Garifuna Settlement Day celebrated in the Jewel
The weekend weather interrupted a number of activities that were scheduled to celebrate Garifuna Settlement Day across the country. But in the Culture Capital the downpour was not enough to stop the hundreds who migrated for the annual reenactment of the arrival of the Garinagu that voyaged from Honduras to Saint Vincent and then onto the shores of Belize almost two hundred years ago. The Garifuna, dressed in cultural attire, were in high spirits singing and dancing through the streets of the town to both traditional and modern Garifuna music. The food was also in great demand and there wasn’t a shortage of hudut and other dishes in supply. Channel Five’s Open Your Eyes was broadcast live from the banks of the Stann Creek River. Our cameras captured the Yurumein and a rare glimpse of an enchanted reveler as her body was assumed by the spirit of her ancestor. News Five’s Isani Cayetano has a report of the celebrations.
Isani Cayetano
“It has become one of the main attractions. It has also become synonymous with the Nineteenth. You can’t mention the Nineteenth and not mention a Yurumein. You cannot mention the fact that the symbolism or the significance of the boat is the plight of the people. We were never enslaved. We were never enslaved so we, for the most part, migrated to escape or to avoid being enslaved at the hands of the British.
We are a seagoing people so to be able to reenact means well we came in from sea so we have the boat as the primary means of getting here. That voyage was a maiden voyage, you know, by sea. The music, well, to be able to survive on the sea, to travel from Roatan to Punta Gorda to Dangriga and the coast, the coast of Belize you need to have some kind of entertainment right. So the drumming and the music had to be a primary part of it.
It’s something that builds over time though. Over the few hours that we’re going to be here you’ll see that we start off slow with the arrival, the music, the mood and everything and it becomes celebratory over the next few hours.
In African history there is what is called a Negro Spiritual this is no different than that but this is just being performed by the Garifuna people. So they’re all songs of praise, songs that deal with the conflict and the strife that the people have had to endure over the years so the songs are performed based on those themes.
What we saw a short while ago is what we in the Garifuna culture call Owehani. That’s when the spirit takes over the body. The spirit of the ancestor takes over one’s body. Being here is like a return to form. It all began here with the arrival of the Garifuna people in 1823. So having everything back here in Dangriga is returning to that place and time.”
I have lived, walked, slept and dine among the garifunas. I know the Avilas from Barranco, the Arzus from P.G and the Sambulas from Dangriga just to name a few.They are a great and honorable people who have made a great contribution to Belize. However, I am strongly against a garifuna public and bank holiday because it promotes division. We know that it was instituted with the approval of Mr. Price for his political gain. We already have a holiday called Columbus day in honor of the original inhabitants of the Americas. If I am correct, I understand the Creoles also want a day in their honor and the Mayas want a homeland too. I encourage the promotion of all belizean cultural ethnicity but not when it promotes division at the expense of our Belize. I know that there are Garifunas in Guatemala and Honduras but I am not aware if they have a Public and Bank Holiday. I would like that in my country there would be no Hispanic, Mayas, Garifunas etc. etc. but only Belizeans. I hope that one day their will be a Belizean Govt. that would have the guts to abloish this Holiday and would promote unity, nationalismand patriotism. Long Live Belize. May God Bless the Jewel
AM HAPPY FOR THEM!!!
A NATIONAL HOLIDAY.
WE ALSO NEED A MAYA DAY OR A MESTIZO DAY!!! (being sarcastic)
Don’t worry Lucas, the other cultures are extraordinary and outstanding enough that they won’t go unnoticed and extinct without a National Holiday.
Good point Lucas!!
Lucas, no matter the situation, there will be division; but I don’t see that on this day. Though Garifuna Settlement Day is to celebrate the arrival of my ancestors, it has for years used like as many other holidays to take a break from the division (you speak off) that exist every day at our offices, churches, government and the list goes on and a time when all Belizeans unite to celebrate one of their native tribe. I only not saw the white Americans but many of us (Belizean Americans) coming home and not to overlook the natives outside Stann Creek that was there (all who can Punta better than me). If there is a division, I don’t see it. However, if there is one, it is because there will always be those who don’t care about the holiday. The right Honorable George Cadle Price under whom I was raised is the best Prime Minister thus far in our country and because of his advocacy for unity it was done. LONG LIVE GARIFUNA SETTLEMENT DAY!
True,True. I want my ‘Creole Day’ or “Dragged-Out-of-Africa-as-a-Slave-to-Settle-in-the-Americas- Day”. And don’t tell me Battle of St. Georges Caye covers for that one cause it doesn’t.
Aren’t we special enough???
If other cultures want a national holiday they should advocate for it…but bashing garifuna settlement will not bring you any close to your dream….I honestly do not see any division in this holiday when in fact on 19th even ppl who are not garifuna wear the garifuna clothes, eat the food, dance the dances….wat is wrong wid u ppl?…gees….wateva motives Price had, it has evovled into a day when people celebrate together and i do mean together except the few who are too damn bitter
Lucas, I’m with you. Kay, I couldn’t have put it better. Lucas, as an outsider who loves cassava bread & have eaten from more Garifuna kitchens than anyone I know. I have made it clear to my Garifuna brothers & sisters that we Belizeans cannot afford hyphenated titles or any further division. George Price gave them the day, he also handpicked Musa as his successor. Go figure!
I WANT TO SAY THAT THE GARINAGU’S WORK VERY HARD AND IS A CULTURE OF RICHNESS,FROM TIME THEY HAVE GONNA THEIR HOLIDAY SO WHY THE HECK PPL STARTING A COMMOTION THATS IS NOT NEEDED.IF YOU DONT LIKE THEM I DONT KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU,THOMAS VICENT IS THE FOUNDER AND FIGHT ALONG WITH OTHER.SO RESPECT THE ANCESTORS,THEY DID THEIR PART AND NOW ALL BELIZEAN AND NOTHING BELIZEAN ARE ENJOYING THE ENTIRE CULTURE.IF U PPL WANT UR HOLIDAY FOR UR CULTURE THEN TAKE IT WITHOUT PAY IT AINT HARD,THATS WHY BELIZE AINT GETTING NO WHERE CAUSE OF NEGITIVE PPL THAT LIVE AMTH OTHERS AND TRYING TO SPOIL THE POSITIVE ONES,AGREE WITH LADY N AND THE REST DONT WHATS WRONG WITH YOU ALL.GARIFUNA CULTURE ARE FULL A MEAN FULL OF RICHES…TRUST ME………..LIFE TOO SHORT PPL,LIVE IT WITH WITH LOVE MY BELIZEAN PPL.