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Inti Martínez

Cultural Anthropology

11/21/2006

The Garífunas of Central America

Introduction

The Garínagu, better known as Garífunas, live in the coast of Belize, Honduras,

and Nicaragua. Their ethnicity is of African descent (West Africa, Bantu, Yoruba),

combined with Carib or Calinago, thus creating the Black Caribs or Garífunas. In 1635,

“two Spanish ships carrying slaves to the West Indies were ship-wrecked near St. Vincent

and the slaves on board escaped and took refuge among the Caribs (Cayetano, 1990).” In

1797, after intermarrying with the Caribs and suffering many British attacks, about five

thousand Black Caribs were rounded off by British soldiers and put on a boat destined to

the islands of Roatán and Bonaca (now, Guanaja), Honduras—half of Black Caribs dying

during the trip. From here, they spread to mainland Honduras, north to Belize, and south

to Nicaragua. Even though 80 percent of Garífunas—from the 51 Garífuna villages in

Central America—live in Honduras (Yuscarán, 1990), most of the literature from and

about Garífunas revolves around the Belizean population.

Today‟s Garífunas are not the same Garífunas from two or three decades ago.

Many Garífunas have left their native villages and now live in large cities like

Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, most of them well incorporated into the mestizo

lifestyle—yet still suffering from racial discrimination (Dzidzienyo & Oboler, 2005).

There is also a very large Garífuna population in US cities like New York, New Orleans,

Chicago, and Los Angeles (Yuscarán); these Garífunas send monthly remittances to their

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family members in Honduras, which help their lives more affordable. Garífunas in

Honduras are plagued by HIV/AIDS, propagated by men‟s sexually promiscuous habits

and their endogamous marriage rules. Even though HIV/AIDS is widespread among the

Garífunas, stigmatizing those infected is common (Stansbury, 2004).

While the Garífuna language does not have distinct words for different marital

unions, Garífunas “distinguish three sorts of marital unions: legal, extralegal, and

secondary.” A legal marriage is one endorsed by a church (usually the Catholic Church).

“Extralegal unions are also common and entirely acceptable, although they lack the

prestige of marriage (Kerns, 1983).” Secondary unions are very rare and involve an

additional, fully recognized, wife. However, the vast majority of village men claim to

have only one spouse. A survey by Kerns shows that 77 percent of children live with at

least one parent (60 percent with both parents). In Garífuna villages, men usually do the

fishing and some horticulture, while women take care of the children at home; do the

cleaning, cooking and washing; and walk every morning at five to take care of the garden

(that might be miles away, in borrowed property). Men, for the most part, are

irresponsible and sluggish, while women do most of the work for the family, resenting

men‟s habits.

The supernatural and religious rites are very private for the Garífunas. They rarely

talk about what they do in their communities, and when asked about their religious

beliefs and customs, they tend to respond in an evasive manner. Death is dealt with in a

very peculiar manner: there are festivities combined with mourning—rituals for the dead

extend even after many years.

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Birth, Death and the Afterlife

“Death and the dead constantly impinge on the world of the living. Certain „signs‟

presage an impending death: the appearance of a large black butterfly in the house, or the

restlessness of infants during the night (Kerns).” The Garífuna beliefs of the supernatural,

the afterlife, and the current life blend into each other, making it very difficult to pinpoint

where and why certain beliefs have originated. Feeding the dead, bathing the spirit of the

dead, and praying to ancestors are common rituals among Garífunas. Talking about

religious and burial rituals is very private for the Garífunas; they tend to no talk about

what they do within their communities. Most mestizos take this secretiveness as a

reflection of low self-esteem from part of the Garífunas or view their practices with much

suspicion and disgust.

Death is not the only event to which Garífunas dedicate rituals. Childbirth is an

important and ritualized event. The birth of a child, per se, is only seen as a physical

birth—but not as the birth of the child into society. For the Garífuna midwives, there are

two events which symbolize the community‟s welcoming of the new child. First, the

spirits of the child‟s ancestors (called gubidas) are invoked for protection. It‟s

inconceivable for the midwives to deliver a child without undergoing the child into this

ritual. Midwives are very interested in finding out if the newborn has a special trait that

might be beneficial for the community in the future. They carefully observe whether or

not a newborn has a thin film around his or her head. This thin film is called lagueí and

not all newborns have it; those who do have it end up becoming very good herb doctors,

midwives, or spiritual leader—all highly respected positions among the Garífunas.

Moreover, the placenta from the mother‟s womb is buried as a symbol of connection

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between the newborn and the land (which is seen as a gift from God to all humanity).

This burial is seen as a blessing upon the child. If the placenta is not buried and comes in

contact with an animal, then the life of the newborn will be cursed (Idiáquez, 1994).

Second, the child is given a Catholic baptism, offering him or her to God with

gratitude. Without the holy water or divinize from baptism, the child‟s vulnerability to

illnesses, curses, and poor weather (as it affects growing crops, fishing, etc.) is high. The

midwife usually opens the Bible to the Psalms (oftentimes Psalm 23) and places it on the

bed or a nearby table. The holy water that falls on the baby is considered the most

powerful tool to clean the soul for the afterlife and thus opens the door for salvation

(Idiáquez).

This combination of ancestor invocation and Catholicism (called Afro-Catholic

Syncretism by Idiáquez) is well engrained in Garífuna culture. These rites are of crucial

importance to the sociopolitical structure of Garífuna communities. Idiáquez, quoting

Hurbon, says that Garífunas believe God is the being without which all rituals and

invocations to ancestral spirits would have no meaning or efficacy. Herb doctors,

midwives, and spiritual leaders all fervently believe that they could not do a good job if it

were not for the help of God. Their religious dedication is very strong; midwives, for

example, when facing a difficult birth, use the “thunder stone”* or lidüburi wayújulluru,

and a cross in order to allow the ancestors work in favor of the birth. If the “thunder

stone” is used without the cross, then the baby and/or the mother might be in danger of

dying (Idiáquez).

The ancestral spirits are seen as the mediators between God and the world. Most

ancestral spirits are good spirits, but there are bad spirits that represent the lives of dead

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people who were rebellious with God and did not live moral lives. When someone dies,

the ancestral spirits that were invoked when he or she was born take the body of the

Garífuna and guide it towards its eternal home. These ancestral spirits or gubidas are

invoked by a group of people of strong faith, while facing east, where the sun comes out,

and where the gubidas reside. This group has to avoid crying, talking, or looking at the

face of the deceased; doing this symbolizes offering the life of the Garífuna to God, with

hopes that it will be received. Garífunas cannot conceive not praying for the soul of the

deceased, because only animals die without being prayed for.

The body and the soul are seen as inseparable for the Garífunas. Thus, the body

has to be taken care of as well. After praying for the soul of the deceased, the spouse,

close relatives, or elderly women of the community wash the body thoroughly in order to

present it clean to God (Kerns). This rite is analogous to the baptism he or she received as

a newborn. For Garífunas, dying is a memorable event that involves the whole

community. Praying, washing, buying food and drinks, preparing meals, building a

coffin, digging the grave, and carrying out mass for the deceased involves practically

everyone in the community and can cost about the equivalent of $1300 (Kerns).

Kerns says that wakes “are sedate affairs early in the night. The men gamble or

converse, a few women sing hymns, and others sit together talking quietly or help

distribute food and rum…Eventually someone induces a few of the men to provide music

for dancing, substituting wooden crates for drums…Some of the older women are sure to

protest the impropriety of festive music and dance, but only halfheartedly and usually in

vain. Soon enough they may take turn dancing themselves.” Death ceremonies have a

solemn purpose combined with a festive ambience. During the wake, women wail

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without restraint. “Wailing is a ritual skill that women cultivate….People criticize a

woman who cries quietly or spiritlessly, calling her ungrateful.”

Anyone who comes in contact with the dead has to undergo a cleansing ritual. If

he or she is not cleansed, he or she cannot go out to fish, hunt, or gather food without

having bad luck and illness. This cleansing ritual involves burning together a termite nest,

cow dung, and garlic. If one comes in contact with the dead one needs to immerse in this

smoke during several minutes. Another type of cleansing involves bathing oneself with

the lemon leaves tea (Idiáquez).

Moreover, the death ritual is not only for blessing the deceased, but also for

blessing the community. By carrying out a death ritual properly, the community shows its

obedience and love for God and the ancestors—thus receiving blessings from them. God

is such a powerful and great being that the need of good ancestral spirits as intercessors is

necessary. God is seen as a caring, loving, and protecting God. Jesus is also revered as

the perfect example of lifestyle and servanthood. What Jesus did on this Earth is seen as

the ultimate advocacy for justice. He is the archetype which the ancestral spirits follow.

Jesus and the ancestors guide the dead towards eternity and are a source of inspiration

and identity for the Garífuna people (Idiáquez).

After the burial, there are six other rites (most of them not obligatory) for the

dead: the novena and ninth-night wake (arísaruni and belúria); the end-of-mourning

ceremony (tágurun lúdu); bathing the spirit (amúidahani); Requiem Mass and feasting

(helémeserun hiláña and eféduhani laugi lemési); feeding the dead (chugú); and feasting

the dead (dügǘ). A novena “usually begins on the first or second Friday after burial.” The

prayers of the novena “assure the repose of the soul and…the detachment of the deceased

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from the world of the living.” The ninth-night wake celebrates the same purpose of the

novena, but is a merrier event involving cooking, drinking, conversing, and dancing.

After the ninth-night is over, the altar dedicated for the defunct is “torn down abruptly,”

causing some wailing from the relatives (Kerns).

The end-of-mourning “ceremony is held six months after burial…The day before

the ceremony the mourning women…bake the bread that they will serve the following

day with coffee and rum.” During the 6 AM ceremony, older women pray with the close

relative and then women ritually bathe in the beach. Each woman “has a female partner,

typically an aunt or an elder cousin, whom she has chosen to accompany her into the sea.

Fully dressed and with their arms linked, each pair walks into the surf and out beyond the

breakers. There the escorts of the mourning women submerge them, then help them up,

repeating this twice again.” After this, the women get dressed in the deceased‟s house and

start sipping rum and dancing punta until late morning or early afternoon, depending on

how long the rum lasts or the dancers endure. Community members flock around the

house and join the festivity (Kern).

The bathing of the spirit takes place several months or years after a death. “[A]

close relative commonly has a dream in which the deceased man or woman requests a

bath.” Again, refreshments are prepared the day before bathing the spirit. The

amúidahani “takes place in a yard, usually by the house where the deceased lived.” The

ceremony starts with invited guests and relatives before dawn, and does not take too long.

The attendees gather around a shallow pit the size of a grave and the closest relative of

the deceased “throws a bucket of water into the pit.” Then, in pairs, one person at the

head with a bucket of cassava water and the other at the feet with a bucket of fresh water,

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they dump water into the pit. “[A] candle burns beside an offering of food and rum inside

the house.”

For the Requiem Mass and feasting, the spirit of the dead requests these events to

a close relative in form of a dream, about one or two years after his or her death. These

events, according to Kern, are very similar to the novena and the ninth-night wake:

prayers followed by feasting.

The feeding and feasting of the dead, the last two death rituals, “differ from the

preceding rituals in a number of respects.” Both of these originate after a chronic disease

falls upon a close relative of the defunct. The shaman of the town and helpers summon

the spirits to see why this person has fallen ill for so long. They usually find out that the

spirit has not been appeased or granted a gift. Then, the shaman is told by the spirit more

details about the ritual (either chugú or dügǘ, but not both): “who is to contribute, the

amount of the contribution, the various foods to be offered, the manner of the offering‟s

disposal (either burial or disposal at sea), the length of the ceremony, and even the date.”

Oftentimes, the relatives negotiate with the spirits, in order to have more time to prepare.

“Chugú and dügǘ differ in cost, length, and attendance. Chugú is a one-day affair,

essentially an elaborate offering accompanied by frequent prayers” to God, Christ, the

Virgin Mary, and individual ancestors (Kern).

“Dügǘ has long been the paramount ceremony for the dead, the most length,

costly, and elaborate.” In this three-day-and-night-long event, relatives from nearby

towns—and even those living abroad—flock to the hometown of deceased and celebrate

with “drinking, dining, dancing, and conviviality.” Lavish amounts of food and drinks are

provided by the hosts. Anyone who dances in the dügǘ, however, must bring a small

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portion of rum as an offering. People come from far away to this celebration because it is

known to cure illnesses that medical doctors have not been able to cure (Kern).

Conclusion

The life of the Garífunas is full of mysticism and rituals that revolve around their

conception of the supernatural. God and ancestral spirits are very important for the how

the Garífuna people live their lives. The trinomial of God, the ancestors, and the land

gives significance to the identity and unity of the Garífunas. Most of the religious

practices are now longer common in Garífuna villages. What permeates the minds of

Garífunas nowadays is thinking how to leave their village to study and get a job in a city,

and buying the trendiest clothes and commodities. Young Garífunas see the practices,

beliefs, and rituals of their parents and grandparents with skepticism and even mockery.

The death rituals, specifically, are too cumbersome, costly, and lengthy to be put to

practice nowadays—many Garífunas work for someone else and cannot leave work

without being fired or fined. Garífunas in cities no longer speak the Garífuna language,

but still eat most of the food the Garífunas in villages eat. The richness of the Garífuna

culture is vast, yet it has been decimated due to its contact with the “modern” world.

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Reference List

Cayetano, S. (1989). Garífuna History, Language & Culture of Belize, Central America

& the Caribbean. Belize: Unknown Publisher.

Dzidzienyo, A., & Oboler, S. (2005). Neither Enemies nor Friends. New York, NY:

Palgrave MacMillan.

England, S. (2006). Afro Central Americans in New York City: Garífuna Tales of

Transnational Movements in Racialized Space. Gaineseville, FL: University Press of

Florida.

Idiáquez, J. (1994). El Culto a los Ancestros: en la Cosmovisión Religiosna de los

Garífunas de Nicaragua. Managua, Nicaragua: Instituto Histórico Centroamericano.

Kerns, V. (1983). Women and the Ancestors. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Stansbury, J., & Sierra, M. (2004). Risks, stigma and Honduran Garifuna conceptions of

HIV/AIDS. Social Science & Medicine, vol. 59, number 3, pp. 457-471. Retrieved

November 25, 2006, from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

Yuscarán, G. (Lewis, William) (1990). Conociendo a la Gente Garífuna. Tegucigalpa,

Honduras: Nuevo Sol Publicaciones.

* The “thunder stone” is a very special stone which is used in all births as symbol of connection between

the newborn, the Garífuna society, and the supernatural.