Belizean culture loves a loud, vibrant, heartfelt celebration and Settlement Day is one of the biggest and most meaningful of them all. When you see someone dancing punta (indigenous dance and music) or paddling a canoe on November 19th, they are saying loud and clear: we are here, we are proud and we will never forget where we came from.
It absolutely is. The Garifuna settled along the beautiful southern coast of Belize, right by the ocean, and the environment shaped nearly every part of their culture. The sea was so important to their ancestors that people reenact the canoe arrival every single year, it is a reminder that the ocean brought them to their new home.
The traditional food is connected to the environment too. Hudut (a traditional Belizean dish) is made with fresh fish caught right from the ocean and coconuts grown along the coast. Cassava bread comes from the cassava plant, which has been grown and harvested by the Garifuna for hundreds of years. Even the drums used in Garifuna music are handmade from local wood and animal skin. Almost everything about this celebration, the food, the instruments and the canoes come straight from the land and water that the Garifuna have called home for generations. Their tradition and their environment are deeply connected, and that is a beautiful thing.
