Holiday in Belize: Garifuna Settlement Day Celebration

Celebrations for the arrival of the first Garífuna in Belize in 1832 begin on November 19. The day, called Garifuna Settlement Day, is celebrated throughout the country, but especially in Dangriga, the cultural capital of Belize. There is traditional Garifuna and Belizean food, live punta music, games and Jonkunu dancers. They also recreate ‘The Landing’.

The Garífunas are a people that emerged from the fusion of two cultures. The story goes that two slave ships were shipwrecked in the Caribbean near the island of Saint Vincent. The slaves escaped from the sinking ship and reached the shores of the island, where they were received by the Caribs, who offered them their protection. Their mixed marriage formed the Garífuna people. The Garifuna adopted the Carib language but kept their African musical and religious traditions.

In 1795 the Garífuna people rebelled against the British. The British punished them for their insolence by deporting them to the island of Roatán, off Honduras. According to legend, the Garífunas hid yucca, a mainstay of their diet, inside their clothing, where it was kept alive by the sweat of their tightly packed captives. They planted cassava on Roatán, where it grew abundantly. In 1832, many Garífuna left Honduras after a civil war there, settling in Dangriga, Belize on November 19. Garifuna Settlement Day began to be celebrated in Dangriga in 1941.

Every year in Belize, locals reenact ‘The Landing’ by gliding out to sea in boats, then riding the waves to shore, waving palm fronds and banana leaves to symbolize the cassava that sustained their ancestors. This ritual is rich in music and dance.

Dining opportunities at Dangriga include Garifuna dishes with fish, chicken, pork, corn and cassava or cassava, and wonderfully prepared coconuts. In the town you can find original works of art, handicrafts in palm, handmade Garífuna dolls, gourd maracas and drums, which according to their manufacturers last a century.