New Jersey Folk Festival Program Book 2013 Apr. 2013 | Page 5

Heritage Spotlight:

Jersey Roots,
Global Reach

Garifuna Traditions

The New Jersey Folk Festival will be celebrating the history,

heritage, and folk traditions of the Garifuna people in the
United States through music, food, and craft demonstrations
on Saturday, April 27, 2013. The Garifuna people are the
descendants of Carib, Arawak, and West African people, exiled
by the British from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent to Central
America. Today, Garifuna people live in to celebrate and pay respect to the spirits
Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, of these ancestors. Community is an
and the island of Roatan. In the United essential part of Garifuna culture. This
States, there are diaspora communities of holds true in spite of how spread out
Garifuna people in New Jersey, among Garifuna diasporas have become as the
other regions.
Garifuna people migrate from Central
The history and origin of the Garifuna America.
people create a unique cultural experience.
Garifuna people have a strong belief in and
reverence for their ancestors, a belief that
permeates both their spiritual and secular
lives. Through music, dance, and other
rituals, Garifuna honor those who came
before and the struggles they endured.
During a ceremony called dugu, Garifuna
families come together for several days

In 2001, UNESCO proclaimed Garifuna
culture to be a masterpiece of oral and
intangible heritage in an effort to preserve
and revitalize Garifuna culture worldwide.
This year, the New Jersey Folk Festival is
dedicated to the celebration of Garifuna
culture and those who work to preserve
and promote Garifuna traditions in the
United States.