Although according to some the word Garifuna is not a word for the language itself, but a plural of Garinagu, the Garinagu themselves couldn’t care less.
- Yo man -, they nod from behind their dreadlocks, – Garinagu, yessss, Garifuna!
The Garifuna culture, tracing it’s routes back to only a couple of centuries, is the most prominent along the coast of Belize. Escaping from various other islands, the first black slaves appeared on San Vincente around 1700. The indigenous tribes welcomed them, and by the end of the century a strong, proud tribe ruled the island, called the Black Carib. It cost the English several years of warfare to take control of the island, and to deport the inhabitants to a barren island in present-day Honduras. From here the Garinagu fled on small dugout canoes from diseases and famine to the mainland, where they settled along the coast from 1823 on. This caused a new ethnicity to appear on the Caribbean shores of Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, influencing culture up to this day. In every country, the coastal people are very distant from those who live further in the country.
The Garifuna language is not the same as English Creole (and English Creole is completely different than the French Creole from New Orleans), which is a distant relative of English spoken only in the Caribbean, and not understood by English-speakers. Of course, Garifuna, a mix of African tribal languages, Arawak, English, Spanish and French is even less understood than Creole. Now that we cleared up issues about ethnics and languages, let’s see the religion. Part of the Garinagu follow Ras Tafari, who used to be the King of Ethiopia, and apparently had very prominent ancestors. Like all founders of a new religion, he also had to set a goal, well, Ras Tafari saw his goal in persuading all black skinned people to move to Africa, where they could organize a huge black empire. All this of course based on the theory of “One Love”, no weapons: a sympathetic idea. Not a weirder idea than seeking forgiveness by flagging yourself.
The most that people know about Rastafaris is that they smoke pot by day and sleep by night. Maybe the other way round. Although using marihuana is allowed in their religion, a real Rasta will only smoke it on special occasions or festivals. Of course in the cities or where tourists converge, the Rasta guy on the corner selling leather bracelets and earrings made of shells is probably not a “true one”, the religion itself is one of the more attractive ones, and the Garinagu made a pleasant surprise for us. After Mexico and Central Guatemala it came as bit of a surprise in coastal Belize that for days no-one begged for money, asked any financial favors, tried to small-change us, or that prices in shops didn’t double on the sight of tourists arriving, etc. All in all, Belize seems like a bit more comfortable destination for a “westerner”. Placencia, the oldest Garifuna village became a bleak, flat strip of land with expensive lodging but Punta Gorda and Barrancoa are still original Garifuna communities with a real small-town atmosphere.