A new book was released on Friday to coincide with Garifuna Settlement Day activities. It is called, the Garifuna: a nation across borders, and it is compiled by editor Dr. Joseph Palacio. It is a collection of essays by 11 writers from Garifuna communities across the world. According to the editor Joe Palacio, it seeks to work as a one stop shop for those interested in Garifuna studies.
Dr. Joseph Palacio,
"As you know Garifuna studies in modern anthropology goes back about 50 years so dozen upon dozens of studies have been done but this is the first one that we've attempted sort of pull things together and put them in one book. The main lesson is that these are people who are survivors, survivors of an attempted genocide. When the British banished the Garifuna people from St. Vincent, it was only about a quarter of the population that was banished, the other three-fourths had been killed in St. Vincent as a part of the genocide. So there is the element of survival. There is the element of a tremendous amount of pride within the culture of upholding it, as if it can exist by itself but this is because it is so important and it is so rich to the people themselves. And finally there is the theme from sharing. The reason why the Garifuna people are so many and have been blest with a certain amount of cultural wealth is that we have accepted a lot of people into our midst."
Jules Vasquez,
So many of the stories have been passed down through the oral tradition, how important is that you document it, and that you compile it and you undertake it for history, so to speak?
Dr. Joseph Palacio,
"Yes a very important question because even in modern day social science oral history is normally not regarded as acceptable as written history and that is unfortunate for people like the Garifuna whose language was not written until a few decades ago. It meant that our historians, local historians, committed their history within the world medium. What we've tried to do in this book is make a new effort tom validate this kind of information."
The book goes on sale on Thursday.
