Garifuna – seminars and declarations

Tue, Nov 6, 2012

Editor: The Garifuna launched a book and held a seminar on 25th/26th October, 2012.

Since I am unacquainted with the Central American tribe called Garifuna, I shall refer to the Black Caribs, with whom we are all familiar.{{more}}

The book, “The Black Carib Wars”, by Christopher Taylor is well documented from the archives of Britain and France. Were I from the Garifuna tribe, I would never have launched it. It conceals nothing.

No doubt, the Caribs had their own agenda for rescuing the Africans, but they, nonetheless, rescued them from slavery. They taught them to swim, to fish, to build boats, to sail and read the tides and how to grow and produce cassava. But in a very short time span, they kicked the Caribs off their ancestral lands, keeping a number of their females, and took over. Ironically, the perfidious British and French were just waiting their chance to dispossess the Caribs, and among themselves had claimed St Vincent even before the arrival of the Africans. We know of the struggles and the eventual outcome in 1796.

Fast forward to 2012 and enter the Garifuna, after 215 years, with declarations and seminars. The Declaration is reminiscent of the Grenadines Declaration, still floating around unresolved. Theirs is dated 12.3.12.

Their seminar theme of the 26.10.12 had an ominous ring to it – “The Garifuna: Land, Reparation, and Social Justice.”

After reading the declaration my sense of unease went on high alert.

Land. Whose land? Yours? Mine? Everybody’s? Are they here to repeat history?

Reparation. For what? And from whom?

Social Justice. Do they wish to be rewarded for the wars they began and finally lost?

Nothing adds up about these people, not even their language. If Chatoyer walked into Kingstown today, he would not know one word they are saying. He spoke Carib and French patois. I have recently heard everybody who wishes to be a Garifuna is a Garifuna. It’s a club open to membership.

The history of our island has long been out of print. We seem to want to embrace strangers rather than our own true ancestry, the captive slaves from the plantations, and the only ones worthy of reparation. Why are we ignoring them?

J.C.P Harold