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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

Garifuna, West Africans, slave ships, family history

College

Fine Arts and Communications

Department

Communications

Abstract

The Garifuna are the descendents of West Africans brought to the Americas in the 1600s aboard slave ships. After a shipwreck in the Caribbean, they settled on the island of St. Vincent and mixed with the Carib Indians, creating a unique people and culture that thrived on spirituality, dance, music, language and tradition. Eventual land disputes with the British led to fierce battles, defeat and finally, deportation to the coast of Honduras. There, the Garifuna reestablished and adapted, eventually spreading along the coasts of present-day of Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Today, an estimated 300,000 Garifuna live in Central America and another 100,000 Garifuna immigrants live in the United States, with major concentrations in New York, New Orleans, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The Garifuna face the challenge of maintaining their rich culture across country borders; they are working to avoid cultural imperialism that could potentially eliminate their roots. It was this idea that catalyzed my research.

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