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Forward
The information for this booklet comes from
several telephone calls I received about the
Garifuna--their history, culture, current social
conditions etc. It happens every year especially
around the nineteenth ofNovember Garifuna settlement
Day. Questions come from students, teachers, media
personnel,members of the public, etc.While there
is an increasing thirst for information there is
hardly any easily available and quickly read material
that could serve as reference. I truly hope that it
could be this booklet. with a clear conscience I can
direct inquiring minds to thís booklet.

I have tried to strike a balance between a
scholarly product and a popular brochure format. I
have left out references with the exception of some
main bibliographic leads in the back. Whereas I have
tried to impart information that I have collected
from several sources over the years, I have also
implanted my own perspective, which remains
sympathetic to the Garifuna while being aware that
there is so much more work that has to be done.
Research information about the Garifuna increases as
scholars strive to find the key to these truly
enigmatic people. As a result, what is fact today
may change from new research tomorrow.

Be that as it ay, I have put together bits of
information that have remained part of conventional
wisdom and would probably remain so for years. Who
knows?

Myrtle P.