What Does "Garifuna" Mean?

In 1635, two ships carrying African slaves wrecked near Becquia, St. Vincent.  The slaves escaped and took refuge among the local Caribs.  The African inter-married with the island Carib women, and this resulted in the birth of the Garinagu people, speaking the Garifuna language.  In 1773, the English on the island restricted the Black and Island Carib to a small area of St. Vincent.  The original island Caribs were now few in number, while the Black Caribs, or Garinagu, had become dominant.

In 1795, the French, hoping to reclaim St. Vincent, instigated a rebellion against the British by the Caribs and Garinagu, under the leadership of Joseph Chatoyer.  The rebellion was not successful and as punishment, the English exiled 5,080 Garifuna men, women and children to the island of Balliceaux for six months, and then to the island of Rotan, off the northern coast of Honduras.

In 1802, the Garinagu began to establish communities along the coast of Central America.  For example, between August 9 and December 17, 1802, an estimated 150 Garinagu made a series of landings on the shores of Belize.  They were not welcomed, and there were several attempts to expel them from Belize.  The Garinagu, however, lingered on, and the need for cheap labor for timber and agriculture eventually led to their acceptance.  They came to be regarded with sufficient trustworthiness to make them responsible for manning the look-out post in Caye Caulker.

Garifuna communities established during this time continued to flourish into the present.  In Nicaragua, there are two Garifun settlements.  In Honduras, there are approximately forty-six (46) Garifuna settlements, the largest being Trujillo, with a population of about 10,000.  In Guatemala, there are three communities.  In Belize, there are six communities; the major town of Dangriga, Hopkins, Seine Bight, Georgetown, Punta Gorda, and Barranco.  In addition to these Central American settlements, the Garifuna began to migrate to the United States in the late 1960's, establishing communities in the states of California, particularly Los Angeles, and in the cities of Chicago and New York.  There are currently approximately 30,000 Garifuna living in the United States.

In Belize today, Garifuna number into the thousands.  The Garifuna are the most urban in settlement patterns, relative to other main ethnic groups.  They make up 77% of urban dwellers, in contrast to the Kekchi, who only represent 6% of urban dwellers.  In contrast to the popular myth that most Garifuna live in rural communities in the the south, the Garifuna are well distributed in urban communities throughout the country.  The highest concentration of Garifuna live in Dangriga, with Belzie City having the next highest concentration, and 34% of all Garifuna living north of the Stann Creak and Toledo Districts. 

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