The Walt Disney Company "Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3" Angers the Garifuna Nation Worldwide
Michael Polonio - President, National Garifuna Council of Belize protests Disney's protrayal of the Garinagu people as cannibals in their up-comming "Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3"
(PRWEB) March 26, 2005 -- The National Garifuna Council (NGC) is the legally
constituted and recognized representative organization of the Garifuna people of
Belize, who, along with other Garinagu in Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, are
direct descendants of the "Black Caribs" of St Vincent and the lesser Antilles
as we are referred to in the English language. We are also, therefore,
descendants of the Calinago, the people called Caribs.
It has been
brought to the attention of the Garinagu Nation that the Walt Disney Company
intends to film a movie called "The Pirates of
the Caribbean" in which the
Caribs or Calinago, the ancestors of the Garinagu (as we refer to ourselves in
our language) are portrayed as
cannibals. We understand that preparations
are underway to commence filming in Dominica in April of this year.
There
is no credible scientific evidence or reliable report that the people in
question were cannibals. They fought to the death to defend their islands
against invaders in the colonial era which followed the arrival of Columbus to
our shores. The myth about cannibalism was started because the Calinago were not
intimidated by the European invaders and waged war in the defense of their
territory and way of life. For 30 years they held back the British Army, the
most modern fighting forces of the world at the time.
In May, 2001, the
importance of the Garifuna culture (the culture of the Garinagu) to mankind was
recognized in the United Nations Proclamation of the Garifuna Language, Dance
and Music as Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
our ancestors stood up against early European conquerors and because
they stood up. we were labeled savages and cannibals up to today. This cannot be
perpetuated in movies."
Read more at http://www.SeineBight.Com/news.htm
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/3/prweb221806.htm