Although it rained all weekend (now they tell me that Toledo has the same reputation in Belize that Seattle has in the States and I’m beginning to think that maybe I’m an unwitting rain god, especially after my recent trip to Tijuana where they experienced the “storm of the century” while I was there. Now we’re having the coldest and wettest weather in recent memory in PG. Douglas Adams anyone?) I had a very relaxing weekend basically being further immersed in Garinagu culture as well as watching movies and football.
As I mentioned briefly before, Friday was a celebration of the life of Andy Palacio who died a year ago on Sunday. Andy was a world-respected artist who was born in Barranco, the Garinagu town just south of PG. He actually taught Marion in Secondary School when Marion was growing up in Barranco although he was apparently pretty mean to Marion for being too poor to afford textbooks. As an artist, though, Andy P (as he is affectionately known here) was a cultural activist who was inspired as a young man on a trip to Nicaragua where he met an old Garifuna man who had slowly seen his culture die around him there as young people lost more and more of their Garinagu roots. Andy returned to Belize where the Garinagu traditions were still thriving from Barranco through Placencia, Hopkins, and PG, up to Dangriga. Andy decided to use music to create cultural awareness about this small population found throughout Central America and quickly gained recognition as a young Caribbean musician in the early 90s. In 2007, he released his landmark achievement: an album called Wátina that pulled together Garifuna artists from Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras to celebrate their culture through song. The album is a fantastic production and within the next year earned Andy a spot at #1 on the World Music charts (apparently there is such a thing), an award from BBC as the best World Music album from the Americas (2007), and recognition from UNESCO as an Artist for Peace. Needless to say, Andy was the biggest thing Belize has seen at least since being an independent nation and one of his Garifuna friends purportedly told him that he could die knowing that his dream had been fulfilled. Within the year, the 48 year old died of a complication of his brain.
As I mentioned briefly before, Friday was a celebration of the life of Andy Palacio who died a year ago on Sunday. Andy was a world-respected artist who was born in Barranco, the Garinagu town just south of PG. He actually taught Marion in Secondary School when Marion was growing up in Barranco although he was apparently pretty mean to Marion for being too poor to afford textbooks. As an artist, though, Andy P (as he is affectionately known here) was a cultural activist who was inspired as a young man on a trip to Nicaragua where he met an old Garifuna man who had slowly seen his culture die around him there as young people lost more and more of their Garinagu roots. Andy returned to Belize where the Garinagu traditions were still thriving from Barranco through Placencia, Hopkins, and PG, up to Dangriga. Andy decided to use music to create cultural awareness about this small population found throughout Central America and quickly gained recognition as a young Caribbean musician in the early 90s. In 2007, he released his landmark achievement: an album called Wátina that pulled together Garifuna artists from Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras to celebrate their culture through song. The album is a fantastic production and within the next year earned Andy a spot at #1 on the World Music charts (apparently there is such a thing), an award from BBC as the best World Music album from the Americas (2007), and recognition from UNESCO as an Artist for Peace. Needless to say, Andy was the biggest thing Belize has seen at least since being an independent nation and one of his Garifuna friends purportedly told him that he could die knowing that his dream had been fulfilled. Within the year, the 48 year old died of a complication of his brain.
The Celebration Friday night
Fr. Perl cutting a rug
The Garifuna presence in Belize is very strong, and is particularly strong along the southern coast in places like Barranco, Dangriga, and PG. The Garifuna story began when the Arawak tribe moved from South America up the Caribbean island chain. Their path was followed by the Carib tribe, who killed the Arawak men but married the women. The hybrid culture thus began, with men speaking Carib and women speaking Arawak (and passing that language to their children). According to a documentary I saw last week, these people were followed by African merchants who had crossed the Atlantic long before Columbus, settled in the Guyanas and also moved up the island chain. I haven’t heard anything like this before, so I need to fact check, but I still think that it is pretty damn awesome (anything to take more steam out of Columbus’ sails [pardon the pun]). Either way, whether they were merchants or escaped slaves, Africans eventually met this hybrid tribe and became a part of it (Garinagu actually means “Black Carib”), bringing many African survivals with them. Because of this, it is hard to physically tell Garinagu apart from Kriols. The Garinagu were exiled from their home island of St. Vincent to Roatan and eventually were exiled from there to Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. They quickly set up a thriving and independent fishing and farming community that was never enslaved despite the fact that the logging industry fueled by slavery was already well underway just a few miles north. In order to keep the slaves from trying to escape to these free communities of people who looked very similar to themselves, slave owners began to spread rumors of cannibalism among the Garinagu, saying that they ate babies and children. These rumors and fears have survived into the present day as there is a lot of racism (especially from Kriols) directed toward the Garinagu in modern day Belize.
But the Garifuna community continues to thrive and embrace its heritage and language. Marion is very proud of his roots and is actually the former President of the Garifuna National Council, PG Branch. There is a Garifuna language mass every month at SPC. When Josh asked me what songs were popular here, I told him that I have probably the same four or five Andy P songs about forty times already (either by the original artist or covers). The celebration was fun, by the way, if not long. At least the music and dancing were good. Although all of the Garinagu in town are staunch Catholics, they also hold strongly onto traditional spirituality, constantly asking for the intercession of their ancestors, especially through the medium of sacred drums. Lots of children speak Garifuna and there is actually a Garifuna cultural retrieval program at school. I knew that there would be a strong Garinagu presence here, but I don’t think I was ready for how much I would be immersed in that culture other than Maya or Kriol. I even had a traditional Garifuna meal on Saturday thanks to another vice principal. Delish!
Another cultural note of interest: There is a small Indian (here called East Indian) population in Belize and PG. They seem to all be in construction, which is very different from any Indian people I know in the States. Also, on Saturday night Marion was talking about how the Garifuna like listening to traditional Garifuna music, the Mayans like listening to punta rock (a popularized take on Garifuna rhythms), and that for some reason the East Indians love country music. The next morning, I woke to the sounds of a buzzsaw and hammering next door accompanied by “I’ve Got Friends In Low Places” and other country hits unknown to me. I wouldn’t call myself a fan of county music, but I’m still open to the idea and wouldn’t say that I hat it either. Maybe I can make friends with an East Indian and learn to love country.
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