Garifuna Heritage Foundation to reclaim ‘lost’ culture

The Garifuna Herita-ge Foundation will this year, for heritage month, seek to retrieve and reclaim the Garifuna culture that has been lost.

According to president of the Foundation David ‘Darkie’ Williams, the Garifuna people continue to live an existence that involves the traditional culture that they left St Vincent with over 200 years ago.

He was at the time speaking at the launch of the Foundation’s 2016 activities for National Heroes Day and Heritage Month on Tuesday,{{more}} at the University of the West Indies Open Campus. The activities will be held under the theme “The Garifuna Heritage and Culture as a reflection of the Caribbean Indigenous Experience.”

“Unfortunately, we in St Vincent and the Grenadines have not retained any or if there is any aspect of that culture that is retained here…it is very, very little and not many of us now know that we are practising any aspects of that culture,” Williams noted.

The Vincentian poet, playwright and actor stated that there are also many economic benefits that can be derived by reclaiming the culture.

“We are not doing this because we want to live the way we lived 200 years ago; one of the richest aspects of Vincentian existence for a very long time is what Garifuna people have been able to achieve by their music and generally their culture,” he stated.

Julian ‘Piling’ Pollard a member of the Foundation said the heritage village will be created using indigenous materials.

“The hands-on development of our model Garifuna village will bring together persons from the communities in St Vincent and the Grenadines to explore mechanisms for exchanging craft techniques and indigenous technology.”

The heritage village will be set up on the grounds of the old public library and will we made up of six huts with each depicting different aspects of Kalinago and Garifuna history, culture and heritage.

Maxine Browne, dance officer and representative of the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture, noted that for this year’s National Schools Garifuna Cultural Folk Festival she hopes for more participation from the schools in the activities.

“We want to teach our Garifuna heritage to our students, make learning history fun and exciting, celebrate our rich heritage, showcase the talent of our students, allow our students to experience or to become aware of our Garifuna culture and heritage, contribute to the enhancement of the heritage month…and most of all, we want to create national pride regarding our rich cultural heritage amongst our students.”

The festival will take place on March, 11 and will commence with a march that will start at the Bishop’s College and end at the Victoria Park.

The event will be held under the theme “Know Your History: Children of Chatoyer, Fruits of our Heritage” and will include performances by various secondary and primary schools.

Prizes will be awarded to the school with the best use of Garifuna colours, best Garifuna costume, best Garifuna song, best Garifuna dance, best choreography, best Garifuna choral speech, most creative presentation and best overall presentation.

This year, for the first time, the local history expo will join forces with the National Schools Garifuna Cultural Folk Festival, which senior oducation officer in charge of curriculum Aldia Gumbs-Dyer hopes will have a more far-reaching impact, as well as benefits.

“We want to encourage students, teachers, and all our stakeholders in education to view our history as inclusive rather than exclusive. Therefore, we wish to have them embrace all elements of the cultures from which the Vincentian culture has evolved,” Dyer stated.

Unlike the National Schools Garifuna Cultural Folk Festival, which includes both primary and secondary schools, the expo is mainly targetted at the secondary schools.

The history expo will be held under the theme “Know your History: Gateway to the Future, Know Your Past.”

Dyer hopes “that the students will be motivated to research their history…we want them to see it as an academic exercise, as well as something they can pursue for leisure.”

Additionally she hopes to enhance the public’s knowledge of the history of St Vincent and the Grenadines and to foster national pride among the Vincentian populace.

Students are invited to present profiles of individuals considered to have shaped or played an important role in the history of St Vincent and the Grenadines, prepare and display dishes of local foods and collect and display old technology or appliances.

The activities will run from March 8 to 12. On March 8, a creative workshop on Garifuna History and Culture will be held, while on March 9 there will be an international Garifuna Symposium, which will be held under the theme “The Garifuna Heritage and Culture as a reflection of the Caribbean Indigenous Experience.”

From March 9 to the 12 Vincentians are invited to visit the heritage village on the ground of the Carnegie Building (Old Public Library). On March 11, the second Annual National Schools Garifuna Cultural Folk Festival will be held along with the local history expo. (CM)