Garifuna

     

     Learning about the Garifuna culture was exciting! Being descendants of African slaves and the Caribs.....thereby creating their own distinct group, made them very interesting to researchers. While many African slaves were forcibly displaced from Africa and formed unions with whites; they formed unions with the Caribs and were accepted as free, which our speaker described as "we were

never broken; never enslaved." What struck me most about them, like most of the people in Belize is their resiliency. Although the British tried to keep them from advancing in their settlement, they adopted Roman Catholicism while maintaining many of their Afro-Carib customs. The Garifuna in Belize are embraced for their contributions to music, food, and the arts.

     Many of the six parts of Yosso's cultural wealth model can be found in the Garifuna culture. One of the most prevalent was familial capital. Everyone during our visit was working together to make sure the drinks were served and the food was prepared and put out for us to eat. Although I didn't get the direct relations of everyone else there that night, familial capital expands the concept of family to extended family, including the immediate family and aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc. The dinner experience reminded me of my own family when we come together on holidays. My mother had 12 brothers and sisters and because she was a single parent, I was cared for by grandparents, aunts, and uncles. When we come together, there are multiple generations working together to prepare "traditional/favorite" dishes in our family, just like the "traditional" dishes prepared for us that night. Although our family don't have the "rituals" like the Garifuna do when they are celebrating Settlement Day, our gatherings normally end with everyone sitting in one room and the older generation telling stories that reflect our family history. 

 

 

  Reading information about the Garifuna culture before traveling to Belize and reading about some of their traditional dishes, I was very skeptical about being able to eat anything during our visit. I don't try a lot of new things, but this trip has really been good for me as it has forced me to step out of my shell in many ways. Even though my goal was to try a little of each dish, I did get it to my plate......which was a huge step, but I can't say that I tried EVERY thing that was on my plate. What I did try, I enjoyed and I'm still here to talk about it. LOL!
    I also enjoyed learning about the significance of the dances that they do. Although I'm "rhythmically challenged", it was fun to attempt to recreate the dance moves as the drums played.