Saturday, November 21, 2009

Garifuna Settlement Day

So on Tuesday Kashay and I headed down to Dangriga for Garifuna settlement day to help a friend with an art show and also to meet up with my Peace Corps peeps to enjoy the festivities.

All day Wednesday we spent setting up for Nehanda's art show. She has some amazing art.


We even found a red lobster....


I was so excited to see all my people! We went back to the hostel that some of them were staying for a little pre-drinking before we headed out to go dancing. We had a really good time.



The party was supposed to be from 6pm to 6am with the re-enactment starting at 6. Unfortunately i didn't make it and went to bed and missed the reenactment. I did catch the awesome parade.. Here are some pics and a summary of what the Garifuna Settlement Day really is....

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The Garifuna are a mix of African, Arawak, and Carib ancestry. Throughout history they have been incorrectly labeled as Black Caribs. When the British took over Saint Vincent after the Treaty of Paris in 1763, they were opposed by French settlers and their Carib allies. The Caribs eventually surrendered to the British in 1796. The British separated the more African-looking Caribs from the more indigenous looking ones. 5,000 Garinagu were exiled, but only about 2,500 of them survived the voyage to Roatán, an island off the coast of Honduras. Because the island was too small and infertile to support their population, the Garinagu petitioned the Spanish authorities to be allowed to settle on the mainland. The Spanish employed them as soldiers, and they spread along the Caribbean coast of Central America. The Garinagu settled in southern Belize by way of Honduras as early as 1802. However, in Belize November 19, 1832 is the date officially recognized as "Garifuna Settlement Day"