Garifuna Settlement Day

On November 19 the Garifuna held their annual celebration of the arrival of their ancestors in Belize. They are descended from the intermarriage of shipwrecked African slaves and the Carib Indians. After being expelled from St. Vincent by the British they arrived in Belize in1802 and now form a major part of the population of Punta Gorda and other southern towns.

The celebrations held throughout Belize include a reenactment of the landing of their boats, followed by parades, the crowning of Miss Garifuna, and various other events. In PG we had a kayak race, bicycle race and generally a day of celebration. Clementina was here from Toronto that day, and at one point we thought that there had been a major accident. Cars (police or ambulance) kept heading toward the waterfront with their sirens wailing. When we finally checked it out we discovered one police car circling around the town ahead of one cyclist, perhaps trying to set some record.

For our part, Lyle Williams returned from Corozal and put on a Chicken and Pork BBQ – $2.50US a plate, including baked beans and coleslaw.

There is one Garifuna church in town where they use their own language. A couple of the members of our pastors' association are not very good in English, so when they are present everything gets translated into Spanish (I think!). Kreol is what most people here speak. Evidently the slaves developed it from English as a sort of “in language” which the whites would not be able to understand. It certainly works, because I still can’t.