Balliceaux Remembrance March 29

The annual pilgrimage to Balliceaux will take place tomorrow, March 29th. Minister of Culture René Baptiste, along with Garifuna representatives, representatives of the National Trust, various Heritage Clubs, the media and other persons with special interest, will make the annual visit to Balliceaux.{{more}} A special announcement is expected from the Minister during the visit this year. The boat leaves the Cruise Ship Terminal at 10 a.m.

The annual visit serves to remember the process of The Exile. In 1797, at the end of the Second Carib War, the colonial powers rounded up the surviving members of the Black Carib nation, (some 5,000 persons including women and children) and imprisoned them on Balliceaux, while awaiting ships to send them to Roatan. Many of them died under the harsh conditions there.

The survivors of the trip later moved from Roatan to Belize and from there have spread to other countries.