10 13 their unique culture. Their economy consists, inter alia, of small-scale fishing, the growing of rice, cassava, bananas, and yucca, and hunting of small marine and forest animals such as deer, agoutis, 14 turtles, and manatees. 56. The beach and the sea are part of the Garífunas cultural and ethnic identity, because, apart from being vital to their subsistence, they are linked to their history and for that reason figure prominently in religious ceremonies and other acts commemorating their arrival by sea in Central 15 America. 57. The Garífuna people’s identity is reinforced by the fact that they speak a language of their own based on the “Amerindian Arawak and Carib languages” and incorporating French, Spanish, and 16 English words," and by ancestral organizational patterns associated with cultural manifestations, such as certain dance routines that play an important part not just in preserving the culture but also in the communication and oral transmission of their history. Given the cultural value of the Garífuna language, dance, and music, based on an oral culture, the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) recognized it in 2001 as a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of 17 humanity. 58. The Garífuna communities possess different forms of social organization, some traditional and others born of the need to defend their rights and territories. Matriarchy is the dominant form in their culture, which considerably strengthens the role of women in education, politics, the 18 economy, and social affairs, in all of which they participate alongside the men. At the same time, 19 Garífuna culture accepts masculine polygamy. 13 Annex 1. The Inspection Panel of the World Bank. Investigation Report on Honduras: Land Administration Program. Investigation Report No. 39933-HN. June 12, 2007. p. 21. Attached to the petitioner’s written communication of October 13, 2008, received by the IACHR on October 15, 2008. 14 Annex 1. The Inspection Panel of the World Bank. Investigation Report on Honduras: Land Administration Program. Investigation Report No. 39933-HN. June 12, 2007. p. 21-25. Attached to the petitioner’s written communication of October 13, 2008, received by the IACHR on October 15, 2008. In addition, I/A Court H.R. López Álvarez v. Honduras Case. Judgment of February 1st, 2006. Series C No. 141; paragraph 54.1. 15 González, Nancie. Sojourners of the Caribbean: Ethnogenesis and Ethnohistory of the Garifunas. University of Illinois Press. Urbana and Chicago: 1988. In: Annex 1. The Inspection Panel of the World Bank. Investigation Report on Honduras: Land Administration Program. Investigation Report No. 39933-HN. June 12, 2007. p. 23. Attached to the petitioner’s written communication of October 13, 2008, received by the IACHR on October 15, 2008. 16 According to UNESCO, “The Garífuna language belongs to the Arawakan group of languages and has survived centuries of discrimination and linguistic domination. It is rich in tales (úraga) originally recited during wakes or large gatherings. The melodies bring together African and Amerindian elements, and the texts are a veritable repository of the history and traditional knowledge of the Garífuna, such as cassava-growing, fishing, canoe-building and the construction of baked mud houses. There is also a considerable amount of satire in these songs, which are accompanied by various drums and dances, which the spectators may join in”. UNESCO, Masterpiece of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity – “Language, dance and music of the Garífuna”. Available at: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/00001 . 17 See UNESCO, Masterpiece of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity – “Language, dance and music of the Garífuna”. Available at: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/00001 . 18 Annex 2. Study by the Caribbean Central America Research Council on the “Ethnography of the Triunfo de la Cruz Community”. Appendix 1 of the petitioner’s written communication of May 23, 2006, received by the IACHR on May 30, 2006. 19 I/A Court H.R. López Álvarez v. Honduras Case. Judgment of February 1st, 2006. Series C No. 141; paragraph 54.1.