The Garifunas: Annual Celebration of Arrival on Belizean Shores

Every November 19th the Garifunas, who are the direct descendants of African slaves, celebrate their freedom from European settlers and their arrival on the shores of Belize with festivals, religious ceremonies, cultural shows, drumming and dancing in communities with large Garifuna populations.
The Garifunas, also known as the Garinagu, are direct descendants of the “island Caribs” and a group of African slaves who escaped two ship-wrecked Spanish slave ships near St. Vincent in 1635.  The Island Caribs were descendants of South American Indians known as Arawaks and another group, the Caribs, who migrated from South America to the Caribbean later.  Through the intermixture of these cultures and the influence of European settlers, the Garifuna obtained a diverse culture incorporating African traditions of music, dance, religious rites and ceremonies; Native American cultivation, hunting and fishing techniques and French and Arawak influenced language.
Many African influences are obvious in the Garifuna culture, especially their music when compared with indigenous music from African societies.  Similar to their African counterparts their music relies on call and response patterns but is less overlapping than traditional ones from Africa.  Drumming is heavily relied on and many times their music is dictated by it.  Their drum style usually calls for two drummers, one who plays a fixed, consistent pattern, called the segunda player, while another plays more intricate parts, usually made up of cross-patterns, played by the primero player.  Traditional Garifuna music was dying out with the older generation but thanks to artists like Aurelio Martinez and his blending of African and Latin acoustic roots, a contemporary fusion of rhythms is now making a successful comeback as seen by his album being named one of the Top 10 albums of the World by Afropop WorldWide.  (http://www.stonetreerecords.com/albums/garifuna_soul.php)
The drums are usually made of hardwoods with carved out centers and uniformly tapered shapes.  Their tops are covered with skins from the peccary, sheep or deer and the drumheads are occasionally wrapped with metal wires, giving them a snare-like sound. Gourd shakers (sisira) and occasionally guitar, flute and violin accompany the drums.
Garifuna songs and dance styles display a wide range of subjects like work songs, social dances, and ancestral traditions.  Women sing as they prepare cassava bread and the men while working together.  There are three main ancestral rites portrayed by the Garifuna: Bathing the spirit of the dead, feeding of the dead and feasting of the dead.  These are performed to pay respect to the spirits of their ancestors, whether good or bad, but believed to have a direct impact on the present day living.  Sudden or untimely deaths suggest the influence of evil human or spiritual factors and care is taken to prevent the restless spirit from returning to molest the living.  Premature demise finds wailing women going door to door with drums.
People of Garifuna decent make up approximately 6.6 % of Belize’s population.  The southern towns of Punta Gorda, Dangriga and villages of Seine Bight, Hopkins, Georgetown and Barranco are where the majority of the Garifuna live.  
November 19th will again see this annual Settlement celebration on the shores of Belize paying homage to its ancestors and their culture.  This year’s event will be another festive, joyful and musically entertaining affair.