Who are the Garifunas

The colonial settlers met a totally trusting people and they took the liberty to exploit the trusting and the friendly nature of the Kalinago people. They rewarded the Kalinago’s trust with slavery and exploitation. They also evicted the Kalinago people from the prime fertile lands they used to feed themselves. The proud, trusting and friendly Kalinago people; the first inhabitants of these island were stripped of their land, there culture but most of all, they were stripped of their freedom. Now they were slaves.

The lands they once, cultivate to feed themselves, were now being used for the enrichment of the colonial’s conquerors. They were made to live, and exist under extremely terrible conditions. Many die from the mistreatment, and from the disease that their enslavers brought to the island. Diseases that were alien to the country and its original inhabitant.

To own Kalinago slaves was not very productive in amassing the type of wealth that were being gained by other European settlers in different parts of the world. So the settlers within the eastern Caribbean, decided to invest in a new labor force. They ordered slaves from merchants who traded along the West African course. These slaves were being used in different parts of the world, which had proven to be a good return on their investment.

With the arrivals of slaves that came on ships that traded along the West African course, there were no need for the otherwise so-called useless Kalinago. A grate number of the Kalinago die from Starvation, because their land were now being used to plant tobacco and other crops for the colonialist and their enslavers were not willing to invest good food to feed a people who were not contributing to their enrichment.

In the year 1635, there were two naval accidents. Two Spanish slaves ships laden with slaves that came from the West African course, experienced difficulties and became ship wrecked off the course of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. the ship was coming from West Africa with a bounty of slaves. Those slaves who survived the ship wreck, was so traumatized by the inhumane or mistreatment they received on board the ships; they became adamant that they will never trust or associate with their capturers or anyone looking like their captures again. 

The Garifuna are a product of what is believed two distinct race of people, who is unique to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. They derived out of the intermarriage of escaped slaves that survivors a ship wreck that occurred off the course of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 1635, that were bound for the new world, from West Africa and the original inhabitants of the country they called Yurumeun (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) the Kalinago.

The escape slaves and the Kalinago got along find and they moved as a united front against the imperial settlers. Whose ambition it was to enslaves them. The Kalinago had experienced the mistreatment of the white imperial settlers, many Kalinago suffered death  at the hands of the imperialist settlers who enslaved them and used them as farmers and beast of burden.

The Slaves on the other hand, came from proud tribes and never knew what it was liked to be tied up in chains, and treated so poorly, as they were when they were aboard the ships, in less than humane conditions. The mistreatment was so severe that once they had gained their freedom, they have resolves that death is better than anything their colonial captors could offer them.

This attitude was carried over to the Kalinago, who quickly forged a unified front with their escape slaves. As a result they unified their fighting, farming, fishing and hunting techniques. As the years go by both fractions, became so closely integrated they even shared in the same political system. From within that community they were one. The colonist developed a name that was tantamount to the N-word to describe this group. That word was the Carib, who they accused of being cannibals.