Afro-Indigenous Sustainability Practices & Garifuna Fishing Culture

CCS Ecology Unit  Final Lesson + Assessment 

Created for 3rd || Variable for All Applicable Grades (esp. 3-5, 6-8, HS Biology)

íxkäri noe estelle, Afrolatinizamos Cohort 2023 Facilitator

Overall Objectives:

• Students will gain an understanding of Garifuna indigenous fishing practices as contemporary sustainability knowledge

• Students will analyze the challenges and resilience of the Garifuna community in preserving their relationship to ancestral waterways and their cultural identity

• Students will research and analyze the difficulties and benefits of applying indigenous knowledge to current and future ecological management

Content Objectives: 

• Describe the historical origins of the Garifuna people and their ancestral connection to Caribbean and Central American ecosystems.

• Explain the cultural elements of Garifuna fishing, including special tools, techniques, and effects/results.

• Compare and contrast Garifuna fishing with non-Garifuna historical and contemporary fishing practices in the Caribbean and Central America

• Identify the challenges the Garifuna community has faced in preserving their fishing practices.

• Discuss the contributions of the Garifuna people to the sustainability of fishing in Belize/Honduras

• Analyze the role of the Garifuna community in climate activism and in the face of contemporary challenges.

Language Objectives:

• Participate in discussions about Garifuna fishing culture using appropriate vocabulary and expressions.

• Present information about a specific aspect of Garifuna sustainability knowledge in a clear and organized manner.

• Engage in group activities, such as research and presentations, to enhance their speaking and listening skills.

• Read and comprehend informational texts about Garifuna ecological sustainability especially in Honduras and Belize, summarizing key points.

• Write a reflection on the importance of cultural diversity in ecological management practices and the applicable sustainability lessons learned from a chosen (and group-researched) afro-indigenous ecological relationship or practice.

***essential vocabulary for this unit integrated into Instructional Plan below***

Academic Vocabulary: 

• Sustainability: today typically refers to the ability for a resource to both be used to support human needs while also having a long-term, thriving existence in its natural environment.

  • ** We must acknowledge that "sustainability" has multiple definitions and in/visible purposes depending on: who is shaping it; cultural contexts of anthropocentrism; financial motivations; orientation of future-building or future-imagining, etc. So sustainability’s definition is always also context-specific!

• Assimilation: The process by which individuals or groups from different cultures adopt the customs, language, and practices of the dominant culture.

Content Vocabulary:

• Ancestral Homeland: The original or historic place where a particular cultural group or community originates.

• Cultural Heritage: The practices, customs, traditions, and beliefs passed down within a cultural group from generation to generation.

• Ethnic Identity: A person's sense of belonging to a particular ethnic group, often based on shared cultural traditions, language, and history.

• Cultural Preservation: The efforts to maintain and protect cultural identity, traditions, and artifacts from being lost or diluted over time.

• Cultural Diversity: The existence of a variety of cultural groups within a society, encompassing different customs, languages, and traditions.

• Cultural Exchange: The sharing of customs, traditions, and ideas between different cultural groups

Support Vocabulary: 

• Emigrate: To leave one's country or region to settle in another.

• Assimilate: To integrate into a different culture or adopt its practices and customs.

Link to key vocabulary development can be found by clicking here. 

Thank you to Cueponi Cihuatl for partial definition-sharing!

External Resources used in conjunction with the lesson plan:

• Ecosystem Refresher | Caribbean/Central American Reef Ecology Background

• Introducing Culturally-Specific Sustainability | First Impressions of Garifuna Fishing Tools, Methods, & Benefits

• Deep Learning Source | All About Garifuna Fishing 

• Deep Reflection Source | Garifuna Land Stewardship vs Nation-State “Conservation”: Challenges and Successes of Defending Life and Homeland

How are you building background for your unit?

Pre-Assessment Activities: Begin with pre-assessment tasks or discussions to gauge students' existing knowledge about Indigeneity broadly and Garifuna culture specifically. This could be a brief quiz, a brainstorming session, or a class discussion where students share what they know or have heard about the Garifuna people.

Cultural Artifacts and Resources: Introduce authentic cultural artifacts, such as tools and methods used in Garifuna fishing. These artifacts serve as visual aids to pique students' interest and provide a tangible connection to the culture.

Guest Speakers or Interviews: Invite guest speakers from the Garifuna community or conduct virtual interviews with individuals who have firsthand experience or expertise in Garifuna natural resource management. Their personal stories and insights can enrich students' understanding and offer authentic perspectives.

Language Introduction: Introduce basic Garifuna language expressions, phrases, or words relevant to the topic.

Discussion and Reflection: Encourage open discussions about cultural diversity, cultural preservation, and the global, ecological effects of indigenous ecological management practices. Allow students to reflect on their own cultural backgrounds and draw connections to the themes presented in the unit

Day 1: Who are the Garifuna People?

1. Pre-assessment on Garifuna Culture

2. Show a map of Central America and the Caribbean and ask students if they are familiar with the Garifuna people or their culture.

3. Provide a brief overview of the lesson objectives and the significance of the Garifuna culture in the region.

4. Discuss the origins of the Garifuna people, their African and Indigenous heritage, and their arrival in the Caribbean/Central Am.

5. Explain Garifuna conflicts with colonial powers and the effects of this colonial history on contemporary Honduran/Belizian Garifuna communities

Day 2: Mesoamerican Reef Ecosystem & Garifuna Fishing Cultures

1. Class collectively refreshes knowledge about reef ecosystems; briefly cover specificities of Mesoamerican Reef 

(reading linked in above external resources)

2. Read about and breakdown Garifuna culturally-specific fishing practices (“Coastal Traditional Knowledge” article + “A Glimpse of Sustainable Fishing in Belize” linked above) & introduce the following

• Tools (essential examples: the raati net, handlines, and trident spears)

• Unchanged Traditional Methods (essential examples: net snare fishing or “wamaredu,” fish pot traps or “maciwa,” bait netting for beach sienes, free diving, harpooning, small catch release)

• Spiritual Connections (sacredness of the sea or “barana,” ritual offerings of seafood delicacies or “dugu,” spiritual and ancestral guidance beliefs, etc.)

• Effects/Results (preservation of coral reefs, preservation of seafloor habitat, ongoing biodiversity, etc.) 

Day 3: Indigenous Land Stewardship vs Globalized Colonial Capitalism

1. Discuss the challenges the Garifuna community faced/s in preserving their ecological management cultures through colonization & capitalist expansion (in “Coastal Traditional Knowledge” reading linked above)

   1. • Legal Limitations (non-consulted fishing area restrictions, United Fruit Company buy-out of land, unchecked police/military/coast guard abuse, etc.)

      • Socio-Political Limitation (economy shift to plantation production, “Ladino” settlement, structural poverty enforced by UFC and other foreign land buyouts, etc.)

      • Fishing Companies (overfishing, trawling, reject dumping, gillnet fishing, etc.) 

      • Modifications for Contemporary Overfishing (night fishing, anchor-drag rock locating, extra mangrove planting, etc.)

2. Group Research Session #1 as project prep

   1. Each table chooses a country with Afro-Indigenous populations on ancestral land 

      • Some possible populations: different Aboriginal Peoples of now-Australia, Tonga of now-Zambia, Yoruba of now-Nigeria, Ashanti of now-Ghana, Zulu of now-South Africa, Raizales of now-Colombia

Day 4: Research Session 2

1. Set agenda as appropriate

Day 5: Outline/Draft Peer Feedback

1. Set agenda as appropriate

Assessment Objective: Students will research an Afro-indigenous group’s culturally relevant sustainability practices and creatively share their understanding of that practice’s impact on local sustainable ecological management.

Rubric will vary by grade and project design 

Completion Timeline: due 1 week from Peer Feedback day

Completion Options:

• 1.5-2 pg reflection paper 

• 2-3pg fiction writing

• Diorama & ½ page reflection 

• Informational Brochure (4-5 panels of content & title panel)

• Artistic Portfolio (2+ representations of the information) & ½ page reflection