ABOUT US

Garinagu HounGua

Garinagu HounGua, a Washington nonprofit corporation, was formed by a group of Garifuna immigrants in Seattle in response to the desire to preserve the unique cultural and religious practices of the Garifuna people, and to combat the challenges that many low income immigrants must face living in the United States.

Because of numerous life changing events, such as death, loss of job, deportation, etc, that are continually affecting the Garifuna families, surfaces the need for an organization that will look out for the socialeconomic development and empowerment of the members of the Garifuna community and those associated here in Seattle, WA.

History

The Garifuna people (a.k.a. "Black Caribs") are people of mixed ancestry (Carib Indian, Arawak Indian and West African) from the island St. Vincent, where that fusion of ethnicities initially took place. After losing to the British in war, the Garifuna people were forcibly removed from St. Vincent and sent to live in forced internment on Baliceaux, a rock off the coast of St. Vincent in 1796. Months later, the British decided to send the Garifuna people to Roatan, Honduras in 1797. Roatan is a small island off the coast of Honduras.

After finding much of Roatan unlivable, the Garifuna people petitioned the Spanish government to be allowed to move to mainland Honduras. From There, some Garifuna people migrated to the neighboring countries Guatemala, Belize (a.k.a. British Honduras) and Nicaragua-establishing and settling many towns in many communities on the caribbean coasts of those nations. The majority of Garinagu (plural for Garifuna) can be found in those very towns/villages today.

Some Garinagu migrated to other countries in the world, notably the United States of America and some can be found there-especially in the cities like New York City, Boston, Chicago, Miami, New Orleans, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Seattle.

Garinagu still maintain their own religious system that is a mixture of African and Amerindian traditions into which they have incorporated Catholic elements. Of great importance is 8the garifuna religious system called Gubida that is the conception of the dreams and possession rituals as altered states of conscience considered, by the participants and believers, to be caused by the possession of a spiritual entity. In Garifuna religion, when someone dies, a funeral is held in the home of the decedent. Instead or the usual or traditional funeral, a Garifuna funeral is more of a celebration. There is singing, dancing, and the cooking of traditional food for the entire village and other villages are invited. This creates a hardship for many Garifuna immigrants as the family of decedent must celebrate the decedent both within their community in the United States and then the body must be returned to Central America for a traditional burial in the decedent's home land. This religious custom of the Garifuna people ensures the spiritual well-being of the decedent in death and allows them to rejoin their ancestors.

Mission/Vision

The mission of Garinagu Houngua is to contribute to the social, economic and cultural development of the Garifuna Community here in the great city of Seattle. By working with other non-profits and the government, Garinagu Houngua will advocate for the human rights and provide political awareness to the Garinagus and those associated in the region.

Garifuna Houngua is a transnational nonprofit organization formed and integrated by hardworking men and women of the Garifuna community in this great North West with a mission of an integral community and to provide social, cultural, political and economic awareness and support to Garifunas and others associated members of the organization.