CELEBRATORY FESTIVITIES
(text by Roy Cayetano, Mick Castillo & Ingrid Gonzalez & TGHF)
BELIZE:
March 14th (Garifuna Survival Day) and April 12th (Garifuna Survival Day)– there are limited activities around these dates as the general public is not adequately educated in the significance. There has to be continued educational activities to increase the awareness of the public, especially the Garinagu as they are directly involved/affected. Recently, April 12th has picked up some steam in terms of acknowledging and having events in this regard.
The inauguration of the Chülühadiwa Garinagu Monument in Dangriga in 1992 brought into sharp focus an awareness of the travails of the Garifuna people in Balliceaux and the subsequent exile. This resulted in the observance of March 11th as Exile Day and April 12th as Arrival and Survival Day. The various branches of the National Garifuna Council are encouraged (and do mount events) to observe the Exile and the Arrival.
May- TheNational Garifuna Council Annual Convention is normally held during the last weekend of the month of May. This is where all the branches come together to review the activities throughout the previous year, pass resolutions, and select a theme and make a general plan for the coming year.
November 19th- On November 1st the month of celebrations is declared open. There are a number of events that take place prior to the big event on November 19th when there is a re-enactment of the arrival of Garinagu to the coast of the territory now known as Belize. This date was chosen by Thomas Vincent Ramos( the founder of the day) to commemorate the arrival of a contingent of Garinagu to establish Dangriga as the first Garifuna settlement in 1823. Note that there were Garinagu already in Belize documented as far back as 1802.
There are a few other events that take place leading up to November 19th, known as Garifuna Settlement Day. It is celebrated on the day on which it falls. The other events leading up to that day may change annually to fit a calendar that disrupts in the least possible way. These include the selection of the national queen, Ms Garifuna Belize, from among the contestants representing the various communities. There are six Garifuna communities in Belize: Dangriga, Hopkins, Seine Bight, Georgetown, Punta Gorda and Barranco. There are other communities with significant Garifuna population who will also host events leading up to and on November 19th; Libertad (Corozal), Orange Walk Town, Belize City, Belmopan, San Ignacio Town and San Pedro Ambergris Caye.
Yurumein. Each year, at first daylight on the 19th of November, Garifuna women, men, and children re-enact the arrival of their ancestors. From the distance, small boats, the black, white, and yellow flags blend with the sharp rays of the sun. As the small boats make their way to the shore, banana leaves shuffle to the sound of beating drums, maracas, and turtle shells. The scene vibrates as they get closer singing, dancing, and lamenting. This yearly ritual, is one way that the Garifuna people travel through time to the early 19th century when the fearless leader Alejo Beni, led a group to establish the first settlement along Belize’s southern coastline. Every year crowds gather on the 19th morning to watch and witness. Whether the spectator is Garifuna or not, the historic scene is powerful enough to move anyone to say ‘mábriga’.
November 13th– This day is designated as Thomas Vincent Ramos and Other Heroes Day (the day he passed) and is celebrated throughout the various communities. There is an official ceremony and a parade is held that day in his honor and that of other notable persons who have left a mark on the particular community.
The selection of the Ms Garifuna Belize normally takes place before November 19th, usually on a Saturday, and the venue is rotated among the larger communities that have a branch of the National Garifuna Council.
BATTLE OF THE DRUMS BELIZE (Text by Darius Avila, President of the Battle of the Drums Secretariat)
The Battle of the Drums Competition and Show
The Battle of the Drums Competition and Show is a Garifuna drumming competition and show that allows groups to compete and display their Garifuna drumming artistry in playing five (5) different categories of Garifuna drumming. The first Battle of the Drums Competition and Show was held in Punta Gorda Town, Belize on November 17, 2006. This novel event was well received by the audience and has been held each year since in Punta Gorda Town, Belize. For the first two years the event was held locally. In 2008 the event evolved into an international Garifuna drumming competition and show involving drumming groups from various parts of Belize, as well as from neighboring Guatemala and Honduras. This competition and show have become a major local and tourist attraction and a catalyst for significant economic activity in the Punta Gorda Area during the period when it is hosted. The Battle of the Drums Competition and Show is held every year on the Saturday immediately preceding the 19th day of November. The proceeds from the Battle of the Drums Initiative are strictly used to pursue various Garifuna cultural retrieval activities in Belize.
Basic Rules of the Competition:
A. Each group must consist of six members.
B. The Competition is divided into two segments as follows:
a. First segment is the “face off” round where two groups are required to face each other on the stage and play for no more than nine minutes and no less than seven minutes each. Each group plays a combination of Punta, Hüngühüngü and Paranda. The group decides the order in which the combination is played.
b. The second segment requires that each group play 3 minutes of Chumba and 3 minutes of Wanaragua. For the Chumba, each group is required to stage an exciting Chumba performance which depicts some aspect of Garifuna life. For the Wanaragua performance, each group is assigned a dancer. The dancer that is assigned to a group is a dancer from another group.
C. The only instruments that are allowed are the Garifuna drums (the segunda and 1 primero) and 1 pair of rattles for music (sísira). Groups are allowed to use an additional drum if they desire.The competition is judged on the following criteria: Coordination among Group members, Creativity and Style, Transition, Engagement of Spectators, and Garifuna Attire.
GUATEMALA:
PRESERVATION OF THE GARIFUNA CULTURE IN GUATEMALA
(text by Ingrid Gamboa… ) (translated) Also sourced from “The Garifuna , A nation across borders “ edited by Dr. Joseph Palacio.
November 26th, Guatemala Garifuna Day
During the signing of the firm and lasting peace agreements in Guatemala on 29th December 1996, the Garínagu of Guatemala were recognized along with other Mayan ethnic groups as Indigenous Peoples, which led the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala to approve Government Decree 83- 96, where November 26th is mandated as the National Day of the Guatemalan Garifuna People. Since then we commemorate and celebrate this day.
May 15th: FEAST OF SAN ISIDRO:
According to its constitution, the brotherhood of San Isidro (the fraternity of San Isidro Labrador) was Founded by Garínagu farmers on 8th July, 1892, but it is celebrated every May 15th, to ask for blessings for their crops and invoke rain during seasons of drought. About 50 years ago, the Garifuna youths added a cultural element to the religious festival of the Patron of Farmers, the cultural element was the Yurumein or reenactment of the arrival of the Garinagu to Livingston. The brotherhood has remained active for more than 120 years due to the cultural element, which is sustained by the Garifuna youth.
“On the eve of the event, on May 14th, visitors arrive in Livingston Guatemala from Belize, Honduras, and Puerto Barrios as well as those living in the United States. The festivities take place throughout the night. San Isidro’s statue is decorated with several fruits and cassava. Shortly before dawn, a group leaves to go to the beach or to the Dabuyeba (the house where ancestral rituals are held). Here with plants, nests of birds, hats, pants and shirts members of the public try to look as if they had been in the sea for a long while. Early in the morning there is another group coming in canoes towards the town. Both play the rhythm of the hunguhungu, characteristic of the Dugu ritual. Many of the songs are in remembrance of St. Vincent (Yurumein) which is portrayed as a lost paradise. The arrival of the group in canoes is the most moving part of the ceremony for it represents the arrival of Marcos Dias Sanches and his companions. Then the procession through the town begins led by the statue of San Isidro fully adorned with plants.” (The Garifuna – A nation across Borders)
December 12th: GUATEMALA GARIFUNA PORORO
One of the Guatemalan Garifuna traditions that has been preserved is the Pororo‘, which is the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe’s Day on December 12th.
On this day the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe is celebrated with a Catholic Mass dedicated to the Virgin and in a special way with a dance by Garifuna women wearing the typical costume of the Q’eqchi, going out to the streets of the town, where the celebration transforms the procession into a festival, people dance to the beat of a musical group playing traditional Garifuna music featuring Garifuna instruments. It is a joyful and unique party that is celebrated in Livingston and Puerto Barrios.
April 12th : HONDURAS:
Since 1996 this day has been officially recognised as Honduran Black Ethnicity day. On this day celebrations and activities are organized in all the Garifuna communities in Honduras.
March 14th: ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES:
This date was declared as National Heroes Day, a public and bank holiday, since 2002 to commemorate the death of the Rt. Honorable Joseph Chatoyer, the only National Hero of SVG.
Since then every year an official Wreath Laying Ceremony is held at the Obelisk on Dorsetshire Hill where he died. Speeches are delivered by Government Officials, the Parliamentary Opposition and visiting delegates from the Garifuna Nation. This official ceremony is followed by celebratory community events held in the villages of Greggs, Owia and Fancy which are marked by speeches, music, food and cultural presentations.
National Heroes and Heritage Month. These events on March 14th, mark the high point of a month of celebrations organized by the Ministry of Culture of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in collaboration with Community groups and Non-governmental organizations. The Garifuna Heritage Foundation (TGHF) is a major collaborator in the organizing of events.TGHF partners with the UWI Global Campus and the Ministry of Culture in the organizing of the Annual International Garifuna Conference which is attended by scholars , activists and practitioners who deliver Papers on issues relating to the Garifuna Heritage and Culture.This year, 2024 marked the hosting of the 11th International Garifuna Conference.
The other event organized by TGHF in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture is the National Garifuna Folk Festival for Schools which is held annually and features cultural presentations by Primary and Secondary students on aspects of the Garifuna culture.
