Garifunaidad has gained mainstream attention in the last several years as social media discourse on this vibrant, Afro-Indigenous community has made its way across timelines. With the language and traditions passed on orally for centuries, technology has both provided greater connection between Garinagu, or Garifuna people, in the US and their ancestral lands on the Caribbean coasts of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua and allowed for it to be archived online.
Whether you've clicked on #GarifunaTwitter or reviewed #Garifuna on Instagram, or even indulged in the several-second-long videos on TikTok, you're met with an assortment of conversations; videos showcasing punta, other musical genres, and rich recipes; and historic tidbits shared through these digital tools.
"A lot of connections are happening on the platform," Siria Alvarez shared on The Garifuna Market. The founder and CEO of the now two-year-old Garifuna-centered hub said that her work, alongside a number of Garifuna entrepreneurs, creatives, and trailblazers, is continuing to preserve the culture via the internet. "We're continuing the tradition of passing the word down and sharing information about who we are and where we come from."
Garinagu — whose documented accounts begin off the coast of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the 1600s — are the descendants of West Africans, who mixed with the Caribbean island's Arawak and Carib populations. Known as Black Carib, or Garifuna, they fought to remain free; however, in 1797, Garinagu were exiled by the British to Roatán, the largest of Honduras's Bay Islands. Approximately 2,000 survived the journey, migrating to mainland Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.
On Garifuna Settlement Day — observed by Belize and Nicaragua on Nov. 19, Guatemala on Nov. 26, and Honduras on April 12 — four Garifuna women reflect on their upbringing and how they preserve Garifunaidad.
