There will be a Special Screening and Presentation of The “Searching for the Songs of Wanaragua” Documentary in the Bronx on SATURDAY, February 21st 2026.
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Copyright 2026 by Teofilo Colon Jr. (a.k.a. Tio Teo) for Being Garifuna. All Rights Reserved. Contact Tio Teo.
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Honduras, Central America — There is a Social Problem amongst Garinagu.
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You know it. I know it.
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This Problem has been discussed internally for Decades, and the Problem is increasingly becoming more prominent and Public.
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What is the Problem? The Problem of Garifuna Cultural Erosion. There is Concern over whether Garifuna Culture is Disappearing. Who amongst younger people know how to practice aspects of Garifuna Culture?
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The main focus is on the Garifuna Language and it’s usage overall. Who speaks, reads and/or understands the Garifuna Language?
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Will the Garifuna Language disappear? Belizean Garifuna Singer-Songwriter, Andy Palacio sung about this in his song, Amuñegu, on his Watina album. Released in 2007.
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In October 2025, I was added to a thread on Whatsapp where a woman of Belizean Garifuna Heritage, who I will not identify for Privacy purposes, talked about how in Belize, despite the promotion of various Garifuna Events and Activities (Battle of the Drums Competition, Miss Garifuna Belize Cultural Pageant, Parties, Concerts, etc), there are very few people (Young, Adult, etc) Garinagu there who can READ, WRITE, SPEAK and/or UNDERSTAND the Garifuna Language.
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In the Whatsapp Thread Discussion, others admitted that the situation is the same in the mother countries of Guatemala and Honduras. There wasn’t much debate, however, strategies to combat this epidemic were discussed.
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A new short documentary explores the issue of the declining usage of the Garifuna Language. It is called, “Searching for the Songs of Wanaragua”. There will be a special presentation of this short Documentary on SATURDAY, February 21st 2026 at Bronx Music Hall.
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If you have found anything this INDEPENDENT Platform, Being Garifuna, has Published, Shared, Promoted, Posted, etc, over the last 16 Years Helpful, please consider Donating to this ongoing Being Garifuna Gofundme Fundraising Drive and support this experiment in Independence.
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The “Searching for the Songs of Wanaragua” Documentary follows Cesar Vargas, a Honduran Garifuna Language Teacher and Researcher and Eli LaBan, a documentary Filmmaker from Philadelphia, as they record and write down the words of traditional Garifuna Songs.
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This transcribing is designed to be used as teaching tools to support the Resurgence of Garifuna Language Usage and Practice in Daily Life. A resource that interested people can turn to for generations into the Future.
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The History of the Garifuna Ethnic Group is discussed in the Documentary as well as the Origin and Cultural Breakdown of the Wanaragua Dance.
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The Documentary is a impressive demonstration of the challenge of passing down tradition and culture. Watching the Documentary on a Theater in a communal setting is also revelatory.
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Watching these figures in a setting where they are larger than life adds to the viewing experience as opposed to watching it on a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer. It almost takes on mythical status.
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Hopefully more audiences will come out to see this Documentary after successful screenings of the Documentary in Philadelphia, Mexico and Belize.
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The Filmmakers have a website that serves as a Hub for their project and includes additional video of the Singing of various Garifuna Songs.
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At a screening of the Documentary before Students of the Garifuna for Non-Speakers Course, Filmmaker Eli LaBan explained that this ongoing project is the result of an encounter he had over ten years ago in Nicaragua. Central America.
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It was in Nicaragua, in the Garifuna town of Orinoco, while involved in a College Project, that Filmmaker Eli LaBan came to learn of the issues of Garifuna Language Erosion there. In short, very few Nicaraguans spoke the Garifuna Language.
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Mr. Eli LaBan produced a series of videos featuring Orinoco Garinagu speaking the Garifuna Language. Below is a video featuring Children counting to Ten in the Garifuna Language.
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While talking to Students in the Garifuna for Non-Speakers Online Course, Filmmaker Mr. Eli LaBan revealed that he had first learned of the Garifuna People when listening to the Andy Palacio Watina CD in a Philadelphia Library.
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I told him that that is Ironic, because Legend has it, it was an Encounter that Andy Palacio had with Garinagu in Orinoco, Nicaragua during a Literacy Project in 1980, that helped inspire his own Garifuna Language Revival Efforts through Music Projects.
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While talking to the students of the Garifuna for Non-Speakers Online Course, Filmmaker Eli LaBan revealed he is of Jewish Heritage/Ethnicity, and when asked, said he hadn’t thought about Language Erosion issues amoungst his Ethnic Group.
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He explained that in his Family, only the Elderly spoke Yiddish and he knows a few phrases in Hebrew. In doing this Project, it’s certainly something to think about.
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There is lots to talk about when discussing this issue. Nuanced, insightful discussion can be had and some of it is explored in the Documentary. However, more can be done.
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I think it would have been useful for the Filmmaker to have actually interviewed Adults and/or Children and have them demonstrate their inability to speak the Garifuna Language. In the documentary, we rely on the word of the subjects in the Documentary to tell viewers that this is the case.
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Tell, not show.
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Admittedly, this kind of footage would presumably be tough to get as people don’t want to be embarrased on camera.
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A spooky feeling in my gut grew as I watched images of Garifuna words (presumably Lyrics of Wanaragua songs) written on Notebook paper in the Documentary.
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Thoughts of Legacy. Transmission, Literacy, Sound, Language and the ideas expressed through Language were all in my mind as I watched the Documentary.
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As far as the declining use of the Garifuna Language is concerned, I greet all my Garifuna Facebook friends with a singing of the beginning of the Happy Birthday song in the Garifuna Language on their Birthday.
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Sadly, the ones who respond mostly thank me in English and or Spanish. Others explain that they don’t understand the Garifuna Language and therefore don’t understand what I am singing, despite singing in the Cadence of the Happy Birthday song.
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The Tragedy of those Correspondences is that many aren’t even curious to learn. Why is that? Is it a simple deference to dominant mainstream society?
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Something to think about and perhaps something for the filmmakers to explore should they update their documentary (it’s currently 40 Minutes Long).
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This Special Presentation will take place at the Bronx Music Hall on SATURDAY, February 21st 2026 at 7pm. Admission is $20 and this Presentation is being done in conjuction with the Endangered Language Alliance, and The Bronx Music Heritage Center.
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This Presentation will include a Screening of The “Searching for the Songs of Wanaragua”, which is approximately 40 minutes long. It will be followed by a Discussion with Filmmaker, Eli LaBan, Dan Kaufman of The Endangered Language Alliance, Garifuna Dancer and Educator, Luz Soliz, Musician James Lovell, and a Performance by Grupo Maburuaña.
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Admission is $20 and The Bronx Music Hall is located at 438 East 163rd Street, Bronx, NY . The BX 6 Bus, The BX 15 and BX 21 Bus all go by that location.
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