The Spanish, French and English fought amongst themselves to claim ownership of our islands in total disregard of the ownership rights of the people they found already living in the islands they called the Caribbean. In the case of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) the Europeans delayed trying to settle here until the 1600s. The indigenous people, wise to the European's intentions resisted their settlement efforts. These battles are referred to as the Carib Wars.

In 1795 Paramount Chief, His Excellency, the Right Honourable Joseph Chatoyer, (First National Hero of SVG), was leader of the resistance to European colonisation of this island. He was killed on 14th March. His death brought an effective end to the resistance effort. Sir William Young records that to solve the “difficulty” in St. Vincent, “either remove the British planter or remove the Caribs”. The British Government of the time chose to punish the Garifuna people, (Black Caribs), by imposing exile on them. In July 1796 the British rounded up as many of the Garifuna as they could capture and shipped them, first to Balliceaux then to Roatan. They recorded the number captured as 5,080 men. Only 2026 survived and landed on Honduras. As the community grew in numbers they later spread to Belize and other areas.

In 2001 UNESCO proclaimed the Graifuna culture as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”. The exile robbed Vincentians of language, food, worship, forms of entertainment, and most significantly, a psychic attitude of colonial resistance and of self-reliance; attitudes of raised consciousness.

Produced by:
Department of Culture (SVG)
2013

Carifesta Background:

The first Carifesta was held in 1972 in Guyana, the expectation was for a bi-annual programme, but this has never materialised. Funding, particularly for the host country, has been a constant difficulty and it has led to only the larger countries hosting. Further to that, some smaller countries have not participated or only participated as a last minute decision.

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