By Admin. Updated 7:31 a.m., Thursday, August 17, 2023, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
From singing St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ national anthem fluently in the Garifuna language, attending the annual Garifuna pilgrimage to Baliceaux, to attending Garifina workshops, Ulrica Gaymes is well-known in the Garifuna community in SVG.
But who is she and how did she get involved in Garifuna affairs?
In a recent interview with One News SVG, Ms. Gaymes, 24, asked herself the question out loud.
“Who am I? This has been the question I’ve asked many times to understand my family’s history,” she said.
“However, I was always told I was an “Indian”. The response of being called an “Indian” did not answer the question. It actually created more questions. As I learned who the Indians were, I did not totally agree with the definition. I wanted to know about the generations of family members that are from my homeland of St Vincent and the Grenadines,” she added.
She said: “I recalled hearing so many stories of the Garifuna people that were banished from the mainland St.Vincent to Balliceaux a tiny islet off its south East course and down to Central America. The information I received then piqued my interest.”
But it was her involvement in one workshop that sparked her interest in Garifuna issues more.
“I was fascinated when an organization called YUGACARE announced their Garifuna culture workshop at the Barrouallie Secondary School,” she said.
Gaymes said she first discovered her Garifuna culture by attending the YUGACURE (Yurumein Garifuna Cultural Retrieval) workshop spearheaded by Ms. Trish St. Hill, a Vincentian author and cultural activist.
Gaymes said that as an attendee in 2012, she engaged with James Lovell, Erica Zuniga, Christine Vernon, and Georgettee Lambey in a whirlwind of Garifuna songs, cuisine, language, dances, and drumming.
She said continued to attend YUGACURE in 2013, 2014, and 2017. It was at this workshop Gaymes learned how to dance and sing in Garifuna, her most notable songs are Ubouhu Ma Lubuidun, Walamiserun (Our Sad Experience), Luagu Ubouhu Balliceaux, and the St. Vincent National Anthem in Garifuna.
She continues on her journey to keeping the culture alive by teaching what she knows to many and being a part of Garifuna Panel discussions online.
She credits the YUGACURE workshop for solidifying her treasured identity and interest in culture, she is currently working to become fluent in the Garifuna language as she wishes to create her own Garifuna music and someday have her own class for young children.
One News SVG 