The Dugu is an ancient extended funerary ceremony (in Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua it is also known as the 9 nights ceremony) practiced by the

Garifuna people The Garifuna people ( or ; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and Amerindian ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and traditionally speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language. The Garifuna ...

. The Garifuna is a small-to-medium-sized Central American ethnic group that has inhabited many

Central American Central America is a Subregion#North America, subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Ce ...

countries such as

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

and

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

since the 17th century. Their roots come from both the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n coasts. The story goes that enslaved people being brought over to the Americas crashed into St. Vincent. The Indigenous Caribbean Indians and Africans soon formed a community and ethnic group called the Garifuna. They were identified as the "Black Caribs" to differentiate them from the native Caribbean population. The ''Dugu'' is a type of funeral ceremony that brings the community and families together. It is a festival that aims to bring deceased ancestors of the

Garifuna The Garifuna people ( or ; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and Amerindian ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and traditionally speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language. The Garifuna ...

to the present and lasts between two days to as much as two weeks. The ceremony seeks to cure ill persons that have become sick because they have displeased the '' gubida'' (spirits). Families and friends gather around drums and sing, calling the ''gubida'' to the ceremony. This ceremony is headed by the '' Buyai'' (shaman). The Buyai is responsible for organizing and ordering all parts of the ceremony including food, clothes worn, sacrifices, and its length. Once the Buyai believes the spirits of the ancestors are present, the sick person is given food and rum. The rest of the food and alcohol is sacrificed and the person is predicted to be cured. The ''Dugu'' ritual has recently become more common. In the 1850s and 1860s the ''Dugu'' was little practiced due to fear the government (appointed by the British) would ban the ritual altogether. Now, however, the ''Dugu ji'' is practiced in many countries throughout

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, but mainly in

Livingston, Guatemala Livingston is a town in Izabal Department, eastern Guatemala, at the mouth of the Río Dulce (Guatemala), Río Dulce at the Gulf of Honduras. The town serves as the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. It was Guatemala's main port o ...

. There are many reasons for the increase, one of which is to help unify the

people and also become politically visible as an ethnic group.Jenkins 1983

Notes

References

* Jenkins, Carol L. (1983 (Aug.)). "Ritual and Resource Flow: The Garifuna 'Dugu'". American Ethnologist. Vol 10.3 pp. 429–442. Retrieved 2009-09-20. * Palacio, I. Myrtle (2011 (June)). "Adügürahani: A Walk Through Garifuna Spiritualism". Glessima Research and Services, Belize. * Sletto, Jacqueline Wiora. (1991(Jan-Feb)). "Ancestral Ties that Bind. (The Garifuna, Central American Ethnic Group)". Americas (English Edition). Vol 43.n1 pp. 20–28. Retrieved 2009-09-18. {{refend Death customs Garifuna