Good morning to everyone, local, regional, and national authorities, organizing committees, our queens and candidates, performers, men and women of the press, and all of you who are visiting us.
Today we are united once more as brothers and sisters to celebrate another year of freedom. The 27th of August is significant for the people of Great Corn Island and Little Corn Island; it’s the day islanders, near and far from home, remember the liberation of our ancestors, who were enslaved until 1841.
The Corn Islands, of turquoise waters and white sand, have always been craved by many. The Kukra Indians roamed this land long before anyone else, and pirates, buccaneers, and explorers walked her shores less than 3 centuries ago seeking the natural and God-giving riches this land has.
Slavery was brought to our islands when the first settlers arrived in the 18th century. Most of these migrants, of British and Scottish origin, brought unwillingly many Africans to the Caribbean and forced them to work in their plantation grounds and households.
They were compelled to hours of hard unpaid labor, suffering under the hot sun, planting the grounds, building rock walls, cooking food for their masters, washing their clothes, bringing water from the wells, and much more tiring work. Most enslaved tried to escape the lifestyle that was imposed on them, but many failed due to it being impossible to leave the islands. Others kept working until they died.
But all of this changed one day, on August 27th, 1841, it was very early in the morning, the day started as usual for the few people that lived on the island when suddenly the conch shell started to blow from the top of Quinn Hill; a caravel ship was spotted anchoring off the shores of Southwest Bay.
Back then, the conch shell had been a way for the people to know whenever a ship was approaching the land, so as soon as the enslaved people heard this sound, some went down to the bayside to see who was arriving.
Colonel Alexander McDonald, Superintendent of the English Crown in British Honduras (today Belize) arrived on this vessel and asked to see all enslaved people and their masters a few hours later on the same beach.
According to historical text, the slave owners were the family Hodgson, Quinn, Downes (today Downs), Hooker, Forbes, Bowden, Hansacks and Cottrell (today Cathrall). Between these families, they owned more than 98 slaves.
Hours later, when everyone was congregated on the beach, McDonald read the following statement, that said, among other things:
“In the name of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland and Robert Charles Frederic, King of the Mosquito Coast, I hereby declare freedom to all men and women on this land… the British Crown will pay £ 25-pound sterling to each owner for every person that was granted freedom…” - McDonald proclaimed.
This announcement marked a very important moment in the history of the Corn Islands, those who were enslaved for many years were finally seeing a new way, freedom was now theirs.
The newly freed men and women decided to happily celebrate their freedom that same day. They went to the swamps to catch land crabs and to the plantation ground for breadkind. That day, they prepared for supper a crab soup that was served in calabash, and they danced while singing and playing songs on handmade instruments.
They sang and danced all night with joy and happiness, for they were now free men and women. Since that day, the crab soup has become a symbol of freedom for the people of the Corn Islands.
After emancipation, most of the freedmen and women decided to travel to other Caribbean islands, some towards their motherland, Africa, while others remained on the Corn Islands where they built their own household and formed their family, giving birth to what we know today as the Creole ethnicity.
11 years after this historical event, in 1852, Reverend Edward Kelly arrived at Great Corn Island. He himself was the son of a freed slave from British Honduras and he endeavored on the island to spread the gospel and to establish the first religious and educational institution on the islands, this was the Ebenezer Baptist Church and School.
It was reverent Kelly that motivated the people of the Corn Islands to always celebrate the emancipation of their parents and grandparents. So, every year, since 1859, the people would gather in the neighborhood of North End under a giant fig tree in Mrs. Teresa Lampson's courtyard to celebrate with the church this historic day. Traditional games like cricket; reciting poems, singing songs, enjoying delicious pastry and food, and of course, drinking crab soup were all part of this gathering.
Although over the last century this celebration has been evolving and adapting itself to the modern custom of the world, one thing is sure, the Corn Islands have been, and will always celebrate the day their ancestors were set free from slavery.
And that is why, my fellow islanders, we must always keep in mind: that celebrating our Emancipation should be one of our greatest pride and no matter where we are and what our current situation may be, we should always keep our ancestors's inheritance of freedom in our hearts and share it, along with other of our customs and traditions, to the younger generations so it may live on forever.
“For there is no greater gift than freedom and the right to roam and live in peace”.
Happy Emancipation Day!