Spiritual Values: A Study of Continuity Through Change Among the Garinagu of Belize

Abstract

The Garinagu are also known as the Garifuna (which is more specificaIIy the language they speak) and as the Black Caribs. They are a people who currently live primarily all along the Caribbean coast of Central America, but are dispersed in various places all over the globe. Theirs is a short but intriguing history born of the African slave trade and colonial expansionism. Three hundred years ago, a mixed group of West Africans, brought by Spanish galleons, landed and met the native Caribs on the island of St. Vincent. Since then, these displaced Africans have become very much a part of the larger West Indian/Caribbean culture of conquest and displacement. They have fully changed their native land no fewer than three times in 300 years, the first move being from Africa. Each move has been characterized by cultural change and growth. The Garinagu have been involved in a number of military disputes with French, the English, and others in the area, yet they have retained their strong continuous group identity.

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