Settlement Day - Unveiling of the Mural AND the Parade

Monday was Garifuna Settlement Day (a national holiday in Belize) and the day before was full of preparations as well as its own events. The biggest Sunday event was in the evening with the unveiling ceremony for Mr. Pen Cayetano’s mural on the north wall of the town council hall.

Cultural entertainment played a big part, and the GLOW girls performed a short version of the Chumba, which is a traditional dance. They looked great in their matching traditional dresses, and all the practice seemed to have paid off since they were nearly perfect.

On the way to the performance

Nervous girls just before dancing

These boys focused on the view of the sea

After the unveiling, Mr. Cayetano spoke about the culture and the ancestors and explained all the parts of the mural including who the characters were and what the events meant in the history of the Garifuna people. Several times he mentioned that during the months of working alone with the mural he sometimes did not feel alone. Instead he felt that the ancestors were all around him as he worked.

Hayawadina Wayunagu
(Literal translation - Imagery of our Ancestors)

Pen's interpretation

Monday started early for us, but it was not the re-enactment of the arrival at dawn that occupied us. The float for the parade later in the day was over at Norielee’s house where she had worked her magic on a simple trailer. She had turned it into a small jungle with real plants that are part of Garifuna culture. Cathy and I took the giant tissue paper flowers that she had made. We attached them to each post of the side wall of the trailer. On the way back home we passed people who had been to the river for the re-enactment which was over.

Norie was "fluffing the stamens" on the tissue flowers.

At mid-morning we wolfed down a snack and prepared for the arrival for the GLOW girls to get dressed again in their traditional costumes to wear in the parade.

When the float arrived in the staging area, I took the banner to hang on the front of the truck so none of the girls would have to carry it. It was covered with small tissue paper flowers of black, white, and yellow. Norielee was there making last minute additions to her mini-jungle, and fortunately I had brought twine and lots of duct tape. It was certainly a MacGyver moment.

The handmade-duct-taped-on banner

When the float moved into position, I called Cathy who came running with the girls to hop on the float. Several girls were late, and one girl just forgot about the parade. Aidra arrived for the second half of the parade and took over so that we could come home and sit and re-hydrate.

And the parade begins. Norie really ran the show.

Aidra and Cathy. Aidra made all the dresses.

That night, Ava made a pot of spaghetti and meat sauce and brought it over for a relaxed supper.

Here are just a few pictures of those beautiful girls.

Deshanae

Vaughnya

Comani and Shae

Nicole

Shaniah

Leannah

Settlement Day 2012 - Chumba Dance Rehearsal

Did I mention in yesterday's blog that we are pretty busy during this November? As soon as we finished cleaning up from the NGC Health Fair, I had to jump right in to the next fun activity - the GLOW girls' dance rehearsal.

First a little background: Pen Cayetano, international artist AND musician, has painted an historic mural on the wall in the Town Hall. It depicts the history and people of Garifuna culture. I've seen it (while he was working on it) and it is fantastic. It WILL become a Belizean treasure. The unveiling of the picture is slated for the afternoon of Sunday, November 18, and Pen asked our GLOW Girls to perform at the grand opening!!! What an honor.

More background: Pen has a boy's group that meets with him once or twice a week. He teaches drumming, life skills (mainly by setting a good example) and Garifuna culture and values. You might notice some similarities in what he's doing with the boys and what we do with the GLOW girls. He and I talked about each other's groups a couple times, and Ingrid taught her thread painting for one of our activities.

While we were in the US, Ingrid and I corresponded and she told me that Pen wanted the girls to dance. Yay! So Aidra took the girls' measurements, bought fabric for dresses, and will make 12 very authentic, very traditional Garifuna dresses. We will also use them when we walk/ride the float in the Settlement Day Parade. So the girls came by yesterday afternoon, and we walked to Pen's house/gallery/studio so they could learn the dance.  The drumming was great and the boys and girls were so cute. The rest of this blog is a picture story. Enjoy!

Pen and the boys demonstrated first.

And then the girls gave it a shot.

The Chumba is a traditional Garifuna dance depicting women's
work. In this dance, the girls make cassava bread, wash laundry,
hang the clothes, and sweep.

And jump!

You can see the studio walls from this shot. The art matches
the characters in the children's book written by Ingrid and two of
her children.

It took a little practice till they got it all together :-)

Then the boys showed us some moves.

Jankanu dancing. The boys dance (individually) and the drummer
follows the lead of the dancer.

Well, all I can say is, "You had to be there."

Lots more going on this week, folks, so maybe another entry sometime Saturday. Sunday is the unveiling, and Monday is Settlement Day. Stay tuned :-)