"Godsman Ellis"
Some Dangrigans will argue it is cultural. If so then the Garifuna culture has changed over the last 20 years when a Beluria was kept up with uraga and children's games. Everyone looked forward to the serving of the pinule, the bimecacule and the rice coffee. How different now. Open gambling has taken over, sometimes extending into the streets. My view is that the visit and keeping watch is one of fellowship, accompaniment and sharing in moment of grief. Gambling is not only illegal but it takes away from the meaning of the beluria as what our forefathers had intended it to be. We speak of our cultural identity? I fail to see how we can take pride in this form of action at a Garifuna Beluria. I would like to get your views on this matter. If you agree with me let us try and sensitize our people to seriousness of this undesireable practice godsman ellis

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Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 2:17 AM
Subject: Re: GAMBLING AT BELURIA

I thought the purpose of Beluria was to pay our respect to the family of the departed. When did Beluria cross over from being a gathering to mourn to being an out right party? Is it our custom to become intoxicated and vulgar at a Beluria? Is it necessary for us to smoke weed and gamble at such events? Is everything just an excuse for social gathering for our people? Do we not hold anything sacred anymore, not even death. It is sad to say but our people are losing there way. Our children are watching and mimicking everything we adults are doing such as drinking and gambling. The consumption of alcohol among our people is at an all time high from Central America to the United States. We use every occasion to poison our bodies and minds with beer and rum. My opinion is half the people genuinely attend a Beluria to mourn the other half are just their for no particular reason at all. In conclusion, if you ask most Garinagu today under the age of fifty what is a Beluria, they probably will not know the answer to that question. We are losing our cultural identity and pride a little bit every day. Cheryl Noralez

"Roy Cayetano wrote:
Subject: Re: Fw: GAMBLING AT BELURIA
Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2005 10:07:11 -0600

Here is an excerpt from a paper that I wrote as an undergraduate student of anthropology back in the early seventies. the paper was entitled "Ritual and Song as a Key to Understanding Garifuna Personality":

Considering everything that has been said up to this point, especially the most prevalent themes in the songs and the nature of the relationship that obtains between the living and the dead who mediate between the former and the external world, one would perhaps expect to find a sad, morose and frightened people. Yet nowhere in Taylor’s ethnography (1951), in Palacio’s work, or in any other reference to the Garifuna that I am aware of, has this observation been made. Seen on the ground, they are a happy people, with a culture that is very rich in song, music and dance. Very few outsiders can resist the beautiful rhythms of the native drums or fail to be fascinated by the beauty of the dances. This certainly seems to be inconsistent with the evidence that stare us in the face when we examine the ritual and songs.

In order to reconcile the two, that is, what is suggested by the material and what is actually found on the ground, one has to look more closely. To begin with, all the songs listed here are dance songs for punta and hüngühüngü, two dances that require vigorous movements and are associated with celebration and fun. Because the lyrics nearly all have sad themes, this fact appears to be contradictory to all but the Garifuna mind. How, one might ask for example, can one dance and celebrate to the tune of a song that treats of the death of a love one? One might also ask similar questions about the type of behavior that is found in the beluria (ninth night wake) (Taylor, 1951, pg. 99 – 100).

The beluria consists of prayers said for the soul of a departed relative every night for nine nights, beginning a few days after the death occurred. It is usually scheduled so that the ninth night falls on a weekend because this means that more people will be able to attend. While prayers and hymns may be kept up in one corner of the grounds, the beluria may be seen as a celebration or party given for the dead, for although real drums are not usually allowed, boxes are used instead and the people attending sing and dance. There is usually some story (úraga) telling, games, eating, and drinking. Their own explanation for this apparent contradiction is that “the rite is a sort of farewell party to the spirit-double of the deceased. The greater the gaiety and the number of those who attend, the better for all concerned …. The spirit of the dead person is pleased and satisfied, and therefore more ready to depart and leave the living in peace” (Taylor, 1951, pg. 101).

My own conclusion is that the Garifuna are basically a serious people, as suggested by the songs and ritual. The gaiety and the mirth and what appears to be the carefree attitude that we find on the surface do not go far beyond the superficial level. Nevertheless, the surface manifestation is very important for the individual and the group as a whole because it makes life without the departed relatives more tolerable. It enables one to survive. It serves as a sort of distraction – a distraction which in the end is good for the individual, whether he is the dancer dancing to the drums and the tune of the sad song he composed about his lamíselu, or whether he is the surviving relative whose more distant relatives and friends have brought singing, laughter, dance and story telling to him.

Lau le nígiraü,
Roy Cayetano