6 individuals identify themselves as Garifuna, while other sources estimate the total population to be 98,000 6 persons. th 29. The origin of the Garifuna people dates back to the 18 Century and springs from the syncretism between indigenous and African peoples. In 1635, two Spanish vessels that were transporting people from Africa to perform slave labor, shipwrecked on the Island of San Vicente. At the time, the Island was inhabited by Arawak and Kalinagu Indigenous people. The Kalinagu people, who hailed from th South America, invaded the island in the 13 Century. The descendants of the intermixing of indigenous with African were called Karaphuna. In 1797, Great Britain took control of San Vicente Island and the Karaphunas were deported to Roatan Island. From Roatan, they emigrated to the mainland, settling in what is today Trujillo, Honduras, and subsequently spread out along the northern Honduran coast and 7 toward the Guatemalan and Belizean Caribbean coast. 30. The union between Africans and the Amerindians of San Vicente made the Garifuna a 8 distinct culture and ethnic group. The Garifuna self identify as an indigenous people of African culture. 31. The Garifuna people of Honduras live in rural communities located along the Atlantic seaboard or coastal area of the Caribbean in the Departments of Cortes, Atlantida, Colon and Gracias a Dios and a growing number of Garifuna live in cities such as La Ceiba, Tela, Cortes, Trujillo, San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa. 32. The Garifuna people in Honduras has preserved its own cultural forms, organization and social and cultural institutions, way of life, worldview, practices, customs, ceremonial observances, 9 language, dress and a special relationship with the land. 33. To Garifuna communities, the land is fundamental to their survival. They are in permanent communion with the land and a harmonious relationship with the natural resources on their territory. This close relationship is reflected in the belief of the Garifuna that “the land is the mother of life, 10 […] the Garifuna without land is not Garifuna, the Garifuna without sea is not Garifuna.” 34. The Garifuna preserve the traditional community use of the land and other labor patterns and activities that reflect their origins, their home on the northern coast of Honduras, and their unique 11 culture. The economy is based on, among other things, artisanal fishing, cultivation of rice, cassava, bananas and yucca, and hunting for small game in the sea and forests, such as deer, agoutis, turtles and 12 manatees. 6 National Institute of Statistics. 2001 Census. Redatam Data Base. Available at: http://www.ine.gob.hn/drupal/node/301. 7 Testimony of Gregoria Flores Martinez given at the public hearing on the merits and reparation and costs held at the Inter-American Court on June 28 and 29, 2005 in the Case of Alfredo Lopez v. Honduras; IA Ct. of HR, Case of Lopez Alvarez v. Honduras. Judgment February 1, 2006. Series C No. 141. Par. 54.1; Ethnic Poverty in Honduras, Utta von Gleich and Ernesto Gálvez. Indigenous Peoples and Community Development Unit. Inter-American Development Bank, Department of Sustainable Development. Washington, D.C., September 1999. Available at http://www.bvsde.paho.org/bvsacd/cd47/etnica.pdf; Presentation before the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. Working Group on Minorities. UN. 10th Session. March 1 – 5, 2004. Available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/minorities/docs/OFRANEH3a.doc. 8 Testimony of Gregoria Flores Martínez given at the public hearing on the merits and reparation and costs held at the Inter-American Court on June 28 and 29, 2005 in the Case of Alfredo Lopez v. Honduras. 9 See Caribbean Central America Research Council. Diagnostic Study on Land Use and Tenure in Garifuna and Miskita Communities of Honduras 2002-2003. Available at: http://ccarconline.org/Honduraseng.htm. 10 Testimony of Gregoria Flores Martínez given at the public hearing on the merits and reparation and costs held at the Inter-American Court on June 28 and 29, 2005 in the Case of Alfredo Lopez v. Honduras.. 11 World Bank Review Inspection Panel. Investigation Report on Honduras Land Administration Project. Report No. 39933-HN. June 12, 2007. p. 21. Available at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTINSPECTIONPANEL/Resources/HondurasFINALINVESTIGATIONREPORTSpanishTrad.pdf . 12 HN. World Bank Inspection Panel. Investigation Report on the Honduras Land Administration Project. Report No. 39933June 12, 2007. pgs. 21-25 Available at: Continues…