OK, i'm a little bit late, as Settlement Day was actually on the 19th, but better late than never. Settlement Day is a national holiday celebrating the arrival of the Garifuna people to Belizean shores. it is celebrated around the country, but most of the action takes place in the coastal communities of the south, where the Garifuna population is centered. so, if you were in Dangriga, Hopkins, Punta Gorda or Barranco the weekend before last, you would have found yourself swept up in all manner of festivities, from paranda concerts to punta dance-offs, from impromptu late night sing-alongs to elaborate early morning reenactments and church services. and you definitely shouldn't have expected to get much sleep.
i arrived in Dangriga on Saturday morning, met Maya at the bus station and promptly picked up some barbeque from one of the many vendors who grill their chicken in half drums on Dangriga's main drag. after a day running around town to visit with various friends, we headed to the concert stage to see Andy Palacio perform. Andy is a former punta rock star who has recently taken on the mission of bringing the more traditional forms of Garifuna music (with some contemporary and latin flair) to the world at large. just a few days prior, he'd been presented with the UNESCO Artist For Peace award in his hometown of Barranco. with a crew of over a dozen Garifuna musicians from Belize, Honduras and Guatemala, he put on an incredible show in front of an audience that knew (and sang) every word. definitely worth every minute.
after the concert we followed most of Dangriga to The Shed for drumming and punta dancing into the wee hours. i may love to dance, but i definitely don't have the stamina (or the quads) for the punta. that shit's crazy. but despite my punta inabilities, i still got to meet Mr. Palacio, who happens to be one of Maya's former co-workers. who knew?
next day we hopped a bus to the junction and then caught a ride the rest of the way into Hopkins, where we lazed around with Maya's host family before ambling down to King Cassava to take in yet another Andy P. show. it started pouring, and the band tried to stop, but the audience wasn't having it. and if they were content to dance in the rain, who were the sheltered musicians to protest? the early hour of the show and the ridiculous weather thinned the crowds, all of whom were expecting a village-wide party. but we perservered, and managed to find pockets of revelers scattered about town, drumming, singing and drinking into the night.
we made it home by 3, only to drag ourselves out of bed at 7 for the reenactment of the arrival of the Garinagu on Belize's shores. a small crowd gathered on the beach to welcome two boats to shore. representing the first Garinagu to come to Belize from St. Vincent, they acted out a scene wherein the would be settlers ask the governor for permission to land, are denied, return to sea to confer with the rest of their party, and then come back to shore to plead their case, this time successfully. much of the audience that came out to witness this scene wass dressed in the Garifuna African-inspired garb and singing traditional songs accompanied only by drums. after the actors were granted permission to stay, the whole crowd processed the few yards to the Catholic church on the beach for a celebratory mass. i can guarantee that you've probably never attended a Catholic service like this. the church rang with raucously joyful singing and drumming.
after church, as is the case all over the world, it was time for food. we dined under a tent on the beach on salted fish, cassava bread and mashed plantain steamed in banana leaves (much like tamales).
all in all, it was a fantastically vibrant weekend. for a culture that is supposedly on the verge of disappearing off the face of the earth, the Garifuna spirit seems to be alive and kicking. i will definitely be back for more next November. any takers?
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