They Cannot Stop I, By: Chief Strong-Blood

I feel strong, I feel the strength of the past; I hear the call, I heed the call to actions. I obey the command and I am ready to fight. Not to the death; because the dead celebrate not, But to victory, for the victor experiences the glory of triumph. I know I will win. They could not stop Kalinago, and they can't stop me. They could not break Garifuna and they cannot break me. for in my veins runs the rich juice, the juice of defiance, don't tell me what to do. For I will do what I do; for that is what I do. In my veins runs the pure juice, the juice of resilience, in the heat of the battle, we will take your best shot, shake it off; and strike back harder than you can endure, your eternal mortality is my goal. You could not stop my forefathers and you cannot stop me. 2) I am in a war and the battle is real, I fight for my life, my freedom and the preservation of our future. I fight for the sterilization, of the unborn mothers and fathers, the vehicle that will take me into a distant and unknown future, a future where my face will be seen, on the countenance of my children many generations far removed. I know I will win! For they could not stop Garifuna and they can't stop me. They could not break Kalinago and they cannot break me. for in my veins runs the pure juice, the juice of a worrier, that gives me the will to fight, drives away fear, and pollutes my heart with courage. the pure juice that teaches me, determination is our leverage, that brings us back from the precipice of defeat and forces us to fight. our pain motivates us to fight; for it is only in victory that our pain will cease and our wound will heal. You could not stop the past you can stop the future. We are who we are; a nation of warriors.

SIP - Betrayed by the Whiteman!

After many years of trying, the British efforts between 1895 and 1897 finally paid dividend. They managed to defeat and take into captivity a large population of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines indigenous people (SIP): the Kalinago and the Garifuna.

This unfortunate occurrence leave many question unanswered. The primary of which is: what changes occurred within the SIP community that could have so drastically weakened the SIP, to the point where their conquest could have been so swift and so costly.

We know that there was a peace treaty reach between England and the SIP, and they were expected to exist on the island together. However, this author believes the peace treaty that was signed, was part of the English plans to lure the SIP into a state of peace until the requested troops have arrived.

Once the promised troops arrived in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, then the treaty would have fulfilled its purpose; which was to reduce the English causality, during the time it would have taken for the request for troop’s re-enforcement to reach the island.

The peace treaty was just an English strategy of war and the SIP bore the penalty for the trust they placed in the white English tyrant, and soon discovered that the words of their un-melaniated (white) associates had not real significant or value.

But their kind words and friendly smiles were just a means to an end. They were men driven by a tremendous lust to become wealthy at any cost and as soon as possible, They were willing and able to do anything to accomplish their objective.

They (the English colonizers) have left friends and family behind and it was their intent to return to their homes as soon as possible, with the wealth that will give them and their families the privilege the wealthy enjoy and the recognition of the crown.

The behavior of the English after they conquered the SIP is laced with red flag that presented a series of new unanswered question, answer which lay hidden in the mountain of files in the British archives. For more than two hundred years plus years the two distinct fractions that made up the SIP had proven to be an unbeatable force that defeated the Spanish, the English and the French every time they try lay claim on, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

However, after the SIP was conquered and captured, there was a mark difference in the way the British treated the Kalinago and the Garifuna the inhabitant and defender of the group of Island that made up St. Vincent.

While the Kalinargo were pushed to the dense and rocky north of the mainland of St. Vincent, the Garifuna men, women and children were in turn shipped to a small barren island to the south of St. Vincent: Balliceaux.

Balliceaux is an island south of the main island St. Vincent, with scarce vegetation and animal life, no fresh water source and no ready supply of food. On this island many hundreds of Garifuna die from starvation and extreme thirst. However, when the English who inhabited St. Vincent and the Grenadines was pressured by fellow colonists of different nationality, who occupied the neighboring islands the Garifuna was banished to Roatan Honduras.

Why did the Garifuna suffered so harshly when compared to their Kalinago brothers and sisters. Many people have concluded that the Kalinargo people struct a deal with the British unknowing to the Garifuna and they betray and abandoned their Garifuna sibling and did not participated in the final war against the British. Thus weaken the Garifuna fighting force and also diminished their fighting ability.

This school of thought was what the British wanted the Garifuna to believe and this is the way they wanted the future to learn about the most formidable fight foe they have ever faced. What is the truth?

The truth is the French, were trying to gain access and control over St. Vincent for many decade. However the SIP were adamant, they did not want no white people on their land. Initially they were all the same: Just white people.

Prior to the last Carib war, the French met with and arranged to form an allegiance with the S.I.P. for not even the combined forces of the English and the French, with their modern machines of war (gun power, cannons, Long and short Muskets - guns) were able to defeat the S.I.P.

There are some troubling questions I have about the organization of the alliance; between the French and the S.I.P. How was it possible for this to be done, without the knowledge of the English? When we consider St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a very small island, and it was almost impossible for the large french ships to be hidden even in the open sea.

When you consider by this time in our nation's history it was known by the French, the English and the Spanish that St. Vincent and the Grenadines were void of any precious stones; the type of stones they were interested in: gold, silver, etc. They knew this by the very fact, the ceremonial outfit of the priest and Chief were without; the decorated adornment of any metal that was worthwhile having. which represented the presence of or the access to those valuable stones.

It was because of the absence of such precious stones, which caused the Spanish to lose interest in the Island. It was not worth the Spanish's while to invest in an Island that did not give them a ready quick and rich return.

We must be mindful, the Europeans are all one nation the Caucasian or the Edomite nation, with a common ancestry. In other words, they are brothers. We must also bear in mind, both the French and the English were closely knitted allied and blood relatives. In that for for centuries, both nations aristocratic families and royal families often intermarried; especially in union of conveniences.

So why would the French ruin such a stellar relationship that span hundreds of years; over a small Island that had rough terrains, large mountains and very little flat land on which to conduct large scale farming. It just does not make any sense. For the French to side and fight alongside the S.I.P. how would doing so benefit them?

But the last and final reason why, the French alliance with the St. Vincent and the Grenadines indigenous people was a part of the Caucasians bigger plan, was the fact, just six years before the beginning of the first Carib way, in 1763, the Caucasians ruling class from France, England and Spain came together and they signed what was called the Treaty of Paris.

In the Treaty of Paris: The Caucasians decided St. Vincent and the Grenadines will go to England, although Portugal was not apart of the treaty, they were also present and decided they have no interest in and will not complicate the English rule of St. Vincent was part of the colony of England.

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines indigenous people had no way of knowing this. They thought the french offer to help them was a guanine one, based on mutual respect. But this was not the case. When the second Carib war began in 1795, the French betrayed the Carib leading to their defeat.

The SIP made a very serious mistake. For centuries, the SIP refused to trust the white-man. With the SIP's lack of trust for and of, the white-man, they were always victorious over them in every battle they fought. However, the one time they put their trust in the group of Caucasians called: the French; they were betrayed. This betrayal led to the final defeat of our valiant indigenous forefathers.

That Betrayal cause many of the S.I.P. to lose their liees, they lose their freedom and they lose their land. They also suffered much, in the form of humiliation and pain especially the pain of hunger and thirst. Which the Banished Garifuna were forced to experience.

There is a popular saying that goes like this, If you forget the past you are doomed to repeat the same mistakes of your fathers. Vincentians forgot their past and today most are once again enslaved by the few whites that occupied the small island.

Our forefathers have an excuse; that excuse is their ignorance, of who the Caucasians were. But what excuse do our now enslaved Vincentians has. Not one; we refuse to learn from the past so we repeated the mistakes our forefathers made almost about One hundred and thirty-six years ago.

The key to victory

He who fights against himself will never win, for he creates and enemy of and with himself;

The one he must protect and defend, therefore he defeat the sole purpose for which to fight.

The one who rage war against himself will, shall and will become a victim of his own victory.

He who fight against himself will lose the war even before the first battle began.

He who do not understand the battle will lose the war, he will become a victims of his ignorance;

For he failed to prepare himself to meet the challenges ahead, challenges he was destined to confront.

A victim several time over, a victim of defeat, a victim of his neglect and a victim of himself.

For he fail to understand that which, it was his duty and responsibility to know.

He who do not understand the war, can still be victorious. But only if he fights each battle on its merits.

You must be careful to utilize only the resources needed to secure a victory;

Always putting forward your best, fighting the war one battle at a time; focusing on the present battle.

Overcoming tomorrow’s obstacles, fighting tomorrow’s battles and looking forward to tomorrow’s victories only after today have ended.

Garifuna - Post Banishment Remnant (1779)

In the long term, the remnant of the Garifuna, who escaped onto the dense forested mountain ridges, on the windward coast of Yurumein, were not as lucky as their banished Garifuna brothers and sisters. Those who were banished from the land they once owned and roamed on freely. One of the disadvantages of the escape Garifuna were, they were not accustomed to losing a war, defeat was new to them, so when they fled, they ended up in small groups in different locations and those groups remained together. The groups were not large enough, to restart a functional Garifuna community as they knew it. Even when the groups grew, to a size where the structure could have been reintroduced, the remnant Garifuna, had became accustomed, to an existence without the formal structure that was a part of their old way of life. They also had a real fear of being captured. This was so, because of the lack of information about the destiny, of their captured brothers and sisters; and as such, the level of their caution grew.

Although they had to and they became adopted to isolated and small dwellings; remaining undetected and uncaptured were always their number one priority. The remnant Garifunas, were in a familiar place, that place lacked what made it home. The absence of those they knew and loved, as well as, the lack of community structure that facilitated, life as they once knew it and the restricted freedom and access to the island as they once had, made it different. The escaped Garifuna, became captive on their own island, restricted to a tiny area, where they did their best to survive, without the benefit of a community as they know it. Without any structure, a default leader and the numbers that was present in the community of Garifuna that was banished to Roatan.

Their willingness to remain undetected, did not provide much opportunity for the unification with the other small groups who were scattered, long the nearby mountain ridges. This also did not lend much opportunity, for an immediate re-establishment of a functional society as they knew it, before the death of their leaders, and the capture of their brothers and sisters.

The small number Garifunas who ended up together basically stayed with the group with whom they ended up. One thing that was sure unique to the Garifunas were: Their retreated was to the dense mountain ridge, even though they all did not become reunited and that became their dwelling place and their own instructed community.

One thing that helped me arrived to this conclusion, is that fact, the residence of Greggs, Lowmans Windward, Lauders and New Prospect the Mountain Ridges on which the remnant Garifuna retreated to, are still occupy by them today. These loactions are within close proximity to each other, but the Garifuna people, who lives in these area today, are not blood relatives. And the sense of community and the level of community interactions that is present within the villages that makes up the Kalinago Community is not present among the four traditionally Garifuna settlement.

I will endeavor to say, the remnant post banishment Garifuna, was worse than that of their banished brothers. For a very long time, the Remnant Garifuna on Yurumein, lived in fear and this was responsible for inhibiting their overall growth as a community and as a people. Even when the English did not saw the Garifuna as a threat to their existence and even when the French took controlled of St. Vincent, for the four years period that ranged from 1779 to 1783; the remnant Garifuna remained suspicious of all European and remained in hiding. They were totally unafraid of the fate, they did not know of (the fate of the captured Garifuna), but were sure they did not want to be a part of.

The SIP Religion Pre-Banishment (1779)

The St. Vincent Indigenous People (SIP) which includes the Garifuna and the Kalinago as the existed between 1635 and 1779, had a religion that was based on that which was being practiced by the Kalinago people with a fusion of that of the ship wreck survivors and to a lesser extent the maroons.

Most people are of the opinion that drums were introduced into the St. Vincent Indigenous people’s culture, after the Ship wreck survivors joined the Kalinago people and merged with them. But there is evidence to suggest, the use of drums was always a part of the Kalinago people existence. As a result, the addition to the indigenous people’s community, with those who were destined to become slaves may have introduced aspects of their varying cultural rituals that required the use of drums. But the Kalinago people used drums in their ceremonies, celebrations and in their healing process.

It is believed that the SIP practiced some level of spiritualism. They believed that their dead relatives, and respected tribal leaders were directly involvement their lives and their fortune or misfortune were based on their pleasure or displeasure. As such, a great deal of time were spent appeasing their dead ancestors. Illness, consistent and unexpected bad fortune were cause by a displease God or the ancestors. They believed illnesses were caused by a bad spirit that possess the ill person and as wellness can only be regained by the casting out of the spirit; and such required a special ceremony, that must be conducted by the Piaye (the priest) to chase out or expel the evil or bad spirit from within the ill person.

In such cases, the Piayes were required to perform a ceremony, in the ceremony the Paiye will using rattles, smoke, chanting, drums and dancing. They will inhale large quantity of tobacco smoke to get them to a semiconscious state. This was the state he was required to be in, in order for him or her to communicate with the ancestors. In these ceremony, the priest will summon the help of their ancestor in the eviction of the unwelcome evil spirit and the healing of the ill person.

There were different ranked Piaye; there were also a chief Piaye, who was responsible for leading all official ceremonies. The chief Piaye, was the one who excelled in supernatural affairs, command the respect of the tribal elders and who were better able to get results.

Later as the SIP were separated by the English, the religious practices of the banished Garifuna people, began to evolved to meet their needs and by the influence of the people around them. While the remnant Garifuna, who escaped banishment, were try their best to adopt to whatever would have kept their Garifuna identity from being discovered by the English. The Kalinago on the other hand slowly abandoned their religion to appease the English, who spare them the inconvenience of being banished along with their darker complexioned younger brother: The Garifuna.

Mass banishment a plus for the Garifuna people.

It is hard to understand, what the English was trying to accomplished, when the abandoned the Garifuna on the small, partially barren island of Balliceaux, six or so miles south of St. Vincent and later on Roatan, some twenty five miles north of Honduras. Whatever, they were trying to accomplished, I hereby submit that the mass deportation/banishment, of the Garifuna people, in a neutral and to a singular location, was good for the Garifuna as a people. For one thing, the mass deportation left all of the important structure of the Garifuna society in place, and those that may have been dismantle, by virtue of the mass death that resulted from the intense war with the English and banishment to Balliceaux, where some two thousand, two hundred and forty eight Garifuna died.

Rebuilding the community may have taken some doing, but it was not an impossible task, to put the community structure back into place. There were some supporting factors, which were:

1. The number of Garifuna that were banished,
2. Their knowledge of their community, of their culture and its working.
3. Their ability to communicate using the same language and the virtue of the fact.
4. There were default leaders  remaining within the banished Garifuna community.

I am of the impression, there were a leader of some significant level, among the banished Garifuna. This will account for the high survival rate, which amounted up to over twenty five hundred Garifuna, that survived the Balliceaux experience, after eight months of banishment on the island that was unable to sustained human life for any significant period of time. Balliceaux is an island with no ready usable fresh water source and no edible plant food source. This was not a case of survival of the fittest, there must have been some form of default leadership, who coordinated activities on the island, where fresh water were collected and stored, and where food were collected and systematically distributed (mainly fish) to satisfy the needs of so large a group. Not only did the Garifuna who left Balliceaux survived the harsh conditions of the island that should have killed them all, they were fit and strong enough to survive the long difficult voyage of over 16 hundred miles, at sea, in slow wind propelled vessels; under extremely poor conditions to their new home.

 

The Banished Garifuna people had no choice but to regroup, they were dispossessed from their island, their homes were destroyed, their brothers, sisters and leader were killed and they were shipped off to a land they did not know. One of their gold as a people, was to return and retake Yurumein their island home, from those people who have dispossessed them. It was this burning desire that motivated the banished Garifuna to regroup. They had the knowledge of their culture, they had their language which facilitated easy communication, and they had some default leaders among the banished and they had a goal.

With the knowledge and community structure somewhat still in place and the dreams of the Garifuna people to return to Yurumein to take back and resettle their islands; was all that was needed, for this proud people, to preserve their culture, their language, their heritage and their sense of self.

Today, the Garifuna people who were banished have grown tremendously, and their culture have survived over 236 (1779-1015) years. Although it is slowly dying; because of modern migration and foreign assimilation of the migrated Garifuna, however the culture it is still fairly strong. The language is always the first to go. But there is hope for the language. And the hope for the sustainability of the Garifuna language lies in the original home land of Garifuna: Yurumien modern day St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines have to ensure that the Garifuna language is preserved. They has an moral and cultural obligation, to ensure the history and the language of the Garifuna do not die. The Government need to implement a massive five years plan. and the main objective of this plan is to have the Garifuna language, spoken by at least one quarter of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines population.


They have an obligation to make it mandatory, for the language to be a part of the primary school and secondary curriculum. They should also encourage locals to write songs, stories and other material in the Garifuna language for every day usage. They need to Organized Garifuna debating societies and have debates and other public forum where all oral presentations are done in the Garifuna tongue. And there must be vocal competition to celebrate the Garifuna music. And Finally we need to change the holiday that is still celebrated as discovery day (January 22rd) to another and more appropriate day and call it St. Vincent Indigenous People Day. This is where we will celebrate and honor our indigenous people.

The Remnant of the Garifuna - St. Vincent settlement

Today, on the Island named Yurumein (St. Vincent) by the Garifuna (The Black Caribs), are a remnant of the Garifuna People, who were never captured, banished and who never knew slavery. Remnant of whom, still lives on St. Vincent today. There is also a settlement of a people who are, direct descendants of the Kalinago (The Yellow Caribs) People, who received favorable treatment from the British. They to are still living in small Villages on the island of St. Vincent today.

The Garifuna People
Language and Culture

There are some things that are common, to the two groups that makes up the St. Vincent Indigenous People (SIP). Over the years, they have both lost all aspect of their culture, as well as, the ability to speak and understand, the language that was native to them. The reason the Garifuna people, abandoning of their culture, especially their language, must have been to fit in and avoid being detected as Garifuna, thus they avoid suffering the same fate, of their banished brother and sisters. 

The story of the remnant of the Garifuna people or the Black Caribs, were completely different in most aspects of the life of the Kalinago people. While the Kalinago people were told where to live and basically how to live (what they can and can't do) by the English, the Garifuna choose their place of habitation based on convenience. A remnant of the Garifuna, who escaped capture, by running off into the dense forest. They wanted to remain hidden from prying eyes, especially the eyes of the English, who wanted them off the island. Because of this, they choose their dwelling locations carefully.

As a result, the Garifuna People who fled, retreated to the extremely high, dense, steep and treacherous forested mountain ridge. Today those villages are called Greggs, Lowmans and Lauders; they are the primary settlements of the Garifuna. These settlements are strategically located on the windward side of the island; where they still live to this day. The Garifuna community, is a very closely knitted one; even more so than the Kalinago people’s community. They (The ridge dwelling Garifuna people) rarely ever allow any new resident (None Garifuna) into their community, for any significant period.

Distinct feature:

Although the Garifuna are dark in complexion and are often mistaken for descendants of slaves, the Garifuna people have totally distinct feature, which they inherited from their Kalinago ancestors. The square and flat forehead, and basically the nose and their height or lack thereof are some of their distinct features. The shade of their skin or their complexion, they inherited from their slave ancestors; those who came on ships, from the West African course and were bound for the new world; destined to be slaves; but never made it to their intended destination.

The temperament of the Garifuna people:

The remnant of the Garifuna people that exist on the island of St. Vincent today, are somewhat aggressive in nature, unlike the Kalinago people. They are quick to fight, when provoke and at times will go to the extreme. There have been some of the more gruesome killings, within those communities. The fact that they are traditionally farmers, their weapon of choice is a popular tool that is use for farming: the machete.

Because the Garifuna people choose to live in seclusion, the remnant of the St. Vincent Garifuna People, did not have access to the sea, so they make full use of the rivers, and streams and the wild life that dwell in these inland bodies of water. They often use trees and other material found in nature, to create dam that allow the water to accumulate into a large bodies, where they fish, swam, etc.


Today, as more of the Garifuna people began to appreciate the value in formal education and began to go in pursuit of higher education, more of them have begun to enter into the general work force. The Garifuna were better able to become integrated into the society than the Kalinago did. And they have reach to the point where most people have forgotten that these people who for generation, occupied these Mountain Ridge Villages of Greggs, Lowmans and Lauders which are located in the windward side of the island, are remnant of the Garifuna who were never captured, enslaves or banished.