Enobling the Garinagu Legacy

This Saturday March 14, 2026, there will be yet another ceremony at the Obelisk at Dorsetshire Hill in honour of the National Hero of Yurumein, Paramount Chief The Right Excellent Joseph Chatoyer. As much as we would want it to be different, we are expected to observe, once again, a ceremony so wrapped in colonial trappings that we cannot be sure that Chatoyer, who the activity honours, would have been proud.

You see, for all the progress we have made- and we have progressed- we still seem not to be able to separate the merely colonial from the cultural and historical significance of this commemoration. But we do understand that progress is made incrementally and cannot be too hard on ourselves for not being able to shed all colonial trappings as quickly as some of us would prefer.

Most recently, historian Dr Adrian Fraser, in this newspaper of 27th February 2026, stated that Chatoyer actually shed his blood on the 15th March in the year 1796. An interesting factoid being that the Aides of March in Roman history was the day Julius Caesar was murdered. We, however, have agreed and accepted that National Heroes Day will be celebrated on the 14th.

We must too, celebrate the fact that it was only last year that the first portion of a seminal work commissioned by the government and undertaken by local historians was unveiled. The first volume of the comprehensive history of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, titled “Native Genocide and African Enslavement in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to 1838” and co-authored by Dr. Adrian Fraser, Dr. Cleve Scott, Dr. Arnold Thomas, and Dr. Garrey Dennie, was officially launched and handed over to then Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, on August 11, 2025 as part of activities to mark the nation’s 46th anniversary of Independence.

We have, undoubtedly, made progress from the days when the National Youth Council and progressives advocated from Chatoyer to be named National Hero. We note the strides made- from the unveiling of the Obelisk by former Minister of Culture the late John Horne on March 14, 1985 to the declaration of National Heroes Day as a public holiday some 17 years later in 2001.

We now look forward to this progressive trend continuing with a statue of our National Hero being erected in a prominent place on Yurumien. We also call for a lot more public education being at all levels so that our population can grow to truly appreciate the struggles of Chatoyer and our ancestors.

The yearly commemoration now involves members of the Garinagu Diaspora from Belize, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and parts of the USA who make the annual pilgrimage to Yurumien. This includes the emotional visit to the island of Balliceaux to which their ancestors were first banished before being sent into exile on Roatan off Honduras. It was only last year that the Government of SVG acquired the island of Balliceaux and announced plans for its development as an historic site to honour those who died there.

The spirit of resistance of the Garinagu, who against tremendous odds and in exile, have maintained their language and culture which the colonizers ensured was eradicated here at home, must be admired and emulated.

While for some this may seem just a mere formality, it would also be appropriate to see our leaders attending the official ceremonies dressed in more culturally themed garb as opposed to the suits and neck ties which are so reminiscent of the colonizers and not quite suites to our climate. Certainly the spirit of Chatoyer might be more pleased to hover over a cultural event which more dignifies the indigenous and African roots of his people.