Party in Belize: Garifuna Settlement Day Celebration
On November 19th the celebrations commence to mark the arrival of the first Garifuna to Belize in 1832. The day, called Garifuna Settlement Day, is celebrated throughout the country, but especially in Dangriga, the cultural capital of Belize. There is traditional Garifuna and Belizean food, live punta music, games and Jonkunu dancers. In addition they reenact 'The Landing.'The Garifuna are a people produced from the merging of two cultures. The history goes that two slave ships were shipwrecked in the Carribbean near the island of St. Vincent. The slaves escaped the sinking boat and reached the shores of the island, where they were welcomed by the Caribs, who offered their protection. Their intermarriage formed the Garifuna people. The Garifuna adopted the Carib language but kept their African musical and religious traditions.
In 1795 the Garifuna people rebelled against the British. The British punished them for their insolence by deporting them to the island of Roatn, off Honduras. According to legend, the Garfuna hid cassava, a mainstay of their diet, inside their clothes, where it stayed alive watered by the sweat of the tightly packed captives. They planted the cassava on Roatn, where it grew abundantly. In 1832, many Garifuna left Honduras after a civil war there and settled in Dangriga, Belize on November 19th. Garifuna Settlement Day began to be celebrated in Dangriga in 1941.
Each year in Belize, locals reenact The Landing by slipping out to sea in boats, then riding the surf onto shore, waving palm fronds and banana leaves to symbolize the cassava that sustained their ancestors. This ritual is rich in music and dance.
Dining opportunities in Dangriga include Garifuna dishes with fish, chicken, pork, corn and manioc or cassava, and wonderfully prepared coconuts. In the town, one can find original works of art, palm crafts, Garifuna handmade dolls, calabash maracas and drums, which their makers say last for a century.
Midwife turned webmother, beer brewer who loves to travel, Dianne has many interests including finding cool places to go and making that information available for all to share. See her site at http://worldstogethertravel.com/. Drop her a line, she would be thrilled!Household
posted by corrine7096 @ 7:55 AM
0 comments
