Plans afoot to revive Garifuna language in SVG

More than 60 Garifuna members spent a week on the ground in their ancestral homeland, St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), sharing knowledge and building awareness of Garifuna culture.

The group’s visit to SVG during National Heritage Month, coincided with a number of national activities including the celebration of the nation’s lone national hero, Joseph Chatoyer, on March 14.

The following, Wednesday, March 15, SEARCHLIGHT hosted a small group of the delegation which included, founder of the Garifuna International Indigenous Film Festival, Freda Sideroff; Princess Eulogia Gordon; Janice Coleman; and Susan Omegah.

The group shared with SEARCHLIGHT’s Editor-in-Chief, Clare Keizer and reporters, plans to “bring back [Garifuna] language among Vincentians, particularly school-aged children”.
It was disclosed that Belizean, Elanor Castillo-Bullock will be visiting SVG in the summer to host Garifuna language workshops with the aim of “bridging the pieces that have been disconnected and empower our youth with language.”

During their visit the group met with students of the Owia and Fancy Government schools where they instructed students in components of the Garifuna tongue, such as counting, and the letters of the alphabet.

The group shared the experiences of Garifuna people living in Central America, with Omegah noting that some of the same socio-economic conditions affecting Garifuna there are also evident in SVG. She noted that if repatriation of Garifuna people to the land of their ancestors is to be realized, there needs to be a focused movement toward reviving the language.

“If we are talking about applying for repatriation, we need to talk to elders within our community who only speak these languages. It is important for us to be able to have dialogue with them and fully comprehend what repatriation would look like,” she pointed out.

“At the end of the day we need more philanthropy because we are going to be saying certain things, then we are going to have funds to be able to generate revenue, protect lands both here [in SVG] and in Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Dominica…that is who we can pass this wealth on to kids coming up,” Omegah said.

Eulogia Gordon said the group will be leaving SVG with a renewed sense of focus about reconnecting Garifuna descendants with the home of their ancestors.

“I feel inspired and ready to get to the next level and continuing the work that needs to be done.”