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.