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.

The Modern day St. Vincent Kalinago

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, are still living on St. Vincent. There is also a settlement of what may be considered, direct descendants of the Kalinago (The Yellow Caribs) People who received favorable treatment from the British, are still living in small Villages on the island of St. Vincent.

There are some things that are common, to the two groups that makes up the St. Vincent Indigenous People (SIP). Over the years, the Kalinago people have both lost all aspect of their culture, as well as, the ability to speak and understand, the language that was native to them.

I greatly suspected that in the Kalinago people case, this was done to remain in the Good graces of the English, who had banished them to the far north of the Island.

The Kalinago People

The Kalinago people that can be found on the island of St. Vincent are the direct descendants from the original people who first settled the island. The main settlement of the Kalinago, can be found on the extreme north of the island and encompasses villages such Sandy Bay, Owia and Fancy, which are the main or original Villages they settled. Later, they moved more south, closer to the imaginary dividing line, which marked the Kalinago territory: the Rabacca Dry River. Although the Kalinago occupies lands on the Windward side of the Island, there are also settlements on the Leeward course. Examples of these settlements are Clay Valley which is just on the outer limits of the capital Kingstown, Rose Hall and Rose Bank are also Kalinago or Yellow Carib settlements.

Unlike the small islands that is found on the south of St. Vincent that today is called the Grenadines; St. Vincent is an extremely fertile island. The Kalinago People, were allowed to settle St. Vincent, which meant that they had very fertile farm lands, which they were able to utilized to feed themselves. However, this sea fearing nation, was unable to utilize the see in the same manner they once did. This was and still is so, because the sea in the area of the Kalinago's arranged settlement, is a part the open Atlantic Ocean. As a result, of this simple but profound fact, the sea in these area are consistently rough and gives way to boisterous waves that crash onto the shore; waves which keeps the sea in that part of the Island, rough and dangerous. This did not stop the Kalinago People from adopting and from feeding themselves as well as, making a living from the sea as: Fishers.

Distinct feature:

The Kelenago, people may have taken longer than expected to become properly and fully integrated in the community, this may be so, because of their totally distinct appearance. Their beautiful yellow skin, that appear to glow are hard to miss, their square forehead and their lack of height, are all unmistakable, identifying features of the Kalinago people. The basic characteristics of the Kalinago people, have not change much and they can still be identified on site even though they are quickly becoming integrated into the community.

　

The Temperament of the Kalinago People.

The Kalinago people, have somewhat of a docile or submissive, peaceful nature. There is not much violent crimes that is reported to have been committed in that part of the island. They are a closely knitted community, who for the most, part keep primarily to themselves. Although they are very hospitable, they rarely let outsiders to settle in their community. The occupation of choice are generally farming and fishing; however, as more of the Kalinago people come too acknowledge and appreciate the value of formal education and more of them began to go in pursuit of higher education, they have been venturing out and taking up more nontraditional (for Kalinago) jobs.

Were there an ethnic divide within the SIP?

Buried beneath the years of St. Vincent Indigenous People's (SIP) history, are the answers to some very important questions about the truth as it related to what actually happened, to bring an end to the SIP habitation of St. Vincent as they did before 1796, as well as before the actual documentation of the SIP's history began.

There is no documentation of what actually happened and no one can say with any degree of certainty, what actually transpired, or what led to the defeat of the SIP and the final banishment of the Garifuna people. Although there have not been any actual records of what actually happened, we can learn a lot from the post conquered adopted personalities, behaviors, and lifestyle of the remnant of the SIP that remain on the island, as well as from the English attitude towards the SIP, pre and post banishment of the Garifuna people. These two characteristics, are loaded with vital information and can be instrumental in understanding what happen and in arriving to what is called: speculative conclusions.

There is a question that have been worrying me that I cannot find answer for. That question is; Why did the SIP entered into an agreement with the British? What was at play to have change the attitudes of the SIP?

Another thing that troubled me is, why the English, were so particular, to singled out and targeted the Garifuna People for bad treatment; even women and children? Treatment that was so devastating, it resulted in four thousands, seven hundred and seventy six Garifuna being banished on the extremely small island of Balliceaux, which was unable to support life for any significant period of time. After eight months on the island, there were two thousand, two hundred and forty eight fatalities; just under half of the Garifuna people died from starvation and dehydration. Later, the Garifuna was banished to Roatan, a small bay island twenty five (25) miles north of Honduras.

The question is, why the English didn’t saw it fit, to inflict the same level of treatment on the lighter complexioned and big brother of the Garifuna the Kalinago people? What was the criterion that was used by the English to determined who will be banished and who will get a passed? The reason I asked these question, is to help me to understand the rational behind the fact that there were Garifuna children who were helpless, who have never lift a stroke in combat against the European, who were also made to suffer the same fate as the elders who actually participated in the war against the English. While the Kalinago warriors who were apart of the war were exempted.

We must never leave with the impression that all of the inhabitant of St. Vincent during the period of the banishment 1796-1798 were Garifuna. Although the SIP were one tribe, there were a clear distinction between the two ethnic group that made up the SIP; that is why the European use the terms black Caribs and Yellow Caribs to distinguished between the two ethnicity of the tribe.

Why weren’t the Kalinago banished in similar manner? Why the adult fighting men of the Kalinago tribe were not sent to Balliceaux instead of the Garifuna Children? I have a suspicion, there was a rift between the two groups, which led to the Kalinago striking a deal with the British. I do not know if this deal were know by the Garifuna, If the deal were not known by the Garifuna, then it may be considered a betrayal of the brotherly trust and respect the Garifuna had in and for the Kalinago their older brother. Whatever the conditions of the deal, there were some arrangement that was responsible for the division of the tribe base on their complexion, thus Giving the Kalinago people an easy pass and the Garifuna, even the children were made to suffer extreme hardship, when they were banished to Balliceaux and later to Roatan.

A large number of the Garifuna who escaped, escaped into the dense and treacherously, steep mountain ridge of Greggs, Lowman, which is located on the Windward side of the island; where they existed from that time and still occupy those lands today; some 239 years after they retreated there. Why is it, the remnants of Black Caribs: The Garifuna, never felt the need to become reunited, with their Yellow brother the: Kalinago? Or why didn't the Yellow reuniting with the Black? One would have thought, after living together as one undefeated fighting force, for more than one hundred and fifty years, having a common enemy, and becoming greatly intertwined in marriage and government, there must have been something that prevented them from naturally gravitating to each other.

 

Another thing why is it after emancipation, when the remnant of the English became integrated within the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community, the Kalinago people still continue to isolate themselves from the community; even though that have lost every aspect of their culture, their language and their history which was not handed down. Although the remnant of the Garifuna had more reason to be afraid than the Kalinago did, The Garifuna became integrated into the community many decades before the Kalinago people did. There may be a practical reason for this; however. I will conclude that the Kalinago struck a deal with the English and became remorseful at the plight of their small brother the Garifuna.