On a post a while back I posted pictures taken of my TV screen of Garifuna celebrating "Garifuna Settlement Day" in November. On Christmas Eve I was surprised by the sound of singing much like west African recordings that I have. I went out on our balcony at the office and looked down into the parking lot to see a group of costumed dancers.
A brief re-telling of the history of the Garifuna: In the late 17th or early 18th century a group of Africans on a Spanish slave ship overpowered their captors, and unable to navigate the ship, drifted and landed on the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean. There they comingled with with the Arawak indians who had originated in northern South Ameica. In 1796 the, British, fearing their influence on their slave labor, deported the Garifuna to Roatan Island off the coast of Honduras. They then spread primarily along the coast in the western Caribbean, in Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize. Until the British end of slavery, the Garifuna were limited to their villages in southern Belize so they would not inspire the slaves to flee.
Following the end of slavery, when the slaves then fled, the Brits hired Garifuna to work with them in the mahogany camps. They didn't get the joke when the Garifuna celebrated at the Christmas/New Years holiday with a dance and costume that mocked the British. It is known as wanaragua, also known as "john canoe" and other variations. Theories exist that it, or components of it, can be traced to Jamaica, and to St. Vincent. Perhaps what is most important is what happens now, 150 years later.
A band of wanaragua dancers originates in Seine Bight village, and on Christmas Eve came to Placencia Village, stopping at various restaurants, and perhaps other places unknown to me. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me on that day.
They repeated again on New Years day in Seine Bight, going from house to house, and I happened to see them so stopped my truck and went to take a few pictures.
The costume consists of a white shirt, crisscrossed with ribbons, much like British military uniforms of the late 18th century. The pants are like knickers, and on one leg are rattles made from shells. Sneakers are the footwear, and the headdress is very colorful, and includes a mask of a white face. All the dancers were boys or young men, this photo is of the boys, waiting their turn to dance.
The dancers would dance to the beat of Garifuna drums accompanied by women, and some men, singing a seemingly repetitive song in the Garifuna language. Because this is done outside and in front of houses or businesses, there is no stage, and spectators create the circle they dance in. The dance itself is somewhat jerky - the way the Garifuna viewed the body movements of the Brits. The dancers would take turns entering the middle of the circle and dancing. In the picture above a woman in the background is considering trhe dancer's movements, before she joins the dance!
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When she finished, the dancer pulled another woman from the crowd to dance as well.
As mentioned above, the dancers are accompanied by drums, the larger here is called a Segunda, laying down a beat tempo, and the fellow with the gray shirt is playing a Primero, which is more like a tenor drum.
The woman in the yellow shirt is the dominant singer, the Segunda player is also singing.
The woman in the blue and white checkered dress is also singing, and here the dancer is dancing with the woman he pulled from the crowd. This photo also gives you an idea of the scale of the crowd, which either follows them as they go from one house to another, or gathers from the immediate area. It is a dance of fun and good will in the holiday season.
There are substantial Garifuna communities in New York and Los Angeles. You can find more about them on the internet, and social anthropologists might be interested in a book I just finished called "The Garifuna, A Nation across Borders", essays in social anthropology edited by Joseph Palacio, and published by Cubola Productions, 35 Elizabeth Street, Benque Viejo del Carmen, Belize, C.A.
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We get the weather channel on our cable TV here, and I don't miss the snow and ice and cold for even a minute.
One thing the tropics do have though is bugs and other what some might call "creepy crawlies". Although I've killed a few, I have not yet been stung by a scorpion. The local ones are not deadly, but they do give a nasty sting. My ex-wife Patti, after being here for less than 10 days was stung 3 times in one night. She got a good locally produced treatment ointment for them at the pharmacy the next day. I am careful to close my doors onto my verandas in the evening, and wish I had screen doors to keep them out. In the cool weather I think they like to come into warmer spaces.
There are also Tarantula spiders, like this one I exposed under a tarp I had covering some stuff on Bradley's roof.
Unlike what my peers told me as a ten year old, they are very shy, and their operative mode is "run away". This one was caught in the open on the roof, and tried to disguise himself by hiding with the leaf. My friend Bob, who walks every morning from Placencia to the air strip, says he sees them crushed on the road every morning.
We also have snakes, and this one pictured below was partially crushed when it crossed the road. There are dangerous snakes here, but they are after mice other small prey, not humans. The only time I've seen snakes is the few times I've seen them crossing the road.
When I first visited Belize several years ago, I found the geikos that clung to the walls and ceiling somewhat disconcerting. However, now I appreciate their presence, because they are a natural insecticide - they catch and eat bugs.
There are many varieties of ants here, some so small that they are the size of a period. You can't see legs or any other feature, just a dot moving across your keyboard, or counter, or wrist. It amazes me how tough the human skin is, yet how sensitive it is when I can feel something on my skin but can't see it without really focusing on that spot. Geikos like ants.
In my house with white floors, I know where the geikos have been because as living organisms they leave droppings that look much like mouse droppings. Not many, and they sweep or clean up easily, and I view them as welcome signs that my bug busters are at work. The geikos also make a strange chirping sound from time to time, again a welcome sign.
So this is my first post of the new year. I received one postcard (from Beth in Portland, ME) and one card from Gary (on the left coast) from my request for postcards, a disappointment. I do appreciate to contavcts from folks who read the blog, and try to respond to the emails I receive. A little tough right now because I don't have internet at home, and came into the office to write this this morning.
Hope you have a Happy New Year, and I look forward to hearing from more folks!
