Banana plantation owned by one of the multi-national fruit companies that occupies a portion of the Rio Ulua’s fertile and well-watered flood plain in northern Honduras.

On the eroded soils of the surrounding hills, Honduran farmers practice slash and burn agriculture.

Typical fruit company town in northern Honduras. Note the absence of the traditional Latin American grid of streets, central plaza and Roman Catholic church. Instead the fruit companies often included a “village green” in settlements that housed workers.

Monoculture from above. Blurry African oil palm plantation in northern Honduras.

Central American Rimland: The Case of the Garifuna

Garifuna settlement on Punta Sal, Honduras

http://www.stanford.edu/group/arts/honduras/teacher/images/migrationmap.pdf

                                                    

                                                    

http://www.telahonduras.com/html/bayenlarged.htm Typical web image of Garifuna region.

STANN CREEK DISTRICT

                                                                     

http://www.seinebight.com/whereseinebight.htm

The same holds for the Bay Islands.

Typical Garifuna settlement shaded by Atlantic Tall palm trees before the arrival of Lethal Yellowing disease. Hopkins, Belize 1989.

Swede

My summer home in 1989.

Two stages of Garifuna housing (Hopkins 1989.

Sangrelaya, Honduras (2010)

Palm thatch

Santa Rosa de Aguan, 2010.

Sea-edge of Garifuna community (Hopkins 1989)

The shore line marks the division of labor in Garifuna society. Men fish. Women plant.

Hopkins, 1989

Hopkins 1989

Garifuna cassava plantation in Santa Rosa de Aguan in 2010.

Swede cooking cassava bread.

Swede cooking cassava bread.

Garifuna woman grating coconut, another dietary staple.

Cooking “Johnny Cakes”. British names are common in Belizean and Garifuna culture.

Hopkins 1989

Ocean-front restroom. Men only! The shore line division extends beyond economic activities (Hopkins 1989).

SwedeGarifuna child

(Santa Rosa de Aguan, June 2010).

(Santa Rosa de Aguan, June 2010).

We had to take this “ferry” to reach one Garifuna settlement. After we got off the ferry we drove on the beach.

“Hurry up and wait” is the name of the game in all parts of Honduras.

…and wait….”for a better future.” (Santa Rosa de Aguan, 2010).

Santa Rosa de Aguan, 2010

(Santa Rosa de Aguan 2010).

(Santa Rosa de Aguan, June 2010).

(Santa Rosa de Aguan, June 2010).

One way to protect the Garifuna language is for the Garifuna to tell their stories in that language. The poster advertises a radionovela, in which the Garifuna language is utilized to tell a Garifuna.

Signs of Lethal Yellowing Disease spread. Tela, 2010

A row of full-grown Malayan dwarf coconut palms planted to replace Atlantic Tall palms. The change in palm species really changes village landscapes. Santa Ras de Aguan 2010

Typical Garifuna settlement shaded by Atlantic Tall palm trees before the arrival of Lethal Yellowing disease. Hopkins, Belize 1989.

Swede

Roman Catholic church in Sangrelaya, Honduras.

Inside the church a visitor observes how the Garifuna worship in their own language.

The dory on the wall at the front of Sangrelaya’s church is my favorite part. It demonstrates how the Garifuna integrate, and preserve, their culture in a foreign institution, the Roman Catholic faith.

As you read in one of the assigned articles, HIV/AIDS rates are particularly high in some Garifuna communities. This billboard promotes awareness and openness about the disease.

The fellow in the wheelchair/bicycle? He’s a young Miskito man who had both legs amputated because of health problems caused by diving at depth and decompressing improperly. You’ll learn about his Rimland people in the next reading.