abril de 1797,veníamos como Hombres Libres y, el mejor testimonio de ello es que cuando negociamos con las autoridades españolas radicadas en Trujillo,nuestro traslado a tierra firme,nos aceptaron como hombres libres,arribando a Trujillo el 17 de Mayo de 1797,donde fundamos dos comunidades :Garibalu [Caribal] al este y Cristalu [Cristales]al oeste. 5.- Por nuestra experiencia militar,los españoles nos incorporaron inmediatamente a su ejercito para combatir las incurciones inglesas. 6.- Los documentos historicos cuentan,que los españoles nos permitieron organizar nuestros propios comandos para combatir las incurciones inglesas en tierra firme de Honduras. 7-Cuando los Garinagu llegamos en 1797, ya habia otros grupos de Negros en Honduras traídos por los franceses e ingleses con los que posteriormente nos mezclamos,y como resultado, algunos apellidos de Garinagu hoy,son originados del frances e ingles .y 8.- Los rasgos NEGROIDE/AFRICANO de la población hondureña que hay desde Trujillo, pasando por Tarros, Chapagua y otras comunidades de Colon, hacia Yoro, pasando por los Departamentos de Cortes, Olancho, Comayagua hasta Francisco Moranzán ,es testimonio irrefutable de nuestra presencia en Honduras y cómo nos hemos incorporado a la vida nacional , aunque algunos buenos hondureños lo quieran ignorar.
Melecio R. Gonzalez.
[323] 299-9459.
Los Angeles, Ca.Abril 19,2009
LOS 212 AÑOS Y LA COMERCIALIZACION DE NUESTRA HISTORIA .
En 1772 Los Garinagu,llamados Caribes por los ingleses , al mand de Joseph Chatoyer encabezaron la guerra para impedir la colonización de la isla de San Vicente, llamada HAIROUN por los nativos, acción que la Historia Universal registra como la Primera Guerra del Caribe.
El 14 de Marzo de 1795,cae asesinado Joseph Chatoyer por el ingles Alexander Leith, victima de una emboscada. Se cree que Chatoyer se didrigía a entablar negociaciones con los ingleses.
Julio 13 de 1796,los ingleses empiezan a discutir la forma de deshacerse de los Garinagu. Dias después alquilaron la isla de Belliceaux para confinar los Garinagu mientras decidian qué hacer de ellos. El 15 de Julio1796 se dá la orden de expulsar a los Garinagu de su Madre Patria {San Vicente}.
Marzo 11 de 1797,se convirtió en el dia mas oscuro en la historia del pueblo Garifuna,con la salida del comboy que les condujo a Roatan .Es un imperativo anotar que durante el confinamiento en Belliceaux, entre Octubre de 1796 y Marzo de 1797,unos 2400 Caribes,[Garinagu]murieron de una rara enfermedad. No quedó claro si fueron envenenados por los ingleses o fueron victimas de Fiebre Amarilla.
\El 17 de mayo de 1797,tras negociaciones, las autoridades españolas radicadas en Trujillo,aceptaron que los Garinagu recien llegados,a Roatan,se trasladaran a Trujillo,donde fundaron dos comunidades : Garibalu {Caribal} al este y Cristalu [Cristales] al oeste.
En 1815 los Garinagu descubrieron un Ceibón del cual lleva su nombre el puerto de la Ceiba. Se cree que dicho árbol fue derribado entre 1914 y 1917.,donde se construyó el edificio de Aduana.
Julio 6 y 7 de 1.996. Sociedad Negra Hondureña de California, [SONHOCA] celebró en la escuela Socorro Sorel ,Trujillo,un evento que dió en llamar El Grifuna de Frente alSiglo XXI. Aquel evento se realizó tal como lo planiaron los organizadores 18 meses antes. A esta fecha,13 años después, los organizadores siguen siendo buenos amigos, tienen buenas comunicaciones,y no se han denigrado los unos a los otros, quizá porque no habia poder ni dinero por el que pelear y el evento se realizó con los recursos del Comité Organizador y la colaboración desinteresada de la Mujer Garifuna,que siempre dijo presente . Aquel fue un modelo de orgullo e identidad historica y cultural,digno de emular.No se le pidio dinero a ningun funcionario publico. Y no se le mendigó a ningun politico. ¿Posible? Sí, por que se hizo y se podrá seguir haciendo con Unión,Organización,Disciplina y Determinación.
San Vicente y las Granadinas,es un archipielago formado por unas 30 islas.La mayor es San Vicente donde está ubicada Kingston, la capital . El gobierno de la nación de San Vicente y las Granadinas,se define como Parlamentario,miembro de la Comunidad Britanica de Naciones.Proclamó su independencia el 27 de Octubre de 1.979.
Marzo 14 de 2002,es la fecha más importante en la historia de San Vicente y las Granadinas,en su busqueda y encuentro con su identidad historica.El Jefe Supremo de Los Garinagu,El Gran Joseph Chatoyer,fue proclamado El Primer Heroe Nacional De San Vicente y las Granadinas . Joseph Chatoyer fue el Jefe Supremo de la Nacion Garifuna en un momento especial de su Historia. En su lucha para preservar la tierra que le vio nacer :San Vicente,conocido por sus nativos como Hairoun,que traducido significa :Tierra de los Bendecidos.
Hago las anteriores anotaciones para ilustrar personas de piel oscura que sólo se consideraron “Garinagu”cuando se informaron que había dinero para promover el desarrollo de las etnias,entonces empezó la mendicidad para utilizar el vocabulario GARIFUNA como una mercancía devaluada .Para aquellos que han utilizado el baile llamado “punta”para menear el tracero bajo el influjo de alcohol y drogas,como si fuera la UNICA REPRESENTACION GARIFUNA,muy atentamente les sugiero revisar las páginas de nuestra rica historia,donde encontrarán elementos de los que podrían sentirse más orgullosos,pero quizá no lo hacen , “porque no es muy vendible.” Claro está,que para hacerlo ,primero reconocerían que ni siquiera hablan la lengua Garifuna y mucho menos conocen su Historia, ni la comunidades Garifunas ,donde las escuelas estan en estado tan deprimente que hasta dá miedo entrar;casas que llaman Centro de Salud,donde no llega medicina,y mucho menos personal de salud. Esos lideres han visto esas realidades?
Más de 4.000 años de historia de mujeres y hombres de Raza Negra,desde el antiguo Egipto,pasando por el antiguo Níger, hoy Nigeria,Reyes y Reynas hasta de 18 dinastias enriquecen nuestra historia. Valientes mujeres al mando de ejercitos de Liberación como Ann Nzimgha contra el dominio portugués[1582-1663., para sólo mencionar unos pocos.Nuestra historia está llena de luchas,tragedia,retos,heroísmo,deportaciones y traiciones de los mismos negros. Traición en la que muchos garinagu, llamados lideres son “Grandes Campeones.”
El naufragio de un barco danes en 1635 cargado de negros,cerca de la isla de San Vicente, para ser vendidos como esclavos ,la mezcla con los nativos Taínos y Siboneys,el nacimiento de la Etnia/cultura Garifuna en San Vicente,la posterior expulsión por los ingleses,nuestra llegada a Honduras el 12 de Abril de 1797,no es sino un pequeño Capitulo en la Historia de la Humanidad.
El baile mal llamado “punta” era un baile CEREMONIAL que utilizaban nuestros ancestros,para ciertos eventos. Hoy hasta asco dá ver la vulgaridad y obcenidad con que lo practican los mercaderes del vicio y la corrupción .Pero lo más denigrante es que lo patrocinan y comercializan “respetables y conocidos dirigentes”.
Recientemente ,al aproximarse el 212 Aniversario de la llegada del Pueblo Garifuna a Honduras,la llamada COORDINADORA NACIONAL DE ORGANIZACIONES NEGRAS DE HONDURAS,publicó fechado en Trujillo,el 9 de Marzo pasado,un tal comunicado de prensa ,que desglosaba las actividades a desarrollarse los dias 10 y 12 de Abril de 2,009 en el edificio que ocupa la Comunidad de Cristales y Rio Negro y el Castillo de Santa Barbara ,respectivamente .
El anterior comunicado de prensa ,se convirtió en otra vulgar burla al Pueblo Garifuna . No se realizaron los eventos programados. ¿ Porque? De ahí surgen más preguntas :Qué cosa es Coordinadora de Organizaciones Negras de Honduras .? Cuáles y cuántas Organizaciones la integran? Qué función cumple? Cuando se organizó y para qué? Cuántas personas individuales la integran?.
Por el respeto que me merece nuestra Etnia Garifuna, en partricular,y la Raza Negra en general por su valiosa aportación a la Historia Universal,le ruego muy respetuosamente a los llamados dirigentes o lideres,como les guste mejor llamarse,que refleccionen,y se sientan frente a frente para trazar un plan de Pueblo,de Identidad Cultural e Historica con planteamientos y acciones especificas orientadas hacia la persona humana,con Dignidad,Integridad y Decoro y dejen de distorsionar nuestra historia para venderla al mejor postor como una mercancia devaluada..Cuánto le pagaron a Israel Centeno para cambiar la fecha de la Conmemoración de los 212 Años para los dias 24,25,y 26 de Abril, y entre cuántos se repartieron el botín .?
Para conocimientos de los dirigentes mercantilizados,les mencionaré algunos nombres de Garinagu como testimonio irrefutable de la verticalidad de hombres y mujeres Garinagu, que murieron sin perder la determinación que caracterizó a Chatoyer,y que no fueronsobalebas ni se vendieron como mercancia devaluada, ni fueron endiosados dirigentes y que en vida irradiaron DIGNIDAD Y HUMILDAD : Procopio Bonilla, Catarino Castro Cerrano,Agustin Villafranca Gonzalez,Isidro Sabio Gonzalez,Alfonso Lacayo S. Abel Gonzalez Caballero,Ilario Mena M., Tomas Vicente Ramos,Santano Norales,Erasmo Zuñiga Sambula,Moisés Moreira Bernandez ,Fausto Miguel Alvarez,conspicuo investigador de la cultura Garifuna,que falleció antes de sacar a luz el resultado de sus investigaciones;.solo para mencionar unos pocos, ya fallecidos.
Coroneles : Bonifacio Garcia, Cantalicio Arzu y Lorenzo Lacayo.
Aun brillando con lúz propia tenemos a Gerardo Martinez Blanco ExSecretario del Instituto de Investigación Juridica de UNAH,ExAsesor de la Cancilleria de la Republica,ExEmbajador de Honduras ante Naciones Unidas entre otros cargos ostentados; Guillermina Blanco_Guity,PH.D.; Jorge Bernardez M,MD; Carlos Domingo Alvarez,Ingeniero Tecnico Biomedico y Maestro en lenguas GarifunaEspañol e Ingles ;Mario Alfonso Loredo,Docente de Quimica y Ciencias y Jefe de Equipo de de profesores de Quimica aplicada a la Medicina in N.Y.Clifford Palacio,educador radicado en Los Angeles, Ca.Justo Mena,empresario jubilado y activista comunitario; Teofilo Lacayo,veterano educador y combativo activista de la etnia Garifuna, Lorgia Jovina Alvarez,dotada de una ferrea determinación ,de la que sus logros son testimonio irrefutable.
Como se verá,ninguno de los nombres arriba señalados aparece en la paginas “sociales” que suelen “difundir”los autodenominados dirigentes Garinagu.
DECID AL PUEBLO LA VERDAD Y EL PAIS SERA LIBRE
MELECIO R. GONZALEZ
Los Angeles, Ca. Abril 16,2009.
LUFANIDIRAN GARIFUNA - THE GARIFUNA FLAG - LA BANDERA GARIFUNA
How Did the Garifuna Become Indigenous People? - Reconstructing the cultural persona of an African-Native American People in Central America
"However, anthropology has been forced to come to terms with the realities of the modern world in which displaced identities and recuperated identities go to form what has been called a global ethnoscape" Neil Whitehead(I998).
Introduction
The reason for asking the question how did the Garifuna become indigenous is
that they are black within a region, highly conscious of skin colour, that ascribes indigenous identity only to persons with olive skin colour. This chromatic reason for questioning will always remain at the popular level especially forthcoming from other indigenous people, who have accused the Garifuna of usurping an identity that is not truly theirs1. The other reason to ask the question is to understand how the Garifuna have maintained continuity in their identity notwithstanding an accumulation of destructive experiences, each of which could have derailed them from the track of being one people with one identity. These experiences include migration across large areas in northeast South America and spilling over into the Eastern Caribbean, systematic genocide in St. Vincent, massive displacement across hundreds of kilometres in the Atlantic Ocean, and over 200 years of pervasive racial discrimination in Central America leading many persons to forsake their cultural identity altogether and join the majority within their respective societies.
The short answer to the question how did the Garifuna become indigenous is that they added the label "indigenous" onto themselves when they and other bio-cultural groups of Native American descent within the Circum-Caribbean acquired the generic term in the late 1980s. Beforehand, these people, also called Amerindians, had used their own traditional names, such as Maya, Kekchi, and Garifuna. The acceptance of "indigenous" came through the influence of indigenous activists in the political movement originating in North and Central America. One regional indicator was the formation in 1989 of the Caribbean Organization of Indigenous Peoples (COIP) by peoples in the former British colonies from Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent, Dominica, and Belize
1 In discussing the view of some Dominica Caribs on promoting tourism on their island, Whitehead noted. "It is firmly believed that Black Caribs do not sufficiently conform to the touristic ideal of the Amerindian, and so should be hidden away, erased from the culture and history of the Caribs." (1998)
Palacio 2006: 215-234). The larger global validation came in 1992 when the COIP was accepted as member organization of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WC1P) (Palacio 2006: 215-234). The use of the designation "indigenous peoples" has been refined by multilateral agencies including the United Nations and the Organization of American States.
This essay follows on the theme of this Gathering - "An inquiry on the notion of persona - reconstructing the notion of persona in Mexico and Central America" - with a focus on the Garifuna. I amplify the scope of reconstructing cultural identity in three ways. Firstly, I trace the formation of the cultural matrix of an indigenous people over several hundred years and several hundred square kilometres. Secondly, 1 accentuate the efforts of the people to consistently retain their cultural identity, while taking advantage of available opportunities. Thirdly, I integrate my own experiences in the consolidation of Garifuna peoplehood in Belize within the past thirty years.
There is implicit in this essay the spirit of an odyssey that starts with the trajectory of a people and ends as my own personal experience as scholar and activist among indigenous peoples. This paper is still very much a work in progress. I thank the organizers of this Gathering whose initiative has helped me sharpen my focus on the definition and formation of social and cultural identity among a people, who have been doing so despite overwhelming odds for thousands of years. I am grateful for questions and comments as I move forward.
Garifuna Studies
It is impossible to arrive at a population figure for all the Garifuna because of their large scale geographical spread across four countries within the northeast coast of Central America and their dispersion within North American cities, such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New Orleans. The figure normally quoted is about 300,000. The largest proportion lives in Honduras with additional numbers in Belize, Guatemala, and Nicaragua (see Fig. 1). In these countries they have settled for a little over 200 years initially in tens of coastal small villages, many of which are being overrun by ladino immigrants displaced from their own hinterland communities. In response the Garifuna are moving in larger numbers to coastal towns, such as Puerto Cortez, San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba in Honduras and Belize City in Belize, as well as further away into North American cities.
This last succession within urban frontiers is generating probably the greatest threat to the survival of the Garifuna as a socio-culture, which previously had always been located within small, kinship based rural communities. The longevity of Garifuna culture as we know it has been due to its incubation within small villages all along the coast of Central America for the better part of the last 200 years.
For their relatively small population size the Garifuna have been hosts to several ethnographers, since the 1950s. Douglas Taylor, Nancie Gonzalez, Virginia Kerns, Catherine Macklin, Mark Moberg, Byron Foster, Carol Jenkins, Alfonso Arrivillaga, and William Davidson are only a few from the large body of anthropologists. Additionally there are several Garifuna men and women, who have published works about their own people. They include Sebastian Cayetano, Marion Cayetano, Roy Cayetano, Jorge Bernardez, Felicia Hernandez, Joseph Palacio, Myrtle Palacio, Godsman Ellis, Zoila Ellis, Salvador Suazo, and Virgilio Lopez Garcia. The relatively large numbers of native scholars within the Garifuna population, a large part of which still remains at limited levels of literacy, indicates a strong dedication to unravel the story of their people through the written word. On the other hand, there is a large body of oral literature that is untouched and needs to be captured.
The published data about the Garifuna falls into segments on history and contemporary issues. The topic of cultural identity, which is the theme of
this Gathering, is pervasive within both of these segments. One of the most comprehensive analyses of the history of cultural identity is Nancie Gonzalez's 1988 volume on ethnohistory and ethnogenesis. She traces the historical formation of the Garifuna and uses the configuration of select traits to identify their ethnic identity in coastal Central America. Taking a parallel approach - also based on coastal Central America - has been the interest of mainly Garifuna students on genealogy, more specifically on first settlers of given localities and subregions by family groups (Arrivillaga 2005: 64-84). Both Davidson (1980: 31-62) and Palacio (2005:43-63) have extended their genealogical reconstruction as far as families in St. Vincent.
Indeed, it is tempting to peel back the layers of the Garifuna persona through time and space from South America and West Africa through the Eastern Caribbean, and eventually arriving in Central America. Such effort awaits the work of several scholars in history and anthropology. However, it is possible to outline a schema, as I have done in Fig. 2, which could be the skeleton of such a longitudinal reconstruction.
The schema has three parts - the pre-St. Vincent, St. Vincent, and post-St. Vincent periods. The pre-St. Vincent falls into the prehistoric period that took place in northeast South America and West Africa together with the historic period centring on the efforts of the Island Caribs to wrest control of their former East Caribbean subregion from the British and French. The St. Vincent period starts from the mid-seventeenth century and ends with the exile to Central America in 1797. The post-St. Vincent period extends from 1797 to the present. Within the schema I attempt to retrace the building of a pre-Garifuna identity and follow major episodes in its transformation to the state that we know it today. Whereas the core traits that the modern day Garifuna people can claim as theirs originated in northeastern South America and West Africa, the congealing of the overall socio-culture to its present stage took place in St. Vincent. Afterwards, the people have been opposing being relegated to an ethnic group in their Central American states with the ideology of peoplehood that resonates with their original status as sovereign nation in St. Vincent.
The Pre-St Vincent Period
If the Garifuna culture has been a cumulative body of various sub-cultures, is there a place and a point in time that marked the genesis of its cultural matrix? While we can be certain about the broad parameters of the location, we can be less accurate about the time. The location was the Orinoco River basin, which cuts the map of Venezuela into two parts running in an east-west axis. Because of the overlap among socio-cultures extending south of the Orinoco, Neil Whitehead (1988: 9-20) uses the name "Guayana" for the larger subregion extending from the Orinoco to the Amazon River. Furthermore, this confirms the designation Amazon Rainforest Tradition for the cultural matrix of the ancestors of the Garifuna. In narrowing the location of genesis, we refer to the part of the Orinoco River basin nearest to the Caribbean islands into which the Garifuna ancestors dispersed. The island of Trinidad is located a short distance north of the delta of the Orinoco and further south along the Atlantic Ocean there are the Guianas. Presently located in French Guiana and Suriname are the Galibi Karinya, who were culturally related to the Island Caribs. Some anthropologists have added that the Galibi were precursors of the Island Caribs (Allaire 1997: 177-185).
The question when the cultural matrix started falls into the hands of archaeologists and diachronic linguists and in both groups there is great uncertainty. We are safe in saying that it would have been earlier than 2000 B.C., the earliest time marker for habitation in the Caribbean islands, although it cannot be said that these pioneer settlers would have originated on the South American mainland (Rouse 1992). Needless to say there is also doubt as to who these pioneers were. Of more importance than name designations were the larger set of preconditions that facilitated the welding of peoples who eventually became the Island Caribs. The Orinoco River basin is replete with a wide variety of small and large micro-environments producing riverine, terrestrial, and coastal resources that could be exploited and traded (Whitehead 1988: 7-20). After centuries of these reciprocal exchanges the Karinya emerged among the more dominant groups, who were able to command greater share of the resources. As in the other cases of reconstructing a history with many unknowns, it is safer to conclude that along with the Karinya there were other groups with similarities in language, belief systems, and material culture; and that they formed alliances for their mutual well-being. From such an overlap came groups who crossed at various time periods into the Caribbean islands, following a pattern of overcoming ever new frontiers. It is worth emphasizing a caveat that will be recurring in further discussions that ascribing place names to groups living within overlapping geographical subregions is not fruitful. Holdren (1998: 1-8) refers to the dilemma that ethnonyms can create in the historical description of groups in the Caribbean.
The discussion that we have covered so far falls into the prehistoric pre-St. Vincent period. Taking place simultaneously across the Atlantic in West Africa would have been another set of factors consolidating groups, who would eventually travel to the New World first as free men on exploratory missions and later in much greater numbers as slaves. There has not been any attempt at a chronological coordination about events taking place among groups on both sides of the Atlantic, whose descendants would eventually join to become the Garifuna nation in St. Vincent. Both the origins of Africans who ended in the Eastern Caribbean and their intermixture with the Island Caribs are topics least known in Garifuna history and are awaiting much needed research.
The next stage in the prehistoric pre-St. Vincent period was the movement and consolidation of the descendants of the Orinoco River basin peoples, who came to be known as the Island Caribs or Caraibe, the term that Holdren (1998) prefers. The adjective 'Island' differentiates them from the mainland Caribs, who remained in South America. There is agreement that if they had left the mainland as separate tribal groups, they narrowed many of their differences as they formed a "confederacy" of "politically autonomous" groups (Holdren 1998), extending from Grenada in the south to the Virgin Islands in the north. The amalgamation came from their opposition to European colonization resulting in recurring warring expeditions by men drawn from the islands as well as from their allies on the South American mainland.
While there was scant information about who had been main operators during the Orinoco River basin period, what they traded with whom, and the level of complexity in their social structures, there is much information available about the Island Carib period originating in reports by French missionaries and the archives of colonial authorities. Interestingly, one of the most knowledgeable about this period Louis Allaire (1997: 177-185) gave much credit to the statements of the Island Caribs themselves that reportedly they gave to Columbus and his chroniclers. Based on the documentary sources available, Allaire concludes that by the mid 17th century they had a strong identity characterized by traits, such as the women's ornamental wear ^and drinking manioc beer (not done by the Arawaks). Allaire (1997: 180) adds ".... they shared a strong national character and ethnic identity. They claimed openly that they were of the same ethnicity as their Carib neigbors of what is today French Guiana and Suriname."
A main characteristic of the Island Carib was their use of multiple languages even within their own community and household. According to Cooper (1997: 186-196) women used Island Carib when speaking to their male peers and Arawak with their children and other women. On the other hand, the male children spoke Island Carib to their fathers. Among themselves the men used a Carib based pidgin, which was a widespread trading language in South America (Allaire 1997:177-185). This pidgin resulted from centuries of trading and warring practices in which mainland Caribs had engaged with several tribes. In an illuminating article Cooper (1997:186-196) has analysed the differences that existed between women and men speech, some of which exist in modern day Garifuna society.
We can summarize what we know about the descendants of the mainland Caribs, whom we had earlier seen within the Orinoco River basin and had started their island hopping probably as far back at least as 2000 B.C. By the end of the 17th century A.D. they had a strong cultural identity that had been tested several times in wars first against other native tribes and subsequently against Europeans. The French and British had suffered so much from their guerrilla raids that both agreed in 1686 and again in 1748 that Dominica and St. Vincent (see Fig. 1), the two sub-capitals of Carib aggression, should remain as neutral territories for either side. In other words, they would be sanctuaries for the Caribs within a region that was quickly becoming the colonial territories of Britain and France.
Engaging in wars, of course, has been the stereotypical perspective of the Island Caribs. However, we need to include their strong role as traders, in which they had engaged from their early mainland era and received much impetus through the introduction of European trade goods. As in their war effort, trading necessitated covering long distances over land and ocean, accumulating much needed skills in boat building, navigation, and how to negotiate with different sets of peoples across several cultures on everything from pathways to buying and selling trade items. They had acquired remarkable ease to succeed when dealing in multiple situations across space and time, demonstrating an uncanny skill to know and pre-judge reactions.
As people with enduring spirituality they had adjusted their long held mainland iconography to the ecology of the islands. In a highly reflective essay Honychurch (2002) has traced how they used newly appreciated island images, such as the summits of volcanic mountain outcrops, as symbols for their deity. Similarly, they could no longer hunt larger mammals in the islands, such as tapir and jaguar that had been available on the mainland. Instead they fashioned traps to catch smaller game animals. Finally, they adjusted traditional ceremonies to mark the annual seasons that were slightly different in the islands.
The cultural plurality, already so well established among the Island Caribs, took on added ingredients from groups arriving after Columbus. Europeans intermarried with their women notably in Dominica and St. Vincent. If these marriages were of a predatory nature where white men took advantage of native women, there was another type of intermarriage initiated by men escaping slavery and desperately in need of refuge within a host community. These were maroon African slaves escaping from plantations in nearby islands, and especially taking advantage after Dominica and St. Vincent had been declared neutral islands.
The intermarriage of Africans took place extensively throughout the Eastern Caribbean and the entire archipelago. The fusion between the two parties taking place in St. Vincent was unique insofar as there was a consolidation into a cultural matrix with a sustained past and continuity up to the present. Among corresponding intermixtures in other islands this level of welding has not endured. While there have been distinct socio-cultures formed from the mixture of Africans with Native Americans in other pars of the Americas, notably Brazil (Bastide 1972), the only example in the Circum-Caribbean is the Garifuna. The following description of the St. Vincent era explains further the process of consolidation.
St Vincent
The next period in the schema in Fig. 2 takes place in the island where the Garifuna, the name the Black Caribs use for themselves, were formed. There is much that is available in the literature on this period from a wider variety of sources than for the previous periods that we have reviewed. In addition to the traditional anglophile sources, such as (Young 1971), there is the account by Kirby and Martin (1972), which presents a perspective that is as close as one can get to the Garifuna viewpoint. There are also French sources that present a humanist perspective highlighting their interactions with the residents of St. Vincent (Hulme 2005: 21-42). Curtis Jacobs' essay (2003) gives a view of the French records about the 1794-1796 Brigands War, also called the Second Carib War. Unfortunately, there would seem to be even fewer accounts of the socio-culture than what had been available from French missionaries in the previous era. The result is that we know much more about their fighting with the French and British than the things they did in their daily life. The regret is that it was large parts of this socio-culture that eventually arrived in Central America.
The Island Carib stranglehold of the Eastern Caribbean that had taken place in Pre-Columbian times was bound to dissipate in the face of the superior military might of the British and French. By 1700 Dominica and St. Vincent had become little more than symbolic vestiges of a previous regional domain in the hands of indigenous people. The two questions that are appropriate for this essay are how would the end take place; would Garifuna be able to preserve as a socio-culture or would it haemorrhage to the point of gradual extinction as had happened in other parts of the Circum-Caribbean earlier and would do so later.
The end came about as a protracted attrition of rights to natural resources. As a result, the Garifuna lost their natural resources but in the process consolidated their nationhood or their persona as a people. Europeans firstly denuded the forest of St. Vincent and secondly acquired all lands that belonged to the Garifuna. By 1700 Barbados with a land area of only 451 square kilometres already was severely overcrowded with a population of over 65,000 (Beckles 1990: 42). To satisfy the need for fuel as well as timber for construction, the British had long looked to St. Vincent located a mere one hundred and forty square kilometres to the west. Further environmental degradation came with the overflow of French and British colonists who clear-cut forests, while introducing their domestic animals. In the advance of these incursions the remaining Caribs and Black Caribs were forced to relocate to the more remote portions of the leeward side of the island. In the end they encountered ever greater difficulty to retain their traditional system of living with the land in reverence to the wishes of their ancestors and as stewards for the next generations (Miller 1979: 79).
The larger numbers of arriving maroon slaves and the correspondingly declining numbers of yellow Caribs were by themselves sufficient reasons for the welding of the Blacks and Yellows to form the indissoluble Garifuna socio-culture. But there was also taking place the struggle for sovereign control of the island, which became a political act with which there was disagreement between the Garifuna and the British but around which the French and Garifuna formed an alliance against the British as their common enemy. While the Garifuna fought for the land that was their patrimony as a nation, the French were fighting for the same land to reclaim as their possession. Archival information that Jacobs retrieved from French archives are most revealing in tracing the various machinations of master Brigand2 Victor Hughes to bring St. Vincent under French control, although the colonial motivation in Paris at that time had weakened, as there was much more focus on rehabilitation after the disastrous French Revolution.
* The Brigands, name given to French soldiers who fought in the Eastern Caribbean in the late 18th century to restore for France islands that had been taken over by the British. The diverging reasons for the collaboration between the Garifuna and French are summarized by Jacobs, "Hughes, however, was the representative of a country and government that on one level, had been locked in a struggle with Britain throughout the 18th century, and despite France being in the throes of revolution during this period, had not abandoned their ambitions for territorial expansion. "On the other hand, the groups [including the Garifuna] nursing long-standing grievances over British rule were not, in the first instance, concerned with France's colonial ambitions. Their immediate aim was the redress of their grievances." (p. 3) (the words in parenthesis are mine).
Articulated clearly in this statement was a calibre of inter-cultural political negotiation, a skill that the Garifuna had honed going as far back as their time in South America.
The high stakes political gamble that the Garifuna played with the French against the British was not successful. However, this last series of fighting had further galvanized a national character among the Garifuna for two reasons. They had fought for the lands bequeathed to them by their ancestors, both Yellows and Blacks, and in doing so they literally fought to death, building a tradition that would forever remain among their descendants.
The fixation on land as primary cause for the conflict came forward in the response of the British at the end of the war in 1797. Jacobs continued,
"In 1804, an Act was passed in the St. Vincent legislature that re-vested in the Crown the lands that they [the Garifuna] had held at the time of the Treaty of 1773. By rising in rebellion, the Caribs had forfeited all claims to their lands. The Caribs remaining in St. Vincent were later pardoned by an Act of the Legislature in 1805, but they lost all claims to the lands they formerly occupied." (p. 11) (the words in parenthesis are mine)
Post-St Vincent
While those remaining at St. Vincent lost the vigour of their cultural identity, among those coming to Central America it has flourished. However, in the aftermath of their traumatic experiences in St. Vincent, they became a nation in exile; a nation that lost its territory, sovereignty, and the political/military power to engage in alliances with other nations. Instead, they were subsumed as minority ethnic groups into emerging states and in the case of Belize, a colony of Great Britain. The question to be posed for this part of the essay is as follows. While it has been impossible for them to regain the core of their identity, namely sovereign ownership of their homeland and their socio-culture, would they be able to retain their peoplehood?
Although the banishment to Central America took place in 1797, it has not been until the past fifty years that their ethnic identity has been subjected to modern day anthropological rigour in theory and methods. The people themselves have shifted in their identity from being mere appendages in often unwelcoming national societies to reclaiming the indigenous identity, which had always been theirs prior to their exile.
The analytical model of ethnic group within the nation state has received much support from Nancie Gonzalez. Her important 1988 volume, entitled "Sojourners . of the Caribbean - ethnogenesis and ethnohistory of the Garifuna", has a Part Two entitled "The cultural basis of ethnicity" and a Part Three "The making of a modern ethnic group". Critical to Gonzalez's thesis is the centrality of the nation state as a society and that its parts (i.e. cultural groups) can be identified as ethnic groups. This thinking in western social science has been surpassed by the concept of peoplehood, which holds that indigenous people are a priori nations in their own right.
The ideology gained widespread recognition in the 1990s and has received confirmation from the United Nations and the Organizations of American States. Apart from being appropriate to the Garifuna as indigenous people, as we have already shown in the previous phases of their evolution, the designation of peoplehood lays bare the traditional lack of acceptance in their host countries in Central America. In other words, why should they be part of a whole that either rejects them for racist reasons or accepts them, only on becoming assimilated into the national society? Gonzalez may have been alluding to this conceptual abyss when she admitted in the above volume,
"In relation to ethnicity, there are in this study both theoretical and practical problems of continuing concern to many social scientists. One such problem relates to the structural position of an ethnic group vis-a-vis the larger society and what that or any other configuration may mean for the continued well-being of both. One aspect of this problem is how the individual segments of a transnational ethnic group can sustain a sense of unity." (p. 10)
What to Gonzalez in 1988 had been a "transnational ethnic group" was actually "The Garifuna - a nation across borders", the main title of a volume that I edited in 2005. Indeed, the acceptance of the ethnic concept in western anthropology came from a conviction that inevitably natives would have become either extinct or fully assimilated into national societies by the end of the last century. The realization that this had not taken place was the theme of Marshall Sahlins' introductory essay in the 1999 Annual Review of Anthropology entitled "What is anthropological enlightenment? Some lessons of the 20th century" (p i-xxiii). Having confirmed that the predictions of anthropology in the last century about the fate of native peoples had been inaccurate, he observed that many cultures had survived through their own adaptation of western technology and other aspects of the capitalist economy. Actually, there had grown a self-consciousness of culture or "a demand of the peoples for their own space within the cultural world order" (p. x). There has been now a much greater acceptance not only of the survival but also of the demands of natives to be regarded as peoples. With special reference to the Caribbean, Maximilian Forte's edited volume (2006) presents several case studies and a wide variety of methods that anthropologists have been using in their analysis.
As in the case of any ideology attendant on a larger social movement, the acceptance of indigenous peoplehood varies among the target group. There are many Garifuna, who accept their position as an ethnic group as an immutable fact, even when the nation-state has not defined them as a people and continues to deny them such rights. I relate briefly how a group of us struggled to initiate the ideology of peoplehood among the Garifuna in Belize.
The genesis was the resurgence of a Black Nationalist movement in Belize City in the 1960s in opposition to the racism within the larger colonial society. Many upwardly mobile young Garifuna men and women became members. This by itself was unusual; as normally they would be set within the established society in such fields as the religious ministry, teaching, and the public service. The realization gradually dawned on some of us, however, that not only were we black we were also part Native American with a vibrant culture that could not be subsumed within a Black Nationalist movement. We needed to heed the call of our ancestors even as we would link with fellow blacks or other oppressed groups. Most specifically, the ancestral heritage component of Garifuna culture grabbed our attention. Roy Cayetano's poem "Drums of Our Fathers" was symptomatic of the collective reawakening taking place among us.
As this realization grew, a liberating exhilaration overtook us. We argued that our designation in English should not be 'Caribs' or 'Black Carib' but Garifuna, the name that our ancestors have always used for ourselves. The success of this insistence is that even in the social science literature the name changed permanently from Black Carib to Garifuna. Why should we give our children African names when we could give them Garifuna names? As a result, we compiled a list of names that we shared far and wide with those who wanted to join us in giving the 'appropriate' names to the next generation. Why should we dance to Jamaican reggae at parties, when we have our own drums and songs? Why should we confine our religiosity to only the western church when we also have a vibrant spirituality? Who was going to document our technologies that were quickly disappearing as masters of the crafts were dying? The same question was appropriate for our songs, dances, and folklore? Ironically, involvement in the Black Nationalist movement exposed us to the other element in us that needed re-awakening.
Simultaneously, we travelled to conferences on indigenous peoples, as we conducted advocacy at home and strengthened Garifuna organizations that eventually became the National Garifuna Council. Gradually, we saw a full blown indigenous peoples organization take shape in which we - the group that started in the 1960s -are still active, if only in an advisory capacity as elders. Over time many of us took up senior level positions in teaching, university administration, religious ministry, community development, the private sector, and public service. However, we still retain strong interest and positions of leadership in the NGC and the international indigenous peoples' movement. ^
It is not surprising that this same group has left indelible marks at the world level in such areas as the regional Caribbean Organization of Indigenous Peoples, scholarly publications now being used as texts at the university level, and leading the difficult work toward the 2001 UNESCO Proclamation of the Garifuna music, language, and dance as masterpiece of intangible culture for all humanity. Even more importantly we have generated a set of new, younger, dynamic leaders to carry on the never ending work.
The significance of this group for this essay is in capturing that indomitable spirit of Chatoyer and his fighting men and women to preserve Garifuna identity. We might have lost our territory and sovereignty as a nation in St. Vincent but we have done much to uphold the peoplehood that our ancestors in the Americas and Africa struggled to form.
Summary and Conclusion
This essay started with the question how did the Garifuna become indigenous people. It has shown that the Garifuna acquired the label from others in North and Central America, who were already advocating within the indigenous peoples movement in the 1980s. The historical perspective dominating this essay has shown that our friends from afar were merely re-awakening among us the indigenous peoplehood that had been the core of our cultural matrix in South America and evolved with African and European influences in the Eastern Caribbean. In short, we have been indigenous for hundreds and even thousands of years.
This essay has tried to review some of the processes that accompanied transformation within the Garifuna persona. At each stage the need for more research is glaring. However, having built a skeleton the rest of the work should be more easily achieved in the future.
One of the main deterrents to building lasting peoplehood is control over segments of the political economy, a point that has missed my focus in this essay, although I made reference to it in the experiences of the Island Caribs. As point of departure, we need to revisit the uncanny political acumen Garifuna ancestors displayed in the Eastern Caribbean. Even more, there ^is the deep struggle to continue within the same nation states that have shown a lack of empathy to the ideology of peoplehood that I have described. Fortunately, the United Nations and Organizations of American States have provided much moral and technical support. However, the next frontier, namely local empowerment through the systems of the judiciary, the legislature, the executive, local government, and public administration has to be engaged within our respective nation states by building far-flung alliances within and beyond the region.
References Cited
Allaire, Louis
1997 The Island Caribs of the Lesser Antilles. In The Indigenous People of the Caribbean, ed. Samuel M. Wilson, Gainesville: University Press of Florida, pp. 177-185.
Arrivillaga, Alfonso
2005 Marcos Sanchez Diaz: from hero to hiuraha - two hundred years of Garifuna settlement in Central America. In The Garifuna - a nation across borders: essays in social anthropology, ed. J.O. Palacio, Belize: Cubola Press, pp. 64-84.
Bastide, Roger
1972 African Civilizations in the New World. New York: Harper and Row.
Beckles, Hilary
1990 History of Barbados - from Amerindian settlement to nation-state. London: Cambridge University Press.
Cooper, Vincent O.
1997 Language and gender among the Kalinago of the 15th century St. Croix. In The Indigenous People of the Caribbean, ed. Samuel M. Wilson, Gainesville: University Press of Florida, pp. 186-196.
Davidson, William V.
1984 The Garifuna in Central America: ethnohistorical and geographical foundations. In Current Developments in Anthropological Genetics Vol. 3 Black Caribs -a case study in biocultural adaptation, ed. Michael H. Crawford. New York: Plenum Press, pp. 13-36.
1980 The Garifuna of Pearl Lagoon: ethnohistory of an Afro-American
enclave in Nicaragua. Ethnohistory 27 (1): 31-63
Forte, Maximilian C. ed.
2006 Indigenous Resurgence in the Contemporary Caribbean. New York: Peter Lang
Gonzalez, Nancie
1988 Sojourners of the Caribbean - ethnogenesis and ethnohistory of the Garifuna. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Holdren, Ann Cody
1998 Raiders and Traders: Caraibe social and political networks at the time of European contact and colonization in the Eastern Caribbean, PhD dissertation, UCLA
Honychurch, Lennox
2002 The leap at Sauters: the lost cosmology of indigenous Grenada. UWI Cave Hill (Barbados): Grenada Country Conference.
Jacobs, Curtis
2003 The Brigands' War in St. Vincent: the view from French records 1794- 96. UWI Cave Hill (Barbados): St. Vincent Country Conference.
Kirby, I.E. and C.I. Martin
1972 The rise and fall of the Black Caribs of St. Vincent. St. Vincent
Hulme Peter
2004 French Accounts of the Vincentian Caribs. In The Garifuna - a nation across borders: essays in social anthropology, ed. J.O. Palacio, Belize: Cubola Press, pp. 21-42.
Miller, David Lawrence
1979 The European impact on St. Vincent, 1600-1763: suppression and displacement of native population and landscape. M.A. thesis, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Palacio, Joseph O.
2005 Reconstructing Garifuna oral history - techniques and methods in the history of a Caribbean people. In the Garifuna - a nation across borders: essays in social anthropology, ed. J.O. Palacio, Belize: Cubola Press, pp. 43-63
2006 Looking at ourselves in the mirror: the Caribbean Organization of Indigenous Peoples. In Indigenous Resurgence in the Contemporary Caribbean, ed. Maximilian C. Forte. New York: Peter Lang, pp. 215- 23
Rouse, Irvin
1991 The Taino - rise and fall of the people who greeted Columbus. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Sahlins, Marshall
1999 What is anthropological enlightenment? Some lessons of the 20th century, Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 28: i-xxiii
Whitehead, Neil, L.
1998 Who is Carib? What is Carib society? Ethnology, Ethnicity, and History, paper prepared for the workshop on Carib Societies. Georgetown, Sept. 1998.
1988 Lords of the Tiger - a history of the Caribs in colonial Venezuela and Guyana 1498-1820. Holland: Foris Publications
Young, William
1971 An Account of the Black Charaibs in the island of St. Vincent's London: Frank Cass.
The Caribs and Arawaks were indigenous inhabitants of South America (specifically in the Amazon basin of Orinoco in Guyana ) and the Caribbean. These people were also hunters, fishing and farming society. Although their language was different, after living in close proximity to each other and also because of intermarrying, a bilingual society emerged, where both the carib husband and the arawak wife could understand each other.
In the early 1300s, Abubakari, brother of Mansa Musa of Mali ventured on an expedition that brought them to the new world. These West Africans were the first who made contact with the caribs and arawaks. It was the fusion of these three people through marriage, music dance and spirituality that would be known as the Black Caribs or the Garifuna People.
The Garifuna were skilled sailors, who travel to trade among themselves in the Caribbean . Tensions arose when the european colonists began to demand land to cultivate sugar. Those tensions grew and eventually turned to war. On many occasions, French and british troops waged war on the Garifuna. On many occasions they failed. Eventually, after the death of Joseph Chatoyer, the Paramount Chief of chiefs, the Garifuna lost the war and surrendered in 1776. Children, women and men were gathered and left on the island of Baliceaux .
The british not knowing what to do with the Garifuna, left them on Baliceaux, a barren island that had no shelter or running water, for eight months. As a result of being imprisoned under those deplorable conditions, more than half of them died. Eventually the Garifunas were shipped to Roatan Island off the coast of Honduras . Some traveled and settled in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Belize.
Current Issues
After the loss of St. Vincent to the British, the Garifuna Nation is currently in a state of refuge. One would ask why? In Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Belize, the Garifuna are treated as second-class citizens. They are discriminated upon and have little or no political clout. The government is taking away their land. The Garifuna language is not implemented in the educational curriculum. The police and the military are murdering the Garifuna people in the streets of Guatemala . Many Garinagu families are affected by the Aids Virus, and unemployment within the Garifuna community is at an all time high percentage.
According to James Lovell, a Garifuna Artist, “That is the reason why I sing, to let the world know about the accomplishments and struggles of my people, and to put the pride back into the disenfranchised Garifuna. I will sing our sadness and I will sing our joy.”
On May 18th, 2001 UNESCO for the first time awarded the title of “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangibles Heritage of Humanity,” to 19 outstanding cultural spaces of forms of expression from different regions of the world. The Garifuna Language, Dance and Music of Belize were among those nominated.
The oral and intangible heritage has gained international recognition as in cultural identity, promotion of creativity and the preservation of culture. It plays an essential role in national and international development, to promote harmonious interaction between cultures.
In an era of globalization, many forms of this culture are disappearing, threatened by cultural standardization, armed conflict, industrialization, rural exodus, migration and environmental deterioration.
One of the proclamation’s main objectives is to raise the awareness and recognize the importance of oral and intangibles and the need to safeguard and revitalize it.
http://www.newhorizoninvestclub.com/Honduras2007_Eng.html Anniversaries like birthdays represent the arrival and departure of a point in time. They remind us of how long we've been somewhere, and start the clock from that moment to the next marker. The 210th anniversary of the Garifunas arrival to Honduras and Central America is no different. 210 years ago, everybody wondered if the Garifunas were going to survive as a people and live a long healthy life.
Two years after the paramount Garifuna Chief Joseph Chatoyer was killed on March 14, 1795, the Garifuna people were exiled from their native land of St Vincent to Roatán , Honduras from where they dispersed along the Atlantic coast of Honduras , Guatemala , Belize and Nicaragua . However, 210 years later, not only have they survived but will reunite in Honduras to commemorate the Two hundred tenth anniversary of the Garifunas arrival to Honduras and Central America on April 8th – 15th, 2007, the commemoration’s theme is “Garifuna Bicentennial +10 – Historic Past –Brilliant Future.” The commemoration will take place under the framework of the African Heritage Month in Honduras with the major events being held in La Ceiba, and the Garifuna community of Triunfo de La Cruz. The commemoration will feature a series of activities designed as a genuine expression of the Garífunas idiosyncrasy and culture. These activities will include the following: http://www.newhorizoninvestclub.com/files/2007Eng.pdfAfrican Heritage Month Celebrations - On December 24th, 2002, the Honduran Government’s Official Newspaper “La Gaceta” published law decree 330 – 2002 passed by the Honduran National Congress declaring April 12th of every year as the “The Honduran Ethnic Group’s Day”. It also, declared April as “African Heritage Month in Honduras” to recognize African Descendants’ rich culture and their contributions to the development of the Honduran society.
The Commemoration of the 210th Anniversary of the Arrival of the Garífunas to Honduras and Central America. A series of activities have been programmed in the Garifuna village of Triunfo de la Cruz starting on Wednesday April 11th and will conclude on Thursday April 12th as part of their strategic plan to attract a greater number of tourists and foreign currency to benefit the economic development of the Garifunas http://www.newhorizoninvestclub.com/files/Honduras2007program.pdf
The Eighth Annual Garífuna Nation Conference from Friday, April 13th – Sunday April 15th 2007, where they will analyze their historic past, present reality and visualize a brilliant future for the Garífuna people. The VIII Garífuna Nation 2007 Conference will continue to concentrate its agenda in promoting harmony and unity among the Garífunas, while promoting the Garifuna Coalition USA, Inc.’s vision of being protagonist of the Garifuna Diaspora’s economic development. http://www.newhorizoninvestclub.com/files/Honduras_2007Eng.pdfThe First Garifuna Cultural Carnival - As part of the launching of the Garifuna Tourist Circuit in the world-wide scope of tourist destinations. The First Garifuna Cultural Carnival has been scheduled for Saturday April 14th . The activities will be developed and coordinated by representatives of the Community Ethnic Development Organization (ODECO) http://www.garinagu.com/organizations/odeco/, Garifuna Coalition USA, Inc., and the USA Garífuna Bicentennial +10 Support Committee, national and international organizations. http://www.newhorizoninvestclub.com/files/BuildingUnity.pdfBackgroundOn March 24th, 1996 at the initiative of the INDEPENDENT CENTER FOR the DEVELOPMENT OF HONDURAS CIDH and the Organization of Ethnic Community Development ODECO, the NATIONAL BLACK COORDINATING ORGANIZATION OF HONDURAS was organized, becoming the greatest project of unity of action for the Afro Honduran organizations. Thanks to the solidarity demonstrated in their struggle, the organization was able to achieve the following accomplishments:[1] 1. LEGISLATIVE DECREE 70-96, declaring April 12th of every year, as Black Ethnic Groups Day and 1997 as the YEAR OF THE GARIFUNA BICENTENNIAL. This Decree was published in the Official Newspaper La Gaceta, on August 5th, 1996, becoming the first Legislation passed specifically for the benefit of the Honduran Black Community. 2. EXECUTIVE AGREEMENT 116 on April 23, 1996, declaring Punta Gorda, Roatán as a NATIONAL MONUMENT, for being the first Garifuna Community settled in Honduras and Central America . 3. FIRST GREAT PEACEFUL MARCH BY THE BLACK PEOPLE OF HONDURAS on October 11th, 1996, which resulted in an Agreement whereby the Government of Honduras agreed for the first time in history to find a solution to the Garifuna Community land problem by issuing titles, removing any encumbrances on the titles, and providing additional land where necessary, in compliance with the International Labor Organization’s 169 Convention and other organizations that protect the rights of ethnic groups.. 4. Commemoration of the Garifuna Bicentennial 5. Construction of a statue in memory of Doctor ALFONSO LACAYO SANCHEZ, The First Garifuna Medical Doctor to graduate from the National Autonomous University of Honduras and a symbol of the Modern Afro Hondurans Struggle. 6. CONSTRUCTION OF THE JOSEPH SATUYE STATUE, the paramount Garifuna Leader of the time in St, Vincent, as a MONUMENT OF THE GARIFUN A BICENTENNIAL . 7. Installation of the water supply system for the Garifuna Community of Punta Gorda The Garifunas have proven that modernization need not involve a sacrifice of all that is dear, yet neither must people be excluded from the benefits of the modern world, because they refuse to give up all their traditions. The commemoration of the Garifuna Bicentennial served as an example for the African Descendant communities of Latin America, an became:[2]] 1. The most important event in the history of the afro central American family. 2. The event of greatest importance in the life of Honduras ’ Afro Descendant community. 3. The event which sensitized the national and international public opinion about the problems faced by the Afro Descendant community. 4. The Garifuna Bicentennial was the flexion point to launch the political, economic, social and cultural development of the Honduran black community as it faced the new millennium. 5 The Garifuna Bicentennial became the flexion point to launch the process of international unity and solidarity of the African family in the Americas . 6. The Garifuna Bicentennial became the flexion point to launch the national and international integration of the people, with respect to their similarities and common causes. 7. The Garifuna Bicentennial is I the beginning of a new dawn... On the eve of the Two hundred Tenth Anniversary of the Arrival of the Garífuna Community to Honduras and Central America , everyone is invited to commemorate the Garifunas’ historic past and to celebrate a brilliant future for the Garifuna people. [1] Álvarez Casildo, Celeo, Balance Critico Sobre la Conmemoración del Bicentenario de la Presencia Garifuna en Honduras y Centro América 12 de Abril de 1797 - 12 de Abril de 1997 [2] ibid
Segun algunos datos historicos,los primeros pobladores de la isla de San Vicente fueron los Ciboney,mas tarde entraron las tribus Arawacos,tambien conocidos como Caribes, y los Tainos, provenientes de las riveras del rio Orinoco, hoy Venezuela. Se cree que los indios Caribes desplazaron a los nativos y llegaron a la Isla unos cien años antes que los europeos.
No hay datos precisos que indique que Cristobal Colon haya llegado a la isla, pero posiblemente paso de cerca en su tercer viaje, entre 1.498-1.500. La resistencia de los Caribes,sin embargo, impidio que los europeos colonizaran la Isla en sus primeros intentos.
Segun la informacion disponible, el primer grupo de africanos arribo a la isla en 1635 del undimiento de un barco Danes que los transportaba como esclavos, posiblemente para America del Norte. Esos africanos se mezclaron con los nativos. Esa mezcla dio origen a una nueva forma de vida, nueva cultura y costumbres; la etnia GARIFUNA.
Entre 1627 y 1672, Francia, España e Inglaterra se disputaron,sin exito el dominio de la isla. En 1770, los dos grupos dominantes de la Isla,los Caribes Amarillos y los Caribes Negros, se dividieron la Isla. Entre 1772 y 1773, al mando de su maximo lider Joseph Chatoyer, los Caribes se enfranscaron en lo que se conoce en los anales de la historia como La Primera Guerra del Caribe. La tecnica usada por los Caribes se le conoce como la primera Guerra de Guerrillas en America. Hacian sus ataques de noche causandole perdidas al enemigo. Marzo 14 de 1795, cae asesinado el lider Joseph Chatoyer, por el Mayor Ingles Alexander Leith lo que desmoralizo a los combatientes y empezaron a desbandarse. Se cree que Chatoyer fue embozcado, cuando iba rumbo a entablar negociaciones con el enemigo, los Ingleses.
El lider Chatoyer, comando la tropas por un extremo y Du Valle por el otro extremo de la isla , lo que le causo grandes perdidas al enemigo. Chatoyer hijo, El Orador, tomo el liderazgo, pero sin exito, y mas tarde se rindio. La batalla mas encarnizada que commando Chatoyer hijo, fue el 10 de Junio de 1796. Despues de una noche de cruenta batalla, la tropa al mando Chatoyer hijo, se rindio.
Julio 13 de 1776, los ingleses empiezan a discutir la forma de deshacerse de los Garinagu. Mas tarde los Ingleses alquilaron la isla de BELLICEAUX para confinar alli a los Garinagu . Finalmente, el dia 15 de Julio, 1776, se da la orden de expulsar a los Garinagu su Madre Patria, San Vicente (Yurumein) Marzo 11 de 1797, el dia mas oscuro en la historia de la Nacion Garifuna, sale el comboy de barcos formado por :
H.M.S.Experiment,Sovereign,Boyton,Topaze,Ganges,Fortitude,Prince William Henry,John and Mary,Sea Nymph,Britannia and Sally, transportando mas o menos 3500 Garinagu,entre hombres,mujeres y ninos,con escala tecnica en la Isla de Jamaica,localizada a 935 millas nauticas.De alii salieron para la isla de Roatan,localizada a 541 millas nauticas.Es importante recorder que : fueron mas o menos 5000 Garinagu,confmados en Belliceaux,lo que indica que perecieron unos 1500,muchos por enfermedad,unos por hambre y muchos otros por SUICIDIO, porque no podian tolerar ser sometidos por los ingleses
Abril 12 ,1797,llega el comboy transportando a los Gainagu a la Isla de Roatan,localizada a unas 22 millas nauticas de las costas de Honduras.
Es importante notar que con todos los sin sabores y penurias a las que fuimos sometidos por el terrorismo britanico, hemos sobrevivido y hoy, 208 largos años despues, aun podemos comunicarnos en la lengua-idioma de Joseph Chatoyer, la lengua de nuestros Ancestros: GARIFUNA .
Es digno de especial analisis entender el porque los Ingleses mandaron los Garinagu a Roatan en 1797,puesto que Roatan tambien era dominio Ingles. Como los garinagu eran guerreros, podria suponerse que los ingleses querian utilizarnos en contra de los españoles que controlaban Trujillo de igual manera interpretar la "voluntad " de los españoles al aceptarnos con tanta facilidad; quiza para ayudarles en contra de los ingleses .
Mayo 17 de 1797, las autoridades Españolas en Trujillo,aceptaron que los Garinagu.se trasladaran a tierra firme, fundando en Trujillo dos comunidades; Rio Negro (Garibalu) al Este de lo que es llamado El Centro y Cristales (Cristalu) al Oeste .
Para el año de 1807 ya empezaron los desacuerdos con las autoridades españolas en Trujillo y los Garinagu empezaron a emigrar hacia Este y Oeste de Trujillo.
Segun datos historicos disponibles,ya para el ano de 1802, el gobierno Ingles tenia registrado 150 Garinagu en Belice.
Noviembre 26, 1802, llega a La Buga (La Boca), hoy Livingston, Guatemala, un grupo de Garinagu liderado por Marco Sanchez Diaz - segun datos del Antropologo Gilberto Leiva Alvarez.
1815, los Garinagu decubren un Ceibon del cual lleva su nombre la ciudad de La Ceiba. Dicho arbol estaba ubicado en el lugar donde se construyo el edificio de La aduana. Se cree que el arbol fue derribado entre 1914 y l917.
Septiembre 15, 1821, las entonces cinco colonias españolas de Centro America proclaman su independencia y en el Acta de Declaration de Independencia, se destaca literalmente:
4. Que le numero de diputados sea en proporcion de uno por cada quince mil individuos, sin excluir a los originarios de Africa. Desgraciadamente hoy 2005 a 184 años de aquella fecha, los gobiernos de turno han sabido manipular el sistema para negarle a los Garinagu el pleno ejercicio de sus derechosciudadanos.
Despues de la proclamacion de la independencia,se constituyela Federacion de Republicas Centroamericas/Republicas Unidas de CentroAmerica, que fue luego disuelta debido a los conflictos de las oligaquias deaquel momento.
Honduras se separo oficialmente de la Federacion en 1832. Es de notar que los Garinagu apoyaron militarmente al Presidente de aquella Federacion, el General Francisco Morazan, que mas tarde fue fusilado en San Jose, Costa Rica el 15 de Septiembre de 1842. La derrota de Francisco Morazan,tambien significo derrota para los Garinagu. El soldado Garifuna mas prominente que combatio a lado de Morazan fue Juan Francisco Bulnez (Walumugu).
14 de Agosto de 1.901, MANUEL BONILLA,Presidente Constitucional de la republica de Honduras,concedio a los morenos de los barrios de Cristales y Rio Negro,en la ciudad de Trujillo,cinco mil hectareas de terreno al sudoeste de los potreros de Cristalesydos mil hectareasen las cercanias de la Laguna de Guaimoreto. Y habiendose practicado la medida y corridose los demas tramites legates, el gobierno, por acuerdo de los corrientes aprobo las diligencias en las partes que se regfiere a los morenos de Cristales y mando compulsar a favor de ellos el Titulo con que han de legitimar su propiedad.
A continuacion el citado Acuerdo:. Agosto 14 de 1901. En cumplimiento del Decreto 90 del 7 de Marzo de 1900, el Presidente aduerda; Primero: comisionar al agrimensor don Rafael Cerrano para que practique la mesura de la zona del terreno nacional concedido a los morenos de los barrios de Cristales y Rio Negro,enl la ciudad de Trujillo,y que ha sido escogido por el gobernador politico de Colon,en esta forma : cinco mil hectareas al Sudoeste de los potreros de Cristales,y dos mil en las cercanias de la Laguna de Guaimoreto,debiendo sugetarse a las leyes respectivas y a lo dispuesto en el Decreto citado.Treinta y dos personas del barrio de Rio Negro firmaron el acuerdo,manifestando su disposicion de trabajar las tierras .Firma Manuel Bonilla . El Secretario de Hacienda y Credito Publico, Saturnino Medal .
Este Titulo esta registrado a los Folios 42,43,44,45,46,y 47,y bajo los numerals 123 y CXXVIII del libro de inscripciones.
Las tierras que ocupa (CREM), Centro Regional de Entrenamiento Militar, son de legitima propiedad de los habitantes de ese sector,y como lo afirma la Comunidad de Cristales y Rio Negro en carta dirijida al Congreso Nacional el 25 de Julio de 1983,el Institute Nacional Agrario, INA, sin haber interpuesto demanda de expropiacion contra la comunidad citada, los despojo de cinco mil hectareas otorgadas en 1901.
Para 1977, un convenio extrajudicial promovido por la Empresa Nacional Portuaria (JENP) dejo a los morenos - Garinagu - sin tierra,y de las dos mil hectareas de Guaimoreto, nada ha quedado,ya que el INA entrego esas tierras a America Hode de Carbajal,Prospero Castillo, Ramon Lobo y Temostocles Ramirez de Arellano, por interposita mano. Tornado de carta firmada por Jose Oswaldo Ramos Soto,Rector de la UNAH,con fecha 14 de Febrero de 1984,al Dr Roberto Suaso Cordova, Presidente de La Republica.,bajo el titulo de: UNAH pide no pagar e investigar empresas de Temistocles Ramirez..
Septiembre 17, 1887, nacio en Tulian, Cortez, Tomas Vicente Ramos, que mas tarde se traslado a Belice donde fallecio el 13 de Noviembre de 1955.
Eventos relevantes de la Nacion Garifuna continua...
MORE GARIFUNA FACTS:
1.Did you know that Historians in Saint Vincent and The Grenadines believe that the Africans from the Mali Empire had arrived on the island around 1200 A.D., prior to the infamous shipwrecks of 1635 and 1675. Therefore, the Garinagu race had already existed by the time Columbus reached the Americas and the shipwrecks just added to the indigenous population
Monument dedicated to Joseph Chatoyer (Chatuye) in St. Vincent & The Grenadines
2. Did you know that Chief Joseph Chatuye was named the First National Hero of St. Vincent & The Grenadines on March 14, 2002 which is the highest honor of achievement attainable of that state. Cheif Chatuye led the battle against the British for 32 years until his death on March 14, 1795. In total , the indigenous people in Dominica and St. Vincent kept the Europeans at bay for over 150 years.
3. Did you know cassava (ereba) contains vitamin B-17 which helps to protect against diseases like malaria and sickle cell anemia and also it is a natural steroid. The cassava is the staple food of the Garifuna people. The word Garinagu means "cassava eating people."
4. Did you know that the Vincentians make an annual pilgrimage to the island of Beliceaux to pay homage to the Garifuna people who were imprisoned on that island where half of the population died of Yellow Fever, other diseases and starvation.
5. Did you know that the first African American play written in 1823 was called "Drama of King Shotaway". And it is believed to have been written by William Alexander Brown who theater-historians believed was a Garifuna man from St. Vincent.
Chief Joseph Chatoyer
6. Did you know that Chief Joseph Chatuye, was a General in the army of France. The official tittle he held was General Chatuye, chief of a free nation and chief of the caribs of St. Vincent.
7. Did you know that British separated the Garinagu first by the color of their skin in St. Vincent before they were exiled on March 11, 1797. The light skinned caribs (garinagu) remained in St. Vincent, but the darker skinned caribs were the ones that were exiled to Central America. The caribs in Dominica were allowed to remain, they were never forced to leave their homeland. Also, the French that were sympathetic towards the Garifuna and who fought with them against the British, were shipped off to Canada.
8. Did you know that the Garifuna people are one of the few African-Native descendents in the Americas to conserve their native culture and language. The Garifuna people were never enslaved , they fought to maintain their freedom and help escaped slaves throughout the Caribbean.
9. Do you know the many names that Garinagu are referred by: Kalipuna in Dominica, Maroons in Jamaica,Ameri-indians and Black Caribs throughout the West Indies.
10. Did you know that the Catholic church once upon a time did not allow the Garifuna people to beat their drums inside the church. Also, majority of the Garifuna people from Central America are Catholic.
11. Did you know that March 11, 2006 will mark the 209th anniversary of the Garifuna exhile from Yurumein.
12. Did you know that Marcos Sanchez Diaz, a Garifuna leader, led a group of Garifuna to Livingston, Izabal Guatemala and settled there on May 15, 1802. Traditionally La Bugana celebrated May 15 San Isidro Labrador day as their arrival but now celebrates the Settlement Day on the 26th day of November.
13. Did you know that Elejo Benni, a Garifuna leader, led the settlement in 1832 to Dangriga, Belize which celebrates their settleement on the 19th of November.
14. The meaning of the colors of the Garifuna flag: Yellow is for hope and liberation. White is for peace and freedom. Black is for Africa, death and suffering. This is a combination of 2 different definitions given by Garinagu from Honduras and Belize.
15. The meaning of the colors of the Saint Vincent & The Grenadines flag (Yurumein): Blue is for the Caribbean Sea. The green diamonds in the shape of the “V” is for Saint Vincent and the plural nature of the many islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Gold for the warmth and bright spirit of the people. Green is for the lush vegetation and the enduring vitality of the people.
16. A small group of Garinagu woodcutters lived in Punta Gorda, Belize as early as 1802 according to records.
17. One of Joseph Chatuye’s wives was a courageous woman by the name of BARUDA.
18. Did you know that Garifuna people speak an Arawak based language like theTainos of Boriken (Puerto Rico). Also, the Garifuna men speak the Carib language similar to that of the Caribs from Dominica. The Garinagu, Tainos and Caribs are cousins, who not only share language but also history ,food and many beliefs .
19. Did you know the Garifuna people were charged with high treason against the British Crown for fighting to maintain their homeland. The Garinagu who remained in St. Vincent were pardoned in 1805 but the Garifuna people that were exhiled were never pardoned. The Garinagu lost all claims to the lands that they once occupied.
20. In May 2001, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization,proclaimed the Garifuna language,music and dance A Masterperpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
21. The locals in Saint Vincent call the island “Hairoun” which means Land of the Bless.
22. The Los Angeles City Council declared April 12 , 2003 "Garifuna Day" in the City of Los Angeles. November 19th is the "Garifuna Day" in New York City which was signed and recognized by former Mayor David N. Dinkins in 1991.
It is hard to estimate the entire population of the African, Carib and Arawark offspring’s known as the Garifuna (Karifuna or Black Carib). The Garifuna nation is habitually linked only to the Black Caribs of St. Vincent and Grenadines who were exiled to Central America in 1797; however, the Garifuna populace expands far beyond what has been traditionally written. Many Garinagu unfortunately do not know who they are simply because they ignore their origin or have remained out of touch from their community or village. This phenomenon is common throughout the African Diaspora.
In the early days, the island natives used to socialize and network with one another. This particular characteristic of socializing among other island natives is not exclusively practiced by just the decendents of the Garifuna who are still numerous in Central America. This pattern of African, Carib and Arawak intermingling is repeated from South America (Surinam & Guyana, North Brazil) all the way to the present day Central America. This mixture is also visible throughout the Caribbean and North America (Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Island, Grenada, Martinique, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago and U.S. Virgin Island). The following countries are excluded because they exclusively claim only Arawak lineage: Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, Cuba, Haiti (Hispaniola) and Puerto Rico (Boriken). It is unknown why these countries only claim to be descendants of the Arawak and not also the Carib. The country of Dominica was also excluded because they solely claim to be descendants of the Caribs. It is obvious that at some point in time these two indigenous groups coexisted and intermarried throughout the Greater and Lesser Antilles. The Garifuna people are kin to both the Arawak and Carib natives.
In keeping with traditional Garifuna oral and written history, it is the initial mixture of both the Arawak and Carib lineage along with the infusion of African heredity which contributed to our Garifuna existence. If this indeed is what makes us Garifuna, then we should take into account those people possessing the same exact fusion as ours in estimating the Garifuna population.
For the purpose of this article, I will refer to this excluded group as the “unknown caribs”. In my attempt to put it all together, I have asked the following question before but never received a rational answer. Aren’t we all Garifuna? But the frequent answer that I get is that “unknown caribs” are not considered Garifuna because they were descendants of slaves and Garifuna people are not. This, I believe, is a weak argument especially because some written accounts of Garifuna history state that, we too, are the actual descendants of escaped slaves. On the other hand, the way our story is told today, contradicts our origin and our oral narration; we are not descendants of escaped slaves. We are a new breed of people who were created out of the mixture of Arawak, Carib and African who revolted and settled in the Lesser Antilles as their new home.
Language also seems to play a vital role among those who are not categorized as being true Garifuna. Language is also a dividing factor among the Garifuna in Central America and the United States. Not being able to speak Garifuna has been a debate for years among those who do speak the language. Often, not being able to speak the language becomes a barrier for those individuals who would like to identify themselves as Garifuna. Garifuna speakers tend to shun those who are not fluent in the language. I particularly maintain my position that we should develop some type of resolution rather than ridiculing those who lack the ability to speak the language.
Once we begin to focus on our similarities, the picture becomes clear of just how much we have in common. For example, the food we eat and the way we prepare and consume it. The staple food of the Garifuna people is ereba (casave, yucca, cassava). Our name Garifuna literally translated means the cassava eating people. Puerto Ricans are cassava eating people as well. Many people still prepare the ereba the same way that our ancestors did. The Dominicans have a drink called “Mamajuana” made out of herbs, tree bark and rum that the locals refer to as “liquid viagra”. In the Garifuna community we have a similar concoction that we call “Gifiti” or bitters that we also refer to as “Viagra”.
Our ancestors and Garinagu today practice worshiping which is also a very common thing in some parts of Brazil and Haiti (Hispaniola). Our collective practices as native people which were handed down from our ancestors, prior to the European conquest, are virtually the same throughout the Americas and the Caribbean. It is unfortunate that Native and African descendants tend to only recount their historical accounts from when the Europeans arrived and omit or forget that our ancestors coexisted in harmony prior to the invasion.
The story of the Garifuna must continue to be told for the world to know making sure that we include the Arawak and Carib people as part of our existence. Our collective stories are similar when it comes to survival despite the constant battles that we fought against the British and other European invaders. The Garifuna Nation is rather small compared to other races nevertheless our people continue to grow and disseminate especially in North America today. In conclusion, until we recognized the fact that the Garifuna presence reaches far beyond the borders of Central America, our population will always remain undercounted, underrepresented and struggling to maintain its identity as an endangered species.
On September 6, 1492 Christopher Columbus set out on a voyage that was to significantly change the history of the world. His goals were to establish trade with the court of the Great Khan in China and to obtain gold, slaves, spices and other valuable commodities.
On Oct. 12, 1492, Columbus landed on the island of Guanahaní in the Bahamian archipelago. He believed that he had reached the outskirts of China. Guanahaní was inhabited by the Lucayo tribe of the Taino People. (Lucayo means dwellers on cays. Our word cay, meaning small island, comes from the Taino language.) Columbus renamed Guanahaní San Salvador and declared it to be a territory of Spain. The Taino inhabitants who he called Indios (Indians) were declared to be Spanish subjects.
The official interpreter for Columbus' fleet was Luis de Torres who was a converted Jew. Torres was chosen as fleet interpreter because he spoke Hebrew and Arabic, which, for some reason, would enable him to communicate with the Chinese. Apparently Torres was unable to converse with the Taino in Hebrew so another course of action was deemed necessary.
Several Tainos were kidnapped. One young man named Guaikan was taught to speak Spanish and became the interpreter for the expedition. Guaikan became Cristobol Colón's (Christopher Columbus) adopted Taino son. He took the name Diego Colón and sailed with Columbus on his subsequent voyages. Six of the captives were eventually brought to Spain and baptized with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela acting as godparents. They were later allowed to return home with the exception of one who chose to remain at the Spanish royal court. He died two years later.
Columbus was finally able to communicate his desire to find the source of certain amulets and nose rings worn made from a yellow metal, which the Taino called guanin and the Spanish called oro. The guanin (an alloy made from gold silver and copper) had been obtained through trade with the Lucayan's neighbors who inhabited a large island to the south; today called Cuba.
The Lucayo captives guided Columbus to Cuba and agreed to help him find the gold, which was so dear to his heart. They followed their traditional canoe route through the Bahamian Cays. Their first stop was an island thought to be today's Rum Cay, where, according to the captives, the inhabitants wore massive golden bracelets and anklets. No gold was found. Columbus wrote "All they said was humbug in order to escape". (Two of the Lucayo prisoners took advantage of a lapse of vigilance and jumped overboard. Fellow Taino who had been following the fleet in their dugout canoe picked them up. The natives paddled away so fast that all attempts to recapture them were in vain.)
The fleet then sailed to what is today Long Island, which Columbus named Fernandina. Here Columbus was more successful. One of the islanders was wearing a gold nose stud, which he referred to as a caracuri. The owner of the caracuri refused Columbus' attempts at trade and ran away.
Columbus then guided the ships to an island the Taino called Saomete. He renamed it Isabela after the Queen, and it is now thought to be Crooked Island. According to his guides there was a gold mine on this island and a king who wore cloths and had much gold. No mine or king was found, but Columbus was able to trade with the inhabitants, exchanging trinkets for gold caracuri.
From Saomete (Isabela) the fleet sailed on to Cuba. A return trip to the Bahamian Island of Great Inagua called Babeque by the Taino was attempted after Columbus learned from the Taino of Cuba that on Babeque the natives "gathered gold on the beach by candles at night, and then made bars of it with a hammer". Headwinds forced Columbus to give up the voyage, but Martín Alonzo Pinzón, captain of the Pinta was successful. No gold was found on the beaches of that island; not at night, nor at any other time.
In a letter at least partly intended to solicit financial support from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela, Columbus wrote: "…Finally, to compress into few words the entire summary of my voyage and speedy return, and of the advantages derivable therefrom, I promise, that with a little assistance afforded me by our most invincible sovereigns, I will procure them as much gold as they need, as great a quantity of spices, of cotton, and of mastic and as many men for the service of the navy as their Majesties may require. I promise also rhubarb and other sorts of drugs, which I am persuaded the men whom I have left ... have found already and will continue to find…" It is interesting to note that only one report of a potential gold producing area was actually verified on the first voyage. The other riches promised were even more disappointing.
The spice that Columbus refers to in his letter was Canella alba, a plant that smells like cinnamon but is not useful as a spice. The mastic mentioned in the letter turned out to be the sap of the turpentine tree and not the valuable resin of the gum mastic tree.
The prospective slaves for service in the navy had such a low survival rate that the few survivors were returned to their island homes as an act of mercy by the crown. The rhubarb that was supposed to have been found was in fact not rhubarb at all but a plant known now as false rhubarb. The promise of drugs probably refers to the discovery of an abundance of what was thought to be the medicinal plant aloe, but which was in reality the relatively worthless, century plant. Another worthless item that Columbus brought back to Spain as evidence of the riches that could be exploited from the continuance of his adventures was the unpleasant-tasting fruit of the icaco, which he believed to be the coconut mentioned in the writings of Marco Polo.
Notwithstanding these inconsistencies, Columbus was successful in obtaining the desired financial support for his second voyage in which he was instructed by the crown to establish gold mines, install settlers, develop trade with the Tainos, and convert them to Christianity.
Marginally productive gold mines were eventually discovered in Hispaniola and later in Puerto Rico and Cuba. At first it was Spanish settlers who panned for gold in the rivers and worked the newly discovered mines, but the combination of disappointing yields, harsh working conditions and high mortality rates quickly led to the abandonment of this activity by the Spaniards.
The task of gold mining was then given to enslaved Tainos. Most died from disease brought on by unsanitary conditions, overwork and lack of resistance to European illnesses. Countless others succumbed to famine that resulted when the Taino were not given sufficient time to provide for their own sustenance. The chronicler, Las Casas, reported that only ten percent survived after three months of service and that there was a constant shortage of workers. As a result inhabitants of other Caribbean islands were captured and enslaved. The mines in Hispaniola became depleted in the 1520's and those of Puerto Rico and Cuba became exhausted within the following decade.
The Taino cacique Guacanagari, who befriended Columbus and who was later sold into slavery by his "friend" twice sent Columbus facemasks with nose, tongue and ears made of gold.
Masks traditionally have spiritual significance. Was Guacanagari trying to make a statement about the true nature of Columbus's character?
Article Source: stjohnbeachguide. com
*UCTP Taino News Moderator's Note: The above information is presented for educational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed within "Taino Gold" by Gerald Singer are not necessarily those of The Voice of the Taino People News Journal or the United Confederation of Taino People. To comment on this paper, visit the 'The Voice of the Taino People" online at http://www.uctp. blogspot. com Anonymous comments will not be accepted. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ETNIAS MINORITARIAS
LOS GARINAGUS Y COMO TODO EMPEZO
Al rededor del siglo X (Año 1000 DC), Los Arawkanos y los Caribes, tribus de tierra dentro del continente SurAmericano, por razones no comprensibles decidieron conquistar y explorar las islas que se encuentran en el hoy conocido Mar Caribe. Y se presume que fueron los primeros pobladores de estos archipielagos.
En 1635 dos Goletas Españolas cargadas de esclavos Africanos, naufragaron en las costas de lo que hoy se conoce como la Isla San Vicente, en aquel entonces llamada por los arawkanos, YARUME o YOLOME.
Los esclavos de estas Goletas aprovecharon el desparpajo del naufragio para escapar de sus verdugos buscando refugio en Islas cercanas como San Vicente, Dominica y otras Islas.
Los Indios Caribes los acogieron ofreciendoles asistencia y protección, con los años les permitieron que hicieran uniones matrimoniales con los Indígenas y adaptando asi costumbres y la lengua de los Arawkanos o Caribes, al mismo tiempo conservando costumbres y la lengua de sus pueblos natales de Africa.
De esta unión nació una nueva raza, a la cual los Indígenas le llamaron "GARINAGU" hoy conocidos como "GARIFUNAS".
Para el año 1750 esta raza era numerosa y bien prospera, en la isla de San Vicente, tenían varios pueblos y tenían sus Jefes de Guerra, la ley era que cada uno de estos Jefes podría tener varias mujeres y que estas tenían que cultivar tierras, granjas y la familia para El.
Así nació la cultura de que la mujer ejerce y es la cabecilla, encargada de la producción de las granjas y el cuidado del hogar, los hombres se dedicaban a la pesca, caza y la guerra.
Estos empezaron a canjear mercaderías y productos con los otros habitantes Europeos como los Franceses, en San Vicente y las otras Islas vecinas como Martinique, Sta Lucia y Granada.
Para 1763, los Ingleses buscando tierras apropiadas adonde poder establecer fincas de la Caña de azúcar, llegaron a San Vicente y con trucos, mentiras y represiones, empezaron arrebatar tierras a como diera lugar a los Indígenas y a los Garifunas, esto condujo a un conflicto de guerrillas entre los dos bandos, los Franceses no muy amigos de los Ingleses ayudaron en este a los Garifunas, tratando al mismo tiempo de deshacerse del enemigo común y así el conflicto se mantuvo por espacio de 32 años.
Finalmente en 1795 los Ingleses, en una masiva campaña militar hicieron que los Franceses se rindieran y abandonaran la Isla, esto dio principio al sabotaje Ingles en contra de los Arawkanos y Garifunas de la Isla, quemando casas con familias en ellas, quemando siembras, plantaciones de algodón y tabaco, quemando y destruyendo la embarcaciones de pesca y transportación que estos usaban para sus operaciones comerciales con las otras Islas vecinas, todo esto con la ayuda de los esclavos africanos que ellos tenían, así fue que para finales de 1796 los Garifunas y los Araucanos, hambrientos, enfermos y aterrorizados, se rindieron a las fuerzas Inglesas, que según las estadísticas estos sumaban unos 4,644 entre hombres, mujeres y niños.
Los ingleses no sabiendo que hacer con ellos, los mandaron a la isla de Baliceu en la costa de Venezuela, hasta que llegaran ordenes de que hacer con ellos, en esta Isla fueron sometidos a tortura, hambre y abandono, viviendo en circunstancias sucias, entre los excrementos de ellos mismos y de los animales, enfermedades como la malaria y tifoidea hicieron desastrosos resultados disminuyendo la población Garifuna, se entiende que mas del 50% de ellos perecieron en los cuatro meses que estuvieron alli.
En febrero de 1797 llego la orden de mudar a los reos a la Isla de Roatan en las costas de Honduras, adonde los Ingleses tenían como expatriados a otros negros africanos exiliados por rebeldes e indeseables, cuando esta decisión fue tomada, al mismo tiempo se acordó regresar a todos los indios Arawkanos a su Isla, es decir a San Vicente.
Para marzo 11 de 1797, se ejecuto la orden de empezar el traslado de los Garifunas y otros esclavos Africanos y un grupo de soldados del ejercito Ingles a Roatan.
Todos fueron embarcados en una flotilla de 8 naves, para cruzar el Mar Caribe rumbo al Oeste y rumbo a Honduras, todo esto quedo al mando del Capitán James Barrett y fue así que empezaron la odisea de su vida, con solo una estadía por 10 días en Jamaica, para abastecerse de agua fresca y carne.
A mediados de Abril de 1797 avistaron a Guanaja y en sus cercanías fueron atacados por los Españoles y estos capturaron una de las embarcaciones con el nombre de Prince Wiliams Henry y con ella 289 Garifunas.
Los Españoles habían arrebatado Roatan a los soldados Ingleses qué comandaban el cuartel allí, fue así que cuando James Barrett arribo tubo que pelear por la posesión de Puerto Róyale y después de tomar presos a los Españoles y asegurar la posesión de la Isla se propuso rescatar la embarcación que los Españoles le habían arrebatado, 10 días después encomendó a tres embarcaciones de las siete, a que persiguieran a los Españoles para rescatar al Prince Williams Henry y los 289 Garifunas en ella. Los Ingleses llegaron a la orillas de Trujillo y empezaron un intenso borbandeo del puerto, sin conseguir el objetivo de invasión, buscaron la diplomacia y en platicas con los Españoles, decidieron suspender el borbandeo por la entrega de la nave y los Garifunas en ella, de regreso a Roatan la nave fue encallada y naufrago en la entrada del puerto no sabiendo si hubieron sobrevivientes de este naufragio.
Antes de abandonar a los Garifunas los Ingleses los suplieron de mercaderías y herramientas de labranza, anzuelos para pescar y líneas para ello, pero la temporada de lluvias ( Ya era Mayo) ya estaba en camino y estos, enfermos, desmoralizados y cansados, se vieron impotentes para poder limpiar los bosques y hacer los regadíos necesarios a tiempo para poder sembrar sus hortalizas, fue cuando decidieron pedir ayuda a los Españoles y le imploraron a estos que los sacaran de allí y los rescataran de las manos de los Ingleses y así llegaron a tierra firme del pais.
Los Españoles al mismo tiempo tomaron posesión de las Islas otra vez. Esto sucedió a finales de Mayo de 1797. Una vez traídos a tierra firme, los Españoles emplearon a os Garifunas en el Ejercito, como pescadores y la mayoría los emplearon para limpiar los bosques, y así poner a las mujeres a sembrar y cosechar los productos que tanto necesitaban ya que ellos no sabían como aprovechar las tierras y estaban en apuros de alimentacion.
Esta cómoda situación salvo a los Europeos que Vivian en la Costa Norte de Honduras, la producción agrícola de los Garifunas, asistidos por esclavos africanos que traían para que ayudaran a las mujeres en el cultivo de las tierras, empezaron a suplir con los productos alimenticios que ellos carecian.
Los Garifunas pronto empezaron a explorar la costa norte del país hasta Belice en el Este y Nicaragua al Oeste, en ese entonces la explotación de maderas preciosas era el comercio preferido de los Europeos, especialmente los Ingleses y cuando Garifunas llegaban a estos puestos, inmediatamente eran empleados por ellos.
Los Garifunas pronto empezaron a desilisiunarce de los Españoles y la mayoría de ellos abandonaron Trujillo, buscando hacia arriba nuevos horizontes fundando nuevos pueblos y Villas.
Los Misquitos (Sambos) eran aliados de los Ingleses y enemigos de los Españoles, estos acogieron a los Garifunas dándoles protección y albergue.
Hoy los Garifunas están establecidos en cerca de 50 comunidades en todo Honduras, además de tener una fuerte presencia en Belice, Nicaragua, la Islas de la Bahía y Dominica adonde se conocen como "Karaphunas".
Mario Secoff
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