The Aftermath - Banishment and death of the Garifunas

The year was 1796, it was just over a years since Paramount Chief Chatoyer died from injuries sustained in battle, while fighting the English. Many Garifuna or the Black Caribs as they were called by the British, chose death over being captured. A large number of the St. Vincent Indigenous People (SIP) retreated into the dense forest and an extremely large number of the SIP were captured; over five thousands were Garifuna. The SIP were taken into captivity by the English. The English, did not want the task nor the responsibly to housed, fed, and supervised their prisoners of war. They wanted an inexpensive way of dealing primarily with the Garifunas and banishment seems to be the most cost effective way, of dealing with the bunch of vicious rebels. As a result, a decision was reached and on July of 1796, approximately four thousand, seven hundred and seventy six Garifunas, men, women and children were taken to and abandoned on the small partially barren island of Balliceaux.


Balliceaux is a small 320 acres island, south of mainland St. Vincent. The Island is surrounded by the sea and it do not have any readily available fresh water source nor readily edible plant food supply. After some eight months, approximately two thousand, two hundred and forty eight Garifuna men, women and children die from starvation and dehydration. The British plans to banish their prisoners of war (POW): their Garifuna captives, on a nearby island, had some embarrassing flaws, they were forced to correct.

The first problem they encountered was: the Garifunas were skill boat builders and sailors, who on a regular basis, traveled between the islands that made up the Caribbean, to participate in religious festive and other rituals and ceremonies of the region's indigenous nations. What if those Garifunas who retreated into the dense forest, made Canoes, rescue their imprisoned/banished Garifuna brothers and sisters and reestablished themselves, into a dangerously formidable fighting force. This was a problem, the English settlers or the English fighting troops, ever wanted to be faced with.

Another problem the English encountered with the original plans were; the starving Garifuna people, did not have the capacity to bury their dead according to the SIP customs. As a result, passing ships, especially those carrying Missionaries and of different nationalities, would have smelt the overwhelming stink of decaying corpses that emitted from the island. This distinct and most repulsive odor, was carried great distances by the wind. Many, especially Christian and foreign sympathizers became outraged at the treatment handed out to the indigenous people at the hands of the English. This created a whole new set of problems. The civilized English government, could not be associated with such a travesty; thus the English settlers were forced to come up with an alternative plan to deal with the Garifuna captive, before official word or complaint of genocide, in the name of the King, officially reaches the crown.

The second problem also provided the evidence that the so-called "Caribs" the SIP were not cannibals. If this was true, the banished Indigenous people, would have easily ate their dead to stay alive; thus greatly reducing the number of fatality by starvation. The fact that the British did not further scandalized the reputation of the so-called "Caribs;" as cannibals to justify their mistreatment of this nation, who were a superior fighting force to their troops were proof. This was the perfect opportunity for the English to substantiate their earlier claims that the SIP were cannibals, but there was no evidence of cannibalism, even when banished on a partially barren island, with no food and or water and no practical means of getting such, for eight months.

Banishment under such horrendous conditions brought out another side of the Garifuna. It show how resilient and adoptable the Garifuna people were. The Banishment to Balliceaux, were rather extreme, and it created the ideal conditions for the alleged cannibals to save themselves by eating the flesh of their dead. However, the Garifuna suffered death, rather than to desecrate the body of their fallen brother. They still hoped that they would have gotten the opportunity to lay their falling brothers to rest in accordance to the Custom of the SIP. It is interesting to note, that even placed in a position where death was eminent, the Garifuna people found a way to survive the dreaded conditions that existed on Balliceaux. What did twenty five hundred plus Garifuna people used for food and where did they get fresh water, that was enough to sustained so large a number of people for more than eight months?

The English had a new plan, but it required them to do that which they dreaded doing. They had to invest money, resources and man power to implement this plan. The new plan had the potential to solve the two problems they encountered with their original plan, of banish the Garifunas on a nearby island. As a result they, ship the Garifuna to Rattan or Roatan a bay island 50 miles north of the Honduras. A place where they were unable to regroup into a formidable fighting force and once again pose a military threat to their conquerors. The English had found a place where the mass death of the Garifuna people could not be associated with them hundreds of miles on the other side of the Atlantic. The last thing the English wanted, was another war with the Garifunas, who for over one hundred and fifty years had hampered their economic development and settlement on St. Vincent or a scandal that reach the Monarchy.

The members of the Kalinago or the "Yellow Caribs" as they were called by the English, were still considered a peaceful group and were favored by the English over their darker complexioned tribal brothers: the Garifuna. It was widely believed that the Garifunas were the ones responsible for enticing the Kalinagos into participating in the attacks on the British settlers.

The Kalinago were banished far north, into a more favorable place that was able to sustain live. Today the Kalinago still occupied those land and are still living under conditions that can be considered primitive, when compared to 2015 standards. Over the years the Kalinago people, were used by modern day politicians, as a tool to elect then into office but they never benefited from those politicians.