history about the Garinagu

• Garinagu


  New race of people that emerged on the island of St. Vincent through the integration of 3 peoples: the Arawaks, the Yellow Caribs and the Africans
• British colonizers established presence on the island

  Garinagu sided with the French, with whom they had developed a trading relationship after an informal war truce/peace pact
• Paramount Chief of the Black Caribs, Joseph Chatoyer died in battle
• Chatoyer's daughter, Gulisi was one of the first to settle in Belize
• British colonial takeover of St. Vincent (called Yurumein by the Garifuna) from the French


  Resulted in conflict over land ownership with the Black Caribs, a war, and the forcible relocation of the Garifuna from St. Vincent to Baliceaux Island, Bay Islands, and eventually to the coast of Central America-- Honduras
• A group of Garifuna numbering about 165 people, migrated to British Honduras, now known as Belize, and landed in the city of Belize
• When the Garinagu arrive at Belize City and spotted many white buildings near the sea and called it by the name of YARBURA - which later became Yarborough
• They were only allowed to stay temporarily (2 days)
• On Wednesday, November 19, 1823, 500 Garinagu settled in Belize. This was the largest recorded exodus of Garinagu to Belize
• Thomas Vincent Ramos founded Garifuna Settlement Day (originally Carib Disembarkment Day) and began the celebrations in Dangriga in 1941
• Ramos along with Mateo Avaloy and C. S. Benguche wrote a letter to the Stann Creek District Commissioner requesting that 19th November be celebrated as a public and bank holiday
• It was not until a visit was made to the British Governor by Ramos along with Domingo Ventura and Pantaleon Hernandez that colonial authorities declared the day a public and bank holiday
• The holiday was initially granted for the Stann Creek District in 1943
• The holiday was extended nationwide in 1977 and the name was changed from Carib Disembarkment Day to Garifuna Settlement Day
• To this day, Garifuna Settlement Day remains a national public and bank holiday
• The Anglo-Guatemalan Treaty


  An agreement between Britain and Guatemala to define the border of British Honduras (Belize)
• Other treaties before 1859 leading to the Anglo-Guatemalan Treaty


  • Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850, USA & Britain)
  • Dallas-Clarendon Treaty (1856, USA & Britain)
• The Anglo-Guatemalan Treaty


  • Signed in 1859 in Guatemala City, had 8 articles
  • Article 7 was controversial in the future
  • Britain agreed to assist Guatemala to build a road to the Atlantic Coast
• British Honduras became a colony and was recognized as part of the British Commonwealth


  1862
• Britain agreed to pay 50,000 pounds for the road to be finished in 4 years


  Guatemala accepted in 6 months and Article 7 would be fulfilled, ending the dispute
• Guatemala did not sign in 6 months as they were at war with El Salvador</b>
• Britain refused to talk after this

  Guatemala tried to negotiate until 1884
• British Honduras hired surveyors to survey boundaries


  1933
• Guatemala wanted the 50,000 pounds plus interest


  Britain refused and wanted to take it to International Court of Justice, Guatemala refused
• Guatemala amended constitution and included British Honduras


  1945
• Guatemala threatened to take British Honduras by force


  1948
• British Honduras gained the right to self government in 1964


  1920-1980
• The country's name was changed to Belize

  June 1, 1973
• Belize achieved independence from Great Britain


  1981
• The Caste War of Yucatan was a conflict in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico during the 19th century
• The Caste War of Yucatan


  • Began in 1847 with the revolt of native Maya people against the population of European descent
  • The Maya formed communities fighting for their autonomy and independence, often using guerrilla warfare
• Towns that grew in northern Belize due to the Caste War


  • Corozal Town
  • Founded by refugees from the massacre at Bacalar during the Caste War in 1849
• Corozal


  Named after the great forest of Cohune Nuts Palm that the refugees found in the area
• Two contingents of men left Belize in 1915 and 1916 to assist in the British war efforts in World War I
• The Belizean men that volunteered faced flagrant acts of racism from the British troops
• The experience of racism and unemployment led to a riot in Belize City in July 1919
• Eight months before the riot, the population had been infected with the Spanish Flu Influenza Virus and 2,000 persons died out of the total population of 40,000
• Nurse Vivian Seay founded the Belize Black Cross Nurses under the guidance of UNIA (United Negro Improvement Association)
• Marcus Garvey, the founder of UNIA, had visited Belize in 1921 and set up a branch
• World War I declined industries in Belize which would be devastating during the Great Depression starting in 1929