One of the recent arrivals in Belize, Garifuna Belize struggle to keep their rich culture alive. Learn about their Garifuna traditions, religion, culture and food.

Garifuna Belize arrived in 19th century

The Garifuna Belize are the recent arrivals to Belize, settling in the country’s southern coast during the early 19th century. The epic store of the Garifuna people started in the early 1600s on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent. In 1635, two Spanish ships with Nigerian slaves on board sank off the coast of St. Vincent. The surviving slaves swam ashore and found shelter in the existing Carib Indian settlements. Over the following years, two peoples intermarried, intermixed and eventually fused into one culture, the Garinagu or Black Caribs.

By the year 1773, the Black Carib became the dominant population in St. Vincent. However, European politics started to exert its influence throughout the Caribbean. A series of wars between the British and French on St. Vincent and culminated in a final battle on June 1796, where the French and their Carib allies had to surrender and leave the place. This started a journey by the exiled Garifuna Caribs to find a home. The British sent the Caribs on Roatan.

Afterwards, the whole marooned population migrated to the mainland of Honduras and allied with the Spanish in Trujillo. However, a brief civil war in 1832 forced the Caribs to flee to nearby British Honduras. Tradition says that the first Garifuna arrived in the British Honduras on the 19th of November 1802. This day is now considered a national holiday in Belize that’s celebrated with dancing, drums and pageantry. Today, Punta Gorda in Toledo is considered a Garifuna town, while there are two Garifuna villages, Barranco and Punta Negra.

Today, the Garifuna people struggle to keep their culture alive. It’s the devotion of the Garifuna to their roots that sets them apart from the other ethnic groups in the country. Many Garifuna are professed Catholics, but they have retained numerous rituals and traditions from their Afro-Caribbean heritage. Central to their community is their belief and respect for their ancetors. The Garifuna retained their powerful spiritual connection with previous generations of a family group via a Dugu ritual.

A spiritual leader of the Garifuna people called Buyei or shaman presides over the members of the family, who travel from all over the world and gather at the dugu meeting place, which is called a temple. No expense is spared as fowl, pork, seafood and cassava bread are prepared for days of dancing, drumming, healing and communing with the spiritual world. Such spiritualism of Garifuna Belize gave birth to so much creativity of the Garifuna in the form of art, dance and music.

Punta Rock is a modern musical version of their cultural dance. The Punta dance, along with its accompanying music, rhythmic beat and seductive movements, is Belize’s most popular dance. There is another favorite dance called the ‘John Canoe,’ which is performed during the Christmas season. The dancer wears a mask that resembles an English face that is topped by a hand-made hat that’s the same to the English naval hats of the 18th century. This dance showed warrior-slaves skills while mocking the British.

The traditional Garifuna colors are black, white and yellow

Women usually wear long dresses that are sewm from checkered material along with colorful head pieces. Historical themes, bright colors and distorted perspective are apparent in the work of many talented painters. Hand made drums of mahogany and cedar that are stretched with deer skin continuously play the beat in many Garifuna villages. Garifuna crafts include traditional coconut leaf baskets, calabash gourd maracas and cloth dolls.

Traditional Garifuna foods are based on black pepper, garlic, basil and coconut milk. Plantain and banana are mashed, boiled, baked or grated. Serre, which is fish boiled in coconut milk is served with hudut, which is mashed plantain, and it is a rich and delicious meal. Manioc or cassava is a wood herb or shrub that has tuberous roots like potatoes. However, unlike potatoes, the juice between its root fibers is poisonous. This is why the root is carefully extracted, which is a two-day process.

First, the root is dug out. Its skin is peeled off and the root is grated into a mash

This is placed into a wall, which is a loosely woven tube made of palm fronds. When stretched, the wala compresses the mash, squeezing out the poisonous fluid. The resulting dehydrated mash is sun dried and made into floud, which is sifted and baked into flat round loaves. The coarse trash left from the sifting is baked black and simmered with sugar, ginger and sweet potatoes into a drink called Hiu.

These are just some of the most interesting things that you can discover as you spend time in Garifuna villages. So after all the adrenaline-laden activities, simmer down and visit a Garifuna town or village. Surely, you will enjoy this experience, immersing yourself in a seemingly whole new world. Ask about Belize Garifuna community package tours that also take you to these places, and let you experience Garifuna traditions and culture even for just a day.